ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, gay,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, trans and

intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical b ...

( LGBTI) people, at the European level. Its membership comprises more than 500 organisations from throughout Europe and Central Asia. The association enjoys consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and participatory status at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with ...

History

ILGA-Europe was founded in 1996, when its parent organisation, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, established separate regions. It took over responsibility for supporting the development of the LGBT movement in Europe including Transgender Europe,

Inter-LGBT Inter-LGBT (Interassociative Lesbienne, Gaie, Bi et Trans) is an umbrella group of 50 LGBT organisations ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of i ...

, and for relationships with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Initially ILGA-Europe worked entirely on the basis of volunteer resources. However, in 2001, its potential contribution to the European Union's anti-discrimination policies (established under Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam) was recognised through the provision of core funding, currently through the PROGRESS Programme. This enabled ILGA-Europe to set up an office in Brussels, to recruit permanent staff, and to conduct an extensive programme of work in relation to sexual orientation discrimination within the

EU Member States The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the accession countries. Financial support from the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Open Society Institute,

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

, the US State Department and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands allows ILGA-Europe to extend its work in areas not covered by EU funding, including Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and on transgender issues. ILGA-Europe has hosted its annual conference at the end of October, since 2000, where member organisations elect the Executive Board and decide on the next year's working priorities.

Current work

ILGA-Europe works to promote equality and non-discrimination for LGBTI people in asylum, education,

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any o ...

, family law, freedom of assembly,

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demogra ...

hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...

and health; and works worldwide to protect human rights defenders, trans people and intersex people. The Association provides funding and training for its 500 member organisations, "''to maximise efficiency and the use of resources by LGBTI organisations in working towards achievement of their goals; to maximise the impact of advocacy work at the European level; to ensure sustainability of the LGBTI movement in Europe.''" ILGA-Europe works with EU Institutions, the

and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to promote equality by lobbying and advocacy, including supporting the adoption of the proposed EU Anti-Discrimination Directive, that would ban discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation in all areas of EU competence. It also uses strategic litigation at the European Court of Human Rights and the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

to end discrimination, by identifying gaps in protections, encouraging organisations and individuals to develop court cases, and support such cases with legal resources and

amicus curiae An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The ...

briefs. For the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

, ILGA-Europe promoted its ''Come Out 2014 European Election Pledge'' to candidate

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

s, which focused on priority LGBTI issues for the 2014–2019 Parliament: an EU roadmap on LGBTI equality; EU human rights enforcement; completing the EU Anti-Discrimination directive; combating homophobic and transphobic violence; an inclusive definition of 'family'; trans rights and depatholigisation; action against school bullying; health discrimination and inequalities; LGBTI

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

; and making the EU champion LGBTI rights worldwide. 187 elected

s (25 percent) signed the pledge, including 83 members of the

PES Pes (Latin for "foot") or the acronym PES may refer to: Pes * Pes (unit), a Roman unit of length measurement roughly corresponding with a foot * Pes or podatus, a * Pes (rural locality), several rural localities in Russia * Pes (river), a river ...

, 14 ALDE members and 14 from the

EPP EPP or Epp may refer to: Organisations * European People's Party, a pan-European centre-right conservative and Christian democratic political party ** European People's Party Group, the centre-right political group formed in European parliament ...

. Today ILGA-Europe has more than 20 staff who work in four areas: Advocacy, Communications, Finance and Administration, and Programmes. All are based at the organisation's office in the European Quarter in Brussels.

Rainbow Europe

Each May, ILGA-Europe releases its ''Rainbow Europe'' review, to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. It reviews the human rights situation and assesses what life is like for LGBTI people in every European country, covering discrimination, family recognition, hate speech/crimes, gender recognition, freedom of assembly, association and express, and asylum laws. In 2016, Malta came top of the rankings; it was rated to have 88% progress toward respect of human rights and full equality, just ahead of Belgium and the United Kingdom. Azerbaijan was ranked as the worst for LGBTI equality, scoring just 5%, closely followed by Russia, Armenia and Turkey. The biggest increase since the 2015 review, was that of Greece by 19 points (picking 58%). The 2016 ''Rainbow Europe'' reviews are given in the table below.

International Intersex Forum

To include intersex people in its remit, ILGA-Europe and ILGA have jointly sponsored the only international gathering of intersex activists and organisations. The International Intersex Forum has taken place in Europe annually since 2011.First ever international intersex forum
, ILGA-Europe (Creative Commons statement), 6 September 2011Global intersex community affirms shared goals
Star Observer, December 4, 2013 The third forum was held in Malta in 2013 with 34 people representing 30 organisations from all continents. The closing statement affirmed the existence of intersex people, reaffirmed "the principles of the First and Second International Intersex Fora and extend the demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people and to ensure the right of bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination". For the first time, participants made a statement on birth registrations, in addition to other human rights issues. Derde Internationale Intersekse Forum
, Nederlandse Netwerk Intersekse/DSD (NNID), 3 December 2013

References

External links