The idea for the event was developed during the ILGA-Europe conference in Cyprus in October 2016: a group of committed representatives for lesbians’* and women’s rights set a goal of taking action against the invisibility of lesbians* in the discourse within the media and social politics. To this end, the association European Lesbian* Conference was founded today, Thursday, in Vienna. The objectives of the association also include addressing unequal realities of life, economic inequalities, the assignment of gender* and identity, as well as the discrimination of lesbians*.
The European Lesbian* Conference founders, are looking forward to generating great advance interest in the convention and say happily “This kind of conference has been long overdue. Lesbians* in France, Moldavia, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland and other European countries are all confronted by similar prejudices. We are counting on a few hundred participants from all over Europe and the rest of the world.”
The core group of the 1st European Lesbian* Conference consists of lesbian* women* all over Europe and they are working intensely to make the conference unique.
“I’m one of a few openly lesbians in my country, the EL*C Association means first of all a safe space for me, which is important not only for sharing experiences and knowledge but also for expressing solidarity and having the sense of belonging and unity“ says Anastasia Danilova from Moldova.
“Despite the work already done to achieve LGBTQIA visibility for lesbians* still exists a cultural stigma that needs to be broken. EL*C Association will represent numerous lesbians* that can’t come out but want to break down those walls“ adds Aurora Baba from Albania.
Biljana Ginova from Macedonian continues: “The EL*C is the platform that gives political representation to the lesbian* voices in Europe and across all our societies through creating safe space for sharing our lesbian* realities, understanding different lesbian* existences, tackling our struggles and supporting each other. It is about connecting and belonging and above all it is about empowering.“
And Silvia Casaino from France notes: “I hope that the conference will contribute to social changes in Europe by sharing the feminist situated lesbian experience“.
For updated information on the 1st European Lesbian* Conference, please visit: www.europeanlesbianconference.org
Facebook: Europeanlesbianconference
#EuroLesbianCon
How to support us
– share our information on social media and your networks
– send a participant to the conference
– get actively involved (working group, panel discussion, workshop)
– to facilate an L* activist presence
– like EL*C Facebook
– follow EL*C trough Twitter
Warm regards,
EL*C Working Groups: Alice Coffin, Anastasia Danilova, Aurora Baba, Biljana Ginova, Maria von Känel, Mariella Müller, Natia Gvianishvili, Silvia Casalino, Katrin Gygax, Julia Pałejko, Julia Maciocha, Nicole Emmenegger, Ilaria Todde, Anastasia Andreou, Eliana Afaniotou, Daniela Danna and Lovis Cassaris.
EL*C Host City Vienna: Mariella Müller, Dziedzic Ewa, Michaela Tulipan, Katie Kace and many more volunteers!
