From: fstevens@notes.amnesty.nl Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 19:40:09 +0100 Subject: 1998 Amsterdam Gay Games-Amnesty International Gay and Lesbian THE 1998 GAY GAMES - Amnesty International Dutch Section Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Programme Amsterdam, 1-8 August 1998 (Embedded image moved to file: PIC17096.PCX) "Friendship through culture and sports" (Abbreviated version for E-mail only) Dear Reader, This is to inform you of the special AI Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Programme during the 1998 Gay Games. This message contains information regarding most of the (concept) initiatives and workshops that will take place in order to underline the human rights dimension of the Gay Games cultural and outreach programmes and to create networks and contacts with activists and grassroots organisations all over the world. Your help is essential in making this event a success! We need your active cooperation in order to spread the good news and to make sure that gays and lesbians in those parts of the world, who might profit from our outreach and human rights programme and who are actively involved in furthering gay and lesbian human rights in their own town, region or country, will receive information about this world-wide event. Please forward this message to whomever you think might be interested or send me your ideas or contributions. Should there be any contacts whom you feel we should inform directly, please let me know. Please confirm receipt of this email and I hope to meet you in Cologne. For general questions regarding the Amsterdam Gay Games please call the Gay Games Callcenter: + 31 20 427 1998 on - Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings from 6 pm to 11 pm Amsterdam time; - 12 noon to 5 pm New York time; - 9 am to 2 pm San Francisco time; - Thursday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon Amsterdam time; - Sidney time: 8 pm to 10 pm; For French assistance - Wednesday evening; For German assistance - Friday evening; or Internet: http://www.dds.nl/~gaygames Regards, Frank Stevens Contents: 1. Gay Games: History, Vision & Objectives 2. Gay Games: Outreach, Programme, Conditions, Committee of Reference Proposed Amnesty International activities: MiniWorkshops, Filmfestival (partial), Human Rights Internet Caf?, activities in cooperation with other organisations. 1. Gay Games: History, Vision, Objectives. Gay Games is an international sports and cultural event held every four years with the goal of promoting world-wide emancipation of lesbian women and homosexual men. This goal is reached through the organisation of non-competitive cultural and sports activities, open to anyone irrespective of sex, sexual preference, ethnic background or religion. The initiative for the first Gay Games in 1982 was taken by Dr Tom Waddell who also participated in the Olympics of Mexico. Year City Participants Theme 1982 San Francisco 1,300 Challenge 1986 San Francisco 3,500 Triumph 1990 Vancouver 7,500 Celebration 1994 New York 10,300 Unity 1998 Amsterdam 15,000 Friendship ?To do one?s personal best is the ultimate goal of all human achievement? - that is the basic idea of Gay Games as formulated by Tom Waddell. Integration and emancipation of lesbian women and homosexual men is not the primary aim. An internationally visible and inspiring lesbian/gay community will, however, further integration and emancipation. Starting from an entirely volunteer organisation in 1982, the staff of the Gay Games became fully professional for the 1994 games in New York, triggering broader mediacoverage, even from the straight media.The small professional staff will be dependent on approximately 2,000 volunteers during Gay Games Amsterdam. 2. Gay Games: Outreach, Programme, Conditions, Committee of Reference Gay Games Amsterdam will take place 1 - 8 August 1998, with equal emphasis placed on sport and culture. Amnesty International's participation will be explicitly mentioned as a special human rights programme within the cultural part of events. Prime target groups are lesbian and homosexual participants and visitors from the United States, Canada, Europe, the Netherlands and heterosexual participants and visitors from Amsterdam/the Randstad (Western Holland conurbation)/the Netherlands. Communication is primarily aimed at lesbian women and homosexual men. At the opening and closing days of Gay Games Amsterdam 1998, 50,000 visitors must be reached. Of these, 30,000 visitors will attend the openingor closing ceremony which will be recorded by TV and broadcast in the Netherlands, at least four European countries and the United States. On the other days, 30,000 visitors at a minimum are required, with a minimum of 15,000 paying visitors. The working language during Gay Games Amsterdam 1998 will be English. All publications before and during the event will be in English, with Dutch, French, German and Spanish