Dublin gets ready for Europe’s largest LGBT conference
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe) is staging its 16th annual conference in the Irish city of Dublin from 18 – 21 October. The theme of the...
View ArticleMacedonia: Anti-gay attacks on the rise
MEPs have expressed concern over an increase in homophobic incidents in Macedonia. Last Sunday, a young gay rights activist was attacked in the country’s capital Skopje and on Monday Alen Shakiri, the...
View Article12th annual Intersex Awareness Day marked around the globe
Campaigners are marking Intersex Awareness Day, which is taking place on Friday. It first started on 26 October 1996 by the Intersex Society of North America in Boston. Activists took part in a protest...
View Article‘Vive la France!’ as campaigners celebrate equal marriage victory
Campaigners are celebrating the news that France has become the 14th nation in the world to legalise marriage rights for same-sex couples and Justice Minister Christiane Taubira says the first weddings...
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ILGA-Europe releases 2013 European LGBT rights map
LGBT campaign group ILGA-Europe has unveiled its European LGBT rights map for this year. The 2013 review of the human rights situation of LGBT people by the Brussels-based NGO found that “degrading,...
View ArticleRussian State Duma gives final approval to law banning ‘homosexual propaganda’
Lawmakers in the Russian State Duma have given final approval to a bill to ban “homosexual propaganda” to minors, and the media. The Duma voted 436-0 with one abstention for the law which bans...
View ArticleLithuania: Court overturns ban on Baltic Pride
Campaigners have welcomed a decision to reverse this month’s ban on Baltic Pride in Lithuania. Municipal authorities in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, previously declared that the event, planned for...
View ArticleLithuania Supreme Court makes binding decision in favour of Baltic Pride
The Supreme Administrative Court in Lithuania has once again ruled that Baltic Pride can take place this weekend. Municipal authorities in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, previously declared the...
View ArticleCroatia: Mayor of Zagreb agrees to host and sponsor annual LGBT conference
Following a meeting held on monday with Croatian LGBT groups, the Mayor of Zagreb Milan Bandic has said the city would host and sponsor an annual LGBT conference. The annual conference of ILGA-Europe,...
View ArticleUKIP MEP who allegedly called lesbian MEP ‘queer’ embroiled in race row
A UKIP MEP who allegedly called a lesbian politician “queer” has become embroiled in a race row after using the phrase “Bongo Bongo Land”. Godfrey Bloom, a Member of the European Parliament for the UK...
View ArticleILGA-Europe: ‘EU leaders must confront Putin over human rights crisis’
LGBT campaign group ILGA-Europe has called on the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy to speak out against homophobic persecution in...
View ArticleCampaigners applaud Moldova for overturning anti-gay propaganda law
LGBT campaigners have welcomed the decision of Moldova to overturn its anti-gay propaganda law. The ban made it illegal to promote “relationships other than those linked to marriage and the family” –...
View ArticleHuman rights group calls on Croatia to stand up for equality at same-sex...
International LGBT rights group ILGA-Europe has called on citizens in Croatia to do the right thing in voting in favour of equal marriage in a referendum this Sunday, 1 December. The organisation U ime...
View ArticleActivists call on UK Government to recognise indeterminate sex
Campaigners from Intersex UK are lobbying the government to fight for the recognition of an indeterminate sex. Speaking to the Independent, Holly Greenberry of Intersex UK, said: “Most intelligent...
View ArticleVideo: ‘Russia declares anti-gay violence newest Olympic sport’
A new powerful video produced by the Russia Freedom Fund and Athlete Ally depicts violence against a gay couple as the newest Olympic sport. In the 2-minute video, titled ‘Russia Declares...
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UK ranked top in Europe for LGBT rights for third year in a row
The UK has been ranked number one in Europe for LGBT rights by a leading European network of LGBT organisations. The 2014 ‘Rainbow Europe’ human rights survey was released today by ILGA-Europe, the...
