2024

Paye Paye 25 / Out for 25 Years

On 20th June 2024, Sappho for Equality (SFE) completed twenty-five years of collective struggle, solidarity, and celebration. To mark this milestone, Paye Paye 25 / Out for 25 Years unfolded over three vibrant days at Gallery Gold, Kolkata, culminating in a birthday gala at Princeton Club.

The celebration began on 18th June 2024 with an inaugural panel where members and allies : Shyam Majumder, Neel Ghosh, Minakshi Sanyal, Sumita Beethi, Aritrika Mitra, Subhagata Ghosh, and Ranjita Biswas shared their journeys with SFE. An exhibition tracing 25 years of our work, followed by dance, music, and theatre performances, set the stage for the festivities. 

On 19th June, 2024 the spotlight turned to films, with eight powerful works by our film-making team, accompanied again by cultural performances that embodied our creative resilience.

The 20th of June, 2024 featured congratulatory video messages, an introduction to the art curation team, and final showcases of films, dance, music, and theatre. The celebration closed with gratitude from Managing Trustee Koyel Ghosh and a joyous gala at Princeton Club.

Paye Paye 25 was more than an anniversary, it was a collective remembrance, a cultural archive, and a reaffirmation of SFE’s commitment to walk together, out and proud, into the future.

Organizational Development Program

On 19th – 20th July 2024, Sappho for Equality (SFE) undertook a two-day Organizational Development journey facilitated by Pramada Menon, bringing together 18 participants from its Trustee Board, Executive Committee, and staff to reflect, heal, and strategise collectively.

Through activities probing teamwork, biases, and introspection, participants revisited SFE’s identity as a queer-feminist, rights-based organization working with queer and trans persons assigned female at birth, while acknowledging challenges such as burnout, systemic inadequacies, role confusion, and funding constraints. The process reaffirmed core values of equity, empathy, inclusivity, care, and accountability, and set directions for the future across key strategies:  capacity building, public education, research, networking, combating violence and discrimination, accessing entitlements, enhancing economic justice, and organisational strengthening.

The journey highlighted that while SFE’s resilience lies in its collective spirit and crisis management, sustaining its vision requires balancing service delivery with feminist, intersectional politics, deepening networks, and prioritising collective care to ensure dignity and justice for its communities.