First a quick sketch of the scene in .

When you start googling lesbian happenings in Finland you can easily get the impression that there’s nothing going on here lesbianwise. Tourists & those new to the lesbian scene have to search hard in facebook and the web to find out what’s going on because there’s no magazine or a web portal provideing easy information on all things lesbian in Finland. - As is familiar in most countries internationally today, the task is made more difficult by collective & terminological diversity. Terminology is a sensitive issue, a lesbian point of view that I will use is this presentation is not everyone’s choice. Many women prefer to identify with the words homo, , queer, the colloquial lesbian term lepakko (bat), or to speak more generally about rainbow people or lgbtiq people collectively. Many are unomfortable with any lables, or are against any sexual or gendered identity categories. The scene for women who love more or less regularly other women is as divided as different feminist factions. - Finding your own cup of tea within this diverse field is not easy, but a community is maybe not quite as non-existent as it may first appear!

Where do lbt women go?

As far as commercial services are concerned, there are no lesbian bars but in there are several , restaurants and cafes that advertise to gays and many of them also to a mixed clientele, using rainbow-flags to demonstrate gay ownership or a gay-positive attitude. ( DTM, Bear Park Cafe, Café Cavalier, Hercules, GLounge Skybar&Club, Manns’ Street, Fairytale, Freedom, Terazzi bar). , and also boast gay bars though I don’t know to what extent they are frequented by . Nationwide, however, most parties, social gatherings and Pride festivals for instance are arranged by the around 20 or so member organizations of SETA, the Finnish human rights organization for LGBTI issues, founded in 1974, as well as other independent associations and informal groups. Especially outside of Helsinki the community relies on non-profit volunteer activity.

What do lbt women do?

Women are very active in doing politics within SETA but a peer group specifically for women can nowadays only be found in the Helsinki chapter of Seta. Peer groups focus most often on young people, trans people, or religious issues. Many lesbians can certainly be found in these groups, but even more so in activities for rainbow families. The law on registered partnership was adopted in Finland in 2001 and in 2006 fertility treatment was extended by law also to single women and lesbian couples, which gave rise to a veritable gayby boom. There is now a large and well-funded national association focusing on the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer families with children or who want to have children. There’s also an active group of rainbow single parents.

Culture is another area where lesbian perspectives have found foot. The annual film festival Vinokino (Slanted cinema) was started by a lesbian in 1991 and continues to be popular among lesbian viewers. A more recent project promoting inclusive cultural services, Culture for All, has similarly benefitted from a strong lesbian know- how. And there is a very fine lesbian choir in Helsinki, called Kaupungin naiset (Townswomen). At the universities of Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, and Lappi, gender studies continues to have a strong appeal to nonheterosexual women.

Maybe the only established activity specifically for bisexual women can be found here at Unioni. The bisexual women’s discussion group has been gathering here for well over a decade. Also Mummolaakso has a long history of meetings, discussions and recreational events arranged at Unioni or at Villa Salin. Mummolaakso is also a member of Unioni .

Mummolaakso started in 1994 as an initiative for setting up an old peoples’ home for lesbian and bisexual women. This soon turned out to be too much of a challenge financially and otherwise because we have never received funding for paid employees but operate on a volunteer basis. However, the work on making LGBT seniors and their needs visible in society has in recent years been taken up in a project called Equal Ageing (Yhdenvertainen vanhuus) that is coordinated by SETA. The project started 4 years ago and is about to the end this year if no new funding is found for it. Mummolaakso has been Seta’s partner in this project, which has organized training and produced educational materials for ederly care professionals. The aim has been to increase awareness of lgbt elders in Finland so they don’t have to return to the closet if they need care or move to a senior home. The aim is not to promote setting up special homes or services for queer people.

Mummolaakso promotes social networking among older lesbians and bisexual women and the general well-being of ageing women who love women. The agenda has focused on grassroots empowerment, on lesbian solidarity and quality of life, in its physical, emotional and intellectual forms. We have annually around 100 paid members. The medium age of members and active participants is 50-60 years.

In practice, what Mummolaakso does is, firstly, arrange regular dances for women only. This is also the major source of income for the association. The most legendary parties are the sherry and coffee dances that have become a much-loved item on Helsinki Pride. Little Christmas parties are another big get-together. The party-goers age range between 20 and 70+ . Our parties are popular also among transvestites (photos are from 15th and 20th anniversary parties)

Secondly, we offer outdoor recreation and weekend trips to country. Last weekend I was at Kaunisniemi camp, which is ideal for many kinds of group activities, discussions, excercize and relaxation.

Thirdly, Mummolaakso arranges annually several visits to cultural events like theaters and exhibitions. At Unioni we hold discussions and reading circles, and of course many boardmeetings each year. Next week we’ll have a meeting of a reading circle, symbolized here by the reading bat icon.