In Stockholm, the local Amnesty International hosted a special ‘Kiss-In’ against discrimination. The event, organized alongside local LGBT campaigners, invited the LGBT community and allies to ‘Make out and make change’ in a public event held in the city center.

Stockholm also held events on an international scale, with a special event on May 18 held in solidarity with Armenian and Bangladeshi LGBT activists. Organised by Tupilac, ILGCN and Bears International the event featured a special skål (Swedish toast) to celebrate various international efforts, including the work of IDAHOT founder Louis-Georges Tin. This event also saw the announcement of details for the 1^st Nordic Rainbow History & Arts Months, which will take place in October 2016.

Across the world Swedish furniture giants IKEA helped promote awareness around the week of May 17 with a special video released in support of IDAHOT. The company also promoted equality across all its business sites, encouraging employees to be open and frank about their experiences with homophobia, transphobia and biphobia.

In Halmstad, local activists organised a day of live performances to mark the day. The event featured arts and music from local performers and helped raise awareness of various issues facing the local and national LGBT community.

In Linköping, RFSL Linköping planned a day of events to celebrate diversity within the local community. Activities held included a public display and open workshops, and all had a family-friendly focus.

In Stockholm, the local Amnesty International group have called on people to come out for an IDAHOT ‘kiss-in’. The event, organized alongside local LGBT campaigners, will gather hundreds of demonstrators to ‘make out and make change’.

Stockholm will also host a special post-IDAHOT event on May 18th. Organised by Tupilac, ILGCN and Bears International the event is held in solidarity with activists from Bangladesh and Armenia currently facing extreme persecution for their work. A special skål (Swedish toast) will be held to celebrate international efforts, including IDAHOT founder Louis-Georges Tin. The event will also be the announcement of details for the 1st Nordic Rainbow History & Arts Month, which will take place in October 2016.

In Linköping, RFSL Linköping have planned a day of events to celebrate diversity within the local community. Activities will be held at a local library and will also have a focus on families and LGBT young people.

In Halmstad, local activists have organised a day of live performances to mark IDAHOT 2016. The event will feature feature and music from local artists and will hope to raise awareness of various issues facing the LGBT community.

On an international scale, Swedish furniture giants IKEA will hold an internal awareness week around May 17^th during which a specially shot video bringing together its diversity & inclusion ambassadors from all over the world will be put online on May 17^th in all IKEA countries.

For more information on events across the world please keep an eye out for our upcoming annual reports.

ILGCN/Tupilak have been joining forces with Sweden’s Viking Bears – the Swedish branch of the international bear movement in combating the stereotypes of what gays should be.​

The event took place at a LGBT-friendly pub on the Old Town island, the Secret Garden
The program included:

• Caroline Williams and friends —  sång och musik
• Peter “Sexodus” Fröberg – sång och musik  
• Louise Bergetoft – LGBT Amnesty, Sweden
• Tomas  (Herr Doktor Laureatus)  Åberg — poesi  
• Padma — poesi 
• Björn Gata: poems of Steven Henry Golding (USA) and words on his American LGBT library work
•  “The Grey Ghosts of Tefía” – Franco’s forgotten gay concentraion camp on the Canary Islands – a monologue of Bill Schiller
• Film: “Blood” by Alexi Carpentieri, words by Malga Kubiak
• Konst:  “Våre Stemmer HIV: 30 år i Norge ” – senast verk av Fin Serck-Hanssen, Norway

ILGCN, the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network, was created at the ILGA world conference in Paris in 1992 to promote international rainbow culture and exchange across borders.

Tupilak, the Queer Cultural Workers in the nordic area, started in 1989 to join together lesbian, gay, trans, bi and queer cultural workers from different professions: writers, film makers, musicians, poets, journalists, actors, designers, singers, translators, sculptors, publishers, dancers, artists, photographers, etc.

