A European campaign to promote equal rights for intersex people

26 October to 8 November 2025 (Intersex Awareness Day to Intersex Day of Solidarity)

 

 Campaign Overview

#EuropeGoesPurple is a campaign where skylines and digital spaces go purple to raise awareness about intersex people and the challenges they face, while celebrating intersex lives and calling for equal rights across Europe and beyond. For two weeks, beginning on Intersex Awareness Day (26 October), institutions, communities, and individuals are invited to take part in creative and visible actions – from sharing stories online and hosting film screenings, discussions, or exhibitions, to lighting up buildings on Intersex Day of Solidarity (8 November) in a show of support for intersex people. Together, these actions send a unifying message: intersex people are seen, their lives are valued, and their equal rights must be recognised.

#EuropeGoesPurple is a joint Council of Europe (SOGIESC Unit) and OII Europe (Organisation Intersex International Europe) initiative.

Buildings in Ireland illuminated in purple as part of the #IrelandTurnsPurple campaign (2020)

 

  The Context: A new Council of Europe Recommendation on Equal Rights for Intersex Persons

On 7 October 2025, the Council of Europe adopted the first international legal instrument specifically dedicated to the human rights of intersex persons: the Recommendation on Equal Rights for Intersex Persons. Developed by national experts from member States through an inclusive dialogue with civil society organisations, and intersex persons, this Recommendation provides guidance on protecting the human rights of intersex people, notably through safeguarding bodily autonomy, ending harmful medical practices, and preventing discrimination. This instrument represents a landmark for the dignity and equality of intersex people, and a key step forward in the protection of their human rights.

#EuropeGoesPurple serves an opportunity to raise awareness, promote and build public and institutional commitment around this Recommendation.

 

 Illuminating Solidarity in Purple: Why lighting buildings matters

Lighting buildings in purple is at the heart of the campaign. Buildings and landmarks are more than bricks and stone – they are symbols of community, heritage, and identity. When illuminated, they carry a message that transcends words, turning familiar skylines into statements of shared values and solidarity. Temporary lighting has become an established and respected way to honour historic moments, celebrate cultural life, and demonstrate unity in the face of challenges. It has been used to highlight important human rights and solidarity causes, from World Cancer Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to World AIDS Day and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Such illuminations create striking images that capture public imagination, attract media attention, and spark conversations in local communities. For intersex people – whose realities are often invisible and little known – seeing buildings lit purple sends a clear and affirming message: you are seen, you are respected, and your rights matter. The concept for #EuropeGoesPurple is inspired by the successful #IrelandTurnsPurple campaign, which saw 82 landmarks lit in purple as a show of solidarity with intersex people. This striking visual initiative captured national attention and serves as a model for a continent-wide campaign to foster visibility, commitment, and collective support for intersex equality across Council of Europe member States.

Why Purple?

The campaign draws its visual identity from the intersex flag, which features a purple circle on a yellow background. The purple circle is unbroken and unornamented, symbolising wholeness, completeness, and the right of intersex people to be who and how they choose to be. It stands for bodily autonomy, visibility, and dignity. Purple lighting stands out vividly against the natural yellow-toned glow of most buildings, echoing the colours of the intersex flag while ensuring maximum visibility in public spaces.

Our Vision

Across Europe, from Dublin to Athens, from Strasbourg to Valletta, buildings, streets, and screens will light up in purple to celebrate intersex lives and to make equality visible.

  • Buildings illuminated in purple as a sign of solidarity.
  • Social media feeds filled with intersex-related stories.
  • Cultural, social, educational and other public and private spaces, hosting discussions, exhibitions, workshops, and film screenings.
  • TV, radio and podcasts sparking informed conversation.
  • Families, advocates, and leaders voicing a clear message: intersex people exist, their realities deserve awareness, and their equal rights must be respected.

This is the vision of #EuropeGoesPurple: a Europe where visibility and solidarity grow stronger through shared action. But this vision can only become reality if individuals, communities, organisations, and institutions actively TAKE PART and make it their own.

Core Objectives

  • Raise awareness of the lived realities, rights and systemic challenges faced by intersex people in Europe.
  • Promote visibility and amplify intersex voices by centring intersex people and their testimonies.
  • Celebrate solidarity through collective action and creative, visible gestures across Europe and beyond.
  • Mark the historic adoption and launch of the forthcoming Council of Europe Recommendation on Equal Rights for Intersex Persons, and encourage its dissemination and implementation.
  • Foster political and societal commitment to the human rights of intersex people by mobilising institutions and communities at local, national, and European levels.

Key Campaign Components

more information >>

How You Can Take Part

The campaign belongs to all of us. Every action counts:

Intersex people

  • Share your stories, testimonies, and experiences if you wish, using campaign hashtags.
  • Take part in purple-themed actions and community events.

Civil society and NGOs

  • Organise events such as workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, or discussions.
  • Partner with public authorities to increase visibility and impact.
  • Use campaign materials to reach your networks and communities.

Public authorities

  • Publicly endorse the forthcoming Recommendation and support its dissemination.
  • Light up public buildings in purple and/or display the intersex flag.
  • Initiate and support local events in cooperation with intersex-led CSOs.

Journalists and media

  • Cover campaign events and share stories highlighting intersex realities and rights.
  • Host interviews, discussions, or features with intersex advocates, experts, and allies.
  • Use campaign resources, visuals, and hashtags to amplify visibility.

Everyone

  • Learn more about intersex people’s realities and rights – and share what you learn with others.
  • Share campaign content online with the campaign hashtags.
  • Participate in the “Why I Go Purple for Intersex Rights” challenge by posting a short video or message about why intersex equality matters to you.
  • Join the Purple Photo Challenge by sharing images of purple displays, outfits, or campaign symbols with the hashtags.
  • Take part in local events or create your own act of solidarity, big or small.
  • Inspire your friends, workplace, or community to join.

Famous landmark Rock of Cashel in Ireland lit in Purple as part of the #IrelandTurnsPurple Campaign in 2020 (Photo by Robert Wade)

What I never expected was the profound impact the #IrelandTurnsPurple campaign would have on intersex people. One person created a Twitter account just to reach out. They told us they had always carried their variation of sex characteristics as something hidden and shameful. But that night, after reading the conversations online, they went into Dublin city centre. They walked through the streets, seeing building after building lit in purple. As they walked along the river, they sent us a message — crying, because for the first time in their life, they felt seen, recognised, and that they belonged.”

From the organiser of the #IrelandTurnsPurple campaign
 


 

#EuropeGoesPurple is an open invitation to all institutions, organisations, communities and individuals.

Together, let’s raise awareness, spark conversation, and show solidarity with intersex people.

From 26 October to 8 November 2025, let’s go purple.

#EuropeGoesPurple – Equal Rights for Intersex People

The Campaign Website

The dedicated campaign website provides:

  • Campaign overview and resources: info kits, visuals, videos, press materials.
  • Calendar of events across Europe.
  • Map of purple light-ups with photos and dates.

www.europegoespurple.org 

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