Subject: EUROPRIDE GayLesBiStudies Conference 22-24 JUNE AMSTERDAM EUROPEAN CONFERENCE GAYLESBIAN STUDIES AMSTERDAM JUNE 22-24 1994 PLEASE CIRCULATE Europride 1994 European GayLesbian Studies Conference Contents, Programme, Workshops, Time-tables, Sites, Cocktails EUROPRIDE CONFERENCE AMSTERDAM JUNE 22-24 1994 Produced by the Gay and Lesbian Studies Departments of the Universities in the Netherlands ORGANIZING SEXUALITY: GAY AND LESBIAN MOVEMENTS SINCE THE 1960S. Organizing Sexuality Andr Krouwel Department of Politics and Public Administration Free University of Amsterdam Koningslaan 31-33 1075 AB Amsterdam tel. : Netherlands (31) 20 - 6718543/6189816 fax : Netherlands (31) 20 - 6756659 e-mail: Krouwel@sara.nl e-mail copies: duyves@fsw.ruu.nl Organizing Committee: Jan Willem Duyvendak (University of Nijmegen) Gert Hekma (University of Amsterdam)(duyves@fsw.ruu.nl) Anja van Kooten Niekerk (Dutch Association for the Integration of Homosexuality (NVIH/COC) Andr Krouwel (Free University Amsterdam)(krouwel@sara.nl) Judith Schuyf (University of Utrecht) Rene C. Hoogland (University of Nijmegen) Dorelies Kraakman (University of Amsterdam) Theo Sandfort (University of Utrecht) Organizing Sexuality: Gay and Lesbian Movements Since the 1960s. International Conference in Amsterdam, June 22-24, 1994. Organizing Sexuality: Gay and Lesbian Movements Since the 1960s is the result of a collaborative effort by the three departments of Gay and Lesbian Studies in the Netherlands (Universities of Amsterdam, Nijmegen en Utrecht), the department of Political Science and Public Administration of the Free University Amsterdam, the Dutch Association for the Integration of Homosexuality (COC), and the Europride 1994 Committee. The overall aim of this international conference on the history and future of gay and lesbian movements is to provide a platform for a critical and retrospective examination of developments that have been shaping our movements in the twenty five years since "Stonewall." While their histories may go back much further, it is the "new" gay and lesbian liberation movements as they came into force during the 1970s and 1980s, that will stand at the centre of critical debate and scholarly analysis. The conference brings together scholars and social scientists from a variety of national and cultural backgrounds: delegates from both Eastern, Middle, and Western Europe, as well as Euro- and African Americans will join us in Amsterdam, and we also hope to welcome students from these and other continents. Different individuals and groups will bring their different histories to bear on academic practices. The conference's underlying premise is that such differences, whether in terms of research experience and/or scholarly interests, can be bridged, especially since the gay and lesbian movements form an as yet relatively unexplored field of academic research. Studies of our common history have hitherto largely restricted themselves to a particular geographical area, while comparative surveys and analyses are virtually non-existent. Organizing Sexuality will place developments of and within gay and lesbian movements in a double perspective. The aspect of socio-political reform will be related to gay and lesbian (sub)cultures, while the diverse political, cultural and economic contexts in which these movements have emerged will equally be taken into account. The conference will be launched on the evening of June 22 with a panel discussion on the differences and similarities between Western European and American gay and lesbian movements. Participants in this opening debate will address the question of the so-called "Americanization" of "Queerness," placing the issue of "cultural imperialism" in the contexts of both socio- political praxis and of critical theory. Daytime sessions consist in panel discussions running simultaneously in a number of parallel workshops. A plenary debate scheduled for the evening of June 23 centres on the relations between gay male and lesbian(-feminist) movements. The focus of the concluding plenary session on June 24, is the potential of gay and lesbian movements in the 1990s. This closing night we also want to explore possibilities for concerted political (future) action in an increasingly fragmented and differentiated "postmodern" world. While attending Organizing Sexuality, you will be able to take part in a great many other activities celebrating Gay Liberation. A full-fledged Europride festival begins in the preceding week and, while continuing throughout the conference, will find its culmination in the Europride Gay Parade on Saterday, June 25. A huge variety of festive events, from parties (both mixed and women only), to concerts, special exhibitions, political debates, city-walks, theatrical performances, a Gay Sail, a Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and lots more, will underscore Amsterdam's reputation as the truly thriving Gay Capital of Europe. Wednesday June 22 1994 Location: De Balie Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10 1017 RR Amsterdam 020-6233673 "Differences and similarities in developments of the gay and lesbian movements in Western Europe and the United States." Gay and lesbian movements both find their origins and continue to operate in distinct national, regional, and historical contexts. This evening we wish to take stock of developments that have been shaping American and European gay and lesbian movements in the twenty five years since "Stonewall." Differences in terms of socio-cultural aims, historiography, "grassroot" participation, strategies for political action, organizational structures, (financial) resources, and their various degrees of "success," will be subjected to empirical investigation. To what extent can "internal" differences within the international gay and lesbian movement be linked to and explained by differences in the multifaceted "outside" worlds surrounding its various national strands? Contributors to the debate will not only focus on the differences and similarities in developments of and within the gay and lesbian movements in Western Europe versus those in the United States. They will also address what some consider to be a general "Americanization" of "Queerness," tackling this and related questions in terms of socio-political praxis as well as critical theory. 20.00 Opening and welcome address on behalf of the Organizing Committee, by Andr Krouwel (Department of Political Scien- ce, Free University Amsterdam) 20.15 Introduction: "The Comparative Study of Gay and Lesbian Move- ments," by Jan Wilem Duyvendak (Amsterdam School for Social Research/Lesbian and Gay Studies, University of Nijmegen), author of The Power of Politics: New Social Movements in an Old Polity, France 1965-1989). "Lesbian and gay movements are generally regarded as either mere cultural phenomena, or as political forces. A focus on the politicization of gay and lesbian culture from the 1970s through the 1990s seems to offer a more productive perspective for understanding both the movements' development and its contributions to the larger society." 20.30 Keynote address: "Coalition- Building as a Queer Strategy of the American Gay and Lesbian Movement," by Steven Seidman (Sociologist), author of Romantic Longings and Embattled Eros, as well as a great many essays on queer politics and theory. 21.15 Coffee-break 21.30 Keynote address: "The European Perspective," by Angela Mason (Executive Director of Stonewall in the United Kingdom) 22.15-23.00 General Discussion Thursday June 23 1994 Location: University of Amsterdam 09.30 Session 1 Themes: Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 11.00 Coffee-break 11.30 Session 2 Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 13.00 Lunch-break 14.00 Session 3 Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 15.30 Coffee-break Tea-break 16.00 Plenary Session A: Europride or Euroshame? Voices of protest are being raised against "Europride": the festival is accused of merely to celebrating gay and lesbian "liberation" in the capitalist, privileged, and yet homophobic member states of the European Union, thus excluding the less privileged gay and lesbian populations of other, especially in Eastern European countries. The panel will centre debates on the present and future place of gays and lesbians in post-Cold War Europe. Is there any "pride" in being a European? 17.00 Reception Location: De Balie Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10 1017 RR Amsterdam 020-6233673 "Differences and similarities between gay male and lesbian(- feminist) movements". This evening the differences and similarities between gay male and lesbian (feminist) movements will form the focus of our attention. Ever since the seventies these movements have used different strategies on the basis of different ideological points of departure. The uses and misuses of separatism versus institutional commitment, of integration and assimilation will be discussed as well as the wider philosophical implications of the impact of recent phenomena, such as professionalism, homosexuality as 'lifestyle', the advent of AIDS. 20.00 Introduction "Gay Strategies, lesbian strategies, everybody's strategies?", by Judith Schuyf (History/Gay and Lesbian Studies, University of Utrecht), author of "Een stilzwijgende samenzwering. Lesbische vrouwen in Nederland 1920-1970." "Increasing gay and lesbian visibility is still as necessary as ten or twenty years ago. Identity politics should be based on the assumption that homosexuality in itself represents a radical force in society." 20.15 Keynote address: "The Male Perspective," by Jeffrey Weeks (History/ Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Social Science, University of Bristol), author of Sexuality and its Discontents, and a large number of other publications on sexual politics. "Sexual freedom for men might actually have increased the sexual subordination of women (...) at the heart of the dilemma is the question of how best to respond to the ever-growing reality of sexual diversity." 21.00 Coffee-break 21.15 Keynote address: "The Female Perspective," by Karin Ltzen (Folklore; research affiliation with the Centre for Women's Studies Copenhagen), author of Frauen lieben Frauen. Freundschaft und Begehren. 22.00 General Discussion Friday June 24 1994 University of Amsterdam 09.30 Session 4 Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 11.00 Coffee-break Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 11.30 Session 5 Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 13.00 Lunch-break 14.00 Session 6 Themes Movements in different political environments Movement and MultiCultural Forms Movement and AIDS Repressive Morals and Movements (Fe)male Movement Movement and Military Movement,Media and History 15.30 Coffee-break 16.00 Plenary Session B: "Movements in a multicultural society." Videoconference, an interactive debate with gay and lesbian scholars in New York (USA). Since the second half of the 1980s, multiculturalism has become a key-term in both political and theoretical discourses dominating the Western world. The concept, indeed, continues to sway public debates generally to this day. Media-enhanced controversies over the notion of political correctness that arose more or less simultaneously, may have deeply affected but could not prevent an internationally-oriented, and rapidly expanding field of gay and lesbian studies to emerge both in the United States and in several Western European countries. However, whilst theoretical discourse may seem to float almost "transnationally," to fulfil the dream of a common language at least on the level of academic exchange, this should not allow us to forget that such notions as multiculturalism and political correctness acquire highly divergent meanings depending on the various socio-political settings in which they appear. Now that most (Western) Europeans and North Americans should be fully acquainted with the fact that we all live in multicultural societies, it seems time to take stock of the specificities of such "multiculturalisms" as exist on either side of the Atlantic, and especially to reflect upon the different roles of a "global" gay and lesbian movement within the particularized socio-cultural settings in which it is, by necessity, bound to operate. 17.00 Reception Location: De Balie Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10 1017 RR Amsterdam 020-6233673 "Gay and Lesbian movements in the 1990s: A New Stage?" In the liberal social climate of the Netherlands, many of the early aims of the gay and lesbian rights movement have been or are about to be achieved. Homosexual acts have been removed from Criminal Law, anti-discrimination legislation has been passed by both Houses of Parliament, openly gay men and lesbian women are welcome in the Dutch military and within the police force, even same-sex marriages are on the verge of becoming officially recognized. Despite such overt "successes" in the socio-political field, and the increasing implementation of sexually liberatory rules and norms (some of which were never desired by gays and lesbians in the first place!), lesbian and homosexuality continue to be regarded as fully "naturalized" and/or "privatized" phenomena. This state of affairs would appear to preclude any further development and/or celebration of specific sexual cultures and pleasures. Indeed, since the majority of social institutions continue to operate as if gay and lesbian lifestyles simply do not exist, "queer desires" thus largely remain a topic for gossip and slander. This panel's focus is on possibilities for future courses of action to further gay and lesbian emancipation. In a country that prides itself on its high record of achievement in this respect, we face the task of safeguarding and maintaining opportunities for public and uninhibited expressions of sexual and social practices for lesbians and gays of all stripes and colours. 20.00 Introduction "The future of gay and lesbian movement," by Gert Hekma (Department of Sociology/Gay and Lesbian Studies, University of Amsterdam) 20.15 Members of the panel: Herman Meijer (openly gay candidate Member of Parliament for the Dutch Green Party). "Because the importance of issues such as equal rights, differences between and among different groups of people, and freedom of choice in partner/relationships appears to be diminishing, the future of gay and lesbian movements lies in the promotion of equal opportunities, self- stylization, male-male intimacy--perhaps in reciprocity to female-female intimacy--to meet a growing demand for a nurturing public life and much needed social alliances." Anja van Kooten Niekerk (executive director Dutch Association for the Integration of Homosexuality (NIVH/COC). "As long as gay and lesbian movements can determine their own goals, political actions, their lifestyles and concepts of sexualities, there is a future for us. If we let governments and mainstream culture define the lifetime and targets of our organizations, the future is theirs!" Stephan Sanders (journalist De Volkskrant and VPRO-radio) "There is this word we are so eager to use: community, gay community. We like its comforting ring of unity and togetherness. Since the aids-epidemic it has become clear that the link connecting gay people is not so much their shared sexuality, but their fear of death. So, what is it that makes up this gay community? What is there left to celebrate: sexual preferences, lifestyles or funerals?" 21.00 Coffee-break 21.30-22.30 General Discussion with Audience Participation Programme Participants: Steenhorst Shertzer Amott Krouwel Duyvendak Kon Wallis Prochazka Long Banting Altman Solfrini Kokula Pereira Franssen Kuosmanen Schuele Ganzevoort Toth Hoogland Tietz Canning Hark Schirmer Patynama Hekma Mumford Elling Stein Dudink Hemmings Peters Chedgzoy De Busscher Mendes-Leite Halroyd Reisbeck Adam Zwart Neuberg Berends Borghi Fazzini Cassamassima Pankratz Schuyf Faury Mercader Veldboer Duyves Soetaert Vorontsov Bravmann Bemmel Wakeford Peters Bertram Triton Participants not yet assigned to a workshop: Annarita Hirvonen Hellinck Smith Valk Bischof Ltzen Kooistra Timm Davis Frey Mustola Oosterhof Halvorsen Romke Ploem Beusekamp Hart Sorainen Rydstrom Blob Seidman Van der Haak Sandfort Lhllen Nicholson Goldenbeld Kraakman Fletcher de Weerdt Garnets Katolin Workshops 1. MOVEMENTS IN DIFFERENT POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS Serious investigation of the gay and lesbian movement as yet remains relatively undeveloped. In this workshop we wish to focus on differences and similarities among gay and lesbian movements in various national contexts. Paper presenters have been invited to use a comparative perspective, either by focusing on various movements within a particular society, or by comparing diverse movements from an international perspective. As an additional point of approach, we may want to examine the influence of the international gay and lesbian movement on specifically national developments. How do different strands of gay and lesbian movements relate to both national and international contexts? 2. MOVEMENT AND MULTI-CULTURAL FORMS The gay and lesbian world harbours many forms of sexual and social desires and a diversity of identities and non- identities. In many instances, gay and lesbian movements have tried to reduce the riches and variety of the gay and lesbian world and defined rules of political correctness, for example against lesbian-feminists, pedophiles, sado-masochists, cruisers, transvestites, or the gay men who wanted to integrate into the straight world. In this workshop, we want to explore the pluriformity of the gay and lesbian worlds and their relevance for gay and lesbian movements and society as a whole. What will enable the movements to strengthen its inner variety without loosing its outer effectiveness in pluriform societies? 3. (FE)MALE MOVEMENTS Over the past twenty five years, gay and lesbian movements have both shifted their aims and substantially altered their strategies. Such developments have taken place in the context of changing political and social structures, as well as resulted from internal disputes. This workshop will raise the question as to how larger political transformations generate new and different(?) gay and lesbian identities; it will further explore the relations between such "new" identities and movement-strategies, in an attempt critically to examine the political implications of new trends in gay and lesbian "lifestyles." 4. MOVEMENT AND AIDS Since AIDS has fundamentally changed many of our lives, numorous scholars and social scientist see in AIDS-activism more than merely the next step in the development of gay and lesbian movements. In the course of the past decade, the AIDS- epidemic has given rise to new thematic angles in academic research, it has forced us to develop new socio-political strategies, and resulted in novel forms of collective action. In this workshop we want to discuss this apparent "newness" of interests and strategies by placing them in a twofold perspective. First, we wish to explore the influence of the AIDS-epidemic upon the gay and lesbian movements and our subcultures. Second, we want to discuss in more detail how such changes as have come about within the gay and lesbian worlds have in their turn affected the place of homosexuality in society at large. 5. MOVEMENT, MEDIA AND HISTORY The image of gays and lesbians in both mainstream and (sub)cultural production appears to have undergone some drastic changes in the course of the past decade. In what ways are gay and lesbian sexualities currently represented in the media and in popular culture generally? What do such representations tell us about the place of lesbian and gay sexualities in Western society as a whole? To what extent are gays and lesbians entering cyberspace, and in what ways are they using new communication possibilities--such as e-mail--for purposes of networking and community-building? 6. GEOGRAPHY AND MOVEMENT Most studies of gay and lesbian movements have thus far almost exclusively focused on these movements' socio-cultural histories and political effects. However, gay and lesbian liberation also entails a struggle for both real and imaginary space. If gay and lesbian movements seek to have any impact on the larger social scene, their endeavours should be geared to gaining visibility within and on the urban landscape in which they operate. This has, until now, rarely been the case. As an outstanding aspect of gay and lesbian movements and their subcultures, the theme of what might be called the "geography of desire" has received little attention, even within gay and lesbian studies. In this workshop we want to place this issue squarely on the agenda as an important topic both for gay and lesbian socio-political movements and for present and future research. 7. THE MOVEMENT AND THE MILITARY Over the last several decades, the gay and lesbian rights movement in the Netherlands - both inside and outside the armed forces - has been increasingly concerned with the question of homosexuality and homophobia within the military apparatus. The Dutch Ministry of Defense recently commissioned a survey on the incidence of homosexuality in men and women in the service, and on the ways in which their various working environments respond to their presence. Special training courses have been set up to acquaint defence personnel in both navy, general army, airforce, and the military police, with the existence of homosexuality as such and to coach their interaction with their gay and lesbian colleagues. The problematical aspects of homosexuality in the military have lately also come prominently to the surface in other Western European countries and, perhaps especially, in the United States. By offering an international platform for an exchange of experiences, this workshop seeks to bring out new perspectives for gay and lesbian organizations in the military, in particular for those in countries where homophobia appears to be most pronounced. HOMOSEXUALITY AND LABOUR At the last moment, we received a proposal concerning a workshop on homosexuality and labour, dealing with questions like the self-organisation of gays and lesbians on the work- floor, affirmative action etcetera. Colleagues interested in these topics are invited to indicate this to the organizers of the conference, so this workshop can be included in the programme. Thank you for your attention Consider participation Please Circulate