Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 09:09:00 -0500 (EST) From: Matthew Roberts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1995 ANNOUNCING THE FORMATION OF GAYS & LESBIANS IN AFRICAN STUDIES (GLAS) GLAS held its first official business meeting at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA) conference in Orlando on November 4, 1995. GLAS has its roots in an informal gathering of eight gays and lesbians in Toronto at the 1994 ASA meeting. This year's business meeting brought together nearly two dozen people interested in gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues in the Africa region. GLAS has its mission to: 1. Share information, contacts, and network on homosexually- related research and concerns in the Africa region. 2. Encourage and support our gay, lesbian, and bisexual colleagues in the field of African studies. 3. Encourage and support research and advocacy on homosexually-related concerns in the Africa region. 4. Raise the awareness of others of the relevance and need for homosexually-related research in African studies. GLAS sponsored the first ASA panel focusing on the subject of homosexuality in Africa at the Orlando conference titled, "Homosexuality in Africa: Does it Exist and Why Does it Matter?" In spite of being scheduled at the end of a four-day conference, the panel was extremely well attended. Over 40 participants discussed a range of important issues, including human rights abuses against gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and elsewhere; the systematic absence of research on same-sex behavior in the region and potentially tragic lack of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts targeting men who have sex with men; and the difficulties researchers face trying to conduct and publish research on homosexuality in Africa. The roundtable provided a forum for people to share their experiences and research findings. For example, two recent doctoral studies have identified same-sex behavior and cultural patterns in northern Nigeria and historical roots of homosexuality in Rwanda. It also became clear that though there has been little published work on same-sex behavior in Africa, there is a tremendous need to begin archiving research findings and to support future work. It was unanimously agreed at the business meeting that GLAS will seek Affiliate Organizational status with the ASA and sponsor two panels at next year's annual meeting in San Francisco. People interested in submitting paper proposals on the subject of "Developing Methodologies for Same-Sex Research in Africa" should contact Leonard Hirsch (lhirsch@si.edu) and Matthew Roberts (mroberts@fhi.org) by January 5. People interested in submitting paper proposals on African same-sex research they have conducted should submit their proposals to Deb Amory (amory@brick.purchase.edu) and Wolfram Hartmann (wolfram@public.unam.na) by January 5. GLAS will begin archiving information on homosexually-related issues and research on Africa. If you have done work--or know of people who have done work--on homosexuality in Africa, please send papers, citations, researcher information or contacts, and any other relevant information to GLAS. In the future, GLAS will make every effort to provide people with archival information on request. The members of GLAS are excited and pleased with the progress made at this year's ASA meeting and look forward to a growing membership, presence, and contribution at future African Studies Association meetings. For further information about GLAS, please contact Matthew Roberts. Contact: Gays & Lesbians in African Studies (GLAS) c/o Matthew W. Roberts, Ph.D., Convener 1930 New Hampshire Ave., NW #12 Washington, D.C. 20009 USA Email. mroberts@fhi.org (preferred contact method) Home Tel. 202/986-1453 Work Tel. 703/516-0460 x153 Work Fax. 703/516-9781 (to my attn.) --Boundary (ID UJlCuR+N9qgKi2qWAUXL+Q)-- ****************************************************************************** To send a message to the entire list "queerplanet", email queerplanet@abacus.oxy.edu This list is run by the program MAJORDOMO@abacus.oxy.edu. *******************************************************************************