More then 10 Italian lesbian groups and more then 100 lesbians*, together with numerous allies from the feminism and lgbt movements, have signed a document denouncing the lesbophobic murder of Elisa Pomarelli.

On 24 August 2019 Elisa Pomarelli was killed by Massimo Sebastiani because she was a lesbian and dared to refuse the advances of a man she believed to be her friend. She was punished because she claimed her right to self-determination, to express her identity and to freely choose her relationships. Elisa’s is a feminicide and a lesbicide.

Now, one year after his death, a trial begins in which justice, at best, will only be half done. The murderer has in fact requested and obtained the shortened ritual, and therefore, the discount of sentence which, in cases recognised as feminicides, is not granted. Even the aggravating circumstance of lesbian phobia has not been detected, in the absence, to date, of a specific law. Elisa’s murder cannot be recognised either as feminicide or as lesbicide, a hate crime of a lesophobic matrix, when it is both.

Elisa was not only killed in one way. In the days following her feminicide, the Italian media had speculated about a possible relationship between her and her killer, talking about “good giant”, “dangerous game”, “unrequited love”. Then, when her sexual orientation was made public, it was suddenly said that the victim’s personal life had to be protected, that she should not be presumed or labeled Elisa who was only 28 years old and could perhaps even change her mind. Journalistic ethics requires that sensitive data, including sexual orientation, should not be disclosed unless it is of fundamental importance in order to offer the public information.

These rules are hardly ever respected, just think of headlines such as “Gay Crime” or the constant references to the sex assigned to the birth of transgender people in the news where they have nothing to do with it, but only if it is lesbianism that has to be named. Many newspapers have chosen to erase Elisa’s identity, history and choices, invisibilizing her as a lesbian, and with her, all of us.

Like all subjectivities that subvert the patriarchal order by their very existence, we lesbians must not be named, or we try to take possession of our stories, misrepresenting them so that our identity is an irrelevant detail and the word lesbian is only used as an insult.

In the face of this tragedy it is important to ask ourselves how it could have happened.

Elisa Pomarelli’s lesbicide is also the result of structural lesbianism that permeates the whole of society.

Every day we hear stories of girls and women attacked in the streets because they exchange a kiss. We hear stories of girls, even very young ones, who are either removed from their families or forced to undergo reparative treatment because they are considered ill. We read about corrective rapes inflicted by fathers and relatives on lesbians. We know that migrant lesbians are asked to show their orientation when they apply for asylum. We know about the violence suffered by lesbians with disabilities, whose lives are systematically denied. We no longer count bullying in schools, dismissals, bullying and sexual harassment in professional contexts.

Lesbian-phobic violence afflicts lesbians daily in all areas of life and can lead, as in the case of Elisa Pomarelli, to the worst tragedy, murder.

This violence is no longer tolerable and we strongly denounce it, because silence and invisibility do not protect us, but our oppressors.

We lesbians all feel involved in this painful affair and recognise its sexist and lesbian-phobic matrix. We are aware that crimes such as this one are the most heinous expression of systemic violence, which affects women and lesbians every day, who are not guaranteed adequate protection.

In this context, it is more urgent than ever to pass a law that recognises an aggravating circumstance for cases of violence against lesbians and women, such as the one that is being discussed in Parliament in recent months.

We believe that this law, if passed in its integral form, represents a significant step forward, while remaining aware that legislative action alone is by no means sufficient to combat homolesbobransphobic hate crimes, which must be fought by making a radical change in culture and society. 

Each of us could have been Elisa. This is why we lesbians all see each other again in her story: we recognise the misogyny and lesbianism that moved the killer’s hand and that we live on our skin every day.

Elisa’s story could have been any one of us.

So that it never happens again, we demand to live in a country where it is possible for lesbians and women to remain free to decide their own lives, reject unwanted relationships, move beyond geographical, architectural and cultural barriers without running the risk of being attacked or killed for it.

ALFI – Associazione Lesbica Femminista Italiana

EL*C – Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community

Lesbiche Bologna

Lesbicx

Rete Donne Transfemminista di Arcigay 

Alfi Le Maree Napoli

Alfi LesbicheXXBergamo

Alfi Lune – Lesbiche del nord est

Associazione Luki Massa

Campo lesbico di Agape

Collettiva Lesbica Occhipazzi Firenze

Gruppo donne “Marielle Franco” –  Arcigay Catania

Albalisa Sampieri 

Alberta Raccis

Adele Medaglia

Alice Chiaruttini

Alice Coffin

Alice Redaelli

Alida Fassiola

Andrea Ayala

Angela Cardeti

Angela Gerardi

Angelica Polmonari 

Anita Lombardi

Anita Sterna

Anna Cerea

Anna Maria Alberini 

Anna Salvemini

Anna  Agnelli

Anna Crugnola

Annalisa Messina

Antonella De Luce

Antonella Parrocchetti

Antonia Caruso

Arianna L’avanti

Camilla Calzone

Charlie Baldon

Chiara Sfregola 

Corine Giangregorio

Cristina Betti

Cristina Rubegni 

Cristina Sereno

Cristina Urgnani

Cristina Sereno

Daniela Malagoli

Daniela Starà

Daniela Tomasino

Dora Colombo

Elisa Coco

Elisa Fraulini

Elisa Manici

Elisa Restivo 

Elisa Santarelli

Elisabetta Sollazzi

Emanuela Perini

Emanuela  Bogatai

Enrica Biselli

Erica  Sereno

Eris Ferrari

Eva Croce

Evien Tjabbes

Fabiana Di Mattia

Fatime Bajraktari

Federica Meloni

Fiamma Becchi

Fiorenza  Rasotto

Flavia Ghiberti

Franca Morelli

Francesca Lazzaretti

Gaia Ciccarelli

Gaia Di Salvo

Gaia Ronzoni

Giada Bonu

Giada Coccia

Gina Verna 

Giorgia Patrizio

Giovanna Bianchi

Giovanna Vingelli

Giulia Balzano

Giulia Mori

Giuliana De Angelis 

Giusy Vanetti

Greta Sartarelli

Gulzada Serzhan

Helena Vukovic

Ilaria Todde

Ilaria Ulgharaita 

Ilenia Pennini

Irene Boschetti

Iucideddu

Joelle Sambi Nzeba

Lara Vodani

Laura Bortolotti

Laura Pesce

Laura Polloni

Laura Cepozio

Laura  Magni

Lavinia Durantini

Leila Lohman

Lorenza Tizzi

Lucia Leonardi

Lucia Zanella

Lucia Zisa

Luisa Rizzitelli

Luisa Troncia

Marame Kane

Maria Albanese

Maria Castronovo 

Maria Cristina Mochi

Maria Laricchia

Maria Sozzi

Mariadele Santarone

Marialuisa Favitta

Marilena Grassadonia

Martina Cappai

Martina Loatelli

Martina Tescari

Maruscka Faralli

Mattea Messere

Michela Calabrò

Michela Pascali

Michela Poser

Moju Manuli

Monica  Bossi

Morena Giovanardi

Natascia Maesi 

Natia Gvianishvili

Piera Forlenza

Roberta Barbagli

Roberta Barbagli

Roberta Grella

Roberta Malvermi

Roberta Milano 

Rosa Perrucci

Rossella Pironio

Sabrina Russo

Sabrina Tripodi

Sara Bertolino

Sara Romano

Sara Vanni

Serena Graneri

Silvana Magni

Silvanna Agnelli

Silvia Casalino

Silvia D’ambrosio

Silvia Pastore

Silvia Sottili

Sofia Logli 

Stefania Bufalini

Stefania Tesi

Susanna Vanoni

Sylvia Sestini

Tania Guiducci

Tiffany Andreutti

Tiziana Gatto

Tosca Cellini

Valentina Bianchini 

Valentina Camporeale 

Valentina Corti

Valentina Darpetti

Valentina Delfino

Valentina Gaggi

Valentina Quattrocchi 

Valentina Tripepi Margiotta 

Valeria Nicoli

Vanda  Visconti

Vera Navarria

Veronica Vasarri

Veronica Vernettilli

Vittoria Nicoli

Vlada Thor

Zhanar Sekerbayeva

Atelier Vantaggio Donna

Casa delle donne per non subire violenza – Bologna

GenPol – Gender & Policy Insights

Libera…mente donna ets

Non una di meno – Piacenza

Rebel Network 

Voci Di Donne Biella

A Voce Alta Salerno

Agedo Nazionale

Apple Pie: l’amore merita LGBT+

Arcigay Nazionale 

Arcigay Agorà Pesaro e Urbino

Arcigay Arezzo Chimera Arcobaleno 

Arcigay Catania 

Arcigay Cremona

Arcigay Cuneo GrandaQueer

Arcigay del Trentino

Arcigay EOS Cosenza

Arcigay Ferrara

Arcigay Genova

Arcigay I Due Mari Reggio Calabria 

Arcigay Il Cassero Bologna

Arccigay Mantova La Salamandra 

Arcigay Modena Matthew Shepard

Arcigay Palermo

Arcigay Pianeta Milk Verona 

Arcigay Ravenna

Arcigay Salento

Arcigay Siena

Arcigay Strambopoli QueerTown Taranto 

Arcigay Torino “Ottavio Mai”