View ArticleLabour MEP: Tories are ‘paranoid’ and ‘echoing UKIP’ over LGBT rights pledge row
Labour MEP-elect Seb Dance has criticised the Conservative Party for refusing to sign ILGA-Europe’s pledge on LGBT rights. Speaking to PinkNews.co.uk on Wednesday evening, the newly elected MEP for...
View ArticleLib Dem MEP: Tories wrong not to back ILGA-Europe’s LGBT rights pledge
Liberal Democrat MEP-elect Catherine Bearder says she’s “surprised and disappointed” at Conservative MEPs for refusing to sign ILGA-Europe’s pledge on LGBT rights. Mrs Bearder said the decision ran...
View ArticleTory MEP: UK Parliament not Brussels should decide on LGBT rights
Departing MEP Marina Yannakoudakis says she “understands” why her Tory colleagues in the European Parliament have decided not to sign ILGA-Europe’s pledge on LGBT rights. Ms Yannakoudakis, who on...
View ArticleTories defend decision of MEPs to shun ILGA-Europe’s LGBT rights pledge
The Conservative Party’s LGBT campaign group is defending a decision of Tory MEPs not to sign ILGA-Europe’s pledge on LGBT rights. Twenty one of the UK’s 73 newly elected MEPs have signed the pledge,...
View ArticleUKIP and Tory MEPs fail to sign LGBT rights pledge
Twenty one of the UK’s 73 newly elected MEPs have signed a commitment to advancing LGBT rights over the next five years – but it appears none are from the Conservative or UK Independence Party....
View ArticleComment: How Europe has influenced the UK’s journey on LGBT rights
With Britain increasingly questioning its relationship with Europe, Juris Lavrikovs, from ILGA-Europe, charts for PinkNews how membership of the EU has helped progress LGBT equality. It’s never been...
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UK drops to fourth in European LGBT rights rankings amid warning over...
Once hailed the best place in Europe to be LGBT, the UK has now dropped to fourth in the continent-wide LGBT rights index. Rights group ILGA-Europe released its annual Rainbow Europe index, assessing...
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LGBT rights in Europe are regressing, campaigners warn
LGBT rights in Europe are stagnating and, in some countries, regressing for the first time in a decade. The European chapter of the advocacy group International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and...
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The UK was once ranked the most LGBT-friendly nation in Europe. This year,...
The annual Rainbow Map ranking has named Poland, Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan as some of the worst countries to be LGBT+ in Europe, while the UK continues to slide down the rankings. Since 2009, LGBT+...
View ArticleAmazon urged to stop ‘giving platform’ to dozens of deplorable anti-LGBT+...
More than 40 groups that vehemently oppose LGBT+ rights are fundraising on Amazon, despite the online shopping giant’s pledges to support equality. An investigation by openDemocracy found that the US...
View ArticleLGBT+ people are being ‘scapegoated’ by political leaders in Europe and...
LGBT+ people are being “scapegoated” by political leaders in Europe and Central Asia, according to an LGBT+ rights organisation. Progress on LGBT+ rights is “increasingly fragile”, ILGA-Europe warned...
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JK Rowling and anti-trans rhetoric have caused ‘significant damage’ to the...
An international LGBT+ rights review has warned the UK is facing “significant damage” because of transphobic hate speech and JK Rowling. British leaders previously boasted of the UK’s top-place ranking...
View ArticleUK slides even further down rankings of most LGBT-friendly nations in Europe
LGBT+ rights in Europe have reached a concerning “standstill” and the UK continues to slowly decline, according to the annual Rainbow Map rankings. This year’s Rainbow Map revealed a “widespread and...
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Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak caused ‘serious damage’ to LGBTQ+ rights in UK,...
An annual report on the state of queer rights across Europe has found that 2022 was the most violent year for LGBTI people across the region in the past decade – and the rise in hate speech is to...
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