On the occasion of Coming Out Day – October 11th – 7:30 pm
at the Gay Center headquarters in Via Galvani, 51F
first book presentation
Unexpected Women: Behind-the-Scenes Stories
by Lucia Caponera, Alessandra Rossi, Angela Infante
Present Angela Iantosca, Journalist and Writer
A Green Pass is required to access
“That afternoon in mid-June, I left the counseling room knowing that the conversation with Emanuela and Marika would stay with me for a while. A clear and distinct thought, I remember it as if it were yesterday. There was no emotional stickiness involved (I can recognize that today, with my additional ten years of experience as a counselor). But there was a dissonant note. A sort of contradiction that I sensed and that, I told myself, would be worth examining closely. Two more women hurting each other, I thought, listening to them raise the cloud of recriminations […]. At the end of the interview, I didn't have enough information to understand the truth of that story, but what I had seen and heard had confirmed an old empirical assumption of mine: violence is not foreign to relationships between women. Confronting unexpected and distant stories helps us recognize them, understand that they exist. Listening to them and reflecting on them can generate social awareness of the phenomenon of violence within lesbian relationships. Introductory collages for each chapter, edited by Angela Infante.
Angela Infante, Born in 1960, she has worked for many years at a well-known Roman hospital, where she works as a counselor and is no stranger to conflict and violence. She has deepened her knowledge of various expressive languages, which she uses in the transdisciplinary workshops and artistic-experiential groups she organizes and leads within the association. A community activist and advocate for the LGBTIQ community, she places particular emphasis on the lesbian dimension, not just the biological one. Indeed, all her projects, in addition to offering a journey into the self, are infused with her personal history, experience, and thought. She has developed a passion for attentive and non-judgmental listening to experiences of violence perpetrated by women against women. Thus, this collection was born, which she hopes will be a support for other women and for institutions.
Alessandra Rossi, Born in Rieti in 1986, she is a classical philologist and scholar of antiquities. Throughout her studies, she has always placed female subjectivity at the center, exploring its role in both ancient and modern culture. In 2011, she began her LGBT activism and is now the operations manager of the Gay Help Line, a national contact center against homophobia and transphobia at the Gay Center of Rome. She has been a member of the board of Differenza Lesbica Roma since 2019, responsible for socio-cultural issues. Her experience in counseling and support services for victims of discrimination and hate has led her to focus on violence against women, with a particular focus on phenomena within relationships between women.
Lucia Caponera, Born in Latina in 1977. A PhD in Philosophy, in 2008 she entered the LGBT community by participating in the Gay Help Line training course, an experience that would change her life. From 2012 to 2017, she was first secretary, then vice president of ArciLesbica Nazionale. A trainer for Gay Help Line courses, since 2019 she has been president of Differenza Lesbica Roma, an association affiliated with Arci. She actively participates in gender policies and the implementation of initiatives.
of the LGBT community in the city of Rome.