Category — Meem Activities

Meem members said goodbye to a great year of activism, solidarity, and friendship in style today with a big Bye Bye 2008 potluck dinner. Over 40 members gathered together for great food and an exhilarating acoustic band performance. Participants in the 2-week-long Secret Santa game also revealed their santa identities and exchanged gifts. It was one heck of a night to remember!

It was a very special day for us at Meem when two mothers and other family members visited the Womyn House for the first time and participated in our November Bring-A-Friend discussion meeting. The mothers spoke with a lot of love and honesty about their feelings when their daughters came out to them as lesbians, how they came to accept it, and the range of emotions that accompany the experience. Aunts, brothers, straight friends and gay friends also contributed to the discussion.

2000 feminists from 144 countries around the world gathered at the AWID Forum “The Power of Movements” to discuss the global women’s movement from all angles and perspectives. Meem was invited by the organizers to give a speech at the Opening Plenary “Woman Organizing and Transforming the World.” The Meem speech received a standing ovation from the participants who described it as provoking, bold, and honest. You can listen to the speech here.

Meem members participated in many panels at the AWID Forum 2008, contributing to topics like young feminist activism and challenging religious fundamentalism. Along with members from Aswat, Meem also presented a strategy towards building a queer women’s movement in the Arab world at a packed panel with over 100 feminist activists from around the world.

To commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day set aside to remember people who were killed because of anti-transgender hate or prejudice, Meem screened and discussed “Boys Don’t Cry,” and hosted an interactive workshop on transgender identity led by trans activists. Participants learned more about the particular struggles and discrimination on the basis of gender identity.