Dutch women and the Lesbian International

Abstract

This article examines the work of Dutch women in transnational lesbian organizing during the 1980s and 1990s, with a particular focus on the crucial role they played in establishing the International Lesbian Information Service (ILIS), an early offshoot of the International Gay Association (later ILGA). Drawing upon organizational records, personal papers, and published accounts in the gay and lesbian press, it shows how and why Dutch women became a potent force on the international scene, leveraging organizational resources available in the Netherlands in order to build coalitions and to support the expansion of lesbian political networks around the world.