Background

Sabaah was founded on April 15th 2006 at a small constituting general meeting. A group of young, ambitious people, full of initiative, wanted to create an association that had the purpose of working for a specific, common cause, namely: to support homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish.

Why Sabaah?

The main reason for the foundation of Sabaah was that the group of young people wished to create a sense of community and solidarity, and to create a network among homosexuals with other ethnic backgrounds than Danish. A social network that supports and guides people through the kind of problems that homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish often encounter: Identity, “coming-out”, religion, loneliness, family conflicts, parents, reactions, relationships, and the gay community.

How Sabaah?

In Sabaah we are aware that homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish often have special needs and that it is necessary to make an extra effort in order to give support to this minority group in society. Sabaah wants to achieve this by informing, counselling, and creating a social network,  where our target group can meet other people with whom they can identify.

Sabaah wants to create a social network that enables people to exchange experiences with other people who go through the same kind of problems as they do themselves – and Sabaah makes it possible to meet other homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish at the different social events organised by Sabaah!

Sabaah wants to work culturally, politically and socially to strengthen and support homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish, and we want to give people who have a Danish ethnic background the opportunity to experience our cultures. Sabaah believes that this will lead to a deeper understanding and respect for each others’ cultures which will promote integration. Another basic goal that Sabaah has is to get young people with another ethnic background than Danish involved in organisational work. Through this work we wish to strengthen their ability to organize, plan, coordinate and share responsibility. Furthermore we wish to  develop their knowledge of and experience with the democratic workings of an association.

Sabaah does not wish to revolt or rebel against our cultures, families or society. On the contrary, we believe that there is a strong need to work discreetly and to offer our target group a feeling of safety and security which attracts a lot of people from our target group. Our experience with Sabaah has shown us that many of the people in our organisation are religious and proud of their cultural background. Their true conflict lies in the question: how to unite their cultural background, religion and sexuality.

Hope for the future

In Sabaah we hope that we will all be accepted in our own communities some day. Just like people with a Danish ethnic background are most of the time. The process leading to this acceptance will be quite long and tough, but it will be worth it. We – the homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals with ethnic backgrounds other than Danish – want to fight for our cause on our own terms and according to our own needs and interests.