Today is March 8, 2014 – the 104th International Women's Day!
In honour of the Day, and as a way of highlighting the great diversity of issues being acted upon by feminists around the world today, we conducted a series of short interviews with feminist activists and artists from various countries (Argentina, Egypt, Switzerland, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Armenia and Japan) which we warmly invite you to explore here.
We also took the opportunity to publish some key arguments for action for feminists and women's rights advocates seeking to engage the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, which we hope you find useful.
And, we thought we would also dedicate this March 8 newsletter to showcasing some of the great events, with a focus on gender equality and identity, already confirmed for May 17 2014...
May 17A-gender!
femLINK Pacific – a women's rights NGO & media project based in Fiji – will be marking the IDAHOT 2014 with a dedicated 4 hour episode of their 'Rainbow Connections' radio show, amongst other initiatives!
Aswat, a women's organisation from Palestine will have a study day for school counsellors to raise awareness about sexual orientation and gender identities.
Activists in Cameroon will be hosting media and legal affairs training specifically for lesbians – to empower them more with the LGBT community.
In Ankara, Turkey, Kaos GL will be hosting a conference on various topics related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and Freedom of Expression. Guests already confirmed include IDAHO Committee Chair Tamara Adrian and academic superstar Jack Halberstam!
Queer Zagreb in Croatia are having a gender themed dance festival, May 14 – 18. “It is with a whole segment of woman choreographers and another called Performing Gender, where performers and dancers are questioning the role of gender in performing arts.”
The Association of Transgender People in the Philippines (ATP) is partnering with LGBT Pinoy to host an education-focused party for May 17 – (L)et's (G)et (B)old (T)ogether.
In Switzerland, activists from the Swiss Lesbian Organisation have launched a petition for the government to recognise May 17 as an official national day.
Feminist activists in Armenia plan to address a series of political “either/or questions”, (involving themes of traditional values, migration, culture and human rights) through creative campaigning.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg – with more than two months to go to the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2014, many many more events will be flooding in over the coming weeks.
Please send us your plans – even if they are tentative – so that they might encourage others to also take action for May 17!
For more info about updates, events or how you can get involved in the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2014, email us at: contact@dayagainsthomophobia.org
