In 2025 the first Eva-Lisa stipend will be handed out. The stipend amounts to 10 000 SEK, is non-taxable and is given to a person or group that works in the spirit of Eva-Lisa. The stipend certificate is illustrated by the artist Edith Hammar.

 

Eva-Lisa Bengtson (1932-2028) was a Swedish trans trailblazer and a lesbian feminist. In 1964 she, together with her friend Erika Sjöman, started Transvestia – the first club for trans people in Sweden and in the end of the 1970ies she was part of founding Kvinnohuset – the Women’s house, in Stockholm. She was also engaged in several other organizations working to promote the rights for trans people, women and lesbians such as Lesbisk Front, Benjamin, RFSL Stockholm and Club Golden Ladies. Together with a group of trans people and allies she pushed the issue of RFSL including trans people in the late 1990ies which finally happened in 2001.

 

During the later part of her life she was very engaged in preserving, compiling and mediating queer and feminist history. During more than 50 years she collected material such as notes from meetings, letters, photos, magazines etc. to a unique archive over her life as an activist. Through series of articles in RFSL Stockholm’s magazine På gång and by assisting researchers, writers and museums with information and material from the archive she made queer and feminist history available for more people. Eva-Lisa’s archive is today available for research at The Archives and Library of the Queer Movement – QRAB in Gothenburg.

 

Within the movements where she was active, Eva-Lisa often took on welcoming and including new members. Both by literally letting people in through the door but also by being the one to introduce new people to the group. Even if she was very active she seldom took the role as the leader but was instead the one who took notes, cleaned up after parties or made sandwiches to meetings. A tiring and unglamorous but yet indispensable role in all kinds of justice movements.

 

The Eva-Lisa Stipend is handed out in connection to Eva-Lisa’s birthday on August 29. To nominate a person or group: send an email to samhultin(a)gmail.com with the name of the one you want to nominate along with a short motivation.