======================================================================== Rio de Janeiro December 4, 1994 Dear Friends, On behalf of the nearly fifty lesbian and gay activist groups throughout Brazil, we cordially invite you to participate in the 17th Annual ILGA World Conference, to be held here in Rio de Janeiro from June 18 to 25, 1995. The conference is being organized by a committee representing the most active lesbian and gay groups in Rio, as well as several lesbian and gay-friendly NGOs. It will be held in comfortable facilities in Copacabana, the prime center of lesbian and gay life in Rio. This conference offers special opportunities for our community: locally, nationally, regionally, and internationally. It is the first lesbian and gay event of such scope ever to be held in South America, and comes at a time when a newly-elected government, pledged to combat human rights abuses and reform the Brazilian constitution, will have been in office barely six months. We believe a well-attended and successful conference will foster unprecedented media attention in Brazil, with echoes throughout Latin America. This attention will provide positive pressure of public opinion when the time comes for the administration and the congress to draft, debate, and sanction laws expanding and guaranteeing human rights of lesbians and gays. We are especially hopeful that the conference will promote a closer unity of Latin American lesbians and gays, the majority of whose home countries are emerging from decades of military regimes that systematically and brutally violated human rights. This will be a great learning experience: Latins will be able to compare notes on progress, difficulties, and tactics in our emerging democracies - with each other and with other Third World people with similar experiences; and we will all be able to benefit from the experience of those lesbians and gays who, although not having lived under repressive military regimes, have fought so valiantly and effectively over the past decades, in the "democratic" environments within which they have been active. We also hope to involve you all in that world-famous, contagious Brazilian party spirit present in a myriad of parallel cultural and social events that are being planned. Rio knows how to party like no other city in the world, and lesbians and gays know how to party like no one else... what a combination! There will be a sports championship with two events: Beach Volley Ball, and Beach Soccer. If you belong to a team or are interested in participating on someone else's, please let me know ASAP. Among other cultural events will be the 4th Mix/Brasil Alternative Sexualities Film Festival and a special exhibit of gay erotic art produced by Rio's Modern Art Museum. The exact contents and program of caucuses, seminars, and workshops are not fleshed out quite yet - however, there will definitely be a track on religion, one on human rights, one for people of color, and one for lesbians, as well as the 2nd Annual Latin American Lesbian and Gay Conference, which will run parallel to the ILGA Conference. Although a few of the sessions of the conference are devoted to internal ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) affairs, they are open to anyone who registers. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact us. We will send registration forms upon request. We appreciate early registration, as it helps us better provide for your comfort. It also affords you a substantial reduction in fees (only $250 for full participation, including one main mail and two snacks per day, for early registration.) We look forward to hearing from you soon, and to meeting you here in Rio next June. To you all, we send a warm "abraco"! Cordially, John McCarthy johnmccarthy@ax.apc.org.br ILGA - Rio 1995 Committee Caixa Postal 4305 20001-970 Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brasil FAX: + 55-21-254-6546 ========================================================================