Associazione Lgbt+ IL GROVIGLIO Biella 

Associazione LogoSiena

Associazione Studentesca Universitaria Iris

Associazione Quore

Azione Gay e Lesbica Firenze 

Bergamo pride

Centaurus Arcigay Alto Adige Südtirol

Cof 

Cooperativa sociale Hara

Coordinamento Taranto Pride 2020 

Famiglie Arcobaleno

Hermes Academy

IREOS comunità queer autogestita Firenze 

Mixed Lgbti  –  Bari

Movimento Pansessuale

LeTali

Officineperegrine Teatro

Omphalos Lgbti

Polis Aperta 

Alessandro Camposano

Alessandro Rizzi 

Claudio Tosi 

Dario Castellani

Dario Pavia

Federico Pontillo

Francesco Donini

Francesco Mauro

Francesco Musillo

Francesco Tinivella

Gianmarco Caniglia 

Giuseppe Antonioli

Lorenzo De Preto

Luca Vida

Luigi Pignatelli

Pippi Todisco

Silvio Cilento

Tommaso Simaz

Yuuki Gaudiuso

Articles:

Corriere della Sera

GayNews.IT

More then 10 Italian lesbian groups and more then 100 lesbians*, together with numerous allies from the feminism and lgbt movements, have signed a document denouncing the lesbophobic murder of Elisa Pomarelli.

On 24 August 2019 Elisa Pomarelli was killed by Massimo Sebastiani because she was a lesbian and dared to refuse the advances of a man she believed to be her friend. She was punished because she claimed her right to self-determination, to express her identity and to freely choose her relationships. Elisa’s is a feminicide and a lesbicide.

Now, one year after his death, a trial begins in which justice, at best, will only be half done. The murderer has in fact requested and obtained the shortened ritual, and therefore, the discount of sentence which, in cases recognised as feminicides, is not granted. Even the aggravating circumstance of lesbian phobia has not been detected, in the absence, to date, of a specific law. Elisa’s murder cannot be recognised either as feminicide or as lesbicide, a hate crime of a lesophobic matrix, when it is both.

Elisa was not only killed in one way. In the days following her feminicide, the Italian media had speculated about a possible relationship between her and her killer, talking about “good giant”, “dangerous game”, “unrequited love”. Then, when her sexual orientation was made public, it was suddenly said that the victim’s personal life had to be protected, that she should not be presumed or labeled Elisa who was only 28 years old and could perhaps even change her mind. Journalistic ethics requires that sensitive data, including sexual orientation, should not be disclosed unless it is of fundamental importance in order to offer the public information.

These rules are hardly ever respected, just think of headlines such as “Gay Crime” or the constant references to the sex assigned to the birth of transgender people in the news where they have nothing to do with it, but only if it is lesbianism that has to be named. Many newspapers have chosen to erase Elisa’s identity, history and choices, invisibilizing her as a lesbian, and with her, all of us.

Like all subjectivities that subvert the patriarchal order by their very existence, we lesbians must not be named, or we try to take possession of our stories, misrepresenting them so that our identity is an irrelevant detail and the word lesbian is only used as an insult.

In the face of this tragedy it is important to ask ourselves how it could have happened.

Elisa Pomarelli’s lesbicide is also the result of structural lesbianism that permeates the whole of society.

Every day we hear stories of girls and women attacked in the streets because they exchange a kiss. We hear stories of girls, even very young ones, who are either removed from their families or forced to undergo reparative treatment because they are considered ill. We read about corrective rapes inflicted by fathers and relatives on lesbians. We know that migrant lesbians are asked to show their orientation when they apply for asylum. We know about the violence suffered by lesbians with disabilities, whose lives are systematically denied. We no longer count bullying in schools, dismissals, bullying and sexual harassment in professional contexts.

Lesbian-phobic violence afflicts lesbians daily in all areas of life and can lead, as in the case of Elisa Pomarelli, to the worst tragedy, murder.

This violence is no longer tolerable and we strongly denounce it, because silence and invisibility do not protect us, but our oppressors.

We lesbians all feel involved in this painful affair and recognise its sexist and lesbian-phobic matrix. We are aware that crimes such as this one are the most heinous expression of systemic violence, which affects women and lesbians every day, who are not guaranteed adequate protection.

In this context, it is more urgent than ever to pass a law that recognises an aggravating circumstance for cases of violence against lesbians and women, such as the one that is being discussed in Parliament in recent months.

We believe that this law, if passed in its integral form, represents a significant step forward, while remaining aware that legislative action alone is by no means sufficient to combat homolesbobransphobic hate crimes, which must be fought by making a radical change in culture and society. 

Each of us could have been Elisa. This is why we lesbians all see each other again in her story: we recognise the misogyny and lesbianism that moved the killer’s hand and that we live on our skin every day.

Elisa’s story could have been any one of us.

So that it never happens again, we demand to live in a country where it is possible for lesbians and women to remain free to decide their own lives, reject unwanted relationships, move beyond geographical, architectural and cultural barriers without running the risk of being attacked or killed for it.

