The EuroCentralAsian Lesbian Community – EL*C – is thrilled to announce the winners of the Strengthening the Lesbian Movement grantmaking programme. 31 projects building lesbian power, visibility, and resilience across Europe got awarded with 550,000 EUR.
From festivals and archives to policy advocacy and self-defence trainings, the programme resources small, volunteer-run organizations rooted in local communities. EL*C paired financial support with mentoring, capacity development, and transnational collaboration for long-term growth.
The lesbian movement is chronically under-resourced amid rising lesbophobia. This funding strengthens movement infrastructure, enabling events, workshops, research, and advocacy reaching thousands.
We thank all applicants for their commitment—the selection was competitive. Meet the grantees:
Association ŠKUC
ŠKUC will strengthen lesbian visibility through organizing the 10th Lesbian Quarter festival and an exhibition. It will also strengthen networking and collaboration within and outside the LGBT+ community and arts world. The project also includes strengthening the SKUC team and capacity-building work.
Sistrum Association – The Lesbian* Culture Space
In order to strengthen lesbian visibility, SISTRUM will undertake educational and performative trips to eight towns in Poland. The project will include lecture-workshops, performances during pride marches, and the publication of a handbook on street performances.
Lesbian Bologna APS
Lesbiche Bologna aims to reduce violence in the LBT* community through a combination of activities including undertaking research on perpatrators of violence, training of hotline operators and reorganization of the work of their Anti-Violence Center.
Labrisz Association
Labrisz will create a virtual museum for the arts, cultural and educational objects and projects containing representations of LGBTQI+ people which have been censored, banned, or restricted by the government in the recent past. The museum would offer virtual tours; and it would be accompanied by a media and social media campaign.
Italian Lesbic List Association L.L.I.
Lista Lesbica will provide services and support to lesbian* and queer refugees and asylum seekers (e.g. language course, legal and psychological aid) in Milan and it will disseminate its approach and methodology in at least three other cities in Italy.
TransAkcija (Transfeminist Institute TransAction)
This project will facilitate meaningful connections between lesbian-focused organizations and the trans* communities in Slovenia, through initiating dialogues and consultations, and identifying areas of collaboration and joint projects including media and awareness-raising work.
Lesbian Organisation Rijeka – LORI
The project aims to improve the availability and quality of health services for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women. It will increase visibility of the topic and raise awareness of health professionals, students, decision-makers and general public about the problems, through undertaking research, workshops, disseminating results including organizing lectures and roundtable discussions with relevant actors.
Queer Sisterhood Cluj- Hilltop ORG
Queer Sisterhood will organize a lesbian* conference, in order to facilitate dialogue, raise awareness, and challenge societal stereotypes. The group will also organize a weekly support group for lesbian* community members to provide mental and emotional support. Lastly, a book with lesbian* stories will serve as a powerful tool for visibility and advocacy.
Anemos Dimiourgias
In July 2023, Anemos Dimiourgias completed the feature film “Lesvia”, telling the story of Skala Eressos over the past 45 years. This project uses the film to increase lesbian visibility through bringing the film to a large conference on Lesbian Herstory in Eressos, Lesvos; and organizing workshops, debates and film screenings in queer, feminist but also mainstream festivals in the EU.
Liberas
Liberas will open an anti-violence listening center in Cagliari for women, lesbians, trans and non-binary persons and their children. It will also engage in information and awareness-raising campaigns and in training new workers and volunteers.
Feminist Autonomous Centre for Research (FAC)
This is a preparatory step towards the creation of a lesbian archive of Eresos. The proposed project will, on the one hand, collect stories from three generations of lesbians* that have visited Eresos. In addition, the project will build collaborations with other actors interested in the greater project of creating a lesbian archive of Eresos.
Arcigay
Arcigay Rete Donne Transfemminista, a network composed of LBTQ+ activists within the Italian LGBTI association Arcigay, aims to promote LBQ-focused advocacy in order to advance the Italian LBQ+ movement at the national and local levels. The project will build advocacy capacity of the LBQ activists in the network, who will also elaborate advocacy plans and a toolkit.
Association Les Dégommeuses
The project focuses, on the one hand, on creating and publishing research on the media representation of women in sport – including sexist and lesbophobic stereotypes -, using the media attention generated by the Paris Olympic. On the other hand, the project includes archiving and publicizing the work that the applicant did in spreading women’s soccer in France in the past ten years.
Association Clube Safo
Clube Safo will undertake a range of activities including provision of services for community members (e.g. Lesbian Support Line, online support groups, in-person support groups), communications and visibility (relaunch of the website, lesbian documentary, lesbian magazine) as well as internal trainings.
Lespectra Association
Lespectra will create an exhibition with portraits of lesbians from all over Bulgaria, contributing to better visibility. The group will also organize regularly LesCafes – pop-up cafes that are a safe space for LBTI+ women and nonbinary persons, helping to strengthen and grow the community.
