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In June 2006, lesbian rights defenders from eight countries gathered in Johannesburg for the second African Lesbian Leadership Institute conducted by the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) and hosted by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women. Members of the Coalition came from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa for an intensive week of activities. Visa problems prevented the participation by CAL members from Ghana and Zimbabwe.
Building the Coalition
During the week, participants reported on the situation of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in their countries and the work done by their organisations since the First Lesbian Leadership Institute held in April 2005 in Namibia; shared progress and challenges regarding the research they are conducting in their communities on the lived realities of lesbian lives; and learnt about the African Human Rights System including the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.
They further shared what feminism means to them in their daily work, and reasserted that it provides an important frame of analysis for the work of CAL in understanding and dismantling patriarchal structures across Africa that oppress all women, including lesbian women. Another theme was the importance of developing relevant HIV-prevention messages for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, who are still ignored and thus rendered invisible by AIDS organisations and campaigns.
Following the brainstorming of...