March 2022 — Founding of Supporting Trans, Intersex, and Gender Non-Conforming People Initiative (STAG), Nigeria
Founded in Nigeria in March 2022, Supporting Trans, Intersex, and Gender Non-Conforming People Initiative (STAG) was initially a peer-support, community organising and safe space network for trans, intersex, gender diverse and gender non-conforming people from around 2018/2019. STAG Initiative works with womxn, trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-
conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ community members in Nigeria. The network was begun by Kelsey Brookes, Claudia, and Gloria Henshaw (Juniper), and 16 other trans, intersex, gender diverse and LGBQ+ community members. The organisation’s work particularly centres people who experience multiple layers of exclusion, including trans women, trans men, intersex persons, gender-diverse persons, LGBTQI+ youth, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), people living with HIV, sex workers, displaced persons, and community members facing homelessness, family rejection, violence, health exclusion, and legal insecurity.
STAG Initiative works at the intersection of advocacy, empowerment, safety, health justice, and human rights for womxn, trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people in Nigeria. Their main work includes crisis response, safe housing support, gender-based violence response, legal and psychosocial referrals, SRHR and HIV-related advocacy, community documentation, leadership development, movement building, and policy advocacy. They also create safe spaces where community members can access care, information, support, and collective power. STAG was born out of a deep collective frustration with the violence and discrimination faced by the communities mentioned above, and their work is rooted in ensuring that no one is left behind or erased. STAG advocates for justice, provides safe spaces and services, supports GBV survivors, strengthens community-led crisis response, empowers marginalised communities, and challenges the systems that produce violence, exclusion, and discrimination. STAG was registered in 2025.
Maono
A society where everyone, including trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people, can thrive and have full access to comprehensive healthcare, education, and empowerment, when they want it and how they want it. A future where no one has to hide who they are, explain their existence, or negotiate their dignity before accessing care, safety, education, or opportunity.
Co-founder, Kelsey Brookes says,
“As a visionary leader, I strive to create inclusive spaces and drive systemic change to ensure that every individual, regardless of gender identity, can thrive and be treated with dignity and respect.”
Source: https://www.vitalvoices.org/fellow/kingsley-kalu/
Dhamira
To create an inclusive society where anyone, regardless of gender identity, can live freely and safely.
Malengo/Madhumuni
- Promote the safety, dignity, and human rights of trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non- conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ communities in Nigeria.
- Provide crisis response, safe housing, psychosocial support, legal referrals, and survivor-centred care for community members facing violence, homelessness, family rejection, or insecurity.
- Advance access to inclusive healthcare, SRHR services, HIV prevention, treatment literacy, and gender-affirming information and support.
- Strengthen community leadership, especially among trans, intersex, and gender-diverse young people.
- Document community experiences, rights violations, movement histories, and evidence for advocacy and policy change.
- Build solidarity across generations so that older and younger trans, intersex, and gender-diverse activists can share knowledge, context, experience, strategies, and skills.
- Advocate for laws, policies, systems, and services that respect bodily autonomy, inclusion, safety, and justice.
Maeneo ya kuzingatia
- Crisis Response and Safe Housing — STAG supports trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQI+ community members experiencing violence, homelessness, family rejection, threats, forced displacement, or urgent safety needs. This includes safe housing, emergency relocation support, case management, and referral coordination.
- Gender-Based Violence and Legal Protection — STAG provides survivor-centred support for community members affected by gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, blackmail, family violence, public harassment, and rights violations. The organisation also supports referrals to legal, psychosocial, and protection services.
- SRHR, HIV, and Health Justice — STAG advocates for access to inclusive healthcare, HIV services, SRHR information, treatment literacy, mental health support, and gender-affirming care information. Their work responds to the
exclusion of trans, intersex, and gender-diverse people from mainstream health systems. - Trans and Intersex Movement Building — STAG creates safe spaces for leadership development, peer learning, advocacy training, and community mobilisation. The organisation is particularly interested in strengthening intergenerational learning within the trans and intersex movement, because of the widening gap between older and younger activists. This gap is leading to the loss of knowledge, political context, lived experience, advocacy skills, and movement memory.
- Documentation, Research, and Data-Driven Advocacy — STAG documents lived realities, human rights violations, health access barriers, and community histories. The organisation uses evidence to support advocacy, policy engagement, donor engagement, and movement learning.
- Climate Justice and Social Protection — STAG integrates gender and climate justice by recognising how crisis, flooding, displacement, poverty, and environmental insecurity affect trans, intersex, gender-diverse, and other
marginalised communities. - Economic Empowerment and Education — STAG supports access to skills, education, empowerment opportunities, and leadership pathways for underserved community members.
Wasiliana
Barua pepe: info@staginitiative.org / tgnpn.ng@gmail.com
+2348137760417
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