First Israeli Arab conference of lesbians convened in Haifa

[oberliner]

The first conference of Israeli Arab lesbians was held Wednesday in Haifa by the organization Asawat ("Voices").

The discussions dealt with homosexuality in the Arab public and what they referred to as "triple discrimination" of being women, lesbian and Arab in Israel.

News released in the past two weeks of plans to hold the conference aroused bitter opposition in the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, members of which demonstrated Wednesday outside of the Haifa auditorium where the conference was planned.

At the conference, participants discussed the difficulties faced by Arab lesbians in dealing with their identities and coming out of the closet.

One participant spoke about her personal experience of moving to Tel Aviv on the pretext of continuing her studies, while actually seeking, "to answer the many questions that arose in adolescence," that she was not allowed to ask.

"Many times I felt as if I was in a 'diaspora' while in my 'homeland,'" she said. "I had to leave my village in order to realize my sexual orientation."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/843711.html

[nofurylike]

1. wow. thank you for posting this, oberliner. eom