Every year, Brussels Pride is organised on the Saturday closest to May 17, to mark the importance of fighting homophobia, biphobia and transphobia even in contexts which might appear supportive of sexual and gender diversity.

100,000 attend Brussels Pride on May 17, 2014

This year, the event, labelled ‘PRIDE4every1″ gathered a 100,000-strong crowd, making it the biggest Belgium Pride march ever, and also the biggest single IDAHOT event this year.

In the Francophone provinces, IDAHOT has been marked for many years now with education campaigns for diversity, lead by regional educational authorities and the umbrella LGBT federation Arc en Ciel Wallonie.

The organisation Alliage had sent the 84 municipalities of the province rainbow flags to be raised on May 17 in a invitation to “show that the municipality is rich of its diversities and proud of them”. 33 of the 84 municipalities raised the flag. More information and details, including a map of the participating counties, can be accessed on the site of the organisation Alliage and a photo album has been set up on Facebook.

33 municipal authorities fly the rainbow flag in Belgium’s Francophone regions for IDAHOT 2014.

In the Flemish provinces, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia saw an unprecedented level of participation. Reporting from the Çavaria LGBT federation:

259 municipalities in Flanders and Brussels participated out of 327 (79%). Also, all the districts of the city of Antwerp participated as well as all the Flemish provinces. Besides flying the rainbow flag a lot of municipalities organized events for IDAHOT, had articles about it in their info magazines, and so on.

Our goal was to make lgbt issues visible from the biggest cities to the smallest villages. The physical presence of the rainbow flag at city halls, public libraries and other public buildings sent out the message that the local government is an ally for lgbt rights. However, the action was not only symbolic. We (or our member organizations) contacted every municipality in Flanders and Brussels, thus opening a channel for dialogue. Some municipalities that didn’t participate are open to working with us on lgbt inclusiveness.

You can find the most recent article (in Dutch) and photos here.

On IDAHOT and the Belgian Pride we also had a campaign about tackling homophobia in sports called Sports4Every1. 11 famous Belgian sportspeople spoke out against homophobia. You can find the pictures and videos they made here  . The campaign was commissioned by the Department of Equal Opportunities of the Flemish Government.

Wallonia province educational initiative

In the francophone province of Wallonia, the LGBT federation ‘Arc en Ciel Wallonie’ has once again marked the Day with a special educational initiative in partnership with the ministry of education.

This year, the province’s 30,000 secondary school children were handed out a pin-on badge, while the schools in the 118 communes received a comprehensive educational kit on fighting homophobia

More information on the activities, and access to the pedagogical material can be found here

In the meantime, the regional authorities announced on the Day their first comprehensive action plan against violence and discrimination.

Over 100 municipalities fly the rainbow flag

In the Flemish region too, IDAHO was marked by a strong involvement of the authorities, with well over a third of the region’s 308 municipalities marking the Day by raising the rainbow flag.

Activists visit various train stations with rainbow stickers !

And as part of the Global Rainbow Flashmob, an alliance of LGBT organisations led by Cavaria and roze huizen, attended 9 train stations and handed out Rainbow stickers to passengers and asked them to show their solidarity with the LGBT community by putting the sticker on their clothes or visible place.”

LGBT young people gather at the train station in Hasselt, Belgium

For more info (and photos) see http://www.facebook.com/events/592126600811318/

An interesting feature in Belgium is that the annual Pride celebrations in the Capital city Brussels are always made to coincide with the Day and are held on the Saturday closest to May 17th, allowing a strong concentration of policy and media focus around mid-May. Next year, the Pride will actually take place on May 17th exactly.

Deputy Prime Minister issues official statement of support for May 17

Published on May 16, the statement explains ‘Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders applauds tomorrow’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, 17 May. He considers the fight against homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia as a priority for Belgian foreign policy. Just like other forms of discrimination and intolerance such as racism, sexism and anti-Semitism, homophobia also has serious, sometimes devastating effects on the victims’ lives.’

In Brussels, activists also locked themselves in a cage… !

Presenter of Canada’s National Gay and Lesbian television OUTTV Marlene van Oortmarssen and spokesperson of the Wel Jong Niet Hetero group (Flemish LGBT group) Michiel Vanackere spent 48 hours in a cage, in order to draw attention to the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia at the Kunstberg, Mont des Arts in Brussels. Passersby tied coloured ribbons to the cage to show their support.

Photo by Belga – Siska Gremmelprez/AFP/Getty Images ORG XMIT. Source.

You can see a an interview with Michiel, explaining the action, in this short video:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=upf46LldRxg%3Ffeature%3Doembed

This year, material was distributed also in France and as far as New Caledonia (French Pacific) and distributions will stretch all over the summer, during the region’s many music festivals.

In resonance with this year’s global IDAHO focus on education, the brochure includes a chapter on fighting homophobia within the region’s schools.

In the Flemish part, activists from organisation Leonardo organised a discussion on LGBT rights around the topic: “The strongest action a country can make to fight against homophobia is enacting a series of laws that promote equality and full integration for the LGBT community in the social and political life of the country.” It focused on LGBT rights in Belgium and Europe, how laws are applied in everyday life, and future horizons for the LGBT movement.