“Self-organization in social context”

Seventh nationwide networking meeting of refugee LGBTI activists in Cologne.

LGBTI activists from all over Germany have met for the seventh time to continue their activities in their network. This time, the meeting took place again in the form of a seminar in Cologne in cooperation with the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD).

The seventh workshop took place from 6th to 7th of September 2019 on the subject of “self-organization in social context”. At the last workshop, the LGBTI activists expressed their interest in working with the LSVD and using its structures for themselves. In this workshop, they got the information about the LSVD state associations and their activities, so that they can join the respective federal state with the corresponding LSVD state association as Queer Refugees Germany.

The aim of the workshop was to inform about the goals of the LSVD state associations and to understand their structures. On the first day of the seminar, Lilith Raza gave a talk on LSVD state associations and described their activities on the subject of flight and migration. Ibrahim Mokdad from “Sofra Cologne” then talked about his commitment to the Cologne group. On the second day of the seminar, Dr. Andrés Otálvaro from NeMO Dortmund gave an overview of how self-organization in social context can be achieved and how it can be helpful for LGBTI activists. His presentation included the following points:

1. Basics of communication and group work
2. Democratic perspectives of empowerment
3. Transcultural competences
4. Religious and ideological diversity

Sixteen participants came from seven federal states and eight countries of origin to attend the seminar.