Pre-mailing for the Annual Conference

Dear co-leaders of change,

While another year of our persistent work for LGBTI equality is in full sway, the moment has come to invite you to the 18th ILGA-Europe Annual Conference which will be held in Rīga from 9 – 11October 2014 under the theme “MOVEment: Leading Sustainable Change”.

We are grateful that our annual conference this year will be hosted by ILGA-Europe member Mozaika, (Rīga), which has immensely contributed to the improvement of the situation for LGBTI people in Latvia.

Register now!

The Registration Form, Scholarship Application Form, and Workshop Proposal Form are now online. The deadlines for submitting these forms are as follows:

Monday, 30 June 2014 – Call for Scholarship Applications closes
Monday, 30 June 2014 – Call for Workshops Proposals closes
Sunday, 24 August 2014 – Call for Registration closes
Conference theme

Europe is a continent of diverse and at times even conflicting realities for the LGBTI community. While in some countries the long-lasting struggle of human rights activists has succeeded in widely expanding the range of legal recognition and social acceptance of LGBTI people, we are witnessing a decrease of political will in pushing forward anti-discrimination policies or even violent breaches of fundamental freedoms and rights of LGBTI people in others.

Furthermore, the current wave of crisis rapidly moving through the economical, political, and social landscape of Europe is threatening already gained victories of the LGBTI movement. We –the leaders, members, and supporters of the European LGBTI movement - are standing at the crossroads of change.

The ILGA-Europe board believes that now is the right moment for us to look reflectively on the past and current developments of leadership strategies in the field of LGBTI activism and to learn from our successes and failures.

Most importantly, we want to think together how we can create a movement for now and in the future that can create the change that will lead us towards aEuropean society based on the full realization of equality for all. Let’s gather in Rīga to MOVE forward together!

In accord with our tradition, this year we are hosting a great number of inspiring guests and speakers. At this stage we are thrilled to present you four already confirmed keynote speakers: Charles Radcliffe (Chief of Global Issues Section at the Office of theUN High Commissioner of Human Rights, and senior UN human rights adviser on sexual orientation and gender identity) ), Eliza Byard (Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network from the USA), Helena Dalli (Maltese Civil Liberties Minister), and Graeme Reid (Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch). This year’s Conference Host responsible forreflecting on daily conference highlights will be Miguel Vale de Almeida (anthropologist, Professor at the University Institute of Lisbon, and LGBTI activist).

Conference mailings

This pre-mailing includes the Scholarship application Form, the Conference Participation Registration Form and the Workshop Proposal Form. The calendar of mailings and further important dates are as follows:

13 June 2014 – First Mailing
30 June 2014 – Deadline for submission of scholarship applications and for workshop proposals
4 July 2014– Deadline for submission of proposals
11 July 2014 – Second Mailing
24 August 2014 – Deadline for nominations of candidates for the ILGA-Europe Executive Board, for amendments to proposals, for submission of proposals to host the 2016 conference
24 August 2014 – Deadline for registration of conference participants
12 September 2014 – Third Mailing
We look forward to meeting you on 9 October in Rīga, and hope to see you in great numbers.

Yours sincerely,

Gabi Calleja and Paulo Côrte-Real
ILGA-Europe co-chairs