Help us tackle the meth crisis on LGBTQ people

I am Roberto Tovar, director of Número de Serie , a project that works on reducing inequalities in marginalised communities in the UK with a particular focus on LGBTQ+ people. We are looking for your support to fund a campaign about the use of crystal meth, aka “Tina”, within the LGBTQ+ community. The project includes listening circles, an international online meeting, panels, workshops and art exhibitions that will take place between July 2023 and February 2024. Participating venues include Dalston Superstore, QueerCircle and Fitzrovia Chapel in London.

CONTEXT

The LGBTQ+ community is facing a crisis as complex as the one we experienced in the 80s and 90s with HIV/AIDS. The consumption of crystal meth or “Tina” has increased to the point of being considered a public health issue according to UNAIDS, however, the governments of the most affected countries are not acting accordingly. As happened with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, stigma and lgbtphobia silence the problems of this new crisis: overdoses, suicides, psychiatric disorders, as well as labour, economic, and family exclusion and social isolation are the most palpable consequences. The crystal meth crisis is a new blow to the LGBTIQ+ community that is affecting the lives of thousands of people in the communities and is being ignored by governments. Once again, it is up to civil society organizations to design and implement a response to take care of each other. It is essential to open the conversation in the community, both inside but also outside consumption spaces because if we learned anything from the fight against AIDS it is that SILENCE = DEATH.

PROGRAM

For this reason, from Número de Serie we have mapped a plan whose main highlights are:

JULY 2023 - FEBRUARY 2024 | Monthly listening circles to facilitate conversations between substance users, promoting the creation of safe spaces to share experiences, keep each other company and mutually support us.

JULY 2023 | Activation of the virtual reality piece AntimonuMeth by the artist Eugenio Echeverría (Spain - Mexico) at Fitzrovia Chapel (July 11, 12 and 13), Dalston Superstore (July 14) and Queercircel (July 15). The piece correlates homosexual genocide with the crystal meth crisis.

OCTOBER 2023 | Virtual three-day international meeting on the use of crystal meth (whether or not in a chemsex context) and its impact on our way of relating affectively, socially and sexually. Exploring specifically three pillars: Crystal meth and affectivities, migration, and networks.

JANUARY 2024 | Collective Exhibition - Open Call - Focusing on artists who have lived experience with the use of crystal meth.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated, any amount is welcome and will help this initiative to come to life.

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