In Lund members of Lund University have organised a day of workshops and discussions for students and members of the public. The talks and workshops addressed a wide range of subjects related to LGBT issues and will be given in English, French and Swedish. Organisers of the day-long event hope that the talks and workshops offered practical training opportunities for members of the community, whilst also allowing individuals to engage on a wide number of under-addressed areas.

Program (Eng)

• 00 Flag-hoisting ceremony
  Watch the rainbow flags go up on the main university building (white house)
• 08:30-09:15 Lecture/Talk: LGBTQ 101 (Swe)
  Learn the LGBTQ basics. A lecture targeted at everyone who wants to know more about the rainbow-colored letters LGBTQ. And, by the way, why are they rainbow-colored? Please not, the lecture is held in Swedish
• 08.30-10.00 (Swe) | 10.30-12.00 (Swe)
  Workshop Anti Oppressive Pedagogics – A talkative Exercise
  In the exercise, we try to talk ourselves into understandings of what it could be like to be someone else than the ones we usually are. Sign-up required.
• 09:15 Coffee
• 09:30-10:30 Cy Jung, French author and activist (Eng, Fr)
• 12:00-13:00 Lunch break
• 13.00-14.30 (Eng) | 15:00-16:30 (Swe)
  Workshop Anti Oppressive Pedagogics – A talkative Exercise
  In the exercise, we try to talk ourselves into understandings of what it could be like to be someone else than the ones we usually are. Sign-up required.
• 14:30 Coffee
• 15:00-16:00 Freedom or Heterosexual Marriage – Bachelorette, Old Maid or Wife? (Swe)
  Emma Severinsson, Öresund network for gender historians. In the 1920s the job market opened up for women on a larger scale, which meant they got a better opportunity to support themselves. This contributed to their ability to decide whether to live an independent life outside a heterosexual relationship. Based on Swedish weekly press/tabloid materials and a queer perspective, the notions of these antisocial women who flourished in contemporary life are examined. Please not, the lecture is held in Swedish
• 16:30- LGBTQ-LU IDAHOT AW
  After work at Ebbas Skafferi in Lund.

To see the programme on their website click here.

In Halmstad local NGO the Swedish Authority For Sexual Education held a free special film-screening of the award-winning British film ‘Pride’. The event was completely free and was open to all members of the public. For more information on the screening please click here.

Also on May 17th in Gothenburg, ‘Pride’ was screened for a second time, this time as part of a special film event held by the Gotenburg Feminist Group. The event included a film screening by Swedish feminist art/activists Glitterlicken, as well as a number of other smaller events. For more information on the event visit the official Facebook event page.

May Happy Hour – A Celebration of IDAHOT

On the 18th of May, Lesbians Who Tech and the Professional LGBT Alliance of Sweden welcomed everyone to Mälarpaviljongen for May Happy Hour. In addition to meeting new friends, there were discussions around the significance of IDAHOT, toasts to progress, and reminders why the work we all do everyday is more important than ever! The event started at 6pm at Norr Mälarstrand 64, Stockholm.

The event began with short talks by some external guests, as well as toasts to IDAHOT, also brief introduction of the groups which have organized the event. Later on there was also a socialising event. Some snacks will be served. 

Lesbians Who Tech is global community of over 9,000 queer women in and around tech. Find out more about the event here.

Movie and Discussion for LGBTQ Youth

In Stockholm,  Sweden LGBTQ youth Federation RFSL Ungdom showed the movie ‘Pride’, followed by a discussion on intersectionality. The event was specifically targeted at younger people!

Find out more about the event on the Facebook page.

]]> https://dayagainsthomophobia.org/idahot-events-2015-sweden/feed/ 0 https://dayagainsthomophobia.org/idahot-report-2014-sweden/ https://dayagainsthomophobia.org/idahot-report-2014-sweden/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2014 14:55:54 +0000 http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/?p=7633 Sweden

The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014, was marked by various actions in different cities in Sweden, including Stockholm, Örebro and Halmstadt. Aside from this, the Swedish government also co-hosted the International IDAHO Forum 2014, together with the government of Malta, which was held in Valletta, Malta. The 2-day conference brought together top political representatives, and civil society associations, from across Europe.