ALFI – Associazione Lesbica Femminista Italiana

EL*C – Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community

Lesbiche Bologna

Lesbicx

Rete Donne Transfemminista di Arcigay 

Alfi Le Maree Napoli

Alfi LesbicheXXBergamo

Alfi Lune – Lesbiche del nord est

Associazione Luki Massa

Campo lesbico di Agape

Collettiva Lesbica Occhipazzi Firenze

Gruppo donne “Marielle Franco” –  Arcigay Catania

Albalisa Sampieri 

Alberta Raccis

Adele Medaglia

Alice Chiaruttini

Alice Coffin

Alice Redaelli

Alida Fassiola

Andrea Ayala

Angela Cardeti

Angela Gerardi

Angelica Polmonari 

Anita Lombardi

Anita Sterna

Anna Cerea

Anna Maria Alberini 

Anna Salvemini

Anna  Agnelli

Anna Crugnola

Annalisa Messina

Antonella De Luce

Antonella Parrocchetti

Antonia Caruso

Arianna L’avanti

Camilla Calzone

Charlie Baldon

Chiara Sfregola 

Corine Giangregorio

Cristina Betti

Cristina Rubegni 

Cristina Sereno

Cristina Urgnani

Cristina Sereno

Daniela Malagoli

Daniela Starà

Daniela Tomasino

Dora Colombo

Elisa Coco

Elisa Fraulini

Elisa Manici

Elisa Restivo 

Elisa Santarelli

Elisabetta Sollazzi

Emanuela Perini

Emanuela  Bogatai

Enrica Biselli

Erica  Sereno

Eris Ferrari

Eva Croce

Evien Tjabbes

Fabiana Di Mattia

Fatime Bajraktari

Federica Meloni

Fiamma Becchi

Fiorenza  Rasotto

Flavia Ghiberti

Franca Morelli

Francesca Lazzaretti

Gaia Ciccarelli

Gaia Di Salvo

Gaia Ronzoni

Giada Bonu

Giada Coccia

Gina Verna 

Giorgia Patrizio

Giovanna Bianchi

Giovanna Vingelli

Giulia Balzano

Giulia Mori

Giuliana De Angelis 

Giusy Vanetti

Greta Sartarelli

Gulzada Serzhan

Helena Vukovic

Ilaria Todde

Ilaria Ulgharaita 

Ilenia Pennini

Irene Boschetti

Iucideddu

Joelle Sambi Nzeba

Lara Vodani

Laura Bortolotti

Laura Pesce

Laura Polloni

Laura Cepozio

Laura  Magni

Lavinia Durantini

Leila Lohman

Lorenza Tizzi

Lucia Leonardi

Lucia Zanella

Lucia Zisa

Luisa Rizzitelli

Luisa Troncia

Marame Kane

Maria Albanese

Maria Castronovo 

Maria Cristina Mochi

Maria Laricchia

Maria Sozzi

Mariadele Santarone

Marialuisa Favitta

Marilena Grassadonia

Martina Cappai

Martina Loatelli

Martina Tescari

Maruscka Faralli

Mattea Messere

Michela Calabrò

Michela Pascali

Michela Poser

Moju Manuli

Monica  Bossi

Morena Giovanardi

Natascia Maesi 

Natia Gvianishvili

Piera Forlenza

Roberta Barbagli

Roberta Barbagli

Roberta Grella

Roberta Malvermi

Roberta Milano 

Rosa Perrucci

Rossella Pironio

Sabrina Russo

Sabrina Tripodi

Sara Bertolino

Sara Romano

Sara Vanni

Serena Graneri

Silvana Magni

Silvanna Agnelli

Silvia Casalino

Silvia D’ambrosio

Silvia Pastore

Silvia Sottili

Sofia Logli 

Stefania Bufalini

Stefania Tesi

Susanna Vanoni

Sylvia Sestini

Tania Guiducci

Tiffany Andreutti

Tiziana Gatto

Tosca Cellini

Valentina Bianchini 

Valentina Camporeale 

Valentina Corti

Valentina Darpetti

Valentina Delfino

Valentina Gaggi

Valentina Quattrocchi 

Valentina Tripepi Margiotta 

Valeria Nicoli

Vanda  Visconti

Vera Navarria

Veronica Vasarri

Veronica Vernettilli

Vittoria Nicoli

Vlada Thor

Zhanar Sekerbayeva

Atelier Vantaggio Donna

Casa delle donne per non subire violenza – Bologna

GenPol – Gender & Policy Insights

Libera…mente donna ets

Non una di meno – Piacenza

Rebel Network 

Voci Di Donne Biella

A Voce Alta Salerno

Agedo Nazionale

Apple Pie: l’amore merita LGBT+

Arcigay Nazionale 

Arcigay Agorà Pesaro e Urbino

Arcigay Arezzo Chimera Arcobaleno 

Arcigay Catania 

Arcigay Cremona

Arcigay Cuneo GrandaQueer

Arcigay del Trentino

Arcigay EOS Cosenza

Arcigay Ferrara

Arcigay Genova

Arcigay I Due Mari Reggio Calabria 

Arcigay Il Cassero Bologna

Arccigay Mantova La Salamandra 

Arcigay Modena Matthew Shepard

Arcigay Palermo

Arcigay Pianeta Milk Verona 

Arcigay Ravenna

Arcigay Salento

Arcigay Siena

Arcigay Strambopoli QueerTown Taranto 

Arcigay Torino “Ottavio Mai”

Associazione Lgbt+ IL GROVIGLIO Biella 

Associazione LogoSiena

Associazione Studentesca Universitaria Iris

Associazione Quore

Azione Gay e Lesbica Firenze 

Bergamo pride

Centaurus Arcigay Alto Adige Südtirol

Cof 

Cooperativa sociale Hara

Coordinamento Taranto Pride 2020 

Famiglie Arcobaleno

Hermes Academy

IREOS comunità queer autogestita Firenze 

Mixed Lgbti  –  Bari

Movimento Pansessuale

LeTali

Officineperegrine Teatro

Omphalos Lgbti

Polis Aperta 

Alessandro Camposano

Alessandro Rizzi 

Claudio Tosi 

Dario Castellani

Dario Pavia

Federico Pontillo

Francesco Donini

Francesco Mauro

Francesco Musillo

Francesco Tinivella

Gianmarco Caniglia 

Giuseppe Antonioli

Lorenzo De Preto

Luca Vida

Luigi Pignatelli

Pippi Todisco

Silvio Cilento

Tommaso Simaz

Yuuki Gaudiuso

Articles:

Corriere della Sera

GayNews.IT

During three months, from March to July 2020, 12 online meetings for Russian speaking Lesbians* dedicated to mental health issues were held with the support of FundAction and EL*C. Over 100 participants attended. 

The context

Mental health issues (depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.) are always a particularly sensitive topic. Especially if we are talking about minorities, in this case about Lesbians*. We do not have enough safe spaces to get the help, we have less resources and experience more stress and pressure due to our lesbianism.

In most Russian-speaking countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia there are no or very little projects and places only for Lesbians*. Receiving support in mental health issues being Lesbian is almost imposible. During self-isolation time and COVID-19 crisis the situation of Russian speaking Lesbians* was getting even worse. All community centers were closed, no LGBTQ off-line events were held, in some countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) the regime of self-isolation was controlled by the police. Lesbians were cut off from their communities and they didn’t have opportunities to get help and support. 

Who we are

We are Russian Lesbian activists who have decided to offer the L*community to join dedicated meetings about mental health issues with presence by a psychologist. The idea of the project came as a continuation and part of the LLL project (Locked-down Lesbians Listening) by EL*C. Unfortunately, the situation with access to resources for Lesbian projects is very scarce, yet we were successful this time in getting financial support via EL*C and FundAction. It is very important that now we have organisations that we can rely on, especially with EL*C being specifically dedicated to lesbians.

Project workflow

From the very beginning of the project it was very clear that this kind of support is much needed. Many organisations and lesbian bloggers announced the meetings, and immediately, more than 50 lesbians registered to participate.

During the first meeting people expressed their emotions about the needs of such meetings — only for Lesbians* and about mental health issues. 

Throughout the sessions, we discussed our problems with medicines, how we cope with anxiety and sleep disturbances, and panic attacks, how important support of the community is, personal and relationship crises, how to deal with the pressure of lesbophobia in society and many other topics.

The majority of participants were from Russia and Ukraine. Especially in these countries it is very hard to find any space for Lesbians even despite good representation of LGBTQ groups.

We found out that we have so many things in common such as increased anxiety due to a homophobic environment and society during COVID-19 time when we feel lonely and locked up, sleep disturbance, less energy and capacity to suffer impact of homofobic news etc.

Together with psychological support, we’ve discovered inside and outside resources and received support and help.

Conclusion and the future

We managed to create a comfortable and safe space which allowed us to share with each other our stories of surviving self-isolation and COVID-19 crisis with all our mental health issues.

At the end of the project our meetings became a small lesbian community, which we belong to and within which we can be ourselves without any fear. This is a big achievement that we didn’t expect.

We are now even more convinced that such spaces are very important and needed so we are going to continue the meetings and creation of L*community. Some of the testimonies below from participants show us the great need to continue this work. 

Testimonies from the participants: 

“It helped me because I could talk without fear about lesbian experience and just about life and at the same time not think about how a person would react to me due to my orientation…The meetings also helped me to see living people and remove the vacuum of my own existence. Hear someone else’s experience, support someone with listening…Thank you for that work done and the time spent. I see all these meetings as improving my own world map of lesbian experience. This is valuable to me.”

*********

“The meetings gave me great support during a difficult life period.”

*********

“The meetings provided powerful emotional support, I want to talk about each participant and moderator with warmth)) The meetings helped me not to go crazy with anxiety during severe restrictions, otherwise, in 4 walls, when reading the same tg-chats, it seemed like “all around there is homophobia.”

During the group meetings, I learned about the lives of other lesbians (with an asterisk, of course) and how they cope with mental disorders and other difficulties.

The main benefit of the group for me is that it happened at the right time. Thanks to EL * C, Vlada and Ekaterina for organizing.”

*********

“Many thanks to Ekaterina. The presence of an understanding psychologist in the group made me very happy. Perhaps this is a stereotype of thinking, but in my head, if there is a psychologist, then they will definitely understand me. Although I admit that this is not a fact, I will think about the pleasant side…I liked the atmosphere. All people have a different background and it’s such good luck to listen to other people, if possible, even learn…The presence of reality made me happy. Once again, thank you so much for this opportunity.”

*********

“You are doing a cool and useful thing, please keep going !! This is especially important for LGBT people from the regions.”

During three months, from March to July 2020, 12 online meetings for Russian speaking Lesbians* dedicated to mental health issues were held with the support of FundAction and EL*C. Over 100 participants attended. 

The context

Mental health issues (depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.) are always a particularly sensitive topic. Especially if we are talking about minorities, in this case about Lesbians*. We do not have enough safe spaces to get the help, we have less resources and experience more stress and pressure due to our lesbianism.

In most Russian-speaking countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia there are no or very little projects and places only for Lesbians*. Receiving support in mental health issues being Lesbian is almost imposible. During self-isolation time and COVID-19 crisis the situation of Russian speaking Lesbians* was getting even worse. All community centers were closed, no LGBTQ off-line events were held, in some countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) the regime of self-isolation was controlled by the police. Lesbians were cut off from their communities and they didn’t have opportunities to get help and support. 

Who we are

We are Russian Lesbian activists who have decided to offer the L*community to join dedicated meetings about mental health issues with presence by a psychologist. The idea of the project came as a continuation and part of the LLL project (Locked-down Lesbians Listening) by EL*C. Unfortunately, the situation with access to resources for Lesbian projects is very scarce, yet we were successful this time in getting financial support via EL*C and FundAction. It is very important that now we have organisations that we can rely on, especially with EL*C being specifically dedicated to lesbians.

Project workflow

From the very beginning of the project it was very clear that this kind of support is much needed. Many organisations and lesbian bloggers announced the meetings, and immediately, more than 50 lesbians registered to participate.

During the first meeting people expressed their emotions about the needs of such meetings — only for Lesbians* and about mental health issues. 

Throughout the sessions, we discussed our problems with medicines, how we cope with anxiety and sleep disturbances, and panic attacks, how important support of the community is, personal and relationship crises, how to deal with the pressure of lesbophobia in society and many other topics.

The majority of participants were from Russia and Ukraine. Especially in these countries it is very hard to find any space for Lesbians even despite good representation of LGBTQ groups.

We found out that we have so many things in common such as increased anxiety due to a homophobic environment and society during COVID-19 time when we feel lonely and locked up, sleep disturbance, less energy and capacity to suffer impact of homofobic news etc.

Together with psychological support, we’ve discovered inside and outside resources and received support and help.

Conclusion and the future

We managed to create a comfortable and safe space which allowed us to share with each other our stories of surviving self-isolation and COVID-19 crisis with all our mental health issues.

At the end of the project our meetings became a small lesbian community, which we belong to and within which we can be ourselves without any fear. This is a big achievement that we didn’t expect.

We are now even more convinced that such spaces are very important and needed so we are going to continue the meetings and creation of L*community. Some of the testimonies below from participants show us the great need to continue this work. 

Testimonies from the participants: 

“It helped me because I could talk without fear about lesbian experience and just about life and at the same time not think about how a person would react to me due to my orientation…The meetings also helped me to see living people and remove the vacuum of my own existence. Hear someone else’s experience, support someone with listening…Thank you for that work done and the time spent. I see all these meetings as improving my own world map of lesbian experience. This is valuable to me.”

*********

“The meetings gave me great support during a difficult life period.”

*********

“The meetings provided powerful emotional support, I want to talk about each participant and moderator with warmth)) The meetings helped me not to go crazy with anxiety during severe restrictions, otherwise, in 4 walls, when reading the same tg-chats, it seemed like “all around there is homophobia.”

During the group meetings, I learned about the lives of other lesbians (with an asterisk, of course) and how they cope with mental disorders and other difficulties.

The main benefit of the group for me is that it happened at the right time. Thanks to EL * C, Vlada and Ekaterina for organizing.”

*********

“Many thanks to Ekaterina. The presence of an understanding psychologist in the group made me very happy. Perhaps this is a stereotype of thinking, but in my head, if there is a psychologist, then they will definitely understand me. Although I admit that this is not a fact, I will think about the pleasant side…I liked the atmosphere. All people have a different background and it’s such good luck to listen to other people, if possible, even learn…The presence of reality made me happy. Once again, thank you so much for this opportunity.”

*********

“You are doing a cool and useful thing, please keep going !! This is especially important for LGBT people from the regions.”

EL*C Press review 2020

KAZAKHSTAN

Novostan.org: «К феминисткам у нас относятся хуже, чем к ворам и насильникам»: Гражданские активисты об уяте
Правозащитница, ЛГБТ-активист, пансексуалка и феминистки (Translation available in French and German)

FRANCE

Radio Campus Paris: Chronique de Joëlle Sambi Nzeba, présidente d’EL*C dans “Le Lobby”

Jeanne Magazine: Conférences Lesbiennes. Rencontre avec Leila Lohman.

Ajlgbt.info: Dragana Todorovic: “Quand ça commence à nous péter à la gueule, les lesbiennes sont là”

Libération: Lesbiennes, femmes de génie

Numerama: « C’est pas la loi Avia qui me rendra moins pédé » : des militants LGBT dénoncent la censure en ligne

Ouest France: Le projet de loi « PMA pour toutes » pourrait attendre

L’Obs: Adèle Haenel, Céline Sciamma et Virginie Despentes : qu’est-ce que le « génie lesbien » ?

Mediapart: D’amour, de justice et d’illusions

La Poudre: Episode 74 – Alice Coffin

Paris Vox: LGBT, retour sur l’opération séduction d’Anne Hidalgo

Libération: Le débat sur la place des femmes trans n’a pas lieu d’être

INSTITUTIONS

IFED: International Family Equality Day 2019 Report 

ILGA-EUROPE: Annual Review 2020 

2019

UK

Dazed: Google fixes algorithm to stop ‘lesbian’ searches being so pornographic

INDIA

India.com: इस देश ने दिया #Homosexuals को समानता का अधिकार, भेद-भाव करने वालों को मिलेगी ये सजा

SWITZERLAND

Le Temps: Alice Coffin: «Encore aujourd’hui, «lesbienne» est employé comme un gros mot»

BELGIUM

Paris Match Belgique: Pourquoi Internet a un problème avec le mot « lesbienne »

Austria «Die Flucht ist für viele Queere in Österreich nicht zu Ende»

FRANCE

National Geographic:“Se passer du regard des hommes est un immense défi”

20 Minutes: Conférence européenne lesbienne: «Les femmes ont un grand rôle à jouer face aux mouvements anti-genre»

Grazia: Cinéma, lesbiennes bien visibles

Têtu:  Conseil de l’Europe : la Conférence européenne lesbienne invitée à Strasbourg

Terrafemina: Un couple de lesbiennes agressé par une bande de filles à Lyon

Numerama: « Lesbienne » : Google célèbre le Mois des Fiertés, mais continue de ne montrer que des sites porno

Terrafemina: Google se rend complice des agressions à caractère sexuel sur les lesbiennes

L’Express: Com’, éducation, lobbying : comment les associations LGBT bataillent pour la PMA

Vice:Internet a un problème avec le mot « lesbienne »

Terrafemina: Marlène Schiappa chez Hanouna: “On ne sait plus vraiment ce qu’elle représente”

Télérama: Pourquoi les lesbiennes sont-elles privées de parole à la télé ?

France Info: PMA pour toutes : les coulisses d’une loi

Têtu: PMA pour toutes : la joie éclate sur les réseaux sociaux

Têtu: Et le prix international de la ville de Paris pour les droits LGBTQI+ est remis à…

Paris.fr: Découvrez les lauréats 2019 du Prix international pour les droits des personnes LGBTQI+

SPAIN

El Diario del Canarias: Interview of Kika Fumero

2019 – 2nd Conference

UKRAINE (some of the 65 articles in Ukrainian)

dw.com: How is the European conference of lesbians going inKyiv?

hromadske.ua: Several people with posters “The Family is a union of men and women” came to a lesbian conference.

humanrights.org.ua: The ultra-right in Kyiv tried to disrupt the European Lesbian Conference.

rubryka.com: In Kyiv, radicals are rallying against the “European Lesbian Conference”

ua.korrespondent.net: Kyiv residents came to protest becauseof lesbian conference.

espreso.tv: In Kyiv participants of the “European Lesbian Conference”have been attacked.

ukrinform.ua: The police guard a lesbian conference in Kiev, which yesterday had been tried to disrupt.

politkrytyka.org: The Lesbian pan-European movement visited Kyiv.

kiev.ua: On the Livoberezhna tried to disrupt the European Lesbian conference.

nv.ua: In Kyiv, radicals with gas attacked participants of the Lesbian conference, ten victims

kyivpost.com: Hundreds of lesbian activists to meet in Kyiv on April 11-14

UKRAINE TV

euronews.com: In Kyiv, they tried to disrupt the congress of lesbians.

TCH Ukraine – YouTube channel: The ultra-right organizations attacked the hotel where the lesbian conference took place.

vikna.stb.ua: https://vikna.stb.ua/ua/issue/vipusk-vid-12-04-2019-22-00/ (Video only available in Ukraine)

RUSSIA

80 articles in Russian. Most of them are translated copies of Ukrainian versions.

lenta.ru: Ukrainian radicals turned against lesbians.

rusnext.ru Kyiv residents went to the Maidan because of the lesbian conference.

ruainform.com: In Kyiv, protested against the lesbian conference.

glavred.info: In Kyiv, the radicals attacked a lesbian conference: there are victims.

NTV:  In Kyiv, the radicals attacked the lesbian conference

US, CANADA, IRELAND & UK 

Fox News: Ukrainian ultra-right spray tear gas over lesbian gathering

The Washington Post: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

Gay City News: Lesbians Overcome Far-Right Protestors at Kiev Conference

Openly: ‘Are you scared?’ – Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Pink News: Lesbian conference in Ukraine targeted by anti-LGBT protesters

New Jersey Herald: Ukrainian ultra-right spray tear gas over lesbian gathering

MSN: Lesbian conference in Ukraine targeted by anti-LGBT protesters

The Star: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

gcn.ie: Hundreds of Lesbian Activists Meet At International Conference In Ukraine

FRANCE

Nouvel Obs: Olena Shevchenko : celle qui voulait que les lesbiennes d’Europe de l’Est ne soient pas oubliées

Komitid: Esprit de sororité et bulle de « génie lesbien » à Kiev : on vous raconte la 2ème édition de l’European Lesbian* Conference

Gouinement Lundi Radio show

Têtu: « On veut mettre la pression à l’échelle internationale » : Silvia Casalino, co-présidente de la conférence européenne lesbienne

Libération: Ukraine: la conférence lesbienne européenne prise pour cible par des manifestants anti-LGBT

GERMANY

Bild: AFTER ATTACK AT LESBIANS CONFERENCE, Video message from Minister Giffey

Deutsche Welle: Far-right protesters target European Lesbian Conference in Ukraine

Siegessaeule: European Lesbian Conference: Between Hate and Love

L-mag: European lesbian conference in Kiev: hatred, love and the lesbian revolution

Queer.de: Germany as LGBTI advocate in Europe?

