International Lesbian Information Service
The International Lesbian Information Service (ILIS) was an international organization which aimed at fostering international lesbian organizing. It was started within ILGA in 1980. The following year, at a separate lesbian conference arranged prior to the ILGA Turin conference, lesbian organizations decided that ILIS should become a separate organization. History. ILIS arranged eleven international conferences in Europe, and supported lesbian conferences in Latin America and Asia through their regional networks (the Latin America Network and the Asian Lesbian Network). In Turin in 1981, criticism concerning the lack of visibility of lesbians in the gay movement, as  well as the cost of participation for lesbian activist to the ILGA conferences led to the separation of ILIS from ILGA. Paola Bachetta recalls leaving ILGA to form ILIS also in reaction to the lack of inclusivity towards postcolonial issues. Subsequently, the following ILIS conferences included intersectional workshops on racism, lesbophobia and postcolonial issues. ILIS was represented at the 1985 United Conference on the status of women, as a result of the decision to reach out to non western lesbians. In 1986, the ILIS Geneva conference fundraised money to strive towards the participation of lesbians coming from postcolonial countries. One  of the main topic of the conference was "Political Exile for Lesbians of All Countries". The following conferences had to face some criticism about unchallenged assumptions: the fact that the conferences were ment for outed lesbians and did not take into consideration others types of lesbian expressions under oppressive regimes, and the fact that western countries were presented as saviors to third world countries. The activities seem to have gradually stopped in the late 1990s, with their final newsletter being published in 1998. The ILIS Secretariat, which also coordinated the publishing of regular newsletters, rotated as follows: Conferences. Below are  listed the international lesbian conferences organised by ILIS in Europe in conjunction with local lesbian organisations, the presence of ILIS representatives at three UN World Conferences on Women, as well as the Latin American and Asian Lesbian Conferences that were organised either with the help of ILIS or to which ILIS member groups attended: