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Meet a Grantee

Mujeres al Borde (Women on the Edge) Bogotá, Colombia

Mujeres al Borde is at the forefront of organizing for change and building community power in Colombia. Although a new organization, their accomplishments are many, already having developed theatre and film pieces and a lesbian radio soap opera. Mujeres Al Borde has also served as communications coordinator for a national LGBT roundtable and has organized a national network of LBT women's groups.

Theatre and video director Claudia Corredor is familiar with living outside the borders of conventional norms.

As a young girl, she played house, switched roles of mom and dad, and pretended to cook meals with a special friend. Girls who played those games," she was told, "go to hell." In her twenties, Claudia witnessed her (androgynous looking) partner handcuffed, arrested and herded into a police roundup. Other stories from friends who have been hit and raped are too numerous for her to recount.

In 2001, Claudia and film/television producer Ana Lucia Ramirez were determined to make a difference in the lives of those who had for so long been vilified by an intolerant society. Together, they formed Mujeres al Borde—a lesbian and bisexual women's group fusing art, culture, and political education. The group mirrored their belief that LBTI women can free themselves through artistic work; and that art could help individuals become more visible, resist discrimination, make connections with one another and challenge homophobia.

Today, Mujeres al Borde is at the forefront of organizing for change and building community power in Colombia. The organization has been recognized by the Minister of Culture for their outstanding work based in marginalized communities. As one of the only lesbian groups in Colombia, they are one of the first organizations in the country to include intersex people in their work and mission. A diverse composition of women from different social, religious and economic backgrounds, the group includes women of all sexualities and ages.

Run solely by volunteers, Mujeres al Borde uses borrowed media equipment, and maintains no office space of their own. Yet, the scope of their accomplishments is vast. The group offers a lesbian movie series, operates an active website and listserve and has created a groundbreaking lesbian radio soap opera.

In 2003, members designed a television campaign spotlighting the work of war resistance and the marginalization of social sectors including afro-Colombians, environmentalists, youth and the LGBT population. They conduct workshops for health care professionals on the sexual and reproductive health needs of lesbians, and workshops about oral sex for LBTI women. Activities and workshops are free to all women.

Mujeres al Borde's documentary, "Instructions to Lose the Shame" has screened in Colombia and internationally. In the works is a new documentary, Memorias de Niñas Raras (Strange Girls' Memories) which explores the respective childhoods of three lesbian, transgender, and intersex women—all of whom are members of Mujeres al Borde.

For Claudia, the success of Mujeres al Borde is heartening. "When a mother thanks us for our support to her lesbian daughter; when a lesbian or bisexual mother brings her children so that they get to know others; when all the Women at the Edge decided not to wear masks during the annual march for sexual diversity—I realize the importance of the fight for our human rights."

www.mujeresalborde.org

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