SITUATIONS: A PANEL DISCUSSION with Recipients of Felipa 2002 Awards (SF)

SITUATIONS: A PANEL DISCUSSION with Recipients of Felipa 2002 Awards (SF) Friday, May 10, 2002, 6-8 PM WHERE: The Ceremonial Room of the SF LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market Street, San Francisco PANELISTS: Marta Lucía Tamayo Rincón (Colombian attorney fighting for rights of lesbians in prison in Colombia) Maher Sabry (Egyptian activist fighting against police abuse, arrest and torture of gay men) Cui Zi En (Chinese activist bringing public awareness of homosexuality through groundbreaking lectures, books, and films) (see short bios below) MODERATOR: Surina Khan, Executive Director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission DETAILS: The location is wheelchair accessible. ASL interpretation will be available. For more information, please go to http://www.iglhrc.org/felipa/index.html SPONSORS: Panel is co-presented with The Center for the Study of Sexual Culture at U. C. Berkeley.. Co-sponsors include: the Asian/Pacific Islander Wellness Center, Ellas en Accion, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Trikone. Panel is free of charge. PANELISTS' BIO: MARTA LUCIA TAMAYO RINCON, REPRESENTING MS. ALVAREZ AND MS. MONTOYA, COLOMBIA Ms. Álvarez' demand for same-sex conjugal visitation rights in prison became the first complaint of discrimination based on sexual orientation ever to be acknowledged by the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. While this groundbreaking case remains open, Ms. Montoya has already scored an important legal victory in a parallel case heard by the Colombian Supreme Court. Neither case would have been possible without the legal representation and perseverance of Ms. Tamayo. PANELISTS' BIO: MAHER SABRY, EGYPT Mr. Sabry wrote and directed the first play publicly presented in Egypt that addressed male and female homosexuality openly. Last year, as the arrests of suspected homosexuals intensified, Mr. Sabry helped persuade a local human rights organization to represent some of the arrested men while at the same time bringing ever-mounting cases of persecution to the attention of IGLHRC and the international human rights community. PANELISTS' BIO: CUI ZIE EN, CHINA Mr. Cui has brought issues of same-sex love into Chinese culture and public awareness, with a prolific crop of critically acclaimed articles, lectures, books, and films, including the first gay novel in modern China. Despite being banned in mainland China, the novel is still available through unofficial channels. For additional background information, please go to http://www.iglhrc.org/felipa/index.html