ILGCN CALLING -- JUNE, 2008

ILGCN Secretariats, ambassadors, co-ordinators  & supporters:

ERATO (June 2008)

Successful participation of Nordic ILGCN representatives in Bucharest Pride. More information coming in the next Erato (under preparation).

Also, more information on the long-postponed Toronto stage of an ILGCN world cultural conference coming soon. To be arranged together with the LGBT group at the University of Toronto.

Photo by Colin de la Motte-Sherman, ILGCN-Berlin

ILGCN AWARDS

2008 Grizzly Bear awards have been awarded to couragous activists in Bucharest and Chisenau -- the later where homophobes violently attacked colleagues in a bus and at the activists' center in the Moldav capital.

Proposals for other 2008 ILGCN awards are very welcome.

HELSINKI

The stage of this year's ILGCN World Cultural Conference will be extended over 2 days instead of 1 -- September 13-14, 2008  --  as part of the annual Tribade Day & Night Festival in the Finnish capital (September 10-16, 2008).

The Information Secretariat is planing to provide multi-media seminars such as:

"Nordic Rainbow Culture"
"Rainbows under Seige, Rainbows in Chains -- Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland & Belarus"
"Rainbow Culture -- a spotlight on Nazi & neo nazi persecution of
Homosexuals."
"Nordic Rainbow Humunists -- fighting the homophobic dragons of
religions"
"Music on the Rainbow Barricades"
"Films on the Rainbow Barricades."
"Rainbow Culture vs. HIV/AIDS  -- Swedish Co-operation with Baltic
Colleagues"

The secretariat will also display work from the Tupilak (Nordic rainbow cultural workers) /ILGCN Travelling Art & Photo Exhibition.

Input from other ILGCN secretariats, ambassadors, co-ordinators and supporters very welcome!!!

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL

More information about the Minneapolis stage of this year's ILGCN World Cultural Conference September  19-21, 2008 is coming in the next Erato.

Participation from ILGCN contacts and supporters is very welcome!

WORLD CONFERENCE STAGES 2009

Proposals for ILGCN world conference stages for next year are welcome and have to be approved at the Helsinki and Minneapolis/St. Paul stages.

Please submit them as soon as possible.

Keep in touch,

Bill Schiller of the ILGCN Information Secretariat

ILGCN CALLING*   www.ilgcn.tupilak.org

May 17 - IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) DAY. You are cordially invited to join us when we include an ILGCN seminar at a Stockholm event called *Rainbow Culture & HIV/ AIDS. If you can*t attend in person, any relevant material is very welcome.(As usual, we have no travel grants but will find private accommodation to avoid hotel costs!)

Bucharest --  May 19-25. We plan to include a seminar on the ILGCN and display works from our Tupilak (Nordic lesbian & Gay Cultural workers) and ILGCN art and photography.   Any one able to join us and describe about work in your area is very welcome!

 NEW ERATO under preparation.  Any contributions..? Art work..?  Please send it as soon as possible. The January 2008 ERATO is one the web!

2008 ILGCN AWARD nominations welcome!

ILGCN WORLD CULTURAL CONFERENCE STAGES 2008 - Plans are rolling for the stages in Helsinki (part of the Tribade Night & Day Festival) on September 14 and in Minneapolis/St. Paul (arranged by the ILGCN History Secretariat) September 19-21. Contributions from ILGCN cultural ambassadors and co-ordinators are very welcome!).

NEW ADDITIONS:

Our new ILGCN co-ordinator for Uganda is Kiyimba Brown of IDAHO Uganda. We hope to have an ILGCN event in Kampala in the future.

Our ILGCN cultural ambassador for Romania is Florintina, ILGCN co-ordinator is Octav Popescu.

URGENT! The ILGCN Algerian "ambassador in exile*  can ONLY be reached through the ILGCN Information Secretariat because of security reasons.

Bill Schiller, secretary general of the ILGCN Information Secretariat - Stockholm

bill@tupilak.org
_____________________________________

Supporting the ILGCN Information Secretariat:

  TUPILAK -- Nordic rainbow cultural workers  www.tupilak.org

 NORDIC RAINBOW COUNCIL

 NORDIC RAINBOW HUMANISTS

TUPILAK LAUNCHES 2008 with NORDIC/BALTIC EMPHASIS, SPOTLIGHT on AIDS & CULTURE

PRESS RELEASE               January 3, 2008

 

 

"Blue Baltic" Festival to Link Swedish Capital with Cities in Nordic/Baltic Neighbors

 

TUPILAK LAUNCHES 2008 with NORDIC/BALTIC EMPHASIS, SPOTLIGHT on AIDS & CULTURE

 

   Stockholm --  Tupilak, the Nordic organization of LGBT cultural workers in the Nordic area, is launching this year with special emphasis on co-operation projects in Sweden and in our Nordic and Baltic neighbors -- promoting the use of rainbow culture as a powerful weapon against homophobia, provincially and silence.

