Disclaimer: EL*C uses the term “lesbian” as a broad inclusive term, that includes all lesbian, bisexual and queer women (both cisgender and trans) and non-binary and intersex persons who feel connected to the lesbian identity and lesbian activism. This includes all LBTI women and non binary persons that identify or are perceived as lesbians, bisexual and queer women.
The “Resourcing Lesbian Movements” grant-making program, funded by EL*C in collaboration with the EU, is set to make a significant impact on human rights across Europe. This initiative aims to resource 31 lesbian projects through financial support. These grants directly address the chronic underfunding and lack of resources that have historically hindered the lesbian movement.
By enhancing lesbian visibility, promoting intersectional inclusion, and enriching cultural diversity, each grant empowers LBTIQ+ organizations to bolster lesbian activists and movements in their national context, thereby promoting and protecting human rights throughout the region.
This article spotlights six projects that have used EL*C’s grant to create large-scale events, festivals and conferences, as vital points of convergence, connection and inspiration for LBTIQ+ communities.
These events – in Slovenia, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Greece and Romania – draw lesbians from all over the world, creating invaluable opportunities for intersectional collaboration. They are a place of celebration and exploration of lesbianism, set in culturally-rich environments that spotlight LBTIQ+ artists and academics. These curated safer spaces enable participants to experience, sometimes for the first time, what it is to live and express in diverse lesbian community, and therefore understand the atmosphere of tolerance, acceptance, recognition, freedom of expression, and equality the lesbian movement strives for throughout Europe.
- ŠKUC Lesbian quarter, Slovenia
Since 2014, ŠKUC Lesbian quarter has been a key artistic and activist festival that celebrates and amplifies local lesbian art, movement, and community. It provides a unique space for lesbian creativity, fostering connections among lesbian individuals, artists, and the wider LGBTQ+ community while engaging with the cultural and artistic scene. The Lesbian Quarter reflects the ongoing evolution of the lesbian movement, ensuring that lesbian voices and creativity remain visible and active in public spaces. Its impact has been recognized with awards like the 2022 “Woman about Woman” award, highlighting its significant contributions to feminist activism.
EL*C’s grant has been instrumental in bolstering their years of voluntary activism, and was directed toward the organisation’s core team, integrating new members and fostering a cohesive environment. They created opportunities for team bonding, education, collaboration, and mutual learning, through the facilitation of regular meetings, workshops and informal gatherings. This significantly improved team cohesion and communication. These gatherings allowed ŠKUC Lesbian quarter members to understand each other on a personal level, enhancing their overall team dynamic and expanding their capacity as activists for social justice.
ŠKUC Lesbian quarter also used EL*C’s grant to enrich their diverse programme of inclusive and participatory events and workshops, free of charge to ensure accessibility. This deepened their understanding of various perspectives, and has been invaluable in shaping the topics and themes for upcoming festivals, ensuring their large-scale events – like Lesbian Quarter and Ljubljana’s Pride – remain relevant, inclusive, and reflective of the community’s interests and needs.
- Bilitis, Bulgaria
In 2004, a small group of lesbians gathered to create a space of connection and mutual support in Sofia. This soon evolved into Bilitis, the oldest active LGBTIQ+ organisation in Bulgaria, and a bastion of education and empowerment, an uncompromising defender of equality, and a creator of community. Their dedicated team are co-organisers of Sofia Pride, and Rainbow Hub, the only LGBTQ+ Community Centre in the country.
Though Bilitis – named after the most faithful disciple of ancient Greek poet, Sappho – have been co-running Pride since 2009, EL*C’s grant has enhanced their capacity to ensure lesbian participation, representation and leadership in all levels of Pride, and the broader LGBTIQ+ movement.
It has also strengthened their capacity to offer twice monthly facilitated meetings for youth groups, queer-femmes, bisexual, and trans and intersex communities. These meetings are opportunities to deepen and expand their comprehension of the intersectional nature of LGBTQ+ identity
Bilitis have used EL*C’s grant to bolster the Sofia LGBTI Community Fest this December, which aims to give the community a platform for exchange, inclusion and intersectional integration. It has ensured that this year’s Fest includes its most comprehensive and inclusive programme of discussions, workshops, exhibitions, screenings, parties and performances related to LGBTI+ rights and feminism, courtesy of artists and activists from Bulgaria and other EU countries.
