The Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Björn Berge, the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, and the SOGI Unit are proudly participating in the Human Rights Conference of WorldPride Copenhagen–Malmö and EuroGames 2021, the most important event to promote Pride – LGBTI visibility, awareness and equality at international level, hosted by Copenhagen Pride, under the patronage of Crown Princess of Denmark.
The Human Rights Forum, an international LGBTI+ experience consisting of multiple high-level events targeting different groups within and outside the LGBTI community, including politicians, activists, media, government officials, and the general public, and to bring them together to create awareness, understanding and give everybody the possibility to broaden their horizons and take action for LGBTI equality. The Human Rights Conference (17-19 August) is the most important event open for human rights defenders and activists, elected officials, academics, NGOs, media, Pride organizers and sports leaders in the field of LGBTI+ rights. Ten topics will be covered: Politics and Law, Education, Labor Market and Civil Society, Intersectionality and Global Trends, Borders, Decolonization and Racism, Technology and Online Communities, Arts, Sports and Culture, Pride as a global Human Rights Movement, Breaking the Binary, Sexual well-being and Health, Open for the undefined. Other events: UN City LGBTI+ Fair, 1:1 Democracy Festival, Interparliamentary Plenary Session, Embassy Engagement Programme, Refugees, Borders and Immigration Summit, LGBTI+ Workplace Inclusion Day.
The Deputy Secretary General Björn Berge will participate in the panel ‘Closing Conversation: The role of Europe for LGBTI+ Inclusion at Home and Abroad’ (17 August 16:45 – 17:30) and Dunja Mijatović, the Commissioner for Human Rights will speak at 'Plenary #8: A Way Forward for the LGBTI+ Community' (19 August 14:00 – 15:00).
The SOGI Unit is proud to be executive partner in this Pride event by supporting the participation of European NGOs in an event that pursues and promotes the right to assembly, freedom of expression and prohibition of discrimination, rights that are protected by the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Human Rights – and to support and show solidarity with those who face challenges to organise safe Pride events in their cities. It became even more import to support such events that celebrate LGBTI communities in the face of growing anti-gender and anti-LGBTI backlash that attempt to shrink them these communities into shame. We need to join efforts of the entire LGBTI and human rights community to protect the advancement of human rights globally.
Background
Launched by InterPride, an international association of pride coordinators, WorldPride is an event organized by one of its members approximately every two years (Rome 2000, Jerusalem 2006, London 2012, Toronto 2014, Madrid 2017, NYC 2019, Copenhagen–Malmö 2021, Sydney 2023), that promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ pride) issues on an international level through parades, festivals and other cultural activities. They tend to be the largest LGBTQ Pride events for their year, where thousands of people participate.
