Acacia Project

24/04/2025

Many + teenagers are chased from their homes by parents due to misunderstandings: the teen might be clinically depressed and thus not helping around the house, parents often perceive only that the word 'gay' means illegal or satanic (not understanding the words behind the LGBTQI+ acronym). Families may have never heard of the concept of 'gender' or 'sexual orientation'. When NGOs in Malawi have explained to them about gender and sexual diversity in a way parents can understand, some parents have wanted to take their children back.

15/04/2025

In one country we studied, women’s football was for self-identified le****ns and transmen, a safe (or at least safer) space, and g**s and transwomen play men’s and women’s netball. This is surprising in a society where same-sex and transgender are denounced loudly from church pulpits, and passersby shout out to LGBTQI+ persons in public that they are ‘satanic’, ‘demonic’ and an ‘abomination’. Nearly everyone in the country knows, though, that footballers on women’s football teams ‘are just that way’, and one can even find cross-dressing entertainers out supporting football on game days.

09/04/2025

03/04/2025

Does having money matter when you identify yourself as LGBTQI+ person?

31/03/2025

Who usually gets LGBTQI+ persons in trouble with local authorities?

21/03/2025

Did you know?

17/03/2025

Can international donors ask for personal information about people who benefit from the programs they fund? What risks does this pose to LGBTQI+ people in Sub-Saharan Africa if they are the beneficiaries?

12/03/2025

"Trump said there are only two genders, so you don't exist" - The USAID backlash against LGBTQI+ in Malawi
Read more: https://www.jyu.fi/en/projects/acacia-project-lgbtqi-and-street-level-bureaucrats-assessing-motives-violence-and-possibilities-for

04/03/2025

Another insight from the project fieldwork: LGBTQI+ relation with the local church.

27/02/2025

In this video, we wanted to highlight some of the stories we referred to in the previous post. Visit the project blog for more: https://www.jyu.fi/en/blog/the-police-asked-doctors-to-test-if-we-were-really-gei-four-stories-from-sub-saharan-africa

18/02/2025

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa declare that ‘unnatural offences’ and ‘gross indecency’ are punishable by terms of imprisonment from three to 30 years. Check the stories by Michael, Lady J., Adriana and Berenice* on their everyday struggles with police, judges, local government officials and local security guards: https://www.jyu.fi/en/blog/the-police-asked-doctors-to-test-if-we-were-really-gei-four-stories-from-sub-saharan-africa (*all names of our interviewees are pseudonyms)