History of GLAS
Gays & Lesbians in African Studies (GLAS) held its first meeting on November 4, 1994 at the Toronto African Studies Association (ASA) meeting. Matthew Roberts put up some handwritten announcements inviting people to come to a first meeting, and 8 people attended GLAS' first meeting in Roberts' hotel room. At this meeting, GLAS adopted its name and developed a (preliminary) mission statement to:
A.Share information, contacts, and network on homosexually-related research and concerns in the Africa region.
B.Encourage and support our gay, lesbian, and bisexual colleagues in the field of African studies.
C.Encourage and support research and advocacy on homosexually-related concerns in the Africa region.
D.Raise the awareness of others of the relevance and need for homosexually-related research in African studies.
GLAS discussed proposing a roundtable panel at the following year's ASA meeting in Orlando. Subsequently, several of the founding members organized a panel and submitted the proposal to ASA, which was approved. GLAS also discussed the possibility of developing a research collection or archives. Finally, everyone agreed that GLAS should also serve as a social/support group.
GLAS held its first official business meeting at the Orlando ASA meeting in 1995. Nearly two dozen people attended the meeting. At the business meeting the draft mission statement was adopted, and we agreed to seek ASA sponsorship and to try to sponsor two panels at the 1996 ASA meeting. It was also agreed at that time that a formal organizational body or set of rules was not yet called for, but that Matthew Roberts should serve as Convener along with a group of Coordinators: Deborah Amory, Norbert Brockman, Dennis Cordell, Wolfram Hartmann, and Leonard Hirsch.
The GLAS-sponsored panel chaired by Roberts, "Homosexuality in Africa: Does it Exist and Why Does it Matter?" was an overwhelming success at the Orlando meeting. Some 40 participants discussed a range of important issues, including human rights abuses, the systematic absence of same-sex research, and the difficulties faced by researchers wanting to do research on homosexuality in Africa.
With the direction of the Orlando business meeting, GLAS' Convener submitted the necessary papers to request ASA sponsorship. On April 20, 1996 the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association unanimously approved GLAS' request to become a sponsored organization of the ASA.
At the 1996 ASA meeting in San Francisco, GLAS is sponsoring a number of interesting activities. To celebrate its new status as a sponsored ASA organization, and in recognition of increasing gay and lesbian activism on the African continent and the historic new South African Constitution (the first in the world to provide protection from discrimination for gays and lesbians), GLAS' reception is co-hosted by the International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).
GLAS is sponsoring three panels at the conference: "White
Boys do Southern Africa: A Queer Perspective",
"Same Sex Unions in 20th-Century Africa",
and a roundtable, "Researching Homosexuality in
Africa: Methods, Strategies, Ethics, and Risks."
Strategic Plan for GLAS in 1996/97
It is an exciting time in GLAS' organizational development. With formal recognition by the ASA; a rapidly increasing number of GLAS members; a growing awareness of the importance, concerns, and challenges faced by gays, lesbians, and bisexuals both in Africa and who are students of African studies; and the expanding communication networks afforded by internet, GLAS is receiving considerable attention and interest. It is important that GLAS' build its capacity to pursue the organization's objectives and serve its growing membership. Thus, the coordinators of GLAS are proposing that over the next 12 months, GLAS formalize the structure of the organization and to establish a series of task forces to pursue the organization's mission.
If membership approval is won at the 1996 GLAS Business Meeting, three task forces will be established. One, a GLAS Bylaws Task Force will be established to draft a set of bylaws for the organization. The draft bylaws will be reviewed and presented for adoption by the GLAS membership at the 1997 ASA Annual Meeting.
Two, an Electronic Information Resources Task Force will be established to develop a web page for GLAS and to develop other electronic information sharing resources, such as an electronic bibliographic library and a listserv bulletin board for GLAS. A quarterly newsletter for GLAS members will also be established.
Three, a Fundraising Task Force will be established to determine (in conjunction with the GLAS Bylaws Task Force) if GLAS should be a dues-paying organization and to explore ways in which funds can be raised to support African-based speakers travel to the ASA meetings.
These three tasks forces have a substantial set of objectives which reflects the vitality of GLAS and the membership's willingness to take up the challenges facing a new organization. The three panels GLAS is sponsoring at this year's conference reflects the intellectual vibrancy of its members and their potential to make a significant contribution to an emerging and important field of African studies.
Prepared by Dr. Matthew Roberts, GLAS Convener, for the African Studies Association Board of Directors meeting, November 23, 1996.
For more Info please contact mroberts@brtrc.com