The Drum Beat 351 - Coming Out Again

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Discussion
Social Movements and HIV/AIDS

Panos and the UK Consortium on AIDS are holding a discussion from June 13-22 which will be hosted by AIDSPortal. It will focus on HIV social movements and the role of communication in supporting inclusive social change, including an exploration of how the processes of communication motivate people to act. Please click here to read the discussion paper.

To register for the discussion, click here. Contact: Lucy Stackpool-Moore Lucy.Stackpool-Moore@panos.org.uk

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This issue of The Drum Beat features the Coming Out Again (COA) project in South Africa from the perspective of Deborah Walter, an Editor working with The Communication Initiative who is also working as a consultant with the project [1]. This Drum Beat also highlights some of the issues around participation of diverse and hard to reach communities.

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COMING OUT AGAIN

Coming Out Again is a South African multi-media edutainment project produced by the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA) using community theatre, radio and comic books to raise awareness and discussion about HIV/AIDS, sexuality and related rights in two traditionally difficult to reach communities - the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) and the Deaf communities in South Africa.
To access a summary of Coming Out Again within our Programme Experiences section, click here.
Click here for further information on the GALA website.

SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND PARTICIPATION

It has been argued that social exclusion and the resulting lack of opportunities are a major cause of poverty and lack of human rights.

The Commission for Africa Report indicates (excerpt) "Even within poor countries, the poorest people are those who are excluded from information, from government services, from full participation in society, politics and the economy and even informal community support systems. All too often the reason for the exclusion is discrimination, for example against women, disabled persons, ethnic or linguistic minorities, or persons with HIV or AIDS. Exclusion makes it especially difficult to escape from poverty..."
Click here for a past Drum Beat issue focused on this report.

Reducing Poverty by Tackling Social Exclusion produced by the Department for International Development (DFID) argues that "social exclusion, whether on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, disability, gender, caste, age or sexuality, is important because it denies certain groups of people opportunities to participate equally in society, and this is a major cause of poverty and insecurity."
Click here for a summary of this document.

Communication programmes that focus on participation often attempt to address lack of access to media and lack of opportunities to communicate and advocate needs and priorities, by developing strategies that work with community members to help provide opportunities for these stories, voices, and opinions to be heard. Participation and outreach to hard to reach and diverse communities can be important strategies for tackling social exclusion, but they often have practical challenges related to ways of involving these groups as well as a need to support special needs. Participation of diverse communities may involve extra steps, planning and funding, and require programme managers, funders and other stakeholders to be very flexible in their expectations.

BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Community - South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world [2], and has responded with widespread awareness raising campaigns, initiatives, and media programmes. However, the LGBTI experience is, almost without exception, missing from strategies to increase awareness and reduce stigma through sharing the stories of everyday lives. Television programmes feature few gay characters, pamphlets lack reference to gay sex, and discussions refrain from incorporating this part of the population into the dialogue [3]. In February 2006, a 19-year old lesbian was beaten to death because of her sexual orientation by mob violence and sexual assault has been identified as widespread problem among young lesbian women [4].

People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) - Oral histories collected by the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA) have shown that the widespread stigma and discrimination that is often exhibited towards People Living with HIV, is even further exacerbated for LGBTI people [5]. Participating in communication programmes will often bring some aspect of disclosure to individuals which may be a factor in their willingness and ability to participate. Given the high levels of discrimination and stigma in South Africa, PLWHA may need the support of counseling and care if they participate, particularly since communication programmes are often public activities. PLWHA may become ill - and this could have an impact on the length or expense of the process of developing the theatrical production, radio programme or other media.

The Deaf Community - much of the Deaf community in the South African context have very low literacy levels [6]. Along with not being able to hear the radio and television programmes that are created for the general public, written materials are often also not understood. Since few programme mangers and those conducting HIV awareness and training are able to use South African Sign Language (SASL), this often means that the act of communicating within programmes is a significant challenge.

PROJECT COMPONENTS

The Coming Out Again (COA) project has 3 components, each with different communication strategies:

Theatre Production - using the real-life stories of the actors - young members of the LGBTI community - the plot of this production includes characters who are HIV positive, others coping with HIV positive family members, others who have lost loved ones, and some who are trying to stay un-infected. The main aim of the play is to raise awareness and reduce stigma towards people living with HIV. Through the true stories of the actors, the play works to ensure that the voices of LGBTI people are heard and aims to provide role models of individuals who are living positively. A Deaf actor shares his personal story of being a young, black, Deaf, gay man living in South Africa, and each performance is South African Sign Language (SASL) interpreted, to also provide an opportunity for the Deaf community to access the play. The incorporation of SASL interpreters meant the need for creativity on stage lighting, sound systems and positioning, to ensure that the Deaf actor always had line of sight for his interpreter and the audience's interpreter was always visible. A post-performance facilitated discussion allows the audience to talk to the actors. These discussions have raised issues that have subsequently been incorporated into the storyline.

