"When I dare to be powerful-to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." Audre Lorde

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Our Activities in 2003 In 2003, Aswat was formed. We started out as a Yahoo virtual format for Palestinian gay women (started in 2002), and when we saw the urgent need for a more structured, proactive community, we formed Aswat.  We appointed a Coordinator, who approached Palestinian women throughout Israel and the Occupied Territories in hope of expanding the group. Thus, the nucleus of Aswat, a group of 14 women committed to meeting regularly to discuss the issues of being triple minority and their painful experiences, was formed. From these humble beginnings, we have expanded considerably, and become an essential resource for Palestinian gay women throughout Israel and the Occupied Territories. We received the backing of Kayan, a feminist organization, through which we were able to maintain our confidentiality while advertising ourselves as an important resource for Palestinian lesbians.  We decided to try to form a new language to express the fears, obstacles, and hopes unique to our identity and sexuality, since Arabic is not sufficient to do this. In addition, we sponsored a number of education initiatives, published articles, and spoke at a number of events which gave crucial visibility to Palestinian gay women, a group that has been silenced for too long. We spoke at demonstrations and parades, gave lectures, conducted workshops and continued having the meetings, which gradually increased in members, where we talked about all the issues which we were never previously free to discuss. "Bari Pride" Italy From June 6th to June 10th, Aswat's General Coordinator travelled to Italy where she was invited to a Conference and to a LGBT Pride Parade.