LGBT workshop at Spring Agora 2010 in Leiden

During the Spring Agora 2010 in Leiden, a workshop was organised about LGBT rights. Despite the sunny weather and the lack of sleep, approximately 20 AEGEE members from all over the network participated.

At the start of the workshop, the participants were informed about the origins of the idea of 'Love Goes Beyond Tradition'. They were told about the event in Budapest, which had taken place just 3 weeks prior to the Agora. The main results and the programme were explained.

After a couple of examples of the LGBT rights situation across Europe, and an introduction to the 4 main approaches that politicians use in dealing with LGBT rights, it was time for the participants to become active. In a highly-interactive session, they debated 3 statements about LGBT rights.

The first statement was about child adoption by same-sex couples and was debated in teams. Each team either had to argue in favour or against the statement, which meant that some participants had to argue against their personal opinion. This proved to be a very good exercise in debating skills. Furthermore, the participants appreciated the fact that they had to put themselves in other people's shoes.

Following the discussion about child adoption by same-sex couples, 2 more statements were debated. The participants no longer had to argue according to the 'team opinion', but according to their own. Firstly, the place of LGBTs in the Christian religion was debated. This was followed by the idea of legalising same-sex marriage.

After the debates, the jury decided on the winner. In fact, a member of AEGEE-Toulouse and a member of AEGEE-Enschede had to share the price, as the jury thought their debating skills were equally outstanding.

Finally, the participants were informed about the workshop organisers' desire to continue the discussion about LGBT rights within AEGEE. Most of them showed a lot of enthusiasm and were willing to become involved in the topic. After the Agora, they were contacted by the organisers, received a lot of information about the subject and were asked to share their ideas, opinions, and initiatives. Hopefully, they will take the lead and create a lot of interesting events in the future.

Love Goes Beyond Tradition project

"Love Goes Beyond Tradition" is an 8-day youth exchange in Budapest about the image of LGBTs (general name of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people) within European society. Different social actors, such as politicians, religious institutions and the media, have different powers and attitudes towards LGBTs, which can also vary from region to region. 30 Participants, coming from Rotterdam, Cagliari, Riga, Oviedo and Budapest will discuss the issue of LGBT rights with representatives from these social actors. This will take place within an environment in which they feel free to share their views and open themselves to others' opinions. The aim of the project is to make young people aware of the European situation of LGBT rights, to combat prejudices and spread solidarity, tolerance and understanding regarding sexual minorities around Europe, and to empower young people to form a well-informed opinion and take an active role in civil society. The activities will take place in an interactive way, using a variety of non-formal education tools, creating lasting knowledge by meeting LGBTs, analysing movies and legal cases, and carrying out a street action. By providing the participants with written and other information to take home, they can share the results of the project and their enthusiasm and knowledge with others.

The idea of this youth exchange originates in the desire to raise awareness within and beyond the AEGEE network about the situation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBTs) and to make young people realise that this is a very international and thus European issue. The organisers involved in this project each come from different local AEGEE branches, spread across Europe. This being the case, they are aware of the fact that openness and tolerance regarding LGBTs do not exist evenly around the continent. Even though big parts of Europe consist of relatively open and tolerant societies, one can still easily find stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination against people with a 'different' sexual orientation. The recent incidents at the Budapest Pride, during which the participating people had to be severely protected against homophobic demonstrators and could not celebrate freely, further supported the project team's desire to take a few active steps for LGBTs. Realising that discrimination can only be overcome by more openness, information, education and debate, the need for an exchange was born. This would have to be an exchange that brings together European youth and relevant social organisations and institutions, which have a strong opinion on the LGBT topic and/or can have a strong influence on public opinion. After creating the project team, the organisers came together in Krakow in May 2009. During this meeting, they set up their aims and developed the objectives and activities. Later on, other local organisations of AEGEE were asked for future cooperation and partners that expressed their interest in the project were selected.

The project team's wish is to empower young Europeans to become actively involved in the issue of LGBT rights, and to spread information and understanding of LGBTs in order to remove prejudices. Heterosexual young people should become aware that LGBTs are not any different from them, but are fully part of European society and just as much important in and responsible for shaping Europe’s future.

The objectives of the project 'Love Goes Beyond Tradition' are:

• to create a common platform for participants, youth trainers and organisations working with LGBTs, in order to stimulate cooperation on the European level;
• to give the participants the necessary project management skills in order to enable them to disseminate the knowledge and information gained during the exchange by organising activities themselves in their home city, region and country;
• to share personal experiences with LGBTs and analyse discriminatory cases in order to be aware of the rights of LGBTs;
• to help the participants make a well-founded opinion about the issues surrounding LGBT rights and stimulate them to become active European citizens;
• to promote social cohesion, intercultural understanding and tolerance by connecting young people from various backgrounds and cultures, as well as by showing them how public opinion is influenced by politics, religious institutions and media;