Radio Production - in order for the theatre performance to reach a wider audience, the script has been adapted for future audio recording, which will be distributed for airplay and for use in discussion groups. The production will include flashbacks to help share the stories of the actors.

Comic Books - Two comic storybooks are being produced that reflect the stories and experiences of the LGBTI and the Deaf community.

• The LGBTI-focused comic book includes stories and experiences gathered from the community and is an attempt to create a fun, informative media that reflects these stories and experiences. This comic book was scheduled for publication in May 2006.
• The Deaf-focused comic book is being developed with the particular needs and communication styles of Deaf people in mind. This story uses mostly visual images with very little text, and with sign language captured in the drawings. A Deaf artist was commissioned to do most of the artwork, while a hearing artist with significant experience in comics was engaged to do some of the pencil drawings. At times actors performing the signs were photographed with a digital camera to be redrawn later. Each session required a SASL interpreter and continual revision to ensure that the drawings were an accurate reflection of the sign language, and of Deaf culture. Through this process, the COA team found that SASL is not just related to the signs, but to facial expressions and body language, which all needed to be incorporated into the images. This comic book is scheduled for publication by July 2006.

KEY STRATEGIES

Disclosure:
COA found that the use of real-life stories brought up issues of disclosure for individuals, their families and communities. COA required that people living with HIV needed to sign a release form allowing any disclosure of their status through the media prior to participating in the production. All actors participated in a workshop to explore what performing in public, being interviewed by the media, having their photos on the programme, etc., could reflect on themselves and those close to them. Through these discussions and reflections actors were able to communicate before the public phase of the project with family members or friends that may be affected by the disclosure - of sexual orientation and HIV positive status. This session also produced a media guidelines document for COA, outlining how the actors wanted the show to be portrayed in media and communication, which serves as the basis for all press releases and communication materials.

Ongoing consultation:
Audience feedback: After each theatre performance, the audience is provided with a form requesting feedback. This information will eventually be used as part of a future evaluation of the programme, but it is also currently used to make responsive changes within the production. Questions from the post-performance discussion are noted and, where possible, the answers are worked into the storyline.
Community feedback: In developing the comic books, the representatives of the LGBTI and Deaf communities were asked at every key stage to comment on the evolving publication.

Storytelling/ Oral History:
While each component has an educational aspect, the development approach was to closely reflect the real-life stories and touch on the complex issues that are related to HIV and rights. This builds on an ongoing oral history project of GALA that is collecting life story interviews with LGBTI people, especially experiences of living with HIV and in the Deaf community [5].

Encouraging Discussion and Action:
Each component is not only informative, but also encourages a response. The theatrical production aims to get people talking, both inside the theatre and within their communities, and especially encourages the LGBTI community to discuss HIV and support those living with HIV. Though the comic books touch on issues of sexuality, rights, sexual assault and HIV/STI awareness and prevention, above all, they encourage readers to seek more information, to know that they have a right to information and that they have a right to engage in their own personal growth and development. The final scene in the comic book focused on the Deaf community is of Deaf students organising a rights and health information exhibit. COA hopes that this will encourage schools to do the same.

IMPACT

Post-performance discussions and feedback forms have overwhelmingly indicated admiration for the cast members for sharing their stories. Audience members living with HIV have expressed to cast members that just hearing their stories on stage has helped them to come to terms with their own positive status. While the production was developed largely with HIV in mind, evaluations have also indicated a greater respect and understanding of Deaf issues, and, among a mostly heterosexual audience, a greater understanding of the LGBTI community.

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For more information about the Coming Out Again project, click here, or visit the GALA website.

Contact for the Coming Out Again project: Ruth Morgan Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA) P. O. Box 31719 Braamfontein Johannesburg, 2017 South Africa morganr@gala.wits.ac.za

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1. Deborah Walter is an independent communication consultant operating CMFD Productions, working as Editor for The Communication Initiative and, separately, with GALA to manage the Coming Out Again project and produce the radio adaptation. Contact Deborah at deb@cmfd.org
2. AVERT, AIDS Around the World
3. For more information about LBGTI experiences in South Africa, click here.
4. See "South Africa: Murder Highlights Violence Against Lesbians - Culture of Fear Undermines Constitutional Protections" Human Rights Watch, New York, March 3, 2006) and Huisman, Biénne "Teen Beaten to Death for Being a Lesbian" Behind the Mask, February 19 2006.
5. For more information about the GALA Oral History project, please contact: Paul Mokgethi GALA Archivist & HIV projects Tel.: +27 11 717 1963 gala@library.wits.ac.za
6. University of Witwatersrand, The Centre for Deaf Studies, Notes: Demographics from DEAFSA (The Deaf Federation of South Africa).

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