Blu.fm: “We are not afraid”: Lesbian conference in Kiev starts despite homophobic protests

Euronews: Right-wing extremists attack LGBT conference in Kiev

Quarteera: 2. European Lesbian* Conference in Kiev

ITALY

East Journal: Ukraine: The success of the second European Lesbian * Conference

Osservatoria balcani et Caucaso:  Insight: la communita LGBT+ ucraina

SPAIN

EL Diario: “Go back to hell, sodomites”: several protesters try to boycott the European lesbian conference in Kiev

Player.fm: Kika Fumero talks about the SECOND EUROPEAN LESBIAN * CONFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL PRESS AGENCIES

Associated Press: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

Reuters: ‘Are you scared?’: Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Taiwan News: Far-right protesters target European Lesbian Conference in Ukraine

INSTITUTIONS

UN Women: The largest network of lesbian activists in the region call for greater equality and inclusion

HWR Human Rights Watch: Lesbians Held Conference in Kyiv Despite Counter Protests

Thomson Reuters Foundation: ‘Are you scared?’ – Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Amnesty International: UKRAINE: ATTACKS ON THE EUROPEAN LESBIAN CONFERENCE MUST BE CONDEMNED

2018

USA

Now This News: Lesbian Visibility Day Fights For Lesbians’ Rights Worldwide

SPAIN

El Español: El 8-M más feminista y 50 mujeres influyentes: por qué unas harán huelga y otras no

FRANCE

Le Parisien: L’extension de la PMA sera promulguée en 2019, promet Macron aux associations LGBT

Reuters / Yahoo Actualités: Macron dément tout “recul” sur la question de la PMA

Têtu: PMA pour toutes : les lesbiennes, grandes absentes des médias

Le Point: Une campagne contre l’homophobie fait scandale

France Info: “Inadéquate et inappropriée” : une campagne choc contre l’homophobie indigne des militants LGBT

Têtu: Campagne polémique contre les LGBTphobies : l’agence « a souhaité provoquer un malaise »

Rue 89 Lyon: Alice Coffin : « Les fake news s’exercent particulièrement contre les minorités, les personnes LGBT, migrantes, d’origine étrangère… »

Hétéroclite: Alice Coffin : « un homme gay n’est pas forcément féministe »

MadmoiZelle: Une campagne contre la lesbophobie fait polémique

Le Tribunal du Net: Une campagne choc contre l’homophobie divise

Sud Ouest: Cette campagne choc contre l’homophobie ne fait pas l’unanimité

La Dépêche: Lutte contre l’homophobie : une campagne de pub choc crée la polémique

RT France: Débat sur la PMA en France : les lesbiennes auront-elles bientôt droit à une aide à la procréation ?

Les Inrocks: Charline Vanhœnacker se paye le traitement médiatique des “gilets jaunes” et de la déferlante féministe

20 Minutes: Pourquoi une telle différence de traitement médiatique entre les «gilets jaunes» et #NousToutes?

France Bleu: A Moulins, la mairie retire l’affiche provocante d’une campagne de lutte contre l’homophobie

HUNGARY

Origo: A törvényeket kijátszva működnek Soros álcivil szervezetei Közép-Ázsiában

2017

AUSTRIA

Kurier: Jung und Transgender: Wie Roman zu Roxy wurde

GERMANY

Deutschlandfunk: Mazedonien nach dem Machtwechsel. Ein Leben im Abseits

FRANCE

Europe 1: Faut-il élargir la PMA à toutes les femmes ?

2017 – 1st Conference

AUSTRIA

European Lesbian* Conference 2017 – KEYNOTE Transform: Plenary Lesbians and Media

Der Standard: Vorurteile über Lesben sind tief verwurzelt

GERMANY

L-MAG: Unser Arsch ist Politisch (November 2017 issue) + September Issue Print + Lesben sind immer und überall – 1. Europäische Lesbenkonferenz in Wien

Lesbianchic: Jede Lesbe Zähl

USA

Gay City News: #UsToo: Reclaiming “Lesbian” in Vienna

FRANCE

Libération: A Vienne, un congrès pour toutes les voies lesbiennes

Le Monde: Législatives autrichiennes : Ulrike Lunacek, 60 ans, lesbienne, conduira la liste des écologistes

Têtu: Lesbienne ce n’est pas un gros mot

Gouinement Lundi: Les mobilisations lesbiennes en Europe

Causette: Lesbiennes, droits devant!

Yagg: European Lesbian* Conference : vers un réseau lesbien européen

Genre et ville: EUROPEAN LESBIAN* CONFERENCE – VIENNA

BELGIUM

ZIZO: European Lesbian* Conference ijvert voor zichtbaarheid lesbiennes

POLAND

EL*C Press review 2020

KAZAKHSTAN

Novostan.org: «К феминисткам у нас относятся хуже, чем к ворам и насильникам»: Гражданские активисты об уяте
Правозащитница, ЛГБТ-активист, пансексуалка и феминистки (Translation available in French and German)

FRANCE

Radio Campus Paris: Chronique de Joëlle Sambi Nzeba, présidente d’EL*C dans “Le Lobby”

Jeanne Magazine: Conférences Lesbiennes. Rencontre avec Leila Lohman.

Ajlgbt.info: Dragana Todorovic: “Quand ça commence à nous péter à la gueule, les lesbiennes sont là”

Libération: Lesbiennes, femmes de génie

Numerama: « C’est pas la loi Avia qui me rendra moins pédé » : des militants LGBT dénoncent la censure en ligne

Ouest France: Le projet de loi « PMA pour toutes » pourrait attendre

L’Obs: Adèle Haenel, Céline Sciamma et Virginie Despentes : qu’est-ce que le « génie lesbien » ?

Mediapart: D’amour, de justice et d’illusions

La Poudre: Episode 74 – Alice Coffin

Paris Vox: LGBT, retour sur l’opération séduction d’Anne Hidalgo

Libération: Le débat sur la place des femmes trans n’a pas lieu d’être

INSTITUTIONS

IFED: International Family Equality Day 2019 Report 

ILGA-EUROPE: Annual Review 2020 

2019

UK

Dazed: Google fixes algorithm to stop ‘lesbian’ searches being so pornographic

INDIA

India.com: इस देश ने दिया #Homosexuals को समानता का अधिकार, भेद-भाव करने वालों को मिलेगी ये सजा

SWITZERLAND

Le Temps: Alice Coffin: «Encore aujourd’hui, «lesbienne» est employé comme un gros mot»

BELGIUM

Paris Match Belgique: Pourquoi Internet a un problème avec le mot « lesbienne »

Austria «Die Flucht ist für viele Queere in Österreich nicht zu Ende»

FRANCE

National Geographic:“Se passer du regard des hommes est un immense défi”

20 Minutes: Conférence européenne lesbienne: «Les femmes ont un grand rôle à jouer face aux mouvements anti-genre»

Grazia: Cinéma, lesbiennes bien visibles

Têtu:  Conseil de l’Europe : la Conférence européenne lesbienne invitée à Strasbourg

Terrafemina: Un couple de lesbiennes agressé par une bande de filles à Lyon

Numerama: « Lesbienne » : Google célèbre le Mois des Fiertés, mais continue de ne montrer que des sites porno

Terrafemina: Google se rend complice des agressions à caractère sexuel sur les lesbiennes

L’Express: Com’, éducation, lobbying : comment les associations LGBT bataillent pour la PMA

Vice:Internet a un problème avec le mot « lesbienne »

Terrafemina: Marlène Schiappa chez Hanouna: “On ne sait plus vraiment ce qu’elle représente”

Télérama: Pourquoi les lesbiennes sont-elles privées de parole à la télé ?

France Info: PMA pour toutes : les coulisses d’une loi

Têtu: PMA pour toutes : la joie éclate sur les réseaux sociaux

Têtu: Et le prix international de la ville de Paris pour les droits LGBTQI+ est remis à…

Paris.fr: Découvrez les lauréats 2019 du Prix international pour les droits des personnes LGBTQI+

SPAIN

El Diario del Canarias: Interview of Kika Fumero

2019 – 2nd Conference

UKRAINE (some of the 65 articles in Ukrainian)

dw.com: How is the European conference of lesbians going inKyiv?

hromadske.ua: Several people with posters “The Family is a union of men and women” came to a lesbian conference.

humanrights.org.ua: The ultra-right in Kyiv tried to disrupt the European Lesbian Conference.

rubryka.com: In Kyiv, radicals are rallying against the “European Lesbian Conference”

ua.korrespondent.net: Kyiv residents came to protest becauseof lesbian conference.

espreso.tv: In Kyiv participants of the “European Lesbian Conference”have been attacked.

ukrinform.ua: The police guard a lesbian conference in Kiev, which yesterday had been tried to disrupt.

politkrytyka.org: The Lesbian pan-European movement visited Kyiv.

kiev.ua: On the Livoberezhna tried to disrupt the European Lesbian conference.

nv.ua: In Kyiv, radicals with gas attacked participants of the Lesbian conference, ten victims

kyivpost.com: Hundreds of lesbian activists to meet in Kyiv on April 11-14

UKRAINE TV

euronews.com: In Kyiv, they tried to disrupt the congress of lesbians.

TCH Ukraine – YouTube channel: The ultra-right organizations attacked the hotel where the lesbian conference took place.

vikna.stb.ua: https://vikna.stb.ua/ua/issue/vipusk-vid-12-04-2019-22-00/ (Video only available in Ukraine)

RUSSIA

80 articles in Russian. Most of them are translated copies of Ukrainian versions.

lenta.ru: Ukrainian radicals turned against lesbians.

rusnext.ru Kyiv residents went to the Maidan because of the lesbian conference.

ruainform.com: In Kyiv, protested against the lesbian conference.

glavred.info: In Kyiv, the radicals attacked a lesbian conference: there are victims.

NTV:  In Kyiv, the radicals attacked the lesbian conference

US, CANADA, IRELAND & UK 

Fox News: Ukrainian ultra-right spray tear gas over lesbian gathering

The Washington Post: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

Gay City News: Lesbians Overcome Far-Right Protestors at Kiev Conference

Openly: ‘Are you scared?’ – Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Pink News: Lesbian conference in Ukraine targeted by anti-LGBT protesters

New Jersey Herald: Ukrainian ultra-right spray tear gas over lesbian gathering

MSN: Lesbian conference in Ukraine targeted by anti-LGBT protesters

The Star: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

gcn.ie: Hundreds of Lesbian Activists Meet At International Conference In Ukraine

FRANCE

Nouvel Obs: Olena Shevchenko : celle qui voulait que les lesbiennes d’Europe de l’Est ne soient pas oubliées

Komitid: Esprit de sororité et bulle de « génie lesbien » à Kiev : on vous raconte la 2ème édition de l’European Lesbian* Conference

Gouinement Lundi Radio show

Têtu: « On veut mettre la pression à l’échelle internationale » : Silvia Casalino, co-présidente de la conférence européenne lesbienne

Libération: Ukraine: la conférence lesbienne européenne prise pour cible par des manifestants anti-LGBT

GERMANY

Bild: AFTER ATTACK AT LESBIANS CONFERENCE, Video message from Minister Giffey

Deutsche Welle: Far-right protesters target European Lesbian Conference in Ukraine

Siegessaeule: European Lesbian Conference: Between Hate and Love

L-mag: European lesbian conference in Kiev: hatred, love and the lesbian revolution

Queer.de: Germany as LGBTI advocate in Europe?

Blu.fm: “We are not afraid”: Lesbian conference in Kiev starts despite homophobic protests

Euronews: Right-wing extremists attack LGBT conference in Kiev

Quarteera: 2. European Lesbian* Conference in Kiev

ITALY

East Journal: Ukraine: The success of the second European Lesbian * Conference

Osservatoria balcani et Caucaso:  Insight: la communita LGBT+ ucraina

SPAIN

EL Diario: “Go back to hell, sodomites”: several protesters try to boycott the European lesbian conference in Kiev

Player.fm: Kika Fumero talks about the SECOND EUROPEAN LESBIAN * CONFERENCE

INTERNATIONAL PRESS AGENCIES

Associated Press: Ultra-right activists hound European lesbian conference

Reuters: ‘Are you scared?’: Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Taiwan News: Far-right protesters target European Lesbian Conference in Ukraine

INSTITUTIONS

UN Women: The largest network of lesbian activists in the region call for greater equality and inclusion

HWR Human Rights Watch: Lesbians Held Conference in Kyiv Despite Counter Protests

Thomson Reuters Foundation: ‘Are you scared?’ – Protests as lesbian conference kicks off in Ukraine

Amnesty International: UKRAINE: ATTACKS ON THE EUROPEAN LESBIAN CONFERENCE MUST BE CONDEMNED

2018

USA

Now This News: Lesbian Visibility Day Fights For Lesbians’ Rights Worldwide

SPAIN

El Español: El 8-M más feminista y 50 mujeres influyentes: por qué unas harán huelga y otras no

FRANCE

Le Parisien: L’extension de la PMA sera promulguée en 2019, promet Macron aux associations LGBT

Reuters / Yahoo Actualités: Macron dément tout “recul” sur la question de la PMA

Têtu: PMA pour toutes : les lesbiennes, grandes absentes des médias

Le Point: Une campagne contre l’homophobie fait scandale

France Info: “Inadéquate et inappropriée” : une campagne choc contre l’homophobie indigne des militants LGBT

Têtu: Campagne polémique contre les LGBTphobies : l’agence « a souhaité provoquer un malaise »

Rue 89 Lyon: Alice Coffin : « Les fake news s’exercent particulièrement contre les minorités, les personnes LGBT, migrantes, d’origine étrangère… »

Hétéroclite: Alice Coffin : « un homme gay n’est pas forcément féministe »

MadmoiZelle: Une campagne contre la lesbophobie fait polémique

Le Tribunal du Net: Une campagne choc contre l’homophobie divise

Sud Ouest: Cette campagne choc contre l’homophobie ne fait pas l’unanimité

La Dépêche: Lutte contre l’homophobie : une campagne de pub choc crée la polémique

RT France: Débat sur la PMA en France : les lesbiennes auront-elles bientôt droit à une aide à la procréation ?

Les Inrocks: Charline Vanhœnacker se paye le traitement médiatique des “gilets jaunes” et de la déferlante féministe

20 Minutes: Pourquoi une telle différence de traitement médiatique entre les «gilets jaunes» et #NousToutes?

France Bleu: A Moulins, la mairie retire l’affiche provocante d’une campagne de lutte contre l’homophobie

HUNGARY

Origo: A törvényeket kijátszva működnek Soros álcivil szervezetei Közép-Ázsiában

2017

AUSTRIA

Kurier: Jung und Transgender: Wie Roman zu Roxy wurde

GERMANY

Deutschlandfunk: Mazedonien nach dem Machtwechsel. Ein Leben im Abseits

FRANCE

Europe 1: Faut-il élargir la PMA à toutes les femmes ?

2017 – 1st Conference

AUSTRIA

European Lesbian* Conference 2017 – KEYNOTE Transform: Plenary Lesbians and Media

Der Standard: Vorurteile über Lesben sind tief verwurzelt

GERMANY

L-MAG: Unser Arsch ist Politisch (November 2017 issue) + September Issue Print + Lesben sind immer und überall – 1. Europäische Lesbenkonferenz in Wien

Lesbianchic: Jede Lesbe Zähl

USA

Gay City News: #UsToo: Reclaiming “Lesbian” in Vienna

FRANCE

Libération: A Vienne, un congrès pour toutes les voies lesbiennes

Le Monde: Législatives autrichiennes : Ulrike Lunacek, 60 ans, lesbienne, conduira la liste des écologistes

Têtu: Lesbienne ce n’est pas un gros mot

Gouinement Lundi: Les mobilisations lesbiennes en Europe

Causette: Lesbiennes, droits devant!

Yagg: European Lesbian* Conference : vers un réseau lesbien européen

Genre et ville: EUROPEAN LESBIAN* CONFERENCE – VIENNA

BELGIUM

ZIZO: European Lesbian* Conference ijvert voor zichtbaarheid lesbiennes

POLAND

Magdalena Swider is the Program coordinator of KPH (Kampania Przeciw Homofobii /Campaign Against Homophobia), leading polish LGBT NGO. We wanted to interview this queer activist and specialist of hate crimes, because for months now, LGBT people have been the target of hate speeches from Andrzej Duda, former president now running for reelection in Poland.

So  Alice Coffin, journalist and team member of EL*C interviewed her on July 1st. Since then, as July 12, final election day is getting closer, other attacks have again been voiced against LGBTI people.

Magdalena Swider tells us how KPH and other activists are organising their resistance in the midst of this terrible political campaign which could also be a turning point if Andrzej Duda is defeated by his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw.

For weeks, LGBT people have been at the center of the presidential campaign. Why do you think Duda made this choice of targeting LGBTs?

The president, the Law and Justice Party, they choose scape goats. In the 2015 campaign it was the refugees. For the last two years and European and Parliamentary, and now the presidential elections, focus is on LGBTIs. But for this election, we have reached one other level. Before, they were talking about LGBT people as a threat to Polish values. Now they focus on a strategy of dehumanization, they are saying LGBTI persons are not people, but an ideology.

The focus on both migrants, refugees, and LGBTIs is witnessed in other parts of Europe. Or, in other European countries there is also a specific racist target against Muslims. How do those strategies of crystallizing on some minorities interconnect?

 We learnt a lot from the activists who were fighting the hate campaigns against refugees. What we both try to do is show the connections between public speeches of politicians and attacks in the streets. For example, one organization did a research showing that every time a politician voices hate speech, more hate crimes happen. About the attacks against LGBTI people, every four years we do a big research. We are about to publish the new ones, and it will be very interesting (and frightening) to compare the numbers with the previous ones and how the rise of homophobic hate speech has consequences on mental health of the LGBT community and the rise of violence – how you get attacked in the street, whether it is  by football fans or nationalists, for wearing a rainbow bag.

What is the role of KPH during the election? Do you give voting instructions?

 No. Well, usually not at all. But with Duda it is a little different. This time we are saying « end the homophobic presidency » and we also encourage our community to go and vote. The participation rates in the first row have never been as high since 1989. This is connected.We are expecting lots of hate speech to come out this week, so we got ready on monitoring Duda’s campaign. We also organise events such as silent protests.

 Are you supported by the population?

We did not start those protests ourselves. People were starting them spontaneously. The world of acadomia reacted with at least 20 universities issuing a statement against hate speech. Also not only did a lot of people go to vote, but they sometimes went wearing rainbow socks or other kinds of outfits to show why they were going to vote.

 It seems the political strategy of targeting the LGBTI people did not work that well this time. How do you analyse this?

Circumstances were different because of Covid-19. It changed different things. First, usually for their campaigns, politicians do researches, with focus groups, and adjust their strategy like marketing. But I think they did not do it this time –  they just went for the easy strategy and targeted LGBTI people but voters did not buy it. They were too frustrated and furious to believe it so much. And this is precisely also because of the virus. There was a lot of money  spent on equipment that did not reach people, the minister of health was heavily criticized, lots of people lost their jobs so there was anger. And blaming the LGBT community was not believable.

Did the virus also affect your organization?

Yes because it was very tricky to make our position. When Law and Justice and Duda who were very popular before the corona virus  decided they wanted to maintain the election despite the fact that everything was shut down, we did not know if the elections will be organized in the first term or whether it will be postponed. Whether  we should boycott the election or go anyway and get our health at risk. Finally, they decided to postpone the election.

Yes, the choice for strategy of activists are very tough to make during corona virus time. How are you keeping up between this and the tough campaign?

The bright side is, I have been working as an activist for nine years, and I have never seen much of what could be called a community. But because of this backlash, people are starting to come out more. A volunteer explained to me that she was at her workplace , and her colleagues were having a discussion about the Rainbow Friday action we organize at schools, and she could not stand what she was hearing. So she came out. This is a positive trend.

How do the media behave during this campaign?

The nation public tv is completely with Law and Justice and advise people to go and vote for Duda. They have breached every ethical stand. They never behave as journalists with us. They never approach us to ask questions. They just come to our office with their camera, when they want to point at us. And they never either ask for people from academia to comment the news. Their so called talking experts are right wing publicists. Those media are really using the same language as the fundamentalists groups. .They explain that lgbt want to teach four year olds to masturbate…Not to mention that this channel, the public tv, sent a fake volunteer to our association.

What???

Yes, TVP1 made this thirty minutes documentary called « Invasion » and broadcasted on TVP1. They infiltrated our organisation via a fake volunteer. I am featuring in this documentary and I was very angry about this. They recorded some of our volunteers who are not out at all. And they broadcasted this last fall, two days before the elections, during prime time between a presidential speech and a very important football game so there were so many people watching.

 When the European Lesbian Conference gathered in Ukraine, in April 2019, there were protests every day in front of the conference, in Kyiv. And it seems like they were protesting as much against the word « European » as the word « lesbian ». Is the fight against LGBTIs in Poland also a fight against Europe or is this as this article puts it a wrong way of looking at things?

For sure, there is a huge rhetoric about how the lgbt movement is all about western countries trend coming to destroy our values. And they keep using examples of Germany or The Netherlands as places which have turned bad because of same-sex mariages. However I think the European institutions should be careful about not to link the attribution of structural funds to Poland to the way the country treats LGBTI people. Because then it looks like it is because of LGBTs that money is taking away. The strategies are very difficult to elaborate, and we are working on it quite a lot with ILGA Europe.

What can activists do in Europe do to help you?

First, press their politicians to actually react to what is going on. Second, come to our Pride marches. When people from other countries come to our March, it makes them safer.

We will do our best with EL*C to come and march with you as soon as possible. By the way, is are there any specificities of how lesbians are targeted or reacting during those times?

Well when it comes to activists the community is coming together and I don’t see lesbians very different than gays. Everyone is suffering from the resolutions taken in LGBT free zones. But I think when it comes to constitutional symbols or measures, like the one on mariages or adoptions, then it impacts more women, single mothers, lesbians. Because more of them have rainbow families.

Magdalena Swider is the Program coordinator of KPH (Kampania Przeciw Homofobii /Campaign Against Homophobia), leading polish LGBT NGO. We wanted to interview this queer activist and specialist of hate crimes, because for months now, LGBT people have been the target of hate speeches from Andrzej Duda, former president now running for reelection in Poland.

So  Alice Coffin, journalist and team member of EL*C interviewed her on July 1st. Since then, as July 12, final election day is getting closer, other attacks have again been voiced against LGBTI people.

Magdalena Swider tells us how KPH and other activists are organising their resistance in the midst of this terrible political campaign which could also be a turning point if Andrzej Duda is defeated by his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw.

For weeks, LGBT people have been at the center of the presidential campaign. Why do you think Duda made this choice of targeting LGBTs?

The president, the Law and Justice Party, they choose scape goats. In the 2015 campaign it was the refugees. For the last two years and European and Parliamentary, and now the presidential elections, focus is on LGBTIs. But for this election, we have reached one other level. Before, they were talking about LGBT people as a threat to Polish values. Now they focus on a strategy of dehumanization, they are saying LGBTI persons are not people, but an ideology.

The focus on both migrants, refugees, and LGBTIs is witnessed in other parts of Europe. Or, in other European countries there is also a specific racist target against Muslims. How do those strategies of crystallizing on some minorities interconnect?

 We learnt a lot from the activists who were fighting the hate campaigns against refugees. What we both try to do is show the connections between public speeches of politicians and attacks in the streets. For example, one organization did a research showing that every time a politician voices hate speech, more hate crimes happen. About the attacks against LGBTI people, every four years we do a big research. We are about to publish the new ones, and it will be very interesting (and frightening) to compare the numbers with the previous ones and how the rise of homophobic hate speech has consequences on mental health of the LGBT community and the rise of violence – how you get attacked in the street, whether it is  by football fans or nationalists, for wearing a rainbow bag.

What is the role of KPH during the election? Do you give voting instructions?

 No. Well, usually not at all. But with Duda it is a little different. This time we are saying « end the homophobic presidency » and we also encourage our community to go and vote. The participation rates in the first row have never been as high since 1989. This is connected.We are expecting lots of hate speech to come out this week, so we got ready on monitoring Duda’s campaign. We also organise events such as silent protests.

 Are you supported by the population?

We did not start those protests ourselves. People were starting them spontaneously. The world of acadomia reacted with at least 20 universities issuing a statement against hate speech. Also not only did a lot of people go to vote, but they sometimes went wearing rainbow socks or other kinds of outfits to show why they were going to vote.

 It seems the political strategy of targeting the LGBTI people did not work that well this time. How do you analyse this?

Circumstances were different because of Covid-19. It changed different things. First, usually for their campaigns, politicians do researches, with focus groups, and adjust their strategy like marketing. But I think they did not do it this time –  they just went for the easy strategy and targeted LGBTI people but voters did not buy it. They were too frustrated and furious to believe it so much. And this is precisely also because of the virus. There was a lot of money  spent on equipment that did not reach people, the minister of health was heavily criticized, lots of people lost their jobs so there was anger. And blaming the LGBT community was not believable.

Did the virus also affect your organization?

Yes because it was very tricky to make our position. When Law and Justice and Duda who were very popular before the corona virus  decided they wanted to maintain the election despite the fact that everything was shut down, we did not know if the elections will be organized in the first term or whether it will be postponed. Whether  we should boycott the election or go anyway and get our health at risk. Finally, they decided to postpone the election.

Yes, the choice for strategy of activists are very tough to make during corona virus time. How are you keeping up between this and the tough campaign?

The bright side is, I have been working as an activist for nine years, and I have never seen much of what could be called a community. But because of this backlash, people are starting to come out more. A volunteer explained to me that she was at her workplace , and her colleagues were having a discussion about the Rainbow Friday action we organize at schools, and she could not stand what she was hearing. So she came out. This is a positive trend.

How do the media behave during this campaign?

The nation public tv is completely with Law and Justice and advise people to go and vote for Duda. They have breached every ethical stand. They never behave as journalists with us. They never approach us to ask questions. They just come to our office with their camera, when they want to point at us. And they never either ask for people from academia to comment the news. Their so called talking experts are right wing publicists. Those media are really using the same language as the fundamentalists groups. .They explain that lgbt want to teach four year olds to masturbate…Not to mention that this channel, the public tv, sent a fake volunteer to our association.

What???

Yes, TVP1 made this thirty minutes documentary called « Invasion » and broadcasted on TVP1. They infiltrated our organisation via a fake volunteer. I am featuring in this documentary and I was very angry about this. They recorded some of our volunteers who are not out at all. And they broadcasted this last fall, two days before the elections, during prime time between a presidential speech and a very important football game so there were so many people watching.

