Lestime

Lestime is a non-profit lesbian, lesboqueer and feminist association based in Geneva, Switzerland. It describes itself as a publicly recognised organisation of public utility, open to cis and trans women*, lesbians, bi and lesboqueer people. Its activities include a welcoming, listening and counselling space, a community and cultural centre in the heart of the city, sexual health consultations, feminist event cycles, a documentation centre, legal services, political actions, film club, meals and evenings, and sports and leisure activities. The association traces its roots to the Groupe lesbien (GL) of the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) in Geneva. It was first an informal group called Centre Femme, then Centre Femme Natalie Barney (CFNB), before adopting the name Lestime in 2002 when it moved to the Grottes neighbourhood of Geneva. The name was chosen through a competition launched on the association's website. Lestime is active in preserving and transmitting lesbian and LGBTIQ+ memory in Geneva. Its project "Notre Histoire compte" (Our History Counts), started in autumn 2018 in partnership with Queer Code, maps places of militant and festive lesbian history in Geneva and invites contributions to the association's archives. It has produced a digital timeline, a quiz, a video game about the 40th anniversary of the Goudou Manif, and a podcast titled "1986, 800 lesbiennes à Genève". In 2019 it conducted a survey on the preservation of LGBTIQ+ archives in Geneva as part of the City of Geneva's "Mémoires LGBTIQ+" campaign. Lestime organises the festival des Visibilités lesbiennes and participates in political mobilisations, including the 2002 demonstration for asylum rights for people persecuted for reasons of sexual identity. It maintains a dual belonging to the feminist movement and the LGBT movement. The association is based in Geneva and serves the Suisse romande region.

Lestime's history begins with the Groupe lesbien (GL) of the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) in Geneva. The MLF in Geneva officially emerged in February 1971 with the Front des Bonnes Femmes and quickly included a lesbian section, the Groupe Lesbien Genevois (GL). In June 1972 the group published a tract on homosexuality titled "Hétéros on est navrées de vous gêner !" signed by the collective Sapho s'en fout. The tract questioned the GL's relationship to the MLF and provoked the first political discussion of its kind in a general assembly. Among other things, the lesbians wrote: "Nous en avons marre d'être tolérées intellectuellement" and "Plus tu réprimes ta propre homosexualité, plus tu nous opprimes. Non à la sexualité à sens unique !" At a public meeting of the MLF in Annemasse, the women of the MLF defended themselves against accusations of being lesbians, which the GL members perceived as a lack of solidarity. A critical position paper titled "La minorité silencieuse vous parle" was addressed to the MLF committee on 7 December 1972. The GL began a critique of perceived heterocentrism in the feminist movement through its refusal to address questions of sexuality and homosexuality. In this sense it is part of the history of the LGBT movement in Switzerland. After the occupation of the Café Papillon in 1976 by the MLF in the Grottes neighbourhood of Geneva, which demanded a Centre Femme, a meeting place for feminists, the Centre Femme Natalie Barney (CFNB) was created on Boulevard Saint Georges in Geneva, named after the lesbian writer Natalie Clifford Barney. The CFNB remained at that address from 1977 to 1989 and was invested by the community of lesbian feminists, who organised events such as the Bal des Chattes Sauvages. The CFNB then moved to Champel, avenue Peschier. In 1992, the city granted a subsidy of 15,000 Swiss francs to ensure a telephone helpline for homosexual women and to provide information about HIV. In 1993, the centre's committee denounced defamatory remarks attributed to Jean Ziegler. The CFNB regularly took positions denouncing homophobia in the media and claimed a nascent, autonomous identity for lesbians in Suisse romande, torn between feminist and gay identities. In 1997, the CFNB supported a local programme titled "One to One" devoted to female and male homosexuality. From 1998 to 2002 the CFNB moved to the outskirts of Geneva at Lignon, but the location was disliked as too remote. In 2002, the Centre Femmes Natalie Barney moved to 5 rue de l'Industrie in premises found by Nathalie Naef. A competition was launched via the association's website to find a new name, and Lestime was chosen. The president at the time was Catherine Gaillard, a Swiss storyteller. Carole Roussopoulos made a film about the association to celebrate its new premises, titled "Qui a peur des amazones", inspired by Catherine Gaillard's show "Les Amazones". After the political distancing from the Geneva MLF, which did not prevent key figures belonging to both the MLF and the GL, such as Rina Nissim, from regretting the separation and the feminist commitment, Lestime integrated its dual belonging to the feminist movement on the one hand and the LGBT movement on the other. On 8 April 2002, Lestime took part in the demonstration "Pour un droit d'asile aux personnes persécutées pour des raisons d'identité sexuelle". In recent years, Lestime has focused on memory and archives. Its project "Notre Histoire compte" started in autumn 2018 in partnership with Queer Code, initiated by Isabelle Sentis, with Sophie Meyer, a former committee member. It includes a digital cartography of places of militant and festive history in Geneva, a collaborative digital timeline dedicated to lesbian mobilisations in Geneva (part of the festival des Visibilités lesbiennes on 24 and 25 April 2021), a quiz, and a video game about the 40th anniversary of the Goudou Manif. In 2019, Lestime conducted a survey on the preservation of LGBTIQ+ archives in Geneva as part of the City of Geneva's "Mémoires LGBTIQ+" campaign. It also produced a podcast titled "1986, 800 lesbiennes à Genève". The association continues to offer sexual health consultations, feminist event cycles, a documentation centre, legal services, political actions, a film club, meals and evenings, and sports and leisure activities.