 

    "We're adopting the excellent Polish idea of concrete East-West co-operation by launching the "Blue Baltic" happening " -- in Stockholm on July 19 at Södra Teatern (a week before EuroPride here) together with two cities in countries on the eastern shores of the Baltic -- pledging to increase mutual participation in each other's events.  It had been hoped in vain that Europride organizers would adopt this concept to share the spotlight with Eastern European colleagues -- and maybe this may one day happen," says Tupilak chairman Bill Schiller, also general secretary of the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) Information Secretariat - Stockholm. "We have nothing against launching the idea on a smaller, less prestigious  scale."

 

AIDS in Rainbow Culture: Baltic Spotlights and Shadows

 

    Tupilak, the ILGCN, the Nordic Rainbow Council and the Nordic Rainbow Humanists are also planning a special cultural festival in connection with this year's  May 17 IDAHO (The International Day Against Homophobia) in Stockholm -- with seminars, drama, poetry, photography, music, song and dance. The aim is to help   illustrate how HIV and AIDS have been reflected -- or ignored -- in cultural life of the Nordic and Baltic region, and how rainbow culture can be better used to promote safer sex and responsibility -- especially where HIV has reached epidemic proportions in some of Sweden's eastern neighbors across the Baltic Sea.

 

Swedish and Polish participants at Equality Days In Poznan

     Tupilak is also planning to send delegates, the travelling Tupilak/ILGCN art exhibit and films to Prides and other events in the region -- especially in the East,  as well as with other "partners" in Eastern Europe such as Romania, with a Nordic-Romanian rainbow festival in Stockholm and in Bucharest during the year.  The special relationship with colleagues in Belarus -- the homophobic and last East European dictatorship.    

 

     "We are attending the Nordic-Baltic conference in Warsaw February 7-10 hoping to check out what progress has been made int eh many recommendations made at the meeting in Gothenburg last September  for increasing co-operation,"  Schiller adds.  "We'll also try to attend the ILGCN world cultural conference stages in Helsinki  on September 14 (part of the Tribade Days & Nights Festival) and Minneapolis/St. Paul September 19-21.

 

     Tupilak's November 9 "Kristal Nacht" event  -- held in Stockholm earlier and in other Baltic cities  -- focusing on Nazi and neo Nazi persecution of homosexuals is searching for a new host city, while Tupilak's annual  Moonbow art exhibit and the winter solstice festival are again booked for the Swedish capital.

 

     "Of course, we'll be handing out our annual Tupilak, ILGCN, and other awards during the year to honor outstanding achievements in the world of rainbow culture and international human rights, "Schiller concludes.  "We hope we also see a boost in new members among cultural workers and those who support rainbow culture -- since the 100 kronor membership fee and the moral support really helps a small organization like ours cross international and psychological barriers."

 

www.tupilak.org       www.ilgcn.tupilak.org 

 

Tupilak, Nordic Rainbow Council, Hallongrottan invite you to a:

Rainbow Cultural Evening

Friday, November 30, 2007 Hallongrottan
Bergsundsgatan 25 Hornstull, Stockholm (tel 46 8 658 13 20)

Intermediary meeting of the NORDIC BALTIC RAINBOW NETWORK
…… between Gothenberg , September 2007 and Warsaw, spring 2008:

Report on Poznan Pride, November 17, 2007

Looking Ahead at Tallinn Pride, August 2008 (Krissu from Estonia)

Update on “Rainbows in Chains” in Minsk, Belarus

Uppträdande..... bl.a.

Anna Holm -- sång och musik

Linus Raudsepp --   poesi och performance  (20.00)

Jan Hammarlund --  sång och musik   (omkring 21.00)

"Le Poet"  * poesi: "Hyllning till John Lennon"  (omkring 21.30)

Under kvällen: 

  Tupilak & ILGCN    AWARD CEREMONIES: 

      Bifrost (Hetero-Homo bridge-building) 

      Rainbow Iceberg (international awareness and solidarity)      

Arco Nordica (Nordic co-operation) 

Polar Bear (film)      

Thor´s Hammer  (Male Nordic cultural worker),      

Rainbow Humanist (contribution for humanism, against intolerance)

……………………………………………………………………………..

Tupilak & ILGCN
(International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network)
Award ceremonies
……………………………………………………………………………..

Samples from the Tupilak & ILGCN Travelling Art Exhibit

NORDIC BALTIC RAINBOW NETWORK MEETS IN GOTHENBURG

PRESS RELEASE October 10, 2007

Tupilak/Hallongrottan Arranging Follow-up Session in Stockholm, Blogg in Action:

NORDIC BALTIC RAINBOW NETWORK MEETS IN GOTHENBURG

Gothenburg -- The 4-day discussions of the Nordic Baltic Rainbow Network at the giant Gothenburg Book Fair and the nearby Museum of World Culture between September 27-30, 2007 in this west coast Swedish city launched enthusiastic plans to increase rainbow co-operation across the Baltic Sea.

*This was a real boost to the work both of the Nordic Rainbow Council and the Swedish Pol-Baltic Network,* says Bill Schiller of the council and of the conference*s co-organizer, Tupilak (Nordic rainbow cultural workers). *Thanks to financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Baltic Unit in Visby on Gotland, we were able to bring colleagues from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland for concrete, face-to face discussions on how we can build permanent rainbow bridges in the future,* Schiller adds.

Expanding Rainbow Co-operation to Others

Discussions covered increasing information exchange between Network members, developments in arranging Prides (still banned in Lithuania) and other rainbow activities in each country involved, increasing efforts to encourage all Prides to include a Nordic Baltic rainbow seminar or other events as well as using rainbow culture as a powerful complement to the political struggle.

The network will also be open to continuing support from the humanist movement to help combat religious intolerance and take active steps to increase co-operation with other colleagues living in such countries as Russia and the Eastern European dictatorship of Belarus as well as the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

The attendance at some of the discussions of two gay activists from Singapore - where printed magazines and cultural exhibits on homosexuality are banned - indicated the enormous value of keeping such discussions open even to enthusiastic *outsiders.* The Singapore gays have joined the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) and are eager for co-operation with the Nordic Baltic Rainbow Network.

Double Program at Book Fair, Museum

Through strong co-operation with the book fair*s *International Square.* * joining 65 Swedish solidarity groups together,* Network colleagues were given several chances to reach the public through speeches and panel presentations at the main and smaller stages about the rainbow struggle in the region as well as from their information stand.

Blogg in Action, Next Meeting & Cultural Evening Set for Stockholm

Delegates in Gothenburg agreed to share the work load with the following:

1. Estonia Pride (Krissu): creating a Nordic Baltic Rainbow Network blog. (Already in action).

2. Tupilak/Hallongrottan (rainbow culture center): offering to host an *intermediate* meeting and rainbow cultural evening in Stockholm on November 30.
(no travel grants as yet but free private accommodation!)

3. RFSL: seeking funding for a large Network meeting in Warsaw next spring.

4. Mozaika-Lativa/ Tupilak checking out funding for a Baltic Rainbow Boat Cruise around Baltic ports, as well as rainbow ship journeys between Sweden/Finland/Estonia/ Latvia
(on Silja Lines).

5. Tupilak: checking out the possibility of arranging a Network conference or cultural event in Visby (half-way point in the Baltic. Boat lines from Riga, Nynäshamn).

6. Tribades Festival (Helsinki)/ ILGCN Information Secretariat - Stockholm: organizing Nordic Baltic Network conference/cultural event during ILGCN world conference stage in Helsinki in September, 2008 as part of the Tribade Festival 2008.

7. Lithuania LGL: searching for colleagues in Kaliningrad wanting to join the Network.

8. Tupilak/Nordic Rainbow Council: working on Network web site page, links.

9. ILGCN East European Secretariat - Warsaw: increasing contacts with Russia, Belarus, other East European countries.

10. Tupilak: contacting all Nordic Baltic Prides to encourage the inclusion of a Network seminar/event (giving latest info of new developments to Tallinn.)

11. ILGCN Film Secretariat - Riga: continuing to help Baltic organizers with film festivals.

12. Tupilak/ILGCN - Stockholm: continue to expand the Tupilak/ILGCN Travelling Art & Photo Exhibit to include more artists from the region, and make the exhibit available to more Nordic Baltic events.

-- from the Nordic Rainbow Council & Tupilak

Rainbow presentations at the Gothenburg Book Fair

Supported by Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency‘s Baltic Sea Unit – Visby

Nordic rainbow cultural workers ………………………….….

www.tupilak.org info@tupilak.org

Rainbow presentations
at the Gothenburg Book Fair

Thursday, September 27
17.40-18.00 Erkki Otsman, Estonian cabaret artist (large stage)

Rainbow Mingle at Nordic Rainbow Council/Tupilak Stand 18.00- 19.30

Music and poetry: Oyvind Rauset + 1 (Norway),

dekon/rekon - book-burning group (bokbrännargrupp) (Sweden).

