ILGA-Europe announced that the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, in the heart of Central Europe, has been chosen as the location for our Annual Conference in 2023. We’re looking forward to beginning our work with LGBTI host organisations in Ljubljana to organise the 25th ILGA-Europe Annual Conference, and we’ll be announcing the exact dates as soon as they are tied down.
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On 13 October, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a new resolution on ending discrimination against women in the world of sport. The resolution calls to end discrimination against women in sports and includes explicitly LBTI women’s needs. The Assembly condemns the hate speech and sexism directed at female athletes, including LBTI athletes and calls for efforts to promote access to sport for all women and notes that discrimination against LBTI women has a negative impact on women in general.

On 13 October, on the occasion of European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance’s first Congress, 15 organisations have come together to announce the launch of the European Coalition on Sex Workers’ Rights and Inclusion. These leading civil society networks and human rights organisations have come to the same conclusion: criminalisation is not the solution. It is only by adopting a human rights approach, decriminalising sex work, and meaningfully including sex workers and sex worker rights defenders in decision-making that sex workers can be protected.

On 26 October Intersex Awareness Day, OII Europe launched a new campaign on the situation of intersex seniors. Older intersex people face very specific challenges and needs, and while there is still very little knowledge and research available on this particular topic, OII Europe’s campaign wants to highlight some of the few existing findings on senior intersex folks, as well as creating a platform for community-based knowledge. (Illustration: OII Europe)

On 4 October, The National Assembly in Slovenia signed same-sex marriage and adoption into law by passing changes to the family code. The changes define marriage as a union of two persons and allow same-sex partners to adopt children under the same conditions as those that apply to all married couples. Drafted by the government, the bill was passed two months after the Constitutional Court announced a landmark ruling deeming discriminatory the definition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and the inability of same-sex partners to adopt.

On 12 October, two young LGBTI people were killed outside an LGBTI bar in Bratislava. In their statement, LGBTI group Iniciatíva Inakosť said “The fact that the murder has chosen LGBTI people as target is the result of a long and systematic campaign against LGBTI people by state officials, churches and extremist groups”. Two days after the attack, the LGBTI organisations organised a vigil to commemorate Matus and Juraj who were cut down in the prime of their lives. Estimated 20.000 people attended the vigil. (Photo by Pride Bratislava)

On 27 October, the Irish Ministry for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Irish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Council of Europe SOGI Unit, with the support of the United Kingdom Government Equalities Office, co-organised a roundtable on ‘Right to life, security and protection from violence: combating SOGIESC-based hate crime across Europe.’ Findings and outcomes from the discussions at the roundtable will be reflected in the report of the annual thematic review of Council of Europe Recommendation on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, which will be presented to the Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CDADI) for adoption in 2023.

On 27 October, the Members of the Scottish Parliament voted in favour for the reform of the Gender Recognition Act with 88 voting in favour and 33 against. The bill foresees to make the process by which trans people can update the sex on their birth certificate simpler and fairer. The bill now moves to Stage 2 and continues its legislative process.

On 27 October, the European Parliament organised a hearing to discuss how the question of the legal status of trans persons can be taken out of the medical field. MEPs from the Committees on Civil Liberties and Public Health discussed the pivotal role of health professionals can have in ensuring that trans and non-binary persons are not stigmatised and discriminated against in the medical sector, and that they are able to fulfil their right to health by ensuring their access to quality health care.

The International Trans Fund (ITF) announced their 7th grant cycle for applications from trans-led organisations with budgets below $100,000 USD based in any region of the world. The ITF has two grant types: the SEED grant which is a 1-year general support and/or project grant for trans-led organisations that have never been funded by the ITF and the THRIVE grant which is a 1-year general support grant only for trans-led organisations that have been previously funded by the ITF.
Read more and apply before 12 December.