Experiences of Solidarity of Lesbian Movements

Panel discussion
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Event will be held in English.

The history of activism teaches us that LBTQ+ women and non-binary people are those demonstrating solidarity in practice. We are the ones bringing the most vulnerable into the human rights movements. On this panel we will explore how contemporary lesbian movements connect on the global, European, and regional level. Through the examples of various initiatives and practices that unite lesbians, and through the experiences of lesbian activists, who will join us at the panel, we will get to know diverse realities of lesbian activism around the world. We will position international solidarity of lesbian activism in the context of feminism, the fight for LGBTIQ+ rights, antiracism and within the environmental movement. We will reflect on the needs, struggles and potentials of international lesbian solidarity and on the ways of supporting the existing initiatives.

Guests:

• Doria Jukić, activist, Croatia;
• Nino Kharchilava, Research and Education Coordinator at Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG), Georgia;
• Angelica Polmonari, local, national and international activist of Arcigay, Chair of the Women’s Steering Committee of ILGA World, Italy;
• Polona Černič, sociologist, Slovenia;

Moderation: Katja Štefanec, Ljubljana Pride Association

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Doria Jukić is a social worker at Duga Zagreb, a safe house for children and adults facing domestic violence in Zagreb. In this role, Doria provides individual and group support for victims and survivors of domestic violence to regain their confidence and rejoin the labor market. Outside of this role of direct work, Doria has ample experience in leading lectures and workshops on the topic of gender-based violence and a sensitized approach towards LGBTIQ persons (from her experience working in the NGO Zagreb Pride) and has organized a range of large-scale events and social movements in her community. 

Doria is a long-standing member of a forum theatre group and dealt with the topic of the intersection of social work and the concept of the theatre of the oppressed in her academic work. She is also a member of a drumming collective that gathers around queer-feminist anticapitalistic values. Through the collective, she empowers young women and queer persons for grassroot social actions and organising protests.

Nino Kharchilava is a queer activist and women’s rights defender. Nino has a Master’s degree in gender studies. Her research interest is feminist practices of creating and transforming spaces. Since 2008 Nino has been involved in creation and development of safe spaces for queer and feminist women, and has actively participated in forming and conceptualizing intercultural links in queer community and among women rights defenders, both at regional and international levels. Nino is a trainer of integrated security. Nino is also a co-author of a concept of healers. Currently she works as a Head of Community Direction at The Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG).

Angelica Polmonari is a Human Rights Expert and a transfeminist lesbian activist for LGBTQIA+ rights at the local, national and international levels. She has been advocating for LGBTQIA+ people’s agency and visibility both in society and politics within Arcigay, the main Italian and european LGBTQIA+ organization, currently incorporating 74 local committees, and ILGA World, the major worldwide LGBTQIA+ federation, comprising 1837 member organizations from 169 countries. Angelica Polmonari is the first out transfeminist lesbian female President of one of the longest-running local committees of Arcigay, Arcigay Modena “Matthew Shepard”, the international spokesperson of the first-ever Italian transfeminist LGBTQIA+ network, Arcigay Rete Donne Transfemminista, and the present Chair of the Women’s Steering Committee of ILGA World. Angelica Polmonari has been working as Policy Advisor and Lead Project Designer and Manager for international institutions and national nongovernmental organizations for human rights, namely the European Parliament, IBO Italia, one of the earliest Italian NGOs for international volunteering, youth engagement and sustainability, and Arcigay itself in the field of international development cooperation for the promotion of LGBTQIA+ rights in Central America.

Polona Černič is an analytical-theoretical sociologist. She works in data analytics and research. She is a long-term member of the organizational team of the Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival and the lesbian collective Lesbian Feminist University. Her contributions can occasionally be heard in the show Lezbomanija on Radio Študent. She is the co-author of the largest lesbian survey in Slovenia, which was conducted in 2017. She participated in two European lesbian conferences, in Vienna in 2017 and in Hungary in 2022.