Safia

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SAFIA eV - Lesbians shape their age

Safia ( SAFIA - Lesbians Shaping Their Age) is a national feminist- lesbian network of women born as girls aged 40 and over in Germany . The network is probably the oldest of its kind and also the "initiative with the greatest exemplary character". Main topics are lesbian age networking in a heteronormative society, pensions, lesbian visibility in queer times , feminism and forms of community life and living. In 2019 SAFIA e. V. organizes around 500 lesbians between 40 and 99 years of age.

history

The idea for Safia arose in 1983 at the Lesbian Whitsun Meeting (today Lesbian Spring Meeting ) in Osnabrück . One of the founding women was the publisher Anke Schäfer (1938–2013), who received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2000 for her commitment to women and lesbian politics. Anke Schäfer describes the history of the founding of the association and the first few years in the article “SAFIA - Stormy old people always find alternatives”. In 2007 the filmmaker Uli Bez made the documentary "From today! - Anke Schäfer, the women's movement and the lesbians". The making of Safia is one of the main themes of the film.

The network was established in 1983 with the name S elbsthilfe a lleinlebender F harsh i m A lter founded (SAFIA) first as a self-help project, as an association has not yet been recognized by lesbian women as a charitable organization at this time. In 1986 the association was founded, and in 2000 the name was finally changed to SAFIA - Lesbians shape their age e. V. changed.

A year and a half after the association was founded, Safia had around 50 members and implemented the first joint housing project in Wüstenbirkach in Lower Franconia. In 1995 Villa Charlotta was built in Charlottenberg near Limburg.

Organization and activities

The network is nationwide and has “clear feminist roots”. For individual federal states there are regional groups and meetings as well as regional contact persons (north, middle, south, west / NRW, Berlin). Several general meetings take place every year in different women's education centers in Germany. The starting age is 40 years; Women who want to join need a mate guaranteeing them (feminist term for godmother) in order to be able to become Mitfrau (association language for female members).

The association is non-profit, is financed through contributions from fellow women and does not receive any public funding for its projects. The significantly larger lesbian ring e. V. honors the work of Safia in its statutes, which stipulate that in the event of a dissolution, the association's assets will go to Safia.

In 1997, the SAPPhO Frauenwohnstiftung emerged from the association , a project that is described as "unique" and closely interwoven with Safia with the aim of keeping lesbian property in lesbian hands through donations or inheritance - which is now (as of 2016) in the possession of some properties that are used for residential projects or rental. The properties acquired in the existing residential projects were incorporated into the foundation's assets.

The first European cemetery only for lesbians, initiated by the SAPPhO (as the area of ​​the Georgen Parochial Cemetery in Berlin), received international media coverage.

The documentary shown at international festivals Living differently - Lesbians in old age selected a Safia active as one of the protagonists.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Heiko Gerlach, Markus Schupp: Good Practice - Social Participation of Lesbians and Gays in Old Age . In: Jenny Block, Christine Hagen, Frank Berner (eds.): Life situations, participation and health and nursing care of older lesbians and gays in Germany. Expertise on the German government's seventh report on the elderly. Berlin 2016, p. 23 .
  2. ↑ "But that's how it works too" Federal Cross of Merit for Anke Schäfer . In: Wiesbadener Kurier - print edition . Wiesbaden May 18, 2000.
  3. ↑ Doris Hermanns: Biography about Anke Schäfer at fembio.org, accessed on September 25, 2019 http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/anke-schaefer/
  4. ↑ Anke Schäfer: SAFIA - Stormy old people always find alternatives . In: Gabriele Dennert, Christiane Leidinger, Franziska Rauchut (eds.): Keep moving. 100 years of lesbian politics, culture and history. 1st edition. Querverlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89656-148-0 , p. 363 ( Table of contents online via lesbengeschichte.de [PDF; accessed October 1, 2019]).
  5. ↑ Uli Bez: From today! - Anke Schäfer, the women's movement and the lesbians . 2007 ( website of the film , online excerpt including Safia via YouTube [accessed October 1, 2019]).
  6. ^ A b c d Carolina Brauckmann: Safia eV - Lesbians shape their age . funded by the Ministry for Women, Youth, Family and Health of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. In: Rubicon Advisory Center for Lesbians and Gays (Ed.): Final report: Inventory of lesbian senior work in NRW, Chapter 8.1.7. Cologne 2004, p. 24 ( digitized via rubicon-koeln.de [PDF]).
  7. ^ Safia story. In: safia-ev.de. Retrieved September 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Ana Vom Felde: SAFIA - Self-help for women living alone in old age eV 1987 ( bsz-bw.de [accessed on September 29, 2019]).
  9. ↑ Lesbians * live in old age. But how...?! In: MOSAIK health. January 15, 2019, accessed on September 29, 2019 (German).
  10. ↑ Articles of Association | Lesbian Ring e. V. Accessed on September 29, 2019 (German).
  11. ↑ Claus Nachtwey: "Old hands - young hearts" - Anke Schäfer . In: Senate Department for Education, Youth and Sport (Ed.): Being different and getting older. Lesbians and gays in old age . Documentation of the conference from 22./23. November 2002 Study “Getting older - older lesbians and gays in Berlin”. Berlin 2003, p. 23–24 ( digitized via berlin.de [PDF]).
  12. ↑ Frederic Schwilden: Last resting place for lesbians; In the Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg, the first nationwide cemetery is inaugurated only for lesbian women . In: The world . April 7, 2014, p. 23 ( online via welt.de ).
  13. ↑ Europe's first lesbian-only cemetery opens . In: Pretoria News . Pretoria April 7, 2014, p. 8 .
  14. ^ Agence France Presse: Un cimetière de Berlin réserve un espace uniquement aux lesbiennes . April 6, 2014.
  15. ↑ Lesbian-only cemetery to be opened in Berlin . In: The Times . London April 2, 2014, p. 34 .
  16. ↑ Martina Helmke: Finally talk about it . In: The daily newspaper: taz . July 22, 2006, ISSN  0931-9085 , p. 29 ( taz.de [accessed September 30, 2019]).