On International Lesbian Day, EL*C, the EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community, celebrates the strength, resistance and creativity of lesbian communities around the world, and looks ahead to an extraordinary gathering in 2027.
October 8th, 2026
And, next year, for the first time in thousands of years, a thousand of lesbian activists will celebrate together, in Lesvos, on 8 October 2027, the International Lesbian Day.
From 7 to 17 October 2027, hundreds of lesbians from across Europe, Central Asia and beyond will come together in Skala Eressos, on the Greek island of LESVOS, for the 5th EL*C Conference, marking 10 years of EL*C and a decade of building lesbian power across borders.
The choice of Lesvos is deeply symbolic. The island is the birthplace of Sappho, whose poetry gave lesbians a language and a geography that have travelled across centuries. More than 2,600 years later, lesbians will return to the island not simply to celebrate our history, but to discuss our present and collectively imagine our future.
And our present is visible from Lesvos. Last month, just across the strait, Turkish police raided the homes and offices of LGBTI activists in an operation named “My Family is Safe”, placing 162 people under investigation. From Russia to Kazakhstan, laws against so-called “LGBT propaganda” are silencing our communities. When governments raid our spaces in the name of the family, gathering is a political act.
We need spaces where lesbians can meet each other safely, organise across borders, disagree, imagine, create, celebrate and build power together.
For ten days, Skala Eressos will become a space for political debate, feminist discussion, workshops, performances, cultural events, organizing, celebration and resistance. The conference will bring together activists, organisations, artists, thinkers and members of lesbian communities to address some of the most urgent questions facing our movements today, from environmental justice and migration to lesbian economic alternatives, resistance to capitalism and mass tourism, and the sustainability of our organisations and communities.
The 2027 Conference will also mark ten years since the creation of EL*C. What began in 2017 as an urgent call to make lesbians visible and politically organised at European and Central Asian level has grown into a network bringing together hundreds of lesbian organisations, groups, activists and individuals.
As Sappho wrote:
“I think they will remember us in the future.”
In October 2027, we will gather on her island to make sure they do.
5th EL*C Conference
Skala Eressos, Lesvos, Greece
7–17 October 2027
Registration and information about the conference are available through EL*C:
For media inquiries, please contact:
- Kika Fumero, Media and Communications Officer of EL*C
- Phone number (WhatsApp,Telegram and Signal): +34 666 899 735
- Email address: kika.fumero@lesbiangenius.org
About EL*C
EL*C is a feminist network of lesbian organisations and individuals working across Europe and Central Asia. Through advocacy, movement building, research, re-granting and community organising, EL*C works to strengthen lesbian movements, increase their visibility and resources, and advance the rights and political power of lesbians in all their diversity.
Note:
International Lesbian Day was born far from Europe. Its origins are still debated, but most accounts trace it back to a lesbian march through Wellington, New Zealand, in 1980, and to a celebration at Collingwood Town Hall in Melbourne, Australia, in 1990. Next year, on 8 October 2027, we will celebrate it together on the island that gave lesbians their name.
Registration and information about the conference and scholarships are available here: https://lesbiangenius.org/5th-elc-conference-lesvos-2027/