Fundacja Autonomia
The foundation will provide regular WenDo self-defense trainings for LBTIQ people in order to strengthen them and build a sense of solidarity with other queer people, women* and girls*. Open football trainings for women* and queer people will help reclaim the space in football for persons who are excluded from the game. These activities are seen as strong community-building strategies.
FLiP – Frauenliebe im Pott e.V.
The project aims to increase the visibility and impact of FLiP by documenting and communicating the group’s achievements in the past several years. It also will deepen the group’s relationships other lesbian organizations outside Germany in order to facilitate mutual learning through Zoom calls. Lastly the group will also engage in organizational development in order to make adjustments in its structures and processes.
My Rainbow Institute
The project will offer a comprehensive learning programme for young lesbian and feminist activists (trainings, study visit, field trip and internship); and it will organize discussions on the position of lesbian youth in Slovenia and Europe, as well as a conference on the topic; and it will run lesbian visibility campaigns in Ljubjlana. In addition, services will be provided for community members and internal organizational development will also take place.
Lesbenring e.V.
The project will strengthen Lesbenring’s structures in several ways. First, the project will improve the board’s workflows through undertaking strategic planning. Second, the project will invest in public communications work and fundraising for acquiring more sustainable financing. Thirdly, the project will focus on community-building for individual and organizational members as well as outreach measures for potential new members.
Kikimora and Kikimora Foundation
The project is a step toward creating the first lesbian archive in Bulgaria by conducting in-depth video interviews that span the lives and journeys of local lesbians. These videos will be shared online as a part of a media campaign for lesbian visibility. The interviews will be transcribed and compiled into a booklet that will be presented and distributed during the project’s final launch event.
qLiT Lesbian Magazine and Program Organizing Association
With this project, qLiT will address the burnout of its activists, through engaging in team building events and wellbeing activities; and also through introducing more structured workflows and work routines. The project will also help build international ties and networks for the organization through visits and attending conferences within the EU.
Label Gouine*
Label Gouine* will offer, as part of this project, communication services and support (e.g. content creation, broadcasting, recording of lesbian* events) for lesbian* activists who do not have equipment or resources. The group will also organize a conference and an exhibition, and will attend and record several other lesbian* events, creating visibility and raising awareness for lesbian* issues.
Mummolaakso ry
The project has an organizational development component focusing on Mummolaakso’s organizational capacities and communications. The thematic focus is LBTQ women and ageing: the project will organize intergenerational roundtables and other public discussion events on this topic; and also a series of lectures and trainings for ageing queer women regarding age-related legal documentation, maintenance of physical and social health and involvement in civil society.
Foundation Resource Center Bilitis
The project’s aim is for the Community Festival 2024 to have a focus on lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer women and non-binary persons. Bilitis will organize several workshops and events focusing on this community, and the project will enable disadvantaged LGBTI people from the countryside to travel to the festival.
Associazione Lesbian Femminista Italiana APS (ALFI)
The project focuses on LBT+ women living outside major cities, and its goal is to reduce their isolation and connect them to the community. The project will utilize digital tools to create spaces for these women (Listening Line, Forum) and will also undertake a communications campaign to reach their target audience.
LINC – Advocating for Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Ireland
This project will create a lesbian and bisexual (trans & non-binary inclusive) art group for participants to engage in creative exploration workshops. This group will provide a safe space for LBT women where they can connect with challenges around sexual orientation and gender identity (isolation, homophobia, intersectionality). LINC will organize an exhibition and create visibility for this initiative.
Lesbian Women’s Professional Association LesWorking
The objective of this project is to strengthen the capacities of the LesWorking association, in particular its communications work, as well as its community engagement work, through organizing events and communications campaigns. Lastly, the project includes legal work aiming to target lesbophobia and discrimination against lesbian women*.
FHL – Lesbian Habitat Front
FHL will provide, on the one hand, accommodation and support services for lesbian and trans persons, in particular for refugees. On the other hand, FHL will provide services also on an outpatient basis, e.g. when refugees suffer discrimination in accommodation or with third parties and need help with legal procedures, and access to accommodation/housing and employment. In addition, the group will also engage with authorities and other NGO actors on this topic regularly.
Stichting Papaya Kuir
The project has two distinct activities. First of all, Papaya Kuir will undertake organizational development process including regular team meetings and discussions on organizing the workflow and on organizational growth, including fundraising and other aspect of growth. Secondly, Papaya Kuir will organize a festival called “Sudarico – Queer and Trans Latinx Annual Encounter” in order to bring together and organize the community and increase its visibility.
LesCoruna – Women’s Association for Equality and Visibility
With this project LesCoruna will develop and implement a communications strategy targeting LBTIQ women in Coruna, as well as all inhabitants. During the project LesCoruna will undertake research regarding the needs of LBTIQ women, based on which it will inform and train LBTIQ women about several topics related to health and rights as well as other priorities.
Sappho Women
The project will contribute to Sappho Women organizing the 2024 International Eressos Women’s Festival; and also to the team’s capacity-building in two ways. On the one hand, staff members will attend trainings that will help them deepen their skills; and on the other hand, Sappho Women will broaden its technical capacities which will contribute to the sustainability of the group’s work.
