‘For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend, the first thing you do is to forget that I’m Black. Second, you must never forget that I’m Black’. - Pat Parker
Stud Rd, Rowville (Victoria), pm ‘Lara, this is Cinzia Ambrosio I was told via the Italian & Gay men’s group that you were also interested in starting an Italian lesbian group?’ ‘Cinzia, no not interested but keep me in the loop regarding events & stuff’. ‘Can I ask why, Lara?’ ‘I’m just too busy now and my life is undergoing change at this moment’. ‘No worries & hope to see you around at some of our events’.
E mo? “Betty (Greek Lesbian Group) – what should I do?’ ‘Cinzia hold an event & go from there. Desi & I will come for support’. ‘Ok, I’ll organise a dinner and invite the women on the list, thx Betty’.
Lygon St…mah were else? Our first social event was held in March 2002 at the then yummy restaurant ‘Il Cammineto' (it has since then ceased operation in Lygon St, but still operates from Moonee Ponds…se non mi sbaglio).
At that event Silvana Giordano, Frances Indomenico, Grace, Lina, Sam, Mary, Lucy, Jen, Betty, Desi and Cinzia. The event enabled us to put faces to ‘contact details’, chat & eat yummy pizzas – some of the women were timid, others boisterous as only some wogs can be but we were determined to create and sustain a positive & safe space to celebrate our existence! The night ended with questions as to where to from here?
- The where to from here?
Our name; 'ArciLesbica Australia'
(pronounced "ArcHiLesbica" - Definition ArcH: chief, superior [Oxford Dictionary, 1990] Lesbica: Lesbian).
The name ArciLesbica was chosen in honor of our lesbian sisters in Italy (arcilesbica.it); we thought it was very apt & described, somewhat, who we were/are; Italian lesbians. Two women provided the initial euros(we got this money back after we had some funds - we’re not that generous!) to have our organisation listed in the lesbian & gay publications, such as LOTL (lotl.com) & the then Bnews (now Southern Star - sstar.net.au).
Developments
As we started holding more events word started getting around. Since then we have gone onto be very active in our communities, participating in Pride March (pridemarch.com.au), Midsumma Carnivals (midsumma.org.au), Sydney Mardi Gras (mardigras.org.au) & many more events. We produce a quarterly member’s newsletter entitled ‘Malafemmena’ (bad woman - tongue in cheeky!), have started to organise various events such as our bocce afternoons, picnics, pasta/sauce making days, go-kart racing, in-house get2gethers & the main event: our Annual Dance held mid-year. We are also very active politically speaking.
OBJECTIVES
ArciLesbica Australia is a not-for-profit organisation, run by a great bunch of volunteers. Our priority is to provide a positive space for Italian Australian women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, trans*, intersex or queer. The far majority of our events are open to all (animals included, if possible) giving us a reason to celebrate our sexual orientation, gender identity & our beautiful Italian ‘heritage’ with the wider community.
Arcilesbica Australia’s aims and objectives are as follows;
• To celebrate and strengthen pride in the sexual orientation, gender and cultural identity of Italian Australian LBGTIQ women.
• To foster a positive self-image of Italian Australian LBGTIQ women within the general and LBGTIQ communities.
• To promote interaction between the general community and the LBGTIQ.
• To establish and maintain liaisons with other organisations that have similar objectives to Arcilesbica Australia.
