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Feminists Around the World: Rosanna Flamer Caldera · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to Stephfan
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  Speaker 1: Never Told You production by Her Radio.
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  Speaker 2: And welcome to our last Feminist around the World for
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. If you're listening to this within this
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  Speaker 2: year or if not, you know, just so you know,
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  Speaker 2: this is the last one in twenty twenty four. And
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  Speaker 2: today we are featuring queer and human rights activists and
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  Speaker 2: environmental activist Rosanna Flammer Caldera. SO Flammer Caldera is the
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  Speaker 2: founder and executive director of Equal Ground, which is the
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  Speaker 2: oldest organization in Sri Lanka to advocate for the human
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  Speaker 2: rights and protections of the Lgbtqia community. Of course, much
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  Speaker 2: like our other activists we feature, she has had many
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  Speaker 2: different titles and positions in her life. She has been
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  Speaker 2: at the forefront fighting for our people and her community
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  Speaker 2: as well. So when we talk about one specific thing
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  Speaker 2: that she has done, please note again, like many of
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  Speaker 2: our other activists, there are so many other things that
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  Speaker 2: she has done or she is doing, including being a
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  Speaker 2: political figure somewhat as well. So put that little asterisk there.
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  Speaker 2: I think we'll just put that asterisk forever on all
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  Speaker 2: of our activists. So Flemer Caldera was born in Sri
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  Speaker 2: Lanka and grew up in Colombo. At eighteen, she left
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  Speaker 2: Sri Lanka and made her way to San Francisco, which,
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  Speaker 2: by the way, I listened to a podcast that featured her,
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  Speaker 2: and they called San Francisco the gay capital of the US.
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  Speaker 2: And I was like, Oh, I guess once upon a
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  Speaker 2: time it really was, but that's changed since then. I
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  Speaker 2: would assume we should go back and.
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  Speaker 1: Look at that.
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  Speaker 2: Do we have what we would say at gay capital.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's more widespread than one city now, but
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  Speaker 1: it used to be San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, But I'm like, oh, that's such an old
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  Speaker 2: thought process, because anyway, going back, it is there. She says,
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  Speaker 2: she participated in her first Pride parade. And here's a
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  Speaker 2: bit from a twenty sixteen article about her time, then
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  Speaker 2: featured on Altovy World quote Rosanna Flammer. Caldera left her
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  Speaker 2: native Sri Lanka at age eighteen. She said, I was
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  Speaker 2: having a hard time coming to terms with my sexuality
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  Speaker 2: and Sri Lanka was just not a place where women
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  Speaker 2: could get ahead. She spent her young adulthood in San Francisco,
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  Speaker 2: where she participated in activism through direct action tactics like demonstrations, marches,
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  Speaker 2: and vigils. In nineteen seventy eight, Harvey Milk led the
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  Speaker 2: first Pride Parade. Rosanna Flahmer Caldera, a Sri Lankan then
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  Speaker 2: in her early twenties, ever participated in and she does
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  Speaker 2: talk a lot about her experience for that event, and
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  Speaker 2: even when Milk was assassinated. She talks about that event
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  Speaker 2: and how it really impacted her and how she was
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  Speaker 2: a part of that as well. So I thought that
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  Speaker 2: was pretty significant to note. This is her first experience
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  Speaker 2: which is I caught, and she has been working to
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  Speaker 2: bring similar celebrations and activism for the Lgbtqia community to
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  Speaker 2: her own home in Colombo. But her upbringing and family
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  Speaker 2: have always supported equal rights and activism, and she talks
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  Speaker 2: about how liberal they were and very accepting they were
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  Speaker 2: in general. But that didn't mean she felt like she
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  Speaker 2: could be completely open and honest about herself. As she
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  Speaker 2: told interviewers, it took some time for her to accept herself,
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  Speaker 2: but was finally able to open up and be her
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  Speaker 2: true self when coming to San Francisco, like she talked
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  Speaker 2: about how that really changed her perspective and then she
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  Speaker 2: told the story about I believe a cousin of hers
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  Speaker 2: took her to a lesbian club and things started clicking.
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  Speaker 2: I love those moments. I feel like she really had,
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  Speaker 2: like the iconic coming out and the experience in San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: I see why they call it the capitol here. Becoming
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  Speaker 2: her true self also propelled her activism. She talks with
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  Speaker 2: women Talks, a media organization at of Sri Lanka about
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  Speaker 2: her starting Equal Ground, which is her organization and the
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  Speaker 2: activism in Sri Lanka. She says, I know what it
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  Speaker 2: felt like being a lesbian in a country where it
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  Speaker 2: was completely taboo. When I was growing up there there
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  Speaker 2: was no equal Ground to advise me or hold my hand.
