ILGA-Europe is the European region of the

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA, Spanish: ''Asociación internacional de lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, trans e intersexuales'') is a LGBTQ+ rights organization. It participates in a multitude of a ...

(ILGA World). It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, gay,

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Sociology * Trans, a sociological term which may refer to: ** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...

and

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

(

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexua ...

) people, at the European level. Its membership comprises more than 500 organisations from throughout Europe and Central Asia. The association enjoys consultative status at the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

and participatory status at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

History

ILGA-Europe was founded in 1996, when its parent organisation, the

, established separate regions. It took over responsibility for supporting the development of the LGBT movement in Europe including Transgender Europe,

Inter-LGBT Inter-LGBT (Interassociative Lesbienne, Gaie, Bi et Trans) is an umbrella group of 50 list of LGBT rights organizations, LGBT organisations in France. Overview It organises the Printemps des Assoces every April as well as the annual Gay marches. ...

, and for relationships with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

. Initially ILGA-Europe worked entirely on the basis of volunteer resources. However, in 2001, its potential contribution to the European Union's anti-discrimination policies (established under Article 13 of the

Treaty of Amsterdam The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

) was recognised through the provision of core funding, currently through the PROGRESS Programme. This enabled ILGA-Europe to set up an office in Brussels, to recruit permanent staff, and to conduct an extensive programme of work in relation to sexual orientation discrimination within the

EU Member States The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

and the accession countries. Financial support from the Sigrid Rausing Trust, the Open Society Institute,

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

, the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

allows ILGA-Europe to extend its work in areas not covered by EU funding, including Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and on transgender issues. ILGA-Europe has hosted its annual conference at the end of October, since 2000, where member organisations elect the executive board and decide on the next year's working priorities.

Current work

ILGA-Europe works to promote equality and non-discrimination for LGBTI people in asylum,

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

family law Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations. Overview Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include: * Marriag ...

freedom of assembly Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas. The right to free ...

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

; and works worldwide to protect human rights defenders, trans people and intersex people. The Association provides funding and training for its 500 member organisations, "''to maximise efficiency and the use of resources by LGBTI organisations in working towards achievement of their goals; to maximise the impact of advocacy work at the European level; to ensure sustainability of the LGBTI movement in Europe.''" ILGA-Europe works with EU Institutions, the

and the

to promote equality by lobbying and advocacy, including supporting the adoption of the proposed EU Anti-Discrimination Directive, that would ban discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation in all areas of EU competence. It also uses strategic litigation at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

and the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

to end discrimination, by identifying gaps in protections, encouraging organisations and individuals to develop court cases, and support such cases with legal resources and

amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...

briefs. For the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

, ILGA-Europe promoted its ''Come Out 2014 European Election Pledge'' to candidate MEPs, which focused on priority LGBTI issues for the 2014–2019 Parliament: an EU roadmap on LGBTI equality; EU human rights enforcement; completing the EU Anti-Discrimination directive; combating homophobic and transphobic violence; an inclusive definition of 'family'; trans rights and depatholigisation; action against school bullying; health discrimination and inequalities; LGBTI

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

; and making the EU champion LGBTI rights worldwide. 187 elected MEPs (25 percent) signed the pledge, including 83 members of the PES, 14 ALDE members and 14 from the EPP. Today ILGA-Europe has more than 20 staff who work in four areas: Advocacy, Communications, Finance and Administration, and Programmes. All are based at the organisation's office in the European Quarter in Brussels.

Rainbow Europe

Each May, ILGA-Europe releases its ''Rainbow Europe'' review, to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. It reviews the human rights situation and assesses what life is like for LGBTI+ people in every European country, covering discrimination, family recognition, hate speech/crimes, gender recognition, freedom of assembly, association and express, and asylum laws. Since 2016 Malta has topped the rankings; in 2021 it was rated to have 94% progress toward respect of human rights and full equality, and in 2025 sits 4 percentage points ahead of Belgium in second place. In 2025 Azerbaijan and Russia were ranked as the worst for LGBTI+ equality, scoring just 2.25% and 2% respectively, closely followed by Turkey, Armenia and Belarus. The biggest increase since the 2013 review, was that of Malta - increasing by 54 percentage points, followed by Greece with a 41 point gain. A summary of all ''Rainbow Europe'' scores since 2013 (when scores were standardised as a %) are given in the table below, as well as a comparison with the scores as released in 2013 and 2025. The most significant deterioration in LGBTI+ rights in Europe is that of the UK, that has decreased 40 percentage points from a peak of 86% in 2015. This equates to a 21 place-drop in ranking, from 1st (2013 to 2015) to 22nd.

International Intersex Forum

To include intersex people in its remit, ILGA-Europe and ILGA have jointly sponsored the only international gathering of intersex activists and organisations. The International Intersex Forum has taken place in Europe annually since 2011.First ever international intersex forum
, ILGA-Europe (Creative Commons statement), 6 September 2011Global intersex community affirms shared goals
Star Observer, December 4, 2013 The third forum was held in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 2013 with 34 people representing 30 organisations from all continents. The closing statement affirmed the existence of intersex people, reaffirmed "the principles of the First and Second International Intersex Fora and extend the demands aiming to end discrimination against intersex people and to ensure the right of bodily integrity, physical autonomy and self-determination". For the first time, participants made a statement on birth registrations, in addition to other human rights issues. Derde Internationale Intersekse Forum
, Nederlandse Netwerk Intersekse/DSD (NNID), 3 December 2013

References

External links

ILGA-Europe's websiteILGA's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilga-Europe International LGBTQ political advocacy groups Organizations with participatory status with the Council of Europe Organizations established in 1996 International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association

History

Current work

Rainbow Europe

International Intersex Forum

References

Further reading

External links