Sweden co-hosts 2nd annual International IDAHO Forum, together with Malta

Erik Ullenhag, Swedish Minister for Integration was amongst the delegates – which included representatives from 17 European states.

Swedish Minister for Integration, Erik Ullenhag, speaking at the IDAHO Forum 2014 Press Conference in Valletta, Malta, May 13, 2014.

More information about the Forum, as well as Sweden’s participation in the co-ordination, and what representatives had to say, can be found in this press release, as well as on the official IDAHO Forum 2014 website.

A full video of the press conference from the Forum can be seen here:

Del LaGrace Volcano talks “Intersex 101″ in Örebro

In Örebro, Sweden, local communities came together for a lecture entitled “INTERSEX 101 OR HOW THE BINARY GENDER SYSTEM VIOLATES THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF EVERYONE”, given by well-known international artist and activist, Del LaGrace Volcano. The event posed the key question – How are the human rights of intersex people violated and why should this be a concern for all of us?

Artist and activist, Del LaGrace Volcano, gearing up for “Intersex 101″ talk in Örebro, Sweden.

Organisers explained: “Del LaGrace Volcano is an artist and activist working to create a world where the diversity of the human body is both recognised and celebrated beyond our current system; a system which only validates people with bodies and gender that conform to female and male. A visual and performative political and personal lecture that offers practical advice on how to resist the rising tides of gender conformity and market forces.”

The lecture was co-ordinated by Örebro Rättighetscenter, Örebro läns museum, RFSL Örebro and ABF Örebro, and was held on May 14. You can find more details about the event on the website or Facebook.

RFSU Halland actions in Halmstadt

To commemorate IDAHOT 2014, in the city of Halmstadt, LGBTI communities, political parties, youth organizations and civil society associations came together for a day of events – co-ordinated by the group RFSU Halland. Stalls with information were set up, and a flashmob action also took place. At the Town Hall, the rainbow was also flown in honour of the Day.

Organised under the banner, “Together we make a difference! For everyone’s freedom to choose, freedom to be and freedom to enjoy!”, more about the programme can be found at the RFSU Halland website or on the Facebook event page.

Halmstadt Town Hall flying the rainbow flag for IDAHOT 2014.

Various events in Stockholm

In Sweden, communities came together for a packed day of various events around the IDAHOT 2014 – actions included an art & photo exhibition / presentations / campaign launches and the unveiling of a plan to set sail from Helsinki to St. Petersburg to protest LGBTI discrimination in Russia ! Local communities also saluted the Austrian winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, Conchita Wurst, and the launch of a new group – International Rainbow Seniors – was also announced.

You can read more about this year’s actions in the organisers’ press release, which follows in full:

Stockholm meetings at culture center, gay bar: Press Release, May 15, 2014
TUPILAK/ILGCN SALUTE TO IDAHO DAY 2014

Stockholm — “This was our way of saluting this year’s IDAHO — international day against homophobia on May 17 — and its 2014 theme “Freedom of Expression,” says Bill Schiller of Tupilak (Nordic rainbow cultural workers) and ILGCN (international rainbow cultural network) Information Secretariat-Stockholm of the event taking place on May 14 at the Folklore Centrum and the award-winning gay bar Side Track — both on this city’s southern island.

“We not only meet for social get-togethers but also to inform local politicians, administrators of homes for the elderly and medical workers — people sometimes totally unaware of the existence and needs of LGBT elderly,” said Agneta Wirén of the Gothenberg Senior Group from this Swedish west coast city.

Another special guest at this event, Frank Lee of Taiwan– a participant of the first-ever Stockholm “Gay Photographers Exhibit”– displayed his work and mentioned that he will be creating giant-sized photos of LGBT people at Stockholm’s international airport Arlanda during the coming Stockholm Pride this July. “I would also be pleased to have my work included in the Tupilak/ILGCN international art and photo exhibit.”

