Spanning the Globe: Cutting Edge Lesbian,
Transgender and Queer Organizing

This panel featured six activists whose work and commitment to LGBTI justice have transformed the way that people live in their communities and regions. Each shared political conditions and key trends that inform their work, and highlighted pivotal success stories and strategies. The following is a mere glimpse of the session, which provided an in-depth and detailed account of global activism.

WANG Ping, Gender/Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan (G/SRAT)

TAIPEI, TAIWAN Secretary General of Gender/Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan (G/SRAT), WANG Ping, knows a good news story when she sees it. So, last year when the mayor refused an invitation to attend a rainbow flag-raising ceremony, G/SRAT alerted the media to his pattern of hypocritical behavior toward the tongzhi (LGBT) community. While publicly professing support for tongzhi, he would rescind it amidst any hint of controversy. Taiwan remains beleaguered by the prevalent belief that tongzhi are a family shame. G/SRAT works to dismantle discrimination resulting from such prejudice, challenging government hypocrisy and insuring that tongzhi are visible and embraced. "We must always persevere until we get what we want," declared WANG. And in this instance, they did. Not only did the Mayor attend the event, but he presented the rainbow flag.

HAIFA, ISRAEL Amidst a climate of violence, homophobia and occupation, many members of Aswat - Palestinian Gay Women consider the organization a lifeline. Begun in 2002 as an online discussion board, Aswat ("voices" in Arabic) has since launched a state-of-the-art website, an array of support groups and several educational projects. They work strategically, networking with other organizations in the region to discard a mantle of invisibility and combat the prevalent and multi-layered discrimination that Palestinian gay women face on a daily basis. "Our power," their representative declared, "is not in choosing one identity over another, but insisting that there is a way to create space for all."

In BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, travestis (loosely: trans people) suffer from widespread harassment and oppression. Cut off from conventional family, some 80% work as sex workers. In 2001, after learning that a program created as a result of a national food shortage was available only to those with children, Lohana Berkins* took action. Founder and director of ALITT (Asociacion Lucha por la Identidad Travesti y Transexual), she and 100 activists successfully challenged the unjust city policy. "This is our family," they said. "We live 20 or 30 of us together, and we need food." The new policy provided access to not only the travesti community, but to all kinship groups in Buenos Aires -- a small but critical step recognizing all families.
*Alejandra Sarda spoke on behalf of Lohana Berkins, who was unable to attend.

Graciela Sánchez, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center

SAN ANTONIO, UNITED STATES Graciela Sanchez works to build bridges -- one person, and one campaign at a time. As the Executive Director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, she believes that, "All of our work aims to cross borders and tear down walls." San Antonio, she explained, is home to Clear Channel, NAFTA's North American Development Bank and five military bases. Seventy percent people of color, the city boasts the highest number of gated communities per capita. "Our organizing," she continued, "must address multiple issues, for multiple systems and conditions divide us." Organizing around the Texas constitutional marriage amendment in 2005, the Esperanza convened over 100 diverse, progressive activists and formed roaming think tanks. They didn't succeed in defeating the amendment, but they overwhelmingly succeeded in serving as a catalyst for an unprecedented movement-building effort.

"As a member of the Women's Coalition of Zimbabwe, we had several meetings with the Minister of Youth, Gender, and Employment to discuss how possible it would be to include same-sex relations within the domestic violence bill." Fadzai Muparutsa, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe

HARARE, ZIMBABWE In 1995, Zimbabwe's president declared that, "Gays and lesbians are worse than dogs and pigs and don't deserve any human rights." In the years that followed, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press were harshly curtailed, forcing most progressive organizing underground. Instead of succumbing to fear and pressure to disband, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) grew their mission and membership, attracting more young, black, working-class activists - and creating a new Gender Department. Under the leadership of Fadzai Muparutsa, the department's Program Manager, the membership of lesbians has rapidly increased. In order to further counter the government espoused notion that lesbians do not exist in African cultures, GALZ helped launch the Coalition of African Lesbians. A body that today represents organizations from twelve countries, the Coalition works to increase lesbian and bisexual women's visibility throughout the African continent.

Svetlana Durkovic, Organization Q

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA In 2006, Sarajevo streets were bursting with colorful rainbow ribbons. Made from swaths of t-shirts and sheets, the ribbons were the vehicle for Arts for Rights -- a monthly event sponsored by the LGBTI group, Organization Q. In a region still scarred by the ravages of war, Organization Q champions the rights of all. It was the first LGBTI group in the region to actively incorporate trans and intersex issues into its work. Executive Director Svetlana Durkovic reported that while homosexuality is decriminalized in most of Eastern Europe, LGBTI activists still face continual "social discrimination, social exclusion, invisibility, violence, nationalism, racism and fascism." Organization Q is working to change that. After posting the rainbow ribbon photos online, they were flooded with anonymous requests. "We want to do the same thing," people wrote. "Just tell us how to make them."