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  Speaker 2: But I had the privilege of living in San Francisco
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  Speaker 2: for about fifteen years. There, I was able to come
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  Speaker 2: out and be myself and then come out to my parents,
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  Speaker 2: who have been an incredible support throughout my entire life's journey.
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  Speaker 2: And though her initial activism was centered around environmental issues,
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  Speaker 2: apparently I think her family's very involved in activism for
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  Speaker 2: that as well, that soon changed when she came back
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  Speaker 2: to Sri Lanka. Here's some more from that same article.
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  Speaker 2: We started the women's support group in nineteen ninety nine.
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  Speaker 2: I subsequently went to Oakland, California for a conference for
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  Speaker 2: the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transit Intersex Associations or ILGA.
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  Speaker 2: There I had the opportunity to be involved in the
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  Speaker 2: Asian region of ILGA. I was elected the female representative
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  Speaker 2: to the board of ILGA. In two thousand and three,
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  Speaker 2: I was asked to nominate myself for the female co
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  Speaker 2: Secretary general's position. Then I became the Co Secretary General
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  Speaker 2: of ILGA and that lasted for two terms from two
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  Speaker 2: thousand and three to two thousand and eight. That actually
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  Speaker 2: really helped to inform and also define my activism. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: and with all of those she went through these ups
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  Speaker 2: and downs with different organizations. She really talks about how
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  Speaker 2: it wasn't really all inclusive. We've heard this so many
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  Speaker 2: times when it comes to organizations that are too niche.
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  Speaker 2: So she would be a part of one and it's
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  Speaker 2: just focusing on women. Did not want to talk about
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  Speaker 2: the queer community, or they did not want to talk
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  Speaker 2: about racism and all that, so so many things, but
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  Speaker 2: she talked about those are kinds of ups and downs
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  Speaker 2: that she experienced. So Flammer Caldera went on to form
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  Speaker 2: Equal Ground, and here's what she had to say about
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  Speaker 2: this organization. There was really no advacy being done around
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  Speaker 2: LGBTQ rights in a way that included the full spectrum
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  Speaker 2: of the queer community in Sri Lanka. So I decided
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  Speaker 2: to form Equal Ground along with some friends and particularly
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  Speaker 2: with some women who were with me at the wsg
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  Speaker 2: SO Women's Associations. We never looked back after that. We
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  Speaker 2: started Equal Ground in June two thousand and four. In
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  Speaker 2: December we had that awful tsunami. We spent the whole
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  Speaker 2: of two thousand and five collecting funds from LGBTIQ persons
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  Speaker 2: all over the world through ILGA and a few other
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  Speaker 2: organizations to help out with the tsunami relief efforts. And yeah,
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  Speaker 2: she did talk in depth about that impact. How so
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  Speaker 2: many people we know died. They've talked about it, and
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  Speaker 2: they're still damages that have not been addressed. Since then,
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  Speaker 2: she's worked really hard in trying to help her community
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  Speaker 2: as a whole once again. And here's some information about
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  Speaker 2: the organization itself from their own website, Equal dashground dot
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  Speaker 2: org says Equal Ground is a nonprofit organization seeking economic,
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  Speaker 2: social cultural, civil and political rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
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  Speaker 2: intersex and questioning slash queer or LGBTIQ community of Sri Lanka.
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  Speaker 2: We are committed to creating a safe space for all
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  Speaker 2: LGBTIQ individuals and to provide opportunities for self help including
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  Speaker 2: mental well being, economic, social and political empowerment, access to health, education, housing,
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  Speaker 2: and legal protection for the LGBTIQ community. Equal Ground is
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  Speaker 2: one of the truly diverse organizations in Sri Lanka, which
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  Speaker 2: includes the wider identities of the LGBTIQ community in Sri
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  Speaker 2: Lanka as well as our heterosexual allies and friends. So
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  Speaker 2: they have so much on their website. Do you get
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  Speaker 2: a chance go look it up? Because they talk about
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  Speaker 2: all the works that they've done, and there's so much.
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  Speaker 2: We didn't want to bypass all the in depth details
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  Speaker 2: they had, so you should definitely go check out their site.
