THE THIRD LESBIAN WEEK
Tuesday, 14 September 2004 01:00
THE GATHERING OF LESBIAN ACTIVISTS FROM THE STATES OF FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Novi Sad, September 9-12, 2004
THE FINAL DOCUMENT
From September 9 to
September 12 2004, Novi Sad hosted The Third Lesbian Week – a gathering
of lesbian activists from former Yugoslavia – titled Our Network, Our
Strength, which was organized by Labris – lesbian human rights group from
Belgrade.
The Week gathered 45
participants – individuals and representatives of the following organizations:
Center for Civil and Human Rights/Skopje, Deve/Belgrade,
Free Rainbow/Podgorica, Labris/Belgrade, Lambda/Nis,
Lesbian Group Kontra/Zagreb, Legebitra/Ljubljana, Lori/Rijeka,
Association Q/Sarajevo – from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia
and Serbia and Montenegro.
The most important fact is
that it was the first time that lesbian activists from organizations from
Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, participated ever since the
gatherings of lesbian activists from former Yugoslavia started in 1997.
Participants of The Third Lesbian Week worked on raising awareness of lesbian rights and identity, sharing knowledge and experiences being lesbian activists, strengthening former –YU lesbian network and joint actions.
Conclusions
Changes that happened since the previous gathering in 2002: Organizations tend to focus more on public work; many high-profile campaigns for promotion of lesbian rights have been conducted – successful lobbying resulted in legislation changes in Croatia; organizations are more powerful; organizations have become professional; some independent initiatives aimed at raising lesbian visibility have emerged; new organizations and initiatives have been formed: Angelina Jolie Fan Club, Free Rainbow, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Association Kum, Pride, Association Q and Gayrilla. More than half of the participants in the gathering were young lesbian activists.
Conclusions after
meetings of the regional lesbian network:
Representatives of organizations and autonomous activists report that the
network activity is correspondent to the capacities of organizations and is
tremendously important to organizations and individuals in the region.
Participants specially appreciate mutual cooperation, support and solidarity,
sharing information, experiences and knowledge, support to newly-formed
organizations, empowering and motivating new activists, support and empowering
long-time activists.
What we will do until
the next gathering:
We will advocate more
successful legislation changes and application of new anti-discrimination
regulations, promotion of LGBT rights in public and awareness campaigns; we will
work on empowering lesbians and lesbian activists and support to organizations
and initiatives.
The next gathering will
take place in Croatia in 2006.
Appendix: The Third Lesbian Week was preceded by the following gatherings of lesbian activists from the states of former Yugoslavia:
- The First Lesbian Week – 1997, Pohorje/Slovenia, organized by the lesbian group Kasandra from Ljubljana
- The Second Lesbian Week – 2000, Sombor/Serbia and Montenegro, organized by Labris, lesbian human rights group, from Belgrade
- Gathering of lesbian activists from the states of former Yugoslavia – 2001, Rovinj/Croatia, organized by the lesbian group Kontra from Zagreb
- Seminar
«Equal Citizenship» - 2002, Ljubljana/Slovenia, organized by the lesbian group
SKUC-LL from Ljubljana
Between thirty (30) and sixty (60) lesbian activists from the states of former Yugoslavia participated in these gatherings.
In the gathering of lesbian activists from the state of former Yugoslavia in 2001, a regional lesbian network was formed. Its aim is to eliminate discrimination and achieve equal civil and human rights of lesbians, through mutual support, cooperation and solidarity. A long-term plan of the regional lesbian network is integration in international networks. The objective is to support newly formed lesbian groups.
I am a sculptor,
With my skilful, gentle fingers
I carve your new body,
my lover
Novi Sad,
September 11, 2004.
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