Born this way

A volunteer-run organisation is reaching out to a much neglected population – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender – with counselling and support. By Eleanor Yap (Author). The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population often faces regular challenges such as family rejection, discrimination, accepting themselves, etc, in their daily lives and they need an outlet to help them cope. Oogachaga (named after the dancing baby in the hit sitcom “Ally McBeal”) was started in 1999 and its services/programmes have grown to reach out to this often neglected and growing population. SALT Online finds more about the organisation’s origins and its challenges from its centre manager, Bryan Choong, who joined in 2005: Tell me more about Oogachaga’s beginnings. The group started in 1999 in a very different environment. At the time, the LGBT community were interacting quite underground but today, the LGBT community is more visible. Oogachaga was launched as a gay men’s support group. It was very ground-up and was started by two gay men. Often the support group sessions took place in their living room. It also provided face-to-face counselling support with the help of four to five counsellors. The shoestring manpower of five core volunteers also handled the work and developed the programmes. The first men’s support group consisted of 10 men. In 2005, Oogachaga added a women’s support group, which opened the door to lesbians as well as bisexual women. In 2006, we decided that there were more needs besides support group and counselling, so we started a hotline service that year. Our volunteer pool slowly expanded and currently, we have 70 active volunteers, mostly gays and lesbians, and a small portion consisting of bisexuals and some who are straight. They range in ages from 20 to 60. We received enough private donations to start a counselling centre in 2007 and after which, we expanded our services by running more events and workshops in the community, holding at least one event per month. Through our counselling and support groups, as well as our events and workshops, we reach out to 500 people per year. Compared to when we held our first event in March 2005 where we did a talk about coming out to family members, only 60 people attended. In 2011, we introduced the transgender programme with a small-scale workshop. Transgender are different from gays and bisexuals because most of them are actually heterosexual but they are not accepted by the “mainstream” community. The workshop talked about how they could protect themselves and understand how their body responds sexually. We currently have four full-time staff and we are the only community-based organisation that provides counselling and support to the LGBT population in Singapore. Our mission is really for the LGBT community to accept themselves. What challenges does the LGBT community face? One of the challenges is about them accepting themselves and that they do not need to be ashamed of their sexual orientations or gender identity. Another challenge is the social stigma and the discrimination that comes along with such a label. There’s also the issue of family acceptance and rejection, and sexual health for gays and bisexuals. According to an online survey that Oogachaga did, out of 448 people responded, 77 percent identified themselves as homosexual or bisexual and the rest were transgender. Some 60 percent of the LGBT population said they have experienced homo-phobic and trans-phobic attitudes from the public with most saying it took place while they were in school at all educational levels. This figure could be much higher when Oogachaga started. We also found that the younger LGBT population are more accepting of themselves, while those 40s and above tended to be more closeted (not openly revealing of their homosexuality). As such we started the ‘Mature Men Project’ last year for 40-plus and above. It is more of a networking initiative and it gets them to socialise in a “healthy” way. We have about 15 participants per session and we have completed three runs so far. We are also looking at starting a women’s 40 and above support group. The older LGBT population’s needs are different from that of the younger LGBT population because of the life stages they are in and the challenges they face as they age as a LGBT person. Also we found that transgender have a higher incidence of facing discrimination than lesbians, gays and bisexuals. In our survey, 18 people responded that they faced discrimination in all aspects of their lives. There is also a trend that the LGBT community doesn’t see themselves as either gay or bisexual, and labels don’t work for them. Some do see themselves more as “gender-queer” or more middle-ground as their sexuality is challenging. In terms of bisexuals, the number is under-reported. Our survey said that 18 percent of respondents out of 448 LGBTs say they are bisexual. Another discovery was that two-thirds of the LGBT community that we surveyed had suicide thoughts or at one point, attempted suicide. This to us is a shocking number because this is the first time a Singapore-based survey asked about suicidal ideation according to sexual orientation or gender identity. Where does funding for Oogachaga come from? To run Oogachaga, we require about S$300,000 in operating costs per year. We get it mostly from private donors. We do look for corporates to donate but because of the cause we deal with, it can be touchy. Our ‘Mature Men Project’ is funded by the cosmetic brand MAC AIDS Fund. Besides all that, we charge a minimum fee for counselling and workshops. For counselling, it is S$60 per session. For support group, it ranges from S$180 to S$250. And for workshops, we charge S$10 per workshop. We are consistently looking for more donors or funding sources so that we can continue to maintain this professional service for the community. Do you feel over the years there is more awareness for the LGBT community? The awareness of the LGBT community has increased a great deal. When we go out to talk to the social services community, they are more receptive to collaborating with us. It is much better than years before. Also, there will always be people who struggle with their sexuality but I have noticed more are opening up to talk about their sexuality but more are going online as it is safe. I have also noticed that their needs have changed since we started as the support group members are building meaningful relationships with their family and friends. In the late ’90s and mid-2000s, people are generally more concerned about self-acceptance. What are some challenges as an organisation? Because of the cause we represent, it is hard for us to do any marketing/publicity in mainstream media so we mostly do it online. Censorship is a huge issue. Only times that we are mentioned are when there are dealings with drug usage and HIV, and it is always nothing positive. (WRITER’S NOTE: The last coverage was in “The Sunday Times” where Oogachaga’s survey was revealed.) We leverage a lot on word-of-mouth and we have a bi-weekly newsletter. Furthermore, collaborations are a challenge because of the nature of the work. Healthcare and social services are more familiar with us but there is still room for improvement in term of educating them about LGBT issues and needs. For now, through Oogachaga, we are only reaching out to an estimated 10 percent of the LGBT community in Singapore. We intend to roll out more awareness campaigns so that more people will know our services. How do you volunteer-manage your pool of volunteers? We use Facebook as a platform for volunteers to communicate with each other and for them to communicate with us. We started a volunteer-run-volunteer management team. We have the system in place even though we don’t have a volunteer manager, which we are currently looking for. What is your wishlist for Oogachaga? We want to serve the community through our various services. We want to be a leading centre to provide understanding for LGBTs in Singapore, and be a resource and training centre for social service professionals who want to work with LGBTs. We hope to one day be irrelevant and that the LGBT community is accepted. Oogachaga also has another website: http://www.oogachaga.com/congregaytion/ This story was first published in SALT (www.salt.org.sg), an e-magazine by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. Additional info provided by cataloguer: The article is accompanied by a set of three photographs consisting of two men seated beside a window inside a shophouse, two men standing back to back of each other and a man wearing a poster cardboard during an event.