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  Speaker 2: On their site, they do give some insight about the
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  Speaker 2: environment they are working in and the types of things
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  Speaker 2: that they're having to deal with. So they say Sri
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  Speaker 2: Lanka's society is structured on strict gender roles and responsibilities,
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  Speaker 2: where anything different to heteronormativity and binary gender standards is
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  Speaker 2: considered abnormal, deviant, and deserving of punishment slash discrimination. As
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  Speaker 2: a result of our colonial past, same sex sexual relationships
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  Speaker 2: between consenting adults is deemed a criminal act, punishable with
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  Speaker 2: up to ten years in prison. As a result, social
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  Speaker 2: stigmas are attached to homosexuality and transgenderism. This stigma is
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  Speaker 2: heavily institutionalized, resulting in the discrimination and marginalization of members
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  Speaker 2: of the LGBTIQ community and those perceived as members of
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  Speaker 2: the LGBTIQ community. Due to the lack of understanding of
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  Speaker 2: gender identity and sexual orientation and misinterpreted religious cultural doctrine,
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  Speaker 2: LGBTIQ persons are often forced into heterosexual marriages, subject to
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  Speaker 2: curative rape or face violence within the confines of their
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  Speaker 2: homes and in public. Individuals who are thus mistreated are
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  Speaker 2: denied access to justice and medical attention because they fear
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  Speaker 2: the repercressions of their different sexual orientation gender identity becoming
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  Speaker 2: public knowledge, and also because the instances of further abuse
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  Speaker 2: of the hands of the authorities is a probable threat.
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  Speaker 2: So definitely a lot to take in in that conversation.
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  Speaker 2: In the persecution of the queer community, we've seen it,
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  Speaker 2: we know that it exists, and we also know there
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  Speaker 2: are people who are fighting just like Flimmer Caldeta. But
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  Speaker 2: with this from their own site, they include the work
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  Speaker 2: they've been doing, which includes educating the community about the
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  Speaker 2: LGBTQI community, offering legal counsel, assisting in health and mental
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  Speaker 2: health needs, working to change policies and laws that are
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  Speaker 2: very harmful to the queer community, and so much more,
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  Speaker 2: including the fact they're also working in the tech space
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  Speaker 2: to make it more accessible as well as using it
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  Speaker 2: for advocacy and teaching others. So really really cool stuff
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  Speaker 2: that they're doing. So Flemmer, called Detta, has been on
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  Speaker 2: the frontline pushing back against the laws and policies that
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  Speaker 2: discriminate and harm the lgbt IQ community. In fact, in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, she presented a case to the UN
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  Speaker 2: stating that Sri Lanka's ban on same sex consensual relationships
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  Speaker 2: were a violation of human rights. And here's a bit
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  Speaker 2: from her feature in Time magazine. Flammer Calderta has been
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  Speaker 2: more than two decades advocating for the LGBTQ rights in
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  Speaker 2: Sri Lanka, and her relentious advocacy led to a major
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  Speaker 2: victory for queer women globally. In a landmark decision in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, the U incided with Flammer Claudeta in
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  Speaker 2: her case against Sri Lanka's ban on same sex intimacy
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  Speaker 2: between women, declaring it a human rights violation. The case
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  Speaker 2: brought LGBTQ rights to the four in Sri Lankan politics,
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  Speaker 2: and soon after the decision, a lawmaker introduced a bill
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  Speaker 2: to decriminalize homosexuality in that country. So this is from
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  Speaker 2: a twenty twenty four Times article. The bill at this
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  Speaker 2: point it could pass in the Sri Lankan Parliament, which
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  Speaker 2: Equal Ground is continuing to work to make sure it
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  Speaker 2: does though they're fighting for that. That's being heard, and apparently
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  Speaker 2: it's pretty favorable. We'll see. And like so many of
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  Speaker 2: our amazing activists we have featured of, FLEAMR Caldera has
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  Speaker 2: been recognized for her work, including being named Time magazines
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  Speaker 2: Most Influential People of twenty twenty four, which is why yes,
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  Speaker 2: we found her. She also received a twenty twenty two
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  Speaker 2: APCOM Community Hero Award, and so much more. And I'm
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  Speaker 2: sure we're going to hear so much more about what
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  Speaker 2: she's doing, especially with the fact that they're changing so
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  Speaker 2: much in Sri Lanka and really hope that they're able
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  Speaker 2: to get this done because that would be an amazing
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  Speaker 2: victory for the world and for themselves.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, yes, we'll definitely be checking in on that and
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  Speaker 1: really hoping that it goes through and meantime, listeners. As always,
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  Speaker 1: you can contact us if you have any suggestions, updates, resources.
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  Speaker 1: You can emails at Stephanie and momstephantiheartmedia dot com. You
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• 11:51
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• 11:53
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• 11:59
  Speaker 1: a super producer, Tina are executive producer My and your
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: contrutor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for listening
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