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Mina Tolu

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Mina Tolu
Deputy Chairperson of AD+PD
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 May 2023
Serving with Carmel Cacopardo
LeaderSandra Gauci
Co-Spokesperson of Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG)
In office
August 2019 – June 2021
Personal details
Born (1991-08-31) 31 August 1991 (age 33)
Malta
Political partyAD+PD (2020-present)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic Alternative (before 2020)
Alma materUniversity of Malta
OccupationPolitician, political activist, LGBTQI activism, environmental activist

Mina Tolu (born 31 August 1991) is a Maltese politician, activist who champions LGBTQIA causes and is a green activist who has campaigned to raise awareness of transgender rights and gender equality in Europe.[1] They ran for the 2019 European Parliament election in Malta.[2] Tolu is currently deputy chairperson of AD+PD and previously served as co-spokesperson of the Federation of Young European Greens.

Early life

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Tolu and their twin sibling, Ludo Tolu, were born on 31 August 1991. Together, they founded the Maltese Student Organisation, We Are, in 2010.[3] Tolu's father, Giancarlo Tolu, is a Maltese sportsman who broke a Guinness World Record in bowling in 2004[4] and represented Malta at the European Senior Bowling Championships[5] and the Senior World Cup.[6]

Tolu graduated with a Bachelor of Communications (Hons) from the University of Malta in 2014.[7] Their dissertation project consisted of the creation of a comic meant to reach out to the LGBT Young Adult (YA) audience. The comic was aimed at the Maltese audience, where literature of this type is limited.

Activism and career

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LGBTQI activism

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Tolu began advocating for LGBTQIA rights in 2010, starting with the foundation of We Are (LGBTQIA youth & student organization) at the University of Malta.[3]

From 2014 to 2015, Tolu was a board member and Co-Chair of IGLYO - the International LGBTQIA Youth and Student Organization (2014 - 2015). They were IGLYO's candidate for the Council of Europe Advisory Council of Youth (CCJ) during 2016 and 2017.[8] They were elected to the Advisory Council of Youth[9] where they worked on portfolios of mental health, counter-narratives and 'no hate speech'. In 2015, Tolu joined the staff team of TGEU - Transgender Europe as Communications Officer.[10]

Mina Tolu at the Human Rights Conference at Stockholm Pride 2018
Mina Tolu at the Human Rights Conference at Stockholm Pride 2018

In 2016, Tolu represented Malta at One Young World Summit in Ottawa, Canada. They delivered a speech on trans rights and was a member on a panel about gender equality.[11] Tolu spoke about challenging gender stereotypes, gender-neutral pronouns[12] and stressed the need for gender equality to include transgender and gender-non-conforming people. During their speech on trans rights and violence against trans people[13] at the One Young World Summit, Tolu spoke about TGEU's Trans Murder Monitoring project[14] and called on the One Young World community fighting similar forms of discrimination, violence and hatred towards diversity to unite together and bring change in all these communities.

In 2018, Mina Tolu joined the Women Deliver Young Leaders program,[15] which is a global advocacy program that develops youth activists to work for gender equality and women's rights.[1] They returned to local activism in Malta by joining the Pride Week events in the run-up to Malta Pride 2018.[16] In August 2018, Tolu joined the Human Rights Conference at Euro Pride held in Stockholm.[17]

Environmental activism

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In 2015, Tolu coordinated the national referendum campaign SHOut - Spring Hunting Out (No campaign)[18] for the Maltese environmental NGO BirdLife Malta that aimed to abolish spring bird hunting in Malta. The result of the vote was a slim victory for the Yes Campaign of 2,220 votes.[19]

Recognition

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Mina Tolu was nominated and won the student award at the first LGBTQIA Community Awards in Malta, 2014. Their twin, Ludo Tolu, won the same award.[20] In the same year, they were awarded Kokka Attiva by the University Student Council (KSU) for their work as a student at the University of Malta and was nominated for a JCI Malta young leader award.[21]

Personal life

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Tolu is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mina Tolu". Women Deliver. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  2. ^ "AD to field three candidates for the European Parliament elections - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b "The Executive Team". Archived from the original on 11 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Bowling coach breaks world record". Times of Malta. 21 September 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Silver medals for Spiteri in Bologna tournament". Times of Malta. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Malta Olympic Committee – Tenpin Bowling National Leagues". nocmalta.org. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  7. ^ Tolu, Romina (10 December 2018). ""Sarah's story" : the creation of an LGBT comic". hydi.um.edu.mt. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  8. ^ Tolu, Mina, Mina Tolu - Advisory Council on Youth, retrieved 10 December 2018
  9. ^ "Members of the Advisory Council on Youth". Council of Europe. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Mina Tolu". One Young World. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  11. ^ "WATCH: Maltese Representative Challenges Emma Watson At International Youth Conference". lovinmalta.com. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Worlds apart on a tiny island - our Director's Talking Point on The Times". aditus foundation. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  13. ^ "This year alone 185 trans people have been reported murdered" | Mina Tolu, 18 November 2016, retrieved 10 December 2018
  14. ^ "Leading Lights". The Hive. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  15. ^ "An Unwavering Advocate for Girls and Women". Women Deliver. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  16. ^ "Check Out Every Single Event Happening At Malta Pride Next Week". lovinmalta.com. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  17. ^ "Reproductive rights and LGBTI rights: different challenges, different strategies? - EuroPride 2018 Stockholm". EuroPride 2018 Stockholm Program. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Spring Hunting Out campaign says it is time to 'set the facts straight' on spring hunting - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Referendum 2015 Official Result Govt Gazette" (PDF). electoral.gov.mt. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Nominees for first LGBTI Community Awards announced". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  21. ^ Diacono, Timothy (14 May 2014). "18 Awards Handed out at Kokka Night 2014". The Insiter. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  22. ^ "[WATCH] Mina Tolu: 'Respecting my gender pronouns means people see me'". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
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