We will be proud to invite ILGA-Europe members to Paris, one of the most lesbian and gay-friendly capitals in the world, in a country which bridges northern and southern Europe and whose people cherish liberty and diversity.
The idea of organising the October 2005 ILGA-Europe conference in Paris began in Lisbon among the half-dozen French participants attending the October 2002 conference.
Organising an ILGA-Europe conference in Paris will
Previous European conferences have been held in Brighton (1979), Gent (1980), Stockhlom (1981), Strasbourg and Edinburgh (1982), Cologne (1983), Bologna (1984), Barcelona (1985), Brussels (1986), Zurich (1987), Amsterdam (1988), Athens (1989), Copenhagen (1990), Berlin (1991), Brussels (1992), London (1993), Helsinki (1994), Riga (1995), Madrid (1996), London (1997), Linz (1998), Pisa (1999), Bucharest (2000), Rotterdam (2001), Lisbon (2002); forthcoming conferences will take place in Glasgow (2003) and Budapest (2004).
France has never hosted an ILGA-Europe conference. The World ILGA conference of 1992 was organized in Paris. Since 1992, French LGBT communities have organised and structured themselves and the local socio-political context has developed considerably. It is time for the yearly conference to turn to Paris and France.
France's partnership law, known as « PACS », passed in 1999; a law against discrimination, implementing the framework directive, was passed in 2001; « homophobic hate crime » provisions were added to French criminal law in February 2003; lastly, the creation of an « equality body » for all cases of discrimination was announced by the government. However, there is a logjam on all needed improvements to the PACS, including immigration law and taxation, adoption, and access to artificial insemination. And when are we going to talk about the right of same-sex couples to be married? Compared to its northern and southern neighbours, France seems to be in the middle of the pack : « could do better. »
At the local level, the new ruling majority in Paris City Council, elected in 2001, maintains a regular dialogue with LGBT associations and gives grants to