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Press statement: “The community, that’s you”

published on 20 May 2022

‘The community, that’s you’: three Belgian LGBTI+ umbrellas call for solidarity at Belgian Pride 2022

At the Belgian Pride 2022, the 3 Belgian LGBTI+ umbrellas, çavaria, Prisme and Rainbowhouse Brussels will carry the same slogan ‘the community, that’s you’. With their slogan, they call upon the community to reconnect after 2 canceled prides. They as well call for solidarity amongst LGBTI+ people and allies, including federal policy makers.Their legal priorities are blood donation, legal gender recognition, the abolishment of intersex mutilations and installing LGBTI+ phobia as an aggravating circumstance for all crimes.

 

Tomorrow, Saturday 21 May, the Belgian Pride will march through the streets of Brussels. After two years of confinement due to the COVID restrictions, the Belgian LGBTI+ community and her allies can meet again to demand attention for their struggles and to celebrate diversity. Suitingly, the theme of the 2022 Belgian Pride is #OPEN. 

 

Faces of the LGBTI+ community

The 3 LGBTI+ umbrellas grab this opportunity to march together under the slogan “The community, that’s you”. “With our slogan, we encourage every LGBTI+ person, every LGBTI+ ally, whether from Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia, to come out and reconnect. By walking together, we want to show the faces of the LGBTI+ community, our big and diverse Belgian LGBTI+ family,” says Eva Declerck, policy and programmes director at çavaria.

 

Solidarity in and with the LGBTI+ community

With their slogan, the LGBTI+ umbrellas also call for solidarity. They highlight that it is LGBTI+ people and their allies who make the LGBTI+ community; that everyone can and should play a role in shaping the collective fight for respect, equity and inclusion of LGBTI+ people. 

 

“We can all show our solidarity in different ways and according to our possibilities and privileges. As an individual, you can tap into the community work by signing a petition, donating to LGBTI+ organisations or volunteer work. But also as subcommunities, we should stand in solidarity with LGBTI+ individuals who experience different forms of oppression because of their skin colour, for instance, or their refugee situation, their employment in sex work, religion, gender identity, mental or physical health situation, ” explains Anna Devroye, coordinator of Prisme.

 

Solidarity through federal policies 

The LGBTI+ umbrellas demand solidarity from the Belgian policy makers as well. They urge them to install legislation they deem necessary to improve the rights, opportunities and well-being of LGBTI+ people. “The launch of the Federal Plan for an LGBTQI+ friendly Belgium, on IDAHOT last Tuesday was an important step. Now it is time to translate the actions into legislation,” says X .

 

“A first priority is to abolish exclusion of men who have sex with men (*) from donating blood. We urge the federal parliament to not adopt the current law proposal that maintains a discriminatory exclusion clause. The so-called group identity it invokes is grounded in false stereotypes. Regulations on blood donations should focus on individual risk behaviour, not sexual orientation or other identity elements.”

 

Another law they consider fundamental is a prohibition of interventions on intersex children and adults that are not medically necessary and conducted without their informed consent. They call for new legislation on gender registration that is also inclusive for non-binairy and gender fluid persons. Lastly, they ask to generalise LGBTI+ phobia as a hate motive for all crimes in the penal code. 

 

*With “men who have sex with men”, we refer to to people who are by the law qualified as men, even if those individuals do not identify as such. We strive towards the abolition for all of those who are excluded by this clause.

 

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