The Frontline

Released every May since 2009, the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map ranks the legal and policy situation for LGBTI people in all 49 European countries, on a scale between 0% (gross violations of human rights, discrimination) and 100% (respect of human rights, full equality).  

This year there was much movement on the map, with Malta holding the top spot and several countries entering the top ten. All of this has been reported across the world, but what truths lie behind the Rainbow Map rankings? Malta has been number one for eight years now, but is it a utopia for LGBTI people, or are there issues in the country that might be pinkwashed by its Rainbow ranking? Are small movements up the chart really representative of what’s happening on the ground for LGBTI people? And what’s happening in the countries that used to be at the top but are now lagging very much behind? 

In this episode of The Frontline, exploring the complexities behind the rankings in the annual Rainbow Map, we are joined by guests Robert Attard from the Malta Gay Rights Movement">Malta Gay Rights Movement, Simona Mursec from Ljubljana Pride Association">Ljubljana Pride Association in Slovenia and Sophie Schers from Transgender Network">Transgender Network in The Netherlands. We’re also joined by Mehmet Akin from the ILGA Europe team, who oversees the collection of data and rankings on the Rainbow Map and Index, and our Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel, to talk about what we see happening now and in the future.  

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All too often we hearabout exclusionary forces, or the voices of forces who seek to exclude trans women from the women’s movement, but does this adequately represent the truth?

This episode focuses on the ways in which actors in the women’s movement are actively inclusive of trans women, questions the exclusionary narrative that dominates much of the media, and how this dominant narrative is both being driven by and playing into the hands of anti-democratic forces.   

We ask what it means for feminism to be inclusive in practical terms and how does inclusiveness impact the work? We explore how inclusionary women’s rights organisations and

With us to investigate the exclusionary narrative and look at it from the more prevalent inclusionary perspective, are Caroline Hickson, Regional Director of International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network; Tanya von Knorring, Executive Director of  Transfeminiinit, Finland"> Transfeminiinit, Finland and Federal Vice Chair of National LGBTI Finland; and Marion Böker from the German NGO, Deutsche Frauenring, who is also on the board of the International Alliance of Women and the European Women’s Lobby.

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The big story at the beginning of the World Cup 2022 centred on FIFA banning all players on European teams from wearing the ‘One Love’ armband during matches, highlighting the dire human rights situation for LGBTI people in Qatar. 

But what happens when divisions over LGBTI issues become the leading stories surrounding a major sporting event like the World Cup? Do these stories serve the LGBTI communities in countries where people are at risk? Do they serve the greater goals of the LGBTI movement for equality? Or is the focus on LGBTI people and LGBTI issues not creating a Rainbow Divide, in which the human rights of one group are separated from the human rights of all?  

This episode of The Frontline will explore the complexities around singling out of LGBTI rights at the Qatar World Cup, when so many other human rights abuses are taking place in the country, if it further fuelled an ‘us and them’ human rights narrative, and what responsibility lies with the media in the reporting of this and other LGBTI centred stories. 

Our guests are Ryan Heath">Ryan Heath, Editorial Director with Politico">Politico; Gurchaten Sandhu">Gurchaten Sandhu, Director of Programmes at ILGA World">ILGA World, and the Executive Director of ILGA-Europe">ILGA-Europe, Evelyne Paradis.  

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In the second of our two-part episode, looking at the new wave of accession to the EU and what it will mean for LGBTI people, we're looking at how ILGA-Europe uses the accession process in our advocacy work in Brussels, and we talk about the Serbian government’s anti-democratic instrumentalising of LGBTI people in an effort to try to stop EuroPride in Belgrade this September, and what it means for LGBTI people in that candidate country.

We're joined by former member of European Parliament, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marije_CornelissenMarije Cornelissen , who has worked extensively on the accession process; Lenny Emson from Kyiv Pride">Kyiv Pride in Ukraine; Anastasia Danilova from GENDERDOC-M">GENDERDOC-M in Moldova; and Danijel Kalezić, who worked for years as the Executive Director of Queer Montenegro">Queer Montenegro , but has now become the Co-director of ERA">Co-director of ERA, the LGBTI Equal  Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey. We’re also joined ILGA-Europe's Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel to talk about our deep and long-term experience of working on accession countries, which has been happening for 25 years now.  

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-part episode we’re looking at the new wave of accession to the EU and what it will mean for LGBTI people. With the recent news that Ukraine and Moldova are now candidates to the EU, the topic of EU accession is on the radar again, while Western Balkan countries such as Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro have been going through the process for some years now, and Turkey not acceded since its application in 1987. 

With the current state of LGBTI rights in Central Europe, highlighted most recently by the Serbian government’s anti-democratic instrumentalising of LGBTI people in an effort to try to stop EuroPride in Belgrade, how does this kind of backsliding play into the accession process? And what about countries like Ukraine, where LGBTI rights have barely been on the governmental agenda? What are the opportunities to be gained by candidacy for joining the EU? 

To discuss these questions and more, we're joined by former member of European Parliament, Marije Cornelissen, who has worked e xtensively on the accession process; Lenny Emson from Kyiv Pride in Ukraine; Anastasia Danilova from GENDERDOC-M in Moldova; and Danijel Kalezić, who worked for years as the Executive Director of Queer Montenegro , but has now become the Co-director of ERA, the LGBTI Equal  Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey. We’re also joined ILGA-Europe's Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel to talk about our deep and long-term experience of working on accession countries, which has been happening for 25 years now.  

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In this, the second episode of our new mini-series exploring the opportunities and challenges that come with businesses supporting LGBTI equality, we’re taking a closer look at how business can support LGBTI civil society. With us to talk about how to build partnerships with business in contexts and countries requiring different responses, from advocacy to campaigns, are Nancy Kelley, the Chief Executive of Stonewall">Stonewall, which has long experience working with private business both in the UK and internationally and Noah Kraljević, from the ILGA-Europe member organisation, Expanse of Gender and Media Culture ‘Common Zone">Expanse of Gender and Media Culture ‘Common Zone’, who has led on LGBTI inclusion in the workplace in Croatia and joins us to talk about engagement with the private sector in the country.   

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With the war in Ukraine and the Russian threat to democracy it has intensified, now more than ever we need to be working together across many alliances to ensure that equality and freedom are at the cornerstones of European society. Our new mini-series was recorded before the war began, but with it’s deep dive into how actors in the private sector, from big corporates to small and medium businesses, can work with LGBTI organisations to shape a better future for us all, we think it is more important than ever to have this discussion. From making the business case for engagement, to exploring the different ways businesses can work with LGBTI organisations, to a case study in how the coffee giant Starbucks successfully worked with a trans youth organisation to help shift attitudes, this is a series with learnings for both businesses who want to help shape a better world, and LGBTI organisations seeking to work with them. Listen to our introduction to learn more!  

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This is the first episode of our new mini-series exploring the opportunities and challenges that come with businesses supporting LGBTI equality. Over the past few years, more and more companies have been engaging with LGBTI rights and equality, from putting inclusive employment policies in place, to celebrating Pride in their marketing campaigns, to speaking out in favour of laws that would support LGBTI equality. This provides some great opportunities for activist organisations, but it’s not all plain sailing.  

Here we look at the rising opportunities and challenges for LGBTI organisations engaging with the private sector. At ILGA-Europe we’ve experienced these first-hand, as businesses have reached out to support our work with and on behalf of our member organisations, and with us to discuss these developments from the ILGA-Europe perspective is our Executive Director, Evelyne Paradis.

We're also joined by Jens Schadendorf, independent LGBTI researcher at the chair of business ethics at the Technical University of Munich, and author of the recent book, Gayme Changer: How the LGBT+ Community and their Allies are Changing the Global Economy , which provides and overview of the business arena engaging with LGBTI rights and inclusion, and the impact of that, both on communities and countries.

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In this, the third and final episode of our mini-series exploring the opportunities and challenges that come with businesses supporting LGBTI equality, we are looking at how companies can bring about positive change through representation in advertising, meaningful campaigns, and partnering with LGBTI organisations. We’re looking at this through the lens of one very successful partnership and campaign, between Mermaids, a UK organisation helping trans, nonbinary and gender diverse children, young people and their families, and the coffee giant, Starbucks. With me to talk about the #WhatsYourName campaign, and what it means in terms of opportunities for partnerships between LGBTI organisations and businesses, is Susie Green, the CEO of Mermaids.  

Find out more about to work of Mermaids here">here. 

See the #WhatsYourName campaign here">here.  

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At ILGA-Europe we recognise that the war is not going to be a short-term situation for vulnerable people in Ukraine, Russia, neighbouring countries, and all countries in Europe and Central Asia that are and will be hosting displaced people. With our deep and nuanced knowledge of the human rights situation for LGBTI people across Europe and Central Asia, we know that there will be great complexity and particular vulnerabilities in the experience of LGBTI refugees, and of those LGBTI people who are either forced, or choose to remain in Ukraine and Russia. 

In this episode we’re talking about how we at ILGA-Europe are responding to the war in Ukraine, and in particular the effects on LGBTI people, both in Ukraine and Russia, in neighbouring countries, and all host countries across Europe and Central Asia. With us to talk about the current situation, from ILGA-Europe’s perspective, combined with what we know from our member organisations in Ukraine, Russia and across the region, is our Executive Director, Evelyne Paradis.

Find out more about our Information, Action, Direction initiative working to support LGBTI people caught up in the war in Ukraine here .

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