Reflections on ELC Conference Rome 2025 by LesbianGlobal's Selisse Berry

I was delighted to spend my birthday this year with good friends in Rome, Italy, as nearly 800 lesbians gathered for the ELC Conference Rome 2025. It was an incredible time to reflect on the power of lesbian visibility and the unity we share across borders.

I flew in from California and landed the very day Pope Francis passed away. It felt like an auspicious time to be in the Eternal City, under the looming presence of the Vatican. But as the week unfolded, it became clear: we were the eternal ones.  Lesbians from around the world, coming together to share stories, strategies, and strength.

Throughout the conference, we had many opportunities to exchange ideas in workshops, side conversations, and spontaneous hallway meetups. We listened to lesbians who continue to resist patriarchal and repressive systems in their home countries—some who have fled for safety, others who have stayed to fight. All of them are courageous. All of them deserve our support.

L-R: Dragana Todorovic, Selisse Berry, Naomi Fine, Kathy Levinson, Lee Badgett

I was proud to represent LesbianGlobal at the conference, alongside my colleagues Kathy Levinson and Naomi Fine. We also had the pleasure of spending time with Lee Badgett of Koppa, the LGBTI+ economic power lab. Together, we discussed ways our organizations might collaborate to advance economic empowerment, systemic change, and lesbian philanthropy.

There were powerful conversations throughout the week about the need for greater lesbian visibility—not just in policy spaces, but in funding, community-building, and narrative leadership. We shared how vital it is that we show up for each other, boldly and unapologetically.

As the conference neared its end, plans for the first-ever Dyke March in Rome began taking shape. I found myself reflecting on a very different day—April 24, 1993—my birthday and the day of the first Dyke March in Washington, D.C. I was part of the group that planned it. We met in my friend Jennifer’s apartment in San Francisco, using landlines to call our networks in New York, Chicago, LA, and DC. We knew we needed to make lesbians visible at the March on Washington. When someone called out, “What about the Dyke March?”—we” knew, instantly, why we were there.

And now, here we were in Rome, 33 years later, planning another first. Another march. Another moment. On the same day the Pope was laid to rest, we held hope—hope for a better, more inclusive world. One where every lesbian, everywhere, has the right to thrive.

Lesbians will continue to gather—in cities, villages, conferences, and communities—and we will continue to strategize, support, and build. Because we are strong. We are invincible.

We are lesbians. Eternal and powerful. Lesbians unite.