 When the European Lesbian Conference gathered in Ukraine, in April 2019, there were protests every day in front of the conference, in Kyiv. And it seems like they were protesting as much against the word « European » as the word « lesbian ». Is the fight against LGBTIs in Poland also a fight against Europe or is this as this article puts it a wrong way of looking at things?

For sure, there is a huge rhetoric about how the lgbt movement is all about western countries trend coming to destroy our values. And they keep using examples of Germany or The Netherlands as places which have turned bad because of same-sex mariages. However I think the European institutions should be careful about not to link the attribution of structural funds to Poland to the way the country treats LGBTI people. Because then it looks like it is because of LGBTs that money is taking away. The strategies are very difficult to elaborate, and we are working on it quite a lot with ILGA Europe.

What can activists do in Europe do to help you?

First, press their politicians to actually react to what is going on. Second, come to our Pride marches. When people from other countries come to our March, it makes them safer.

We will do our best with EL*C to come and march with you as soon as possible. By the way, is are there any specificities of how lesbians are targeted or reacting during those times?

Well when it comes to activists the community is coming together and I don’t see lesbians very different than gays. Everyone is suffering from the resolutions taken in LGBT free zones. But I think when it comes to constitutional symbols or measures, like the one on mariages or adoptions, then it impacts more women, single mothers, lesbians. Because more of them have rainbow families.

Russian journalist and out lesbian, Elena Dogadina writes about her orientation and LGBTI issues. She covers violence and discrimination in her country. Editor, trainer and human rights defender Temur Kobalia is the founder of NCO TV Russia and the Volgograd Human Rights Council. In the framework of a press tour organised by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the French LGBTI Journalists Association (AJL) met with the two Russian journalists. Following our partnership with AJL, we here produce a translation of this interview which was previously published in French.

What are the working conditions for journalists in Russia?

Elena Dogina: To put it simply, the media in Russia are divided into two categories: state-owned and independent media. Working for the latter one, I have more freedom to cover the stories I want to report, especially LGBT related stories. However, these media have much less impact. For instance, my parents who live in a small village are not affected .

Temur Kobalia: There are many laws that limit freedom of the press. The law prohibiting LGBT propaganda, for one, impacted directly on the treatment of these subjects. Another law requires employees of NGOs receiving funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or another one forces any blogger with more than 3000 daily readers to register his personal information with the government. However, this does not mean that we are dictated what to write! Once I get home, I shall write about these meetings that are currently taking place in France and these articles will be read by, on average, 4500 people.

ED : We can’t make the slightest concession. Otherwise, they will impose others on us and we will  become the Kremlin’s official media!

Are you scared for your safety?

ED: I am privileged enough to belong to the middle class. My wife owns her own apartment and we live in an area where I never experienced homophobia. So, no, I am not scared for my own safety. On the other hand, I am scared for the safety of those close to me: for my wife, who is not out publicly, and for my little sister, who could be bullied (a problem that is not taken into account at all by Russian institutions) or discrimination…

TK: I have been arrested before, searched, my passport has once been taken away and my organisation has had to pay a fine equivalent to 15,000 euros. One of my colleagues is under investigation… But that doesn’t stop us from doing our work.

ED: . We don’t know when, we don’t know which of our articles shall be the pretend reason, but we know that we risk an arrest… We learn to live with it: we can’t be afraid 7/7, 24/24. Personally, I am much less afraid since I am out as a lesbian: the threat of  outing no longer exists and I am no longer afraid of being rejected for who I am…

What is your view on how the media cover LGBTI issues?

ED: I am a journalist. I am a lesbian. Even though it is very important to talk about persecution in order to raise awareness, I think it is also very important to write about other aspects that are more positive for the community such as LGBT friendly events. It is necessary to write about all aspects of LGBT life, to interview as many people as possible, to get a better representation, a better visibility. It might inspire more people to come out.

TK : We face a lot of difficulties finding interviewees. Because they get scared or because they want to be paid, many of them don’t want to appear on activist shows. I regret this lack of involvement on their part. They are thus complicit in the government’s actions when they should be standing up to them!

ED: These are the words of a straight man! You cannot blame people for being afraid of reprisals!

TK : I wasn’t talking about people who are afraid but, for example, youtubers who talk about it openly but don’t want to come to our studio because they want to be paid.

How do you perceive the coverage of these issues by the media abroad?

ED: First of all, I have to say that I was astound at how little LGBT people are portrayed in the French media when your society is supposed to be more tolerant! To answer your question, I would say that, even if it unfortunately has very little impact (a constant huge part of the Russian population does not speak English and does not have access to the Internet), the coverage of LGBT stories in Russia by foreign media is important. On the one hand, it provides support to those who feel isolated and, on the other hand, it reminds the Russian authorities, who tend to forget, that they are part of the international community. Foreign media often focus on high-profile cases and thus force the authorities to react. That is very good. However, they should also see the many different stories to meet other people, other aspects that are also very interesting. Basically, let them deal with Russian LGBT issues as they deal with these issues at home.

[Many thanks to Elnara Mevolhon, interpreter, without whom this interview could not have taken place.]

Interviewed by Dimitri Jean and Sebastien Sass for the AJL.

Translated  by Alice Coffin with the help of www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Russian journalist and out lesbian, Elena Dogadina writes about her orientation and LGBTI issues. She covers violence and discrimination in her country. Editor, trainer and human rights defender Temur Kobalia is the founder of NCO TV Russia and the Volgograd Human Rights Council. In the framework of a press tour organised by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the French LGBTI Journalists Association (AJL) met with the two Russian journalists. Following our partnership with AJL, we here produce a translation of this interview which was previously published in French.

What are the working conditions for journalists in Russia?

Elena Dogina: To put it simply, the media in Russia are divided into two categories: state-owned and independent media. Working for the latter one, I have more freedom to cover the stories I want to report, especially LGBT related stories. However, these media have much less impact. For instance, my parents who live in a small village are not affected .

Temur Kobalia: There are many laws that limit freedom of the press. The law prohibiting LGBT propaganda, for one, impacted directly on the treatment of these subjects. Another law requires employees of NGOs receiving funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or another one forces any blogger with more than 3000 daily readers to register his personal information with the government. However, this does not mean that we are dictated what to write! Once I get home, I shall write about these meetings that are currently taking place in France and these articles will be read by, on average, 4500 people.

ED : We can’t make the slightest concession. Otherwise, they will impose others on us and we will  become the Kremlin’s official media!

Are you scared for your safety?

ED: I am privileged enough to belong to the middle class. My wife owns her own apartment and we live in an area where I never experienced homophobia. So, no, I am not scared for my own safety. On the other hand, I am scared for the safety of those close to me: for my wife, who is not out publicly, and for my little sister, who could be bullied (a problem that is not taken into account at all by Russian institutions) or discrimination…

TK: I have been arrested before, searched, my passport has once been taken away and my organisation has had to pay a fine equivalent to 15,000 euros. One of my colleagues is under investigation… But that doesn’t stop us from doing our work.

ED: . We don’t know when, we don’t know which of our articles shall be the pretend reason, but we know that we risk an arrest… We learn to live with it: we can’t be afraid 7/7, 24/24. Personally, I am much less afraid since I am out as a lesbian: the threat of  outing no longer exists and I am no longer afraid of being rejected for who I am…

What is your view on how the media cover LGBTI issues?

ED: I am a journalist. I am a lesbian. Even though it is very important to talk about persecution in order to raise awareness, I think it is also very important to write about other aspects that are more positive for the community such as LGBT friendly events. It is necessary to write about all aspects of LGBT life, to interview as many people as possible, to get a better representation, a better visibility. It might inspire more people to come out.

TK : We face a lot of difficulties finding interviewees. Because they get scared or because they want to be paid, many of them don’t want to appear on activist shows. I regret this lack of involvement on their part. They are thus complicit in the government’s actions when they should be standing up to them!

ED: These are the words of a straight man! You cannot blame people for being afraid of reprisals!

TK : I wasn’t talking about people who are afraid but, for example, youtubers who talk about it openly but don’t want to come to our studio because they want to be paid.

How do you perceive the coverage of these issues by the media abroad?

ED: First of all, I have to say that I was astound at how little LGBT people are portrayed in the French media when your society is supposed to be more tolerant! To answer your question, I would say that, even if it unfortunately has very little impact (a constant huge part of the Russian population does not speak English and does not have access to the Internet), the coverage of LGBT stories in Russia by foreign media is important. On the one hand, it provides support to those who feel isolated and, on the other hand, it reminds the Russian authorities, who tend to forget, that they are part of the international community. Foreign media often focus on high-profile cases and thus force the authorities to react. That is very good. However, they should also see the many different stories to meet other people, other aspects that are also very interesting. Basically, let them deal with Russian LGBT issues as they deal with these issues at home.

[Many thanks to Elnara Mevolhon, interpreter, without whom this interview could not have taken place.]

Interviewed by Dimitri Jean and Sebastien Sass for the AJL.

Translated  by Alice Coffin with the help of www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)