Following a hugely successful event at UCC in 2022, the Lesbian Lives Conference is set to make a welcomed return to Brighton University from March 22 to 23, 2024.

First established as a collaborative one-day event hosted by the Women’s Education Research and Resource Centre (WERRC) and Lesbians Organising Together (LOT) at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1994, the conference combines academics with activism and social engagement with art and literature.

Since then, it has brought together cis and trans women and non-binary people to explore themes specific to the wider lesbian community. 

The 26th instalment of the esteemed event will be hosted by the University’s Centre for Transforming Sexuality and Gender with the theme of ‘Global Connections: Solidarities, Communities, Networks and Activisms’.

For 2024, the multidisciplinary conference aims to highlight the ongoing global struggles against homophobia, transphobia and misogyny.

Highlighting the importance of the conference in the current global political climate, organisers explain: “Many parts of the world have seen an increasingly prominent backlash against the freedoms and human rights of LGBTQ+ people, not least in the UK where the transgender community is facing ongoing challenges. 

“Despite increased LGBTQ+ visibility and, in places, increased civic rights for some, progress is not a given, and social justice gains are in flux. Reversals or blocking of freedoms and rights call for resistance and invigorated coalitions, solidarities, and activism.”

Addressing these themes, the 2024 Lesbian Lives Conference is currently seeking contributions across disciplines and across academic research, activism and arts.

The conference welcomes proposals from academics, scholars, practitioners, students, activists, documentary and filmmakers, writers and artists.

Proposals could range from topics such as ‘International LGBTQ+ activism’ or ‘Spaces of Activism’ to ‘International Friendships’ to ‘Lesbian, bi, queer and trans World-making’. Other suggestions include ‘Connections and Communities’, ‘The Politics of Dis/Connection’, ‘Queer Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers’ and ‘International Culture Wars against Queer Lives’.

The conference organisers are welcoming proposals from individual papers, panel sessions, round table discussions or workshops.

The closing date for proposal submissions is this Friday, December 1, 2023. To complete the online submission for proposals for Lesbian Lives 2024, click here.