4th session -- Vaasa, Finland August 21, 2004
Decisions:
* To continue supporting such Nordic projects as the Nordic Queer Film Festivals. (the 2nd festival in Stockholm 2004 united film festival organizers from Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden.) With Folkets Bio, Kombat and Norden i Fokus information office.
* To support the "Honored to Silence, Honored to Death" Nordic conference in Stockholm October 15-16, 2004 and Gothenberg October 23 about young homosexuals in the immigrant/refugee communities in the Nordic region. With Norden i Fokus.
* To hold a NHC multi-media seminar at Finland's Tampere Pride in 2005 and at the Oslo Europride in June, 2005.
* To send a Nordic delegation to Jerusalem World Pride, 2005.
* To send a Nordic delegation to the Nordic House – Krakow as part of the 2nd Krakow Cultural Days -- May, 2005. (The event in May, 2004 was attacked but not defeated by neo Nazis gangs). (The Swedish Embassy has pledged to continue supporting the event.)
* To increase Nordic participation in the annual Moonbow Human Rights & Homo Culture Festivals on both sides of the Baltic Sea: St. Petersburg-Stockholm-Warsaw-Tallinn-Riga-Vilnius. Minsk to have a "Moonbow in Exile" because of threats from the regime, neo Nazis.
* To make special fund-raising efforts for Iceland (because of the high travel costs) and for Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania to increase these nation's input into homo festivals, prides and other events on both sides of the Baltic Sea. ( Tallink Ferry Lines has already agreed.)
New Members Welcomed; Nordic Awards to Finnish/Swedish Bears, American Singer
New Nordic Homo Council members formally welcomed at the session include Homosexual Socialists (Sweden), Laihia Bears (Vaasa, Finland), NEWSMIX (Stockholm-based news agency) and HumanAid (Gothenberg/ Stockholm). Nordic membership drive is to continue.
The 2004 "Arco Nordica" award for Nordic/international and homo cultural solidarity from the ILGCN (International Lesbian & Gay Cultural Network) - Nordic, was handed over to the Laihia Bears in an art-and-music-filled ceremony in the forest outside of Waasa. The 2004 award is shared with the Stockholm-based Viking Bears.
The 2004 ILGCN-Nordic "Arco Musica" award - was presented to American singer and musician, Doria Roberts, during the Moonbow Festival in Stockholm, August 1st.
Bill Schiller, NHC international secretary
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Note: The Nordic Homo Council is a member of the ILGA and the ILGCN.
