How can we make 2017 a pivotal year for lesbians* in Europe? All the ingredients are already available. In most European countries, lesbians* have been at the forefront of social and political changes. Nevertheless, the energy, creativity, research and activist skills developed by lesbians* during the last 20 years lack visibility and recognition. To counter this state of affairs, the European Lesbian* Conference will take place in Vienna on October 6-8, 2017, the International Lesbian Day.
The European Lesbian* Conference promotes intersectionality in all exchanges, by promoting friendly non-violent communication, a non-hierarchical approaches and affirmative actions for those who do not have easy access to different types of resources.
The organising process involves promoting the engagement of lesbians* with a diverse and interdisciplinary space open to all ethnic and religious backgrounds, lesbians* of colour, of different ages, and/or of various degrees of ability.
Our aim is to hold an inclusive European lesbian* conference. We insist on calling it a “lesbian” conference although we recognize that, as with any category or label, it may be contested and insufficient to describe the diversity of our communities. However, using the word “lesbian” is part of the political struggle for visibility, empowerment and representation. Anyone who considers themselves to have a connection to the word ‘lesbian*’ is invited to come and join us in our dialogues. We use ‘lesbian*’ with an asterisk to encourage a broad range of people to join us – yet we wish to promote the use of the term ‘lesbian*’ as there still remains a large political and cultural struggle for lesbian* visibility, empowerment and representation.
One of the main goals of the conference is to provide a space for lesbians* to develop a political agenda and a working programme for the European lesbian* movement in order to increase our impact and visibility in all spheres. By consequence, the conference will include panel sessions on topics common to European lesbians.
For more information please see the conference website: https://europeanlesbianconference.org/
Supported by Grüne Bildungswerkstatt Wien and many other organizations.
