Work

Workshop 2004-04-10:

Recommendations and strategies to fight discrimination within

Women:

• Focus on women issues in choosing women relevant issues for panel discussions
• see also lesbian films
• find female cabaret acts
• talk about female health care,… and other explicitly female issues
• Co-operate with other women bodies or women based organisations such as feminist networks
• Having also lesbian workshops in the women’s tent on ECOSY Camp or IUSY Festival
• Having explicit women issues in the programme of queer tent
• Find more individual contacts of interested lesbian and bisexual women
• Put links and buttons of queereaster page on women/lesbian websites
• Think of the female perspective in every issue we address
• Always take car of gender balance in panel discussions and for chairing workshops and as steering groups for other events
• Make sure that there is a women’s co-ordination, explicitly taking care of including women!
• Invite a autonomous women/lesbian caucus during other events to network
• Create a social atmosphere where women feel comfortable and which is not only centred on male gay mainstream culture (do not only choose male mainstream bars and clubs,…)
• Never hold women/feminist caucus parallel to the LGBT caucus

Bisexuality:

• Make it clear in any introductory talks or publicity that bisexuals are part of your group
• Make an effort to say bisexual as well as lesbian and gay- it does make a difference
• Make bisexuals visible with campaigns and awareness events. This can mean anything from producing stickers and posters with the ‘B’ word on, to specific campaigns around bisexual visibility
• Talk about the way that bisexuals are affected by homophobia.
• Hold discussions on the myths about bisexuality
• Recognise that misunderstanding and prejudice against bisexuals exists in the lesbian and gay communities. Discuss it, question it, and challenge it. Expect there to be people who aren’t ‘out’ as bisexual within your group
• Provide information and publications aimed specifically at bisexuals
• Appoint somebody in the group to have specific responsibility for issues around bisexuality to ensure it doesn’t get forgotten
• Support any request for bisexual-only space

Transgender:

• Be supportive although transgender people might not self define as LGB
• Address the issues more
• Deconstruct gander and sexuality as often as possible
• Make space for exchange of experience
• Make an effort to include transgender in the LGBT work and find out possible ways of supporting trans issues
• Be carefull about simply technical things like membership or registration format, never forget the “T”