- Papaya Kuir, Netherlands
Created by, and for, Latin American migrants and refugees residing in the Netherlands, Papaya Kuir offers emergency support, advocacy and community to those who fall into precarious political, economic, psychological and social situations as they await decisions on asylum applications. Foundationally, after three and a half years of consistently organizing events and workshop, emergency fundraising, temporary housing for newcomers, and building support network systems for LBTIQ+ Latin American diaspora and refugees, EL*C’s grant created the opportunity for their team to reflect and regroup, collectively exploring their past achievements, present challenges, and future possibilities.
Through this period of deliberation and collaboration, Papaya Kuir held Sudarico Festival in September, a vital event of community resourcing and celebration of Latin American culture, music, art and performance, by LBTIQ+ women and non-binary artists. They also used the grant to start a new collaboration between a lesbian visual artist and LBTIQ+ Latin American refugees and migrants, and two other educational projects. Notably, their workshop on ‘Transformative Justice’ was a crucial opportunity to deepen their capacity to collaborate and show meaningful solidarity with wider struggles for equality, freedom and protection for refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable minority groups in Netherlands and Europe.
- Sappho Women & the International Eressos Women’s Festival, Greece
For the past 25 years, Sappho Women have hosted the International Eressos Women’s Festival on the Greek Island of Lesvos. Each September, LBTIQ+ women and non-binary people from around the world have gathered to form community in the picturesque village of Skala Eressos. The Women’s Festival creates a unique destination for inclusive and safer LBTIQ+ travel, and a place of convergence and integration for lesbians of diverse social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds. It is also dedicated to supporting the local community, fostering integration and collaborations, while simultaneously advocating for the recognition and equality of lesbians.
EL*C’s grant has been instrumental in developing the capacity of the non-profit organization. It has enabled the festival organizers to participate in skills development courses and turned a previously volunteer member of staff into a paid employee. The grant has been used to initiate the Women’s Festival’s ‘EmpowerHER’ project. Through a series of skill-building workshops and networking events, it aims to create a supportive environment for fostering personal and professional growth for the LBTIQ+ community.
Sappho Women have also engaged subcontractors to develop promotional materials for their EmpowerHER project, and held a presentation at Europride in Thessaloniki earlier this year. This wider engagement has been instrumental in their public awareness campaign to encourage more participation and intersectionality at the annual Women’s Festival.
- Queer Sisterhood Cluj, Romania
Comprised of LBTIQ+ women and non-binary people, Queer Sisterhood is an important hub of convergence, connection and activism in Cluj. With EL*C’s grant, they launched the Lesbian* Conference in Romania, a significant opportunity for individuals and activists to align their visions for a more just and equitable society. Through an extensive programme of panels and presentations, the conference explored gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, relationship styles and mental health. A central focus was the herstory of the lesbian movement in Romania and ‘imagination exercises,’ which enabled them to collectively generate a united, but not uniform, future.
Queer Sisterhood also used the grant to create a project rooted in the mental health of lesbians in Romania. By offering weekly therapy sessions, and traveling to different regions of the country, they encouraged community members to amplify their voices and stories. They found that these mental health sessions, particularly those in more rural comminutes, ignited hope, and fostered unity and solidarity. The grant enabled them to expand the reach of their organization, and build a more resilient community of social activities by providing vital psycho-social support.
- My Rainbow Institute, Slovenia
Led by a coalition of social workers, psychologists, mental health professionals, students and activists in Ljubljana, My Rainbow Institute is dedicated to the mental health and psychological well-being of the LGBTIQ+ community in Slovenia. They facilitate and co-create community support by training volunteers to provide peer-to-peer psychosocial support, counselling for people with fewer opportunities, conversation groups, street actions, non-formal education activities, recreational and sports activities.
Their primary goal is to empower participants and service users by increasing the visibility and voice of young lesbians in feminist activism and everyday life, creating more diverse, intersectional and intergenerational LBTIQ+ networks in Slovenia.
My Rainbow Institute used EL*C’s grant to launch their Building Resilience Project. Through the project they organized two international gatherings of lesbians from different European countries, creating a space for celebration and collaboration through their intersectional identities and diverse backgrounds. They also created a lesbian tour of Ljubljana, hosted art workshops and strengthened their collaboration with the city’s Faculty of Social Work. Moreover, they have engaged and worked with fifteen young lesbians who have joined as volunteers and co-creators of the Building Resilience programme, ensuring the intergenerational relevance of the project.
EL*C’s grant was used to host these Events, Festivals and Conferences, in which six NGOs created nourishing and supportive environments for LBTIQ+ activists to connect, exchange and relax. These points of contact resourced individual activists and strengthened the capacity of organisations to better protect and promote lesbian* rights in Europe. The public nature of these spaces has also ensured EL*C’s grants were used to heighten citizen awareness of EU rights and values regarding the LGBTIQ+ community.
