Blog

2020 has drastically altered our daily lives and as an activist it’s easy to put your mental health and wellbeing on the back burner, while you get on with other hugely pressing priorities. On top of this, LGBTI activists can suffer from particular mental health stresses that stream from discrimination, LGBTIphobia, and the uphill battle that working to secure our rights and equality can be. To mark World Mental Health Day, this blog brings you some tools to help you cope with challenges that come your way.

In July 2020, seven Russian senators introduced three bills to the State Duma, seeking to amend the Russian Family Code. With the purpose of “strengthening the family institute,” if approved, this legislative package would further limit the rights of LGBTI people. Here we bring you a breakdown of the proposed amendments and their potential impact.

Poland has reached a dangerous boiling point in its state-driven discrimination against LGBTI people. The first episode of ILGA-Europe’s podcast, The Frontline, goes behind the scenes to talk about a way forward for LGBTI activism in the country. Here’s what it’s all about…

If adopted, a package of amendments to the Russian Family Code will significantly reduce the rights of LGBTI people in the country. The proposed amendments include the elimination and reversal of current gender recognition, and an additional ban on same-sex marriage and adoption. In the face of such seemingly insurmountable odds, what does it mean to be an LGBTI activist in Russia? We meet seven strong Russian LGBTI activists who will #nevergiveup the fight for freedom and equality for all.

“We need your help to change the lives of LGBTIQ homeless young people,” says superstar Cyndi Lauper in an exclusive interview about how her organisation, True Colors United, is teaming up with ILGA-Europe to tackle the unacceptable problem of LGBTIQ youth homelessness in Europe.

Young LGBTIQ people are being made homeless every day in Europe. To tie in with our survey for LGBTIQ organisations about their experience of youth homelessness, a young person from Slovenia tells their story of self-discovery, and how bullying in their family forced them to run away.

By the end of 2018, at the age of 25, Yulia Tsvetkova had already made some of her dreams come true: opening a theatre for kids, launching a sex-ed project for teenagers, and creating feminist resources online. Less than two years later, this feminist and LGBT+ activist is facing up to six years in prison, is receiving death threats, and cannot leave her town in Russia’s Far East. You can learn more about Yulia’s unbelievable story in this blog, and the ways you might help her cause.

“While the Coronavirus does not discriminate, it has hit vulnerable communities disproportionately harder.”

Because we couldn’t gather in Brussels this year for ILGA-Europe’s annual Gala celebration, we decided to hold a virtual event instead.

20 years ago today, on 15 June 2000, ILGA-Europe submitted its first third party intervention before the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Frette v France. To mark this anniversary, we reflect on how this intervention effectively marked the beginning of ILGA-Europe’s litigation work.