TURIN CONFERENCE BRINGS TOGETHER EAST EUROPEAN ACTIVISTS

Turin, 8 July2016 – LGBTI activists from Albania, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain and ERA representative Mr. Amarildo Fecanji, attended in Turin the round-table “The march towards equality – Prides in Eastern Europe and the Balkans”.
Organized by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, with the participation of MEP Mr. Danielle Viotti and Mr. Jose Angel Santoro, Secretary General of Rainbow Rose, the meeting had the aim to speak with activists from Eastern Europe and to better recognize the political realities of LGBTI people and how different contexts shape the way prides are organized as well as the impact they have in society.
Mr. Amarildo Fecanji from ERA – LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey informed participants on the different prides organized across the ERA region and the challenges faced on those occasions particularly in terms of receiving support from governments, municipalities and the police.
In his statement he said that for countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey, Prides are not just moments of joy and celebration, they are also huge political statements. As few people attend them, whoever is there, is making a big difference.
He also added the constant risk of backlash due mainly due the widespread homophobia and transphobia as well as populism. Even prides which have been successful for years such as that of Istanbul has been banned in the last two years and on both occasions activists and participants have been attacked, threatened and arrested.
Meanwhile in an interview for TG Piedmonte, when asked about the difference between Italian prides and those in the Balkans said that “Prides are a huge opportunity for celebrating our identities and diversity and for seeing that you are not alone, however as the recent Orlando events showed, there is no safe heaved for LGBTI people and that there is still a lot to do before full respect and acceptance is achieved”.