Annual Report 2007

Enkidu Cultural Difusion and Outreach Activities: Community Building and Dialogue

Part II: Enkidu Outreach and Community Building and Inter-organisational and Inter-institutional Dialogue Promoting Activities in 2007

In 2007, Enkidu's Community Building Activities started with a special session in Teatro Arlequin on Friday 19. January, when Oscar de La O, Founder, president and Executive Director of Bienestar in California visited Mexico and Enkidu Magazine organized an encounter with representatives from a wide range of local groups and organisations. Bienestar is a grass-roots, non-profit community service organization established by Oscar de la O in 1989 and  provides HIV/AIDS services for the Latino community. 

On the same day, 19. January, 2007, Enkidu was awarded its second "A-Dorada" by El Lugar de Roshell for the organisation's community building efforts, and in particular for our comitments towards the transgender and transsexual-communities globally and in Mexico. Agustin Villalpando, editor in Enkidu Magazine received the award on behalf of the Team of Enkidu and addressed in his speech the need for more Community Building between the organisations of the Diversities in Mexico. 

On 14. February 2007, Valentine's Day, Enkidu participated together with several other organisations and institutions with an information stand in the Zocalo of Mexico City as part of the event Amor es sin violencia organised by InMujer in Mexico City. Enkidu's information stand focused on arts (alltogether 3 artists had exhibitions in the Enkidu stand) and inter-organisational dialogue. 

One month later, Enkidu was again present on the Zocalo of the City of Mexico. On 10 March, Enkidu participated again in an event organized on the main square of the city by InMujer at the occasion of The International Women's Day. Enkidu organized a "Cultural Information stand" in the section Citizenship, Democracy and Civic Participation.Again we had an opportunity to engage the population of the city in a vivid dialogue and encourage reflection around the situation of women both in the city, and in the world. Again art was a central aspect of the information stand and we presented the exhibition "Women of the Night/Mujeres de la noche" by young artist Ludmila Gracia, which stimulated a lot of constructive dialogue with the audience. 

Enkidu also organised a conference in the Zocalo this day, about the situation of Women in Education in Mexico with the participation of Lucila Parga from the UPN: The National University of Educational Sciences, who spoke about her research project regarding attitudes towards gender discrimination in the education system of Mexico and Manuel Amador from Foro de Hombres Gay and Sociologist from the UAM (Xochimilco) who also is a teacher in secondary school in Ecatepec spoke about attitudes to gender differences in his class in particular and his experience with discrimination in Mexican schools in general. 

In April, most community activities organised by Enkidu were integrated into the activities related to the annual Queer Studies Easter Symposium. During the Symposium, Enkidu invited the Civil Society of Mexico to engage in dialogue with a global community of Queer Academics among which all continents were represented. In addition to the stricktly academic activities of the Symposium, a stream of Round table discussions took place during the conference, and in the evenings after the conference sessions where representatives from a large number of Mexican organisations participated. 

One of the most significant moments, was perhaps the session "Same-sex Marriage and Partnership Laws: Global Perspectives" where Janine Hoek from the Department of Philosophy at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa analysed the new same sex marriage law in South Africa, Sean Reheag from the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto in Canda analysed the Canadian law, while Manuel Amador (Foro de Hombres Gay) and Salvador Zavaleta Ramirez (DIVERSA APN) informed us about the new Partnership Law in Mexico City and its implications on many levels. 

The paper presentation was followed by a Round Table Discussion where also Jacek Kornak from Poland, Marti Bier (LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas-Austin), Franya Hutchinson, Ramón Ramirez (Hermanos de Luna y Sol Program in San Francisco) and Kyle Ashly (Florida Atlantic University) from the United States, Agustin Villalpando (Grupo Palomilla Gay/Enkidu Magazine), Pablo Herrea (SerGay) and Paulina Martinez (Musas de Metal) from Mexico, and Concepción Ortega from Universidad de la Laguna, Tenerife in Spain presented their view points. This session in particular, which inaugurated our series of global dialogue round table sessions, set the standard for the Round Table sessions during the rest of the Symposum. 

Another important session for global dialogue building took place on 10 April, 2007 when we invited the Global Community to reflect upon Aging and the Sexual Diversities in a special session where Haidée Mata Juarez from the organisation Mujeres Mayores de 30 spoke about the situation for elderly Lesbian woman in Mexico and W. Randolph Herman. (School of Social Work, College of St Catherine & University of St Thomas) spoke about the challenges elderly LGBT people are facing in several societies in front of an audience, which consisted of representatives of at least 20 different nationalities.

In May, Enkidu participated in several events organised by different organisations around 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia. Agustin Villalpando, news editor in Enkidu Magazine, read a paper in the Municipal Hall of Iztacalco in this municipality's official event. Other significant events where Enkidu participated with many other organisation was the signing of a treaty against discrimination with the authorities of the Public Transportation System of Mexico City. 

On 4. August 2007, Enkidu organised for the second time, the International Diversities Solidarity Day in Mexico CIty as part of the Global Network of Organisations "Gays without Borders". While the network in 2006 had focused collectively on the situation for the sexual diversities in Iran, the different events throughout the world in 2007 focused on the Human Rights situation for LGBT persons in many different locations. In Mexico City, the International Diversities Solidarity Day focused on the Roman Catholic Church and its difficult relationship to the Sexual Diversities with special attention to the human rights situation for Gays and Lesbians within the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the threat the Roman Catholic Church poses in many countries in particular in Latin America and Africa, where the Church still maintains an unparalelled influence even in secular politics.

The Vatican is a sovereign State, in fact an absolutist monarchy, and should be treated as such. It is an unacceptable situation that one state not only denies its citizens fundamental civil, democratic and human rights, but also attempts to interfere in the internal politics of other sovereign states. 

The International Diversities Solidarity Day in Mexico City was commemorated with a solidarity vigil in the Glorieta de Insurgentes [Insurgentes Square], on Saturday August 4, in the heart of Zona Rosa, our pink neighbourhood with many different activities, artistic events and information stands by different groups and organisations. In 2007 10 different organisations representing very different diversities participated. The 10 participating organisations composed together a letter to the Pope in the form of “10 Commandments”. 

Each organisation contributed with one of the commandments and during the activities in the Glorieta de Insurgentes, the organisations collected signatures all day long. On Monday 6 August, the signatures were delivered at the Embassy of the Vatican [Apostolic Nunciature] in Mexico City together with a letter from the 10 organisations.  In this significant event, Enkidu united the following organisations into coordinated and collective action and dialogue for a shared cause: Alpsi, Caipaj, Diversum México, Enkidu Magazine, Foro de Hombres Gay, Las Meras Efímeras, Musas de Metal - Grupo de Mujeres Gay, La Casa de los Mil Cuartos, Foro Sol y Arcoiris and OpciónBi. 

The following week, representatives from these 10 organisations brought with them the Commandments to the city of Toluca that celebrated its Pride Festival on 12 August. The Commandments were carried as banners in the Pride Parade in Toluca and representatives of an even larger number of organisations united through solidarity and dialogue, for instance Madres y Padres de Gays y Lesbianas de LetraS and Coordinación Estatal de Grupos Vulnerables of PRI in the State of Mexico helped Enkidu and the 10 organisations share the message of the banners with the general population and the community of the city of Toluca. 

In September, global action was again required. In 2007, Nicaragua was the only country in Latin America that still penalized sodomy and on the Independence Day of Nicaragua, 13. September, Enkidu, again in cooeration with the 10 organisations, and in coordiniation with Amnesty International, organised a manifestation with the title "Flowers and Cake for Nicaragua" in front of the Embassy of Nicaragua in solidarity with the Diversities of that country. We also delivered a letter to the President of Nicaragua to the Embassy. Thereafter, Enkidu collected signatures for the letter for a month, during which 986 signatures were collected by representatives of a large number of organisations from all over Latin America and the world. The final list of signatures were then delivered to the Embassy of Nicaragua. When later in the winter the news reached us that Nicaragua finally had modified its legislation, we felt both happy and proud for having contributed in our own way to this achivement.

In October, after an incident where artists Regina Orozco, Leon Faure and Carlos Bieletto, were victims of an homophobic incident in the bar Oasis, Enkidu coorganized the "Permanent Caravan against Discrimination" together with Regina Orozco, and representatives of other organisations. and on 5th October, a group of around 75 activists from a large number of organisations went together to Oasis and closed the bar symbolically with a manifestation in front of the entrance.  

In October, Paulina Martinez from Musas de Metal presented ILGA-LAC to Enkidu both in a private meeting with the Board of Directors and in a special session in Los Martes de Enkidu. Paulina had been one of 4 representatives from Mexico in the regional conference of ILGALAC in Lima, Peru in September and suggested to Enkidu that ILGALAC should have more visibility and presence in Mexico. She underlined that more Mexican organisations should join this important global network, which in. other Latin American countries, has a tremendous impact and importance for local Community Building and give voice to the Communities of the Diversities. Enkidu would support any initiative that contributes to more dialogue and understanding and after a votation in the Board of Directors of Enkidu Magazine on 7th November, 2007, Enkidu declared its intention to join the ILGALAC network in 2008.

In November 2007, Carolin Köhler from the University of Göttingen in Germany, who was academic assistant in Enkidu during the Autumn Semester 2007, prepared a leaflet in Spanish against Transfobia, addressing children, which we hope can be printed in 2008. The leaflet will be presented to the Community in the Annual Queer Studies Symposium in Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana in March 2008, in a special session.