Date: Sat, 29 Jul 95 11:39 PDT From: Andy Quan PRESS RELEASE #2: ------------------------------------------------------------ AUGUST 8TH: GET READY FOR ILGA DAY! Symbolic date chosen to spotlight the international gay and lesbian movement. During the 17th ILGA World Conference in Rio de Janeiro in June, a symbolic date was chosen to strengthen the sense of unity among the diverse worldwide membership of ILGA. The date was chosen in recognition of the founding of the Association in Coventry, England on August 8, 1978. While most organizations will not have enough time to plan events this year, it is expected that ILGA members around the world will use this date in the future to plan special activities for solidarity and festivity. It is also hoped that organizers can use the event to raise awareness of the international gay and lesbian movement and to raise money for ILGA, which is currently in the midst of a financial crisis. The very first August 8th ILGA day event will be taking place this year in Sitges, Spain and organized by the group Coordinadora Gai Lesbiana, Barcelona. It is expected that other European organizations may choose another ILGA day to plan their activities, in consideration of the fact that so many people take their holidays during August in Europe. The International Lesbian and Gay Association is a worldwide federation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations having over 450 members in over 75 countries around the globe. In the past years, ILGA has been successful in campaigning Amnesty International to include lesbians and gay men imprisoned on the basis of sexuality as "prisoners of conscience," in the deletion of "homosexuality" from the World Health OrganizationUs International Classification of Diseases, and in the inclusion of sexual orientation under anti-discrimination statements made by international and regional bodies such as the European Parliament. ILGA's latest campaigns are for the recognition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation during the upcoming Beijing Women's Conference and in the 1996 revision of the European Union's Maastricht Treaty. ILGA will also be lobbying the European Union to recognize in the treaty the right to free movement of gay and lesbian workers which includes the right for them to be accompanied by their partners (EU countries like Sweden, Holland, Denmark, and Norway all officially recognize same-sex partners). Jordi Petit, the new male secretary general of ILGA, reports that the Spanish Minister of Social Affairs, Christina Alverdi, has promised in a meeting with the most important NGOs in Spain to send to the Spanish Presidency of the European Union the proposal to include in the new treaty of the European Union an article against discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, xenophobia, religion, sex, and sexual orientation. She also promised to study the proposals of ILGA for the Beijing conference to recognize discrimination against women on the basis of sexual orientation. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL OR FAX ANDY QUAN, ILGA COORDINATOR, AT 32-2-502-2471.