Dr Bev Ditsie Part 2

2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the 1995 UN Conference on Women which took place in Beijing, China. This was one of the most important gatherings to address equal rights and opportunities for all women and girls, everywhere. Among the 30,000 activists from 189 countries gathered to debate what it would take to make a gender-equal world, was a 24 year old gender non-conforming lesbian activist Black South African woman Bev Ditsie. Speaking on behalf of the lesbian caucus, she made history, addressing the plenary urging the UN delegates to adopt resolutions recognising sexual diversity and the inclusion of lesbian rights in discussions about the empowerment and upliftment of women. This was a revolutionary moment and will forever be known as the most successful lesbian visibility campaign in herstory.

Prior to the conference Bev was one of the founders of GLOW; a gay rights organisation, which amongst other things organised the first Pride march in Johannesburg. She is an activist, filmmaker and speaker. Her latest work is a documentary that revisits the events of that historic address and it's titled Lesbians Free Everyone - A Beijing retrospect.

Dr Bev Ditsie has devoted her life to fighting for human rights, ultimately so that all of us have an opportunity to be our most full selves.