1) To SHARE information and contacts, and to NETWORK in the area of research related to and action concerning homosexuality in Africa; 2) To ENCOURAGE and to SUPPORT our gay, lesbian, and bisexual colleagues in African Studies; 3) To ENCOURAGE and to SUPPORT research and advocacy concerning homosexually related issues in the Africa region; 4) To RAISE awareness of others concerning the relevance and need for research on homosexually-related topics in African Studies.
GLAS members discussed proposing a roundtable at the 1995 ASA meeting in Orlando.(Several founding members of the group submitted such a proposal to ASA and it was approved.) GLAS members also discussed the possibility of developing a research collection or archives. In addition, everyone present agreed that GLAS should include being a social/support group among its objectives.
The first official business meeting of GLAS occurred at the ASA meeting in Orlando in 1995. Nearly two dozen people attended the gathering. Those present adopted the preliminary mission statement cited above, and decided to pursue ASA sponsorship of the organization. Members also agreed to sponsor two panels at the 1996 meeting in San Francisco. Finally, participants decided that neither a formal organizational structure nor an official set of rules was warranted, but that Matt Roberts should serve as Convenor assisted by Coordinators who included Deborah Amory, Norbert Brockman, Dennis Cordell, Wolfram Hartmann, and Leonard Hirsch.
At the Orlando meeting, the GLAS-sponsored panel "Homosexuality in Africa: Does It Exist and Why Does It Matter?" was an overwhelming success. About forty people discussed a range of important issues, including human rights abuses experienced by gays and lesbians in Africa, the systematic absence of same-sex research on the continent, and the difficulties faced by researchers wanting to do such research.
By way of implementing the directions of GLAS members in Orlando, GLAS Convenor Matt Roberts submitted the necessary papers to the ASA for formal sponsorship. On 20 April 1996, the ASA Board of Directors approved the GLAS request.
At the 1996 meeting in San Francisco, GLAS sponsored several activities. To celebrate its new status as an ASA-sponsored organization, to recognize increasing activism on the part of gays and lesbians in Africa, and to mark the historic new South African constitution--the first in the world to extend protection from discrimination to gays and lesbians--GLAS co-hosted a reception with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
GLAS also sponsored two highly successful panels at the ASA meeting in San Francisco: "White Boys Do Southern Africa: A Queer Perspective," "Same Sex Unions in Twentieth Century Africa," and a roundtable on "Researching Homosexuality in Africa: Methods, Strategies, Ethics, and Risks."
For more Info. please contact: mroberts@brtrc.com