Friday , September 28
15.00- 15.20 Rainbows banned in School Rooms (large stage)

17. 20-17.40 Rainbow Battles in the Baltic (large stage)

Saturday, September 29
14.40–15.00 Rainbows knocking at UN Doors (large stage)

17.00-17.30 Rainbows in Muzzles (little stage)

………………………….….

7th Nordic Rainbow Council Workshops at the:

Museum of World Culture (10.00-12.00)

Thursday, September 27:
“Spotlights on Lithuania and Poland”

Friday, September 28:
“Spotlights on Estonia and Latvia”

Saturday, Sept. 29:
“Over the Baltic Rainbow – the yellow, brick road to solidarity”

“Swedish Pol-Balt Network – the path so far, future plans”

Sunday, September 30:
“Rainbow Humanism – challenging religious dragons”

”Culture vs. Rainbow Politics – allies or adversaries?”

“Nordic/Baltic Co-operation with Belarus, Russia”

ILGCN/Tupilak Travelling Art & Photo Exhibition

………………………….….

ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network)

Information Secretariat - Stockholm www.ilgcn.tupilak.org

ILGCN Information Secretariat - Stockholm

PRESS RELEASE May 30, 2007 2007

International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network Meeting in Lithuania:

ILGCN World Rainbow Cultural Conference in Vilnius May 24-25

Vilnius -- Art, photography, music, song, films and discussions were part of the successful 1^st stage of this year's ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) world rainbow cultural conference May 24-25 in the Lithuanian capital – part of the week-long pioneering Rainbow Days event.

The international gathering sharply protested the decisions of the Vilnius authorities to ban the planned display of a rainbow flag in the heart of the city, the unprecedented refusal to allow a travelling, European Union-supported anti-discrimination information bus to visit the city, and the banning of EU-supported rainbow campaign posters on the city's trolley buses – containing the words that "a gay can be a policeman" and "a lesbian can be a teacher."

Anna Gavriolova, Elena Mosalova (Belarus LGBT Amnesty)

"This puts Vilnius in the same homo-phobic pot as Moscow, Minsk, Chisenau and

Teheran when it comes to rainbow rights and cultural diversity – instead of with other European Union members," says Bill Schiller, secretary general of the ILGCN Information Secretar-iat in Stockholm. "When political and religious authorities outlaw rainbows and love, they forfeit their right to talk future to generations … they turn their back on democracy and human rights, and strangle a rich cultural heritage now blooming in so many other cities around the world."

Lithuanians, ILGCN co-ordinator Arvydas Vogilis

Special guests at the conference from Minsk described the continuing difficulties of arranging rainbow events in Belarus -- the last dictatorship of Eastern Europe -- and the crucial importance of maintaining international contact with other colleagues.

Anne Jaaskelainen (Tribade Festival Helsinki), singing her own songs in Vilnius

Emphasizing the enormous importance of films for the visibility of rainbow communities and the ability to reach beyond national borders, the conference approved the creation of a new ILGCN Rainbow Film Secretariat for films and film festivals, based in Riga.

The conference also discussed plans to increase Baltic rainbow collaboration with the 2^nd session of the Nordic Rainbow Council in September 27-30 in the Swedish west coast city of Gothenberg, and the 2^nd stage of the Nordic Rainbow Humanist session in the same city.

Specially invited guests will come from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Baltic & Belarus Awards from ILGCN

2007 ILGCN Grizzly Bear awards – honoring those fighting especially ferocious homophobia -- were approved for the organizers of Pride and rainbow events in Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. This year's Clio's Silver Cup award for outstanding LGBT history and documentation went to the "Volunteers Over Borders" in the Belarus city of Gomel

ILGCN Rainbow Film Secretariat

Special greetings were received by the Vilnius conference from the organizers of the 2^nd stage of the 2007 ILGCN world rainbow cultural conference in Toronto (scheduled for June 20 and part of Pride Toronto) – with special focus on Iranians in exile and the increasingly dangerous homophobia in Iran with whippings, arrests and executions.

LGCN/Tupilak Travelling Exhibit photo by Andrius Privetas, Lithuania on display in Vilnius

Also displayed at the Vilnius gathering: historical panels from the History Secretriat and art work from the travelling Tupilak (Nordic rainbow cultural workers) and ILGCN art and photo exhibition.

The Vilnius conference also approved next year's world conference sites: Helsinki (in collaboration with the annual Tribade Days & Nights Festival) and Minneapolis/St. Paul

(in co-operation with the ILGCN History Secretariat at the University of Minnesota) -- both in September, 2008.

***********************

Supporting the ILGCN Information Secretariat: