DAHOTB Campaign “Oled meile oluline” (You Matter to Us) – Estonia (EstMSA)

Name of the activity: DAHOTB Campaign “Oled meile oluline” (You Matter to Us)

Country/NMO: Estonia (EstMSA)

Program: Sexuality & Gender Identity

Type of the activity: Campaign

General description:

Estonia has ample room for development in supporting its sexual and gender minorities, among which young LGBTIQ+ members are especially vulnerable. That is why we are launching a Facebook campaign directed primarily towards youth and student organizations. The campaign is based on organizations adding a logo to their profile pictures. Our objectives are tied to engaging Estonian organizations and gaining publicity, and we will evaluate it quantitatively.

Focus area:

LGBTIQ+ issues

Problem statement:

While small steps are being made towards a more inclusive and tolerant society in Estonia, a survey conducted in 2017 [1] showed that 52% of Estonians still consider homosexuality to be unacceptable and furthermore, 22% of Estonians do not believe being transgender is a real experience.
These two statistics alone should be reason enough to draw attention to the International Day Against Homo-, Bi- and Transphobia. However, in addition, a qualitative survey conducted in 2016 amongst Estonian sexual and gender minorities [2] indicated that LGBTIQ+ youth feels wary and uncertain about being open about their sexual or gender identity in the academic environment. Young people of minorities, especially in the transgender demographic, are often selective in coming out and show that aspect of their identities only to people close to them.
This shows that the environment for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people can be cold, even threatening, and that public support of the LGBTIQ+ youth is scarce. Our aim is to change that by drafting youth and student organizations into our campaign, “Oled meile oluline” (You Matter to Us).
[1] https://humanrights.ee/en/topics-main/vordne-kohtlemine/attitudes-towards-lgbt-topics-estonia/
(full survey in Estonian:
https://humanrights.ee/app/uploads/2017/05/Avaliku-arvamuse-uuring-LGBT-teemadel-2017-4.pdf)
[2] https://humanrights.ee/en/materials/inimoigused-eestis-2016-2017/lgbt-inimeste-olukord/
(full survey used, in Estonian:
https://enut.ee/files/LGBT_uuringuraport_2016.pdf)

Target groups and beneficiaries:

The target group addressed directly will be the members and Facebook followers of all organizations taking part. The long term beneficiary will be the LGBTIQ+ community, specifically in Estonian youth organizations.

Objectives and indicators of success:

Our objective is to engage student organizations. The indicator of success is for at least 30 organizations to have participated in the campaign by 20th May.
The other objective is to get publicity. The indicator of success for that is to get at least one article written on IDAHOTB besides our own press release. Another indicator of success in the field of publicity is that in addition to youth and student organizations, organizations with a more varied scope (e.g organizations with older audience) also take part.

Methodology:

During the week from 14th to 20th May, any organizations we have contacted or that have found out about the campaign can change their Facebook profile photo to include a rainbow-coloured heart with the text “Oled meile oluline” inside it, and add the following caption in Estonian or in English:
“May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. Our organisation cares about all its members, regardless of their gender identity or sexual preference. For extra information about the campaign, visit the site http://www.eays.ee/oledoluline. #oledoluline #idahotb”
We will also send in a press release for 17th May.

Plans for evaluation:

We will count all the organizations that took part in the campaign. In addition, we will count all forms of media coverage on IDAHOTB that stemmed from our campaign, and evaluate the amount of people reached through that coverage via the popularity of the platform.