translations. Explicitly sexual and provocative elements will be excluded. All activities will take place in the city of Amsterdam. The main festival location (Friendship Village) will be the area centering around the town hall and the Music Theatre ('Stopera'); a number of activities will be staged in Friendship Village which will act as a meeting place for visitors. Sports and culture programmes will take place between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., leaving ample time for recreation, meetings and social exchange. Alongside the main programme, a number of parallel or secondary activities have been placed on the agenda: - European QuiltTour for the End of Aids (Rainbow Tour); - 1998 Conference on Trade Unions, Homosexuality and Work; - Congress Queer Politics, Theories and Sports (Amsterdam University) (as of 1 June 1997). Partners in the cultural programme are: - ?Community Art Programme?: Theatre School Amsterdam, Theater School Festival, Rietveld Art School, Dutch Centre for Amateur Arts; - ?Choir Festival?: Cooperating Dutch Choirs, Gay Choir ?Noot aan de Man?; - ?Storytelling Festival?: Centre ?De Balie?; - Women?s Festival: ?De Melkweg?; - Performing Arts: Carr? Theatre, Municipal Theatre Amsterdam (?Stadsschouw-burg?), Theatre ?Kleine Komedie?, Gay & Lesbian Baroque Orchestra; - exhibitions: Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Historical Museum, and several other participating museums and art galleries. With a view to stimulating world-wide emancipation and integration, 375 participants from a select number of countries or areas (Dutch Antilles and Cura?ao, Third World and Eastern Europe), the ?outreach countries?, will be invited.. Should a participant from an outreach country not be able to attend the Gay Games Amsterdam 1998 because his financial resources are insufficient, a contribution will be made in order to meet costs of accommodation, participation and travel expenses. Low cost housing will be made available for participants from outreach countries. Official funding by the Dutch government and EC institutions is to be expected while the Dutch Foreign Office has earmarked a substantial subsidy per outreach participant. The Gay Games Outreach Group is an independent, policy-making committee consisting of 7 volunteers, including Maud Bredero (AINL Press Officer) and Frank Stevens (AINL Outreach Dept). The Committee of Reference consists of 98 persons representing the fields of sports, culture, lesbian and gay movements, politics, industry, media and other areas releavant to the Gay Games (see below). 3. Proposed Amnesty International activities: MiniWorkshops, Filmfestival, Human Rights Internet Caf?, partly in cooperation with other organisations A number of ?MiniWorkshops? will be staged, based on three main objectives: ? the character and concept of Gay Games are not conducive to highly scientific disputes and the ?human rights and homosexuality? issue is likely to cause many an eyebrow to be raised or even to provoke distaste amongst average pleasure-seeking visitors. On the other hand, the Gay Games will provide an excellent forum to present AI?s work and the issue of world-wide gay and lesbian human rights violations to the international gay and lesbian community. Consequently, the aim must first and foremost be to do some creative networking for future use; participation in these workshops must be attractive and above all ?fun?; ? the agenda of every individual workshop must lead to a final statement or short paper, in order to safeguard continuity and facilitate the production of copy for later Gay Games memorial publications; ? there must be follow-ups to these workshops during future Gay Games, or ILGA conferences, or within national gay and lesbian (AI) groupings, or networks, or gay and lesbian organisations in general. Every MiniWorkshop will be chaired and coordinated by an acknowledged insider or expert in the issue discus-sed. A sufficient number of Dutch or European participants must subscribe in advance. Officially sponsored or subsidised outreach visitors may subscribe by return mail . During the Gay Games themselves visitors or participants will be able to join a MiniWorkshop of their choice at short notice. In principle, the number of participants will not exceed 25. Proposed Amnesty International Dutch Section Human Rights Programme: 1. MiniWorkshop Homosexuality & The Law 2. MiniWorkshop Homosexuality & Refugees 3. MiniWorkshop Homosexualities, Globalisation and Amnesty International 4. MiniWorkshop Human Rights and AIDS/HIV 5. MiniWorkshop Coming Out 6. Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Internet Caf? Proposed AI Fringe Programme (in cooperation with other organisations): 7. MiniWorkshop Gay and Lesbian Theater 8. MiniWorkshop Gay and Lesbian Fundraising 9. MiniWorkshop Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian History Proposed AI activities in cooperation with the AI Dutch Section Audiovisueel Dept: 10. (Part of) Amnesty International Film Festival in cooperation with 'Roze Filmdagen' 11. Gay and Lesbian Activists from 5 Cultures (Documentary) 12. 