Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community

**Why a Eurocentralasian Lesbian\* Community ?** **WHAT IS EL\*C?** The Eurocentralasian Lesbian\* Community – EL\*C is a lesbian feminist and intersectional network. The EL\*C started out of a self-organised space six years ago, recognizing the multitude of needs surrounding the rights, the visibility and the well-being of lesbians throughout Europe and Central Asia. Our conferences are our lighthouses – shaping connections, sharing knowledge, finding common languages and understandings of our diversities, building bridges that reach and impact far beyond the time and space at which they take place. **BACKGROUND** During the 2016 annual ILGA Europe Conference held in Cyprus, a specific lesbian workshop took place for the first time in years. More than 70 lesbian activists from all over Europe had the opportunity to come together and realise that, despite differences in political, legal and financial status within the European lesbian movements, there is a common and urgent need to focus on lesbians needs, struggles and oppression, to empower and to increase our visibility and broaden networks. **VISION** We strive for a world in which we lesbians live and love autonomously and self-determined, embedded in and uplifted by our lesbian legacies, free and powerful in our actions and desires, engaged and enamored with each other individually and collectively as companions and through practices of solidarity, thoughtfully and joyfully navigating through our differences, polarities, contradictions and ironies, entangled and connected with the pastpresentfuture processes and entities of the earth, regenerating and reconstructing utopian dreams and universes; rebellious, passionate, courageous: lesbian genius. **MISSION** Bringing lesbian genius to the world. **About the term “lesbian”** Our aim is to have an inclusive European and Central Asian lesbian network. We insist on calling it a lesbian although we recognize that, as with any category or label, it may be contested and insufficient to describe the diversity of our communities. We are aware that many previous lesbian gatherings have struggled with issues about who should or should not be included at the conference. However, using the word “lesbian” is part of the political struggle for visibility, empowerment and representation. We therefore use “lesbian\*” in our name with an asterisk, so as to include anyone who identifies as lesbian, feminist, bi, trans or queer, and all those who feel connected to lesbian activism.