Examples of the collection’s Belarus art and photography were displayed, along with the presentation of the plan for “Swedish-Belarus Queer Cultural Days” 2014 for Belarus and Swedish cities — an idea originated by Maksim Haikou of Minsk.

Also in the spirit of IDAHO’S “Freedom of Expression,” plans were presented for a boat trip from Stockholm to St. Petersburg waiving the rainbow flag in ports of call including Tallin, Helsinki and St. Petersburg — to challenge the Russian ban an “homo propaganda.” Also, a salute to the rotating Baltic Pride — this year taking place in Tallinn and starting on June 2.

“Combating freedom of expression of LGBT people all over the world by all the major religions,” said Carl Johan Kleberg of the Nordic Rainbow Humanists.

Poetry with a Chinese theme was presented by Swedish Tupilak member Tomas Åberg and the Folk Lore Centrum owner Izzy Young read poems of his friend, the late American revolutionary gay poet, Allan Ginsburg.

Discussions also ended with a salute to the Austrian winner of the Eurovision song contest, Conchita Wurst for being an enormous contribution to tolerance and diversity in a Europe these days threatened by facist and homophobic parties in many nations.

As part of the “freedom of expression” theme, we are also announcing the formation of a new group called International Rainbow Seniors – Sweden promoting LGBT culture and international ties — well aware that many nations even with a strong Pride movement still ignore the voices of the elderly LGBT people,” says Schiller.

Most political parties and their youth organizations and associations will participate. There will be info tables, and perhaps the city’s residents will get surprised by an occasional flashmob.
On the Town Hall, they will be flying the rainbow flag.

The motto of the vent is:
Together we make a difference!
For everyone’s freedom to choose , freedom to be and freedom to enjoy!

More about the program you can go to the RFSU Halland website or check out the Facebook page.

How are the human rights of intersex people violated and why should this be a concern for all of us? These question are discussed in the event on May 14, at 6:30pm.

Del LaGrace Volcano is an artist and activist working to create a world where the diversity of the human body is both recognised and celebrated beyond our current system; a system which only validates people with bodies and gender that conform to female and male. A visual and performative political and personal lecture that offers practical advice on how to resist the rising tides of gender conformity and market forces.

Biography
Del LaGrace Volcano (born 1957) is considered one of the pioneers of queer photography and is one of the few openly intersex artists in the world. Del has published five photographic monographs, from LoveBites (1991) the first photographic monograph of lesbian sexuality, The Drag King Book, (1999), a collaboration with Judith Jack Halberstam, exploring 1990s Drag King culture in the USA and Europe, Sublime Mutations (2000), Sex Works (2005) to Femmes of Power, (2008), a collaboration with Ulrika Dahl, the first photographic monograph celebrating queer femininities in the USA and Europe. Volcano has also been a regular contributor to academic publications, television programmes and films on queer visual art and theory. Del is also a proud MaPa to two year old Mika Alexis Volcano and a practioneer of gender creative parenting.

The lecture is presentet by Örebro Rättighetscenter, Örebro läns museum, RFSL Örebro and ABF Örebro and will be held in english.

Find more details about the event on the website or Facebook.

Pre-salute to IDAHOT 2014 on May 14:

2014 IDAHOT Theme: “Freedom of Expression”
19.00 Folk Lore Centrum Wollmar Xkullsgatan 2 Maria-torget Stockholm
Special guests: Medlemmar av Göteborgs Senior Gruppen
Izzy Young — Ginsberg poetry
Nicolas Hasselquist: — the Unstraight Museum on the road to Belarus, Ukraine
Gay Art Exhibitors – Stockholm: Photographers from China, Canada, Sweden

