cal awarded for continuous representation of lesbians in africa

By Musa Ngubane (BTM Link Project Coordinator)

ALL AFRICA – May 23, 2008: The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice had on 17 May this year honoured three organisations, one of which is the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), with the Activist of the Year Award.

The director of CAL, Fikile Vilakazi received the award on behalf of the organisation.

The organisation was honoured for the reason that it is claimed to be the only legitimate lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LBTI) network in the continent which fights for rights of LBTI women in a moderately hostile continent.

CAL was also hailed for being visible, raising awareness and advocacy in different spheres such as the one like that of the 2006 World Social Forum in Kenya, Nairobi and also at the recent third Leadership Institute Conference in Mozambique, Maputo.

The award receivers had the opportunity to describe the type of work they do and how they do it.

The participant organisations were given opportunity to engage with donors such as Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation on the second day, which again opened space for meeting and networking with other similar organisations respectively.

Commenting about the award, Vilakazi said; “This award is like a healing token. We are fighting a grave struggle. Just recently, we had another lesbian murder case on our hands and to attend to.”
Vilakazi further stated that she appreciated the fact that the world is watching and appreciating the work that CAL is doing.

The event took place at Prince George Ballroom in New York City, which was a joint celebration of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice’s 30th anniversary.