A successful and the largest ever annual conference of ILGA-Europe concluded in Malta on 1 November. Over 300 people from 48 countries took part in the conference. This is the highest number of participants at ILGA-Europe’s annual conference ever. The theme of this year’s conference was “Overcoming Cultural and Religious Barriers to LGBT Equality”. This year’s annual conference was organised in partnership with Malta Gay Rights Movement.
The topic of the conference and many other issues were debated in two panels, 28 workshops and 12 self-organised spaces. The key note speakers were:
Ulrike Lunacek, Member of the European Parliament
Francis Agius, Member of Maltese Parliament, head of Maltese Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Belinda Pyke, European Commission, Director of Equality between Men / Women, Action against Discrimination, Civil Society Directorate of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Dr Louis Galea, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Malta
Evarist Bartolo, Member of Maltese Parliament, Labour Party
Vladimir Luxuria, former member of the Italian Parliament, journalist
Juris Cālītis, pastor of the Anglican Church, Latvia
Frits Huffnagel, Deputy Mayor, City Council of The Hague.
Francis Agius, Member of Maltese Parliament, head of Maltese Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Belinda Pyke, European Commission, Director of Equality between Men / Women, Action against Discrimination, Civil Society Directorate of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Dr Louis Galea, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Malta
Evarist Bartolo, Member of Maltese Parliament, Labour Party
Vladimir Luxuria, former member of the Italian Parliament, journalist
Juris Cālītis, pastor of the Anglican Church, Latvia
Frits Huffnagel, Deputy Mayor, City Council of The Hague.
The annual conference has attracted extensive and positive media coverage in Malta. ILGA-Europe’s family posters translated into Maltese and highlighted the challenges LGBT families and their children face due to lack of the legal recognition were displayed in various regions of Malta and thus increased visibility of the topic in the country.
Prior to the conference, representatives of ILGA-Europe’s board and staff had a meeting with Dr George Abela, President of Malta, which was the first time ever head of state hosted ILGA-Europe’s representatives during our annual conference.
Another successful pre-conference event was a Trans Rights Conference which brought together LGBT activists with European policy makes who made a number of specific commitments to fight discrimination against trans people.
The annual conference has also voted to host ILGA-Europe’s Annual Conference in 2011 in Turin (Italy).
The next ILGA-Europe’s annual conference in 2010 will take place in The Hague (The Netherlands).