30 Seconds Screen Quilt (Video Documentary) 1) MiniWorkshop Homosexuality & The Law This MiniWorkshop will survey various national constitutions as well as the codification of sexual rights. A new path has been shown by the South African Constitution, as well as legislation in a number of Northern European countries. This is also the place to elucidate current and future EC human rights legislature. The aim is primarily to ensure future means of assembling information concerning human rights violations, to highlight lobbying strategies and tools, to provide strategies for action by and for the benefit of gay and lesbian human rights organisations and groups in other countries, to exchange views and experiences by and for the benefit of lawyers and networks of specialists and parliamentarians. Actively influencing the legislative process in a country (e.g. South Africa, Tasmania) is to be put on the agenda as well. The Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Internet Caf? and its communication resources are to be used extensively. This is a follow-up to ?Breaking the Silence?, the AI UK Section?s report published in 1997. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 2) MiniWorkshop Homosexuality & Refugees The homosexual or lesbian asylum seeker?s specific problems will be the focus of this MiniWorkshop. Limitations of asylum law, attitudes and possible reactions of government officials of both the home and asylum countries, specific problems of dealing with and assisting asylum seekers - in Europe and elsewhere - will be part of the discussion between specialists, professionals, (ex-) refugees and other interested parties. Reasons for this MiniWorkshop are, among others, AI?s 1997 Refugee Campaign and the recent interest shown in the Dutch (gay, lesbian and straight) media, as well as the recent publication of Lutz van Dijk's book ?Coming Out? (Tamar Laakmann House/Anne Frank Foundation). Contributors to the book and ex-refugee contributors to ?Breaking the Silence?, the video documentary of the AI Dutch Section, will participate. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 3) MiniWorkshop Homosexualities, Globalisation and Amnesty International A MiniWorkshop highlighting Amnesty International?s mandate and history vis-?-vis homosexuality explains and scrutinises the mandate, its limits and AI standard procedures. The Gay Games provide a unique opportunity to discuss AI?s work on human rights and homosexuality with people from the countries and Sections where AI and its resources often are in dire need. What can and can't be done? What should and shouldn't be done? This MiniWorkshop is the right vehicle to explain AI?s policy to a large audience, to try to remove still extant distrust within the gay and lesbian community, to reduce apparent unfamiliarity with or even ignorance of human rights issues concerning homosexuality and to (try to) expand AI gay and lesbian networks. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 4) MiniWorkshop Human Rights and AIDS/HIV The issue of Human Rights and AIDS/HIV has been discussed only occasionally within the media, but will - in all probability - become prominent over the next few years; discussion within AI has been going on for several years but is neither consistent nor comprehensive. This MiniWorkshop should be a forum to discuss - in view of possible legal or governmental reactions, as well as the present state of affairs - the AIDS/HIV policies of governments and (state) insurance organisations, the human rights of people infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS now and the millions of people to be infected in the future in those countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe (Russian Federation) whose human rights records are questionable. Unlike most European countries where AIDS and HIV were often linked to homosexuality, this is no longer the case everywhere. HIV and AIDS have become ?straight? issues. Nevertheless, many gay and lesbian human rights activists founded the largest AIDS and HIV organisations in existence and paved the way for assistance to a generation of non-gay patients. These are important networks and expertise which AI cannot afford to neglect. This MiniWorkshop is, however, to be no more than a ?think tank?and cannot go beyond strictly ?reconnoitring? (as concerns AI?s mandate) one of the many future battlefields. It is to be seen as supplementary to action by other NGOs which deal with the right to protection of personal integrity and health, the availability of contraceptives for homosexual men and lesbian women and adequate social care as a fundamental human right, since this issue (as yet) has not been included in the mandate. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 5) MiniWorkshop Coming Out Human rights are universal and comprehensive, in theory. Within the charter, however, the right to sexual self-determination is a poor stepchild. In most countries there is no way young homosexuals and lesbians can grow up and become happy adults without undergoing stigmatisation and (government) repression; in this respect, young homosexuals and lesbians are orphans, in their own families as well as the society in which they live. Positive identification does not exist, truly liberal and stimulating means of building friendships and relationships are non-existent, apart from a few highly developed countries or a number of big cities. Can we offer any help and assistance to homosexual and lesbian youths in order to find their own way in cultures and areas where isolation is inevitable? How can we stimulate young gays and lesbians to claim their rights and to find, if need be, their way to NGOs like Amnesty International? They are the international gay and lesbian nation of the future! This MiniWorkshop is linked to the Storytelling Festival, as well as the book ?Coming Out? (with a foreword by Amnesty International). Cooperation with: (List available on request) 6) Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Internet Caf? An ?internet caf?? with 10 to 20 (temporary) internet sites, 10 to 20 caf? tables, waiters and 10 to 20 ?hosts?/instructors- in cooperation with an internet provider or producer of internet equipment or computer hard or software - serves 2 aims: 1. a forum for international and national communication concerning gay and lesbian human rights and human rights violations; 2. an organisational and marketing tool for Gay Games and Amnesty International, offering daily bulletins and communication facilities. Options for cooperation with: (List available on request) Proposed AI Dutch Section Fringe Programme in cooperation with other organisations: 7) MiniWorkshop Gay and Lesbian Theater Theater and (documentary) film offer the means to focus on or to highlight the cultural (sociological, psychological etc.) implication of gays and lesbians, i.e. the societal phenomenon of homosexuality in general, within the framework of a particular culture to a general audience by gays and lesbians living in that particular culture. (Street) Theater and film are public forums of discussion as well as entertainment. Artists often are mediators, people possessing the gift to take on another persona. Gays and lesbians play a prominent role in the arts; they too are used to taking on other personae, even in everyday life. Theatrical people, documen-tary makers and artists in general are superbly apt to put other life forms in the limelight, to ?discuss? other ways of living on stage. Numerous are the names of the great and the not so famous who challenge conventional norms and values, who open many closets to a large audience. What difficulties must theater and film makers overcome, what is Western, what is not? Where are the opportunities for cooperation and exchange of ideas between theater and film makers, producers, actors, artists from different cultures? Amsterdam is the home of a number of artists of renown who are most keen to exchange their views with others. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 8) MiniWorkshop Gay and Lesbian Fundraising Human rights activism does not come cheap, a reality not new to gay and lesbian human rights activists. European and American style activism differ in their ways of coping with never-ending pecuniary difficulties. Still, funding or subsidies can be found, often from quite unexpected sources or benefactors. Canadian and American gays and lesbians have many lessons to teach their brothers and sisters elsewhere. In Europe, gays and lesbians are currently learning the ropes with EC and national funding often overlooked, while EC funding often is also earmarked for outreach countries and their specific needs - often unknown to the intended recipients. A number of projects - last but not least within an AI context - might be realised, if only the right funding methods could be used. And ... are gays and lesbians really those well-off ?DINKS? (Double Income, No KidS) eager to provide financial support for human rights actions? Here?s the chance to talk with experts in commercial gay media and gay business, with fundraisers and the people who know the dos and don?ts AND the people who need funding. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 9) MiniWorkshop Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian History Museums, universities, schools and the media are all important filters of our cultural and political heritage. However, their construct of 'our', gay and lesbian history in both the past and present is often not mentioned at all or only insufficiently. In many countries, gay and lesbian persecution is justified by cultural beliefs: that gay and lesbian culture is 'foreign' to the respective country's history. For that reason, gay and lesbian lives are treated as incompatible with the country's past and present: Gays and lesbians are treated as 'foreign', 'Western' or simply 'non-human'. That gay men and lesbian women have been an integral part of history and that their very different histories have intermingled with, shaped, influenced or coloured the mainstream history of their respective countries is an important lesson against their exclusion as 'foreign' or 'asocial'. Mainstreaming gay and lesbian histories in their respective countries is a decisive measure to question the cultural and political attitudes that legitimise their persecution and social exclusion. - Zimbabwean gays and lesbians, in their struggle against President Mugabe? s hate speech, refer to the fact that there are words in their native languages that suggest the phenomenon is older and not an imported Western disease. - Japanese gays and lesbians refer to their own, forgotten literary heritage and customs before 1868 (the forced military opening of Japan by Commodore Perry) and documentation from famous gay sh?guns and emperors. - In the documentation centres and museums on the sites of former concentration camps, little if any information is displayed on the fate of the men with the pink triangle - despite the fact that the Nazi persecution of gay men was documented immediately after 1945 in testimony by survivors and reports by liberators. Only recently has a process begun to integrate their fate into the exhibitions and educational mandates of mainstream Holocaust museums . This mini-workshop has been designed to develop cultural and political strategies that did or could prove to be beneficial in the mainstreaming of gay and lesbian history. It recognises the great differences between many western and non-western countries in this field, but looks for ways of cooperation and exchange on how to oppose the exclusion of gay men and lesbian women from a collective past and - for that reason - often a collective present. This workshop will be organised by Klaus Mueller, staff member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and affiliated with the University of Amsterdam, in possible cooperation with other organisations like the Goethe Institute, Amsterdam. It is a follow-up to an earlier seminar on gay and lesbian and human rights organised by the Dutch Section in 1995 on WWII ?Forgotten Fates? . Cooperation with: (List available on request) Proposed activities in cooperation with the AINL Audiovisual Dept: 10) Amnesty International Film Festival (partial) Scheduling of documentary film productions regarding human rights and homosexuality with links to other Gay Games events and AI MiniWorkshops. At the same time this is to be a forum for recent and contemporary productions within the AI mandate. Cooperation with: (List available on request) 11) 5 Gay and Lesbian Activists from 5 Cultures A video interview documentary featuring 5 leading gay and lesbian activists of the 90s, providing an insight into the world-wide diversity of same-sex lifestyles, everyday living conditions and the urgency of contemporary campaigning in 5 cultures/countries, as well as their grassroots gay liberation movement at the end of the millennium. (Information available on request) 12) 30 Seconds Screen Quilt In an ?endless? number of 30-second video shots, people from different countries and cultures introduce themselves, ?en-face?, against a background chosen by or agreeable to him/her, indoors or outdoors. Each person will say only one sentence, not more, which ideally should relate to his or her personal gay, lesbian or transgender identity or experience, be it positive or negative, important or trivial. All individual shots will form an endless ?stream of gay and lesbian conscience?. This ?Quilt? will be edited and enlarged previous to, parallel to and after the Amsterdam Gay Games. It will constitute a document with a unique international dimension, testifying to the universality of homosexuality and lesbianism. As long as this ?Quilt? is evolving, it will run in its entirety as an endless or continuous performance on video at several locations, at the Amnesty International Film Festival, the location of the MiniWorkshops, the Internet Caf?, etc. and will be linked to the Coming Out MiniWorkshop. (Information available on request) 1998 GAY GAMES AMSTERDAM FOUNDATION COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE (Available on request) *************************************************************************** * Frank Stevens Amnesty International Dutch Section Keizersgracht 620 1017 ER Amsterdam The Netherlands voice mail: + 31 20 626 44 36 (wait for recorded message, then type) 228 phone: + 31 20 626 44 36 extension 228 fax: + 31 20 624 08 89 email: fstevens@notes.amnesty.nl ***************************************************************************