• 2021

  A collaborative digital timeline dedicated to lesbian mobilisations in Geneva is presented during the festival des Visibilités lesbiennes on 24–25 April.

• 2019

  Lestime conducts a survey on the preservation of LGBTIQ+ archives in Geneva as part of the City of Geneva's "Mémoires LGBTIQ+" campaign.

• 2018

  The project "Notre Histoire compte" starts in autumn in partnership with Queer Code.

• 2002

  The association moves to 5 rue de l'Industrie, adopts the name Lestime, and participates in the demonstration for asylum rights for people persecuted for sexual identity.

• 1998

  The CFNB moves to Lignon on the outskirts of Geneva.

• 1997

  The CFNB supports the local programme "One to One" on female and male homosexuality.

• 1993

  The CFNB committee denounces defamatory remarks attributed to Jean Ziegler.

• 1992

  The City of Geneva grants a subsidy of 15,000 Swiss francs for a telephone helpline for homosexual women and HIV information.

• 1989

  The CFNB leaves Boulevard Saint Georges and moves to Champel, avenue Peschier.

• 1977

  The Centre Femme Natalie Barney (CFNB) opens on Boulevard Saint Georges in Geneva.

• 1976

  Occupation of the Café Papillon by the MLF in the Grottes neighbourhood, demanding a Centre Femme.

• 1972

  The Groupe lesbien publishes the tract "Hétéros on est navrées de vous gêner !" and addresses "La minorité silencieuse vous parle" to the MLF committee.

• 1971

  The Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) in Geneva officially emerges with the Front des Bonnes Femmes, including a lesbian section (Groupe Lesbien Genevois).

Non-profit, publicly recognised association of public utility providing community, cultural, health and advocacy services for lesbians, bi, queer and feminist women* in Geneva.

• Sexual health consultations

  Lesboqueer sexual health consultations covering prevention and promotion of physical, mental and sexual health.

• Documentation centre

  A centre documenting lesbian and feminist history and archives.

• Legal service

  Legal support service offered by the association.

• Notre Histoire compte

  Project mapping places of militant and festive lesbian history in Geneva, with digital cartography, timeline, quiz and video game.

• Podcast "1986, 800 lesbiennes à Genève"

  A podcast produced by Lestime about the 1986 gathering of 800 lesbians in Geneva.

1. 1Lestime – Association lesbienne, lesboqueer et féministe de Genèvelestime.ch
2. 2Projet «Notre Histoire compte» – Lestimelestime.ch
3. 3Enquête «Mémoires LGBTIQ+» – Lestimelestime.ch
4. 4Lestime – Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Lestime – Wikipédiafr.wikipedia.org