Freedom of Expression Project Presentations:
A. “Rainbows to Russia:” Spontaneous and mini rainbow flag demonstrations in Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki and on board ship on the voyage to St. Petersburg from Stockholm–
— Tupilak, ILGCN Information Secretariat-Stockholm, International Rainbow Seniors – Sweden, Nordic Rainbow Humanists.
— November 2014

B. “Swedish/Nordic/Belarus Queer Culture Days 2014″ — Minsk, Stockholm, Umeå, Visby.
— a proposal by Maksim Haikou of Gay Belarus and Bill Schiller of Tupilak/ILGCN, Nordic Rainbow Humanists, International Rainbow Seniors- Sweden.
Mad Monk — Monologue: Rainbow Clouds

It will be co-hosted by the governments of Malta and Sweden, and held in Valletta, Malta (May 13-14).

This 2nd annual IDAHO Forum will mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, under the theme: ‘Responses to Homophobia & Transphobia at the National, European & International Levels’.

Heads of states, ministers and national level politicians have been confirmed, including the Prime Minister of Malta. Many civil society organisations from the international LGBTI rights field will be represented at the conference, including ILGA-Europe, TGEU (Transgender Europe) and ORAM International.

Key international institutions and agencies will also be represented, including UNESCO, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, the Council of Europe, the Intergroup on LGBT Rights of the European Parliament, and the European Commission.

At the IDAHO Forum last year, Ministers from 11 EU member states, signed the ‘Call for a comprehensive policy approach at European Union level and across the European Union on LGBT issues’ to the European Commission. Work with the call continues and other countries have expressed their intention to join the call. This year’s IDAHO forum aims to extend the scope of commitment to a broader European context.

The purpose of this second IDAHO Forum is to continue the process of placing issues that affect LGBTI persons, high on the human rights agenda.

For more information on the conference (including programme and press enquiries) please see the official IDAHO Forum 2014 site.

Monday 20/5 at 11.00 – 18.00 RainbowS at Stockholm University, RFSL Ungdom East and Stockholm University Student Union draws attention to IDAHOT – International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia at Stockholm University

Program:

– Learn more about IDAHOT, LGBTQ and the different organizations.

– Panel discussion about today’s homo- and transphobia in Sweden

– Micah Grzywnowicz, Trans* activist and human rights expert, a lecture about trans* activism and the power of international human rights instruments in advancing the rights of trans* persons globally. Discussion about the new report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture titled “Torture in Health Care Settings” and it’s potential impact on laws mandating the forced sterilization of trans* persons as a part of legal gender recognition. (in English)

– Bryt!-workshop (Break the norm) – norm critical methods with focus on heteronormativity

For more information please see:

http://www.sus.su.se/news/2013/05/14/idahot-international-day-against-homophobia-and-transphobia

http://www.facebook.com/events/123317041204154/

IDAHOT Half-day Conference on Homophobia & Transphobia in Malmö

The ‘IDAHOT – Konferens om homofob & transfobi i skolan’ was held in

Organisers advised before the event:

‘People are harassed, beaten and killed because of their sexual
orientation or gender identity, by other people because of homophobia,
transphobia and hatred.?

On May 17 noted that in the world the world for
International Day Against? Homofobia and Transfobia.

In Malmö observed the day with a half day on Moriskan where themed hate crime is one part of the day and a conference on homophobia and transphobia in schools is the other side.

Welcome to a conference on homophobia and transphobia in schools!

A half-day conference with talks and workshops where the issue? Discussed with representatives from the high schools and middle schools in Skåne and influential organizations in the region.

We would like to invite those who are committed to LGBT issues in your school,
or who think that the issues surrounding homophobia and transphobia are too
important not to talk about!

We will provide refreshments and a simple lunch.

LOCATION: Moorish Pavilion
Friday, May 17 Time: 8:30 to 12:30

Since we have limited space and want to be able to calculate refreshments and lunch
so do you / you notify that you are going! Send an email to;
hej@habitatq.se or use the form below!

SEE YOU ON 17 MAY!’

For more information please see:

http://www.habitatq.se/idahot.php