Matthew Solomon /
OutRight Action International/
New York, NY /
My name is Matthew Solomon and I am an MA candidate at Gallatin pursuing a concentration in Queer human rights discourse. My studies consist of examining the efficacy of communications strategies when advocating for Queer rights on the global stage, along with the adverse impact that neocolonial rhetoric has on Queer liberation. The root of my research examines the tendency for Western NGOs and nations to frame Queer human rights in a way that reinforces colonial and racist stereotypes, and examines as well nations that do not conform to the neoliberal conception of Queer liberation regarding law, marriage equality, military inclusion, and the like.
This is why I am overjoyed at the opportunity to work as a communications intern with OutRight Action International, the only LGBTIQ NGO with permanent consultant status at the UN. In this capacity, I will assist the communications team with drafting press releases, social media posts, blog posts, opinion pieces, and other such documents. I will gain valuable insight as to how the organization considers language, rhetoric, and the impact that their framing has on the international environment when Queer rights are discussed.
I have been able to start early as they prepare for their Pride with a Purpose campaign. This campaign is an effort to acknowledge the activist roots of Pride, moving past corporate-sponsored parades and towards corporate-sponsored good. This seems like an oxymoron, and maybe it is. However, while normal Pride takes corporate money from organizations that are quite queerphobic, OutRight has a position in their development office designed to explicitly vet the organizations that they take money from. The rest of their funding comes from small-dollar donations.
My first task was to collect a series of stories from recipients of their COVID-19 emergency relief fund and create a narrative statement that captures the impacts of the grant on their lives. I was instructed to draft this narrative with sensitivity to their lived experiences, to ensure that they retain their agency and autonomy, while at the same time showcasing the importance of the fund (presumably to attract more donations). While the idea of keeping donors in mind may seem off-putting for the work of human rights, reading the stories and learning how the fund really saved some people when their government skipped them over while distributing resources, I was able to find the importance and necessity of the work.