Lesbian Literature Seized at NGO Forum on Women

The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commision press release, 4 September 1995

Early afternoon on Saturday, September 2, members of the China Organizing Committee (COC) of the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Forum on Women confiscated a stack of Chinese-language publications of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). The literature, which was on display at the Lesbian Tent at the NGO Forum, included IGLHRC brochures and Action Alerts with information on human rights abuses against lesbians in various countries around the World. None of the material included information on China.

Soon after the incident occured, several men were seen walking around the Lesbian Tent taking photographs of the women inside. When asked to leave, the men moved away from the tent but were later seen photographing women with telephoto lenses. Participants have also spotted COC members taking notes at daily general meetings in the Lesbian Tent.

These incidents are among many such security problems reported by NGO Forum participants, particularly by Tibetan groups and human rights groups. However despite the Lesbian Tent remains ahud of lesbian organizing and activity. Lesbians have come from around the world in unprecedented numbers and we don't intend to let the China Organizing Committee imnpede our work, commented Rachel Rosenbloom, Lesbian Project Coordinator at IGLHRC. We are making our voices heard at both the NGO Forum and in Beijing at the World Conference on Women.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a San Franscico-based organization that monitors, documents, and mobilizes responses to human right violations based on sexual orientation, has been working with lesbian activists around the world throughout the past year to increase lesbian visibility at the World Conference on Women and the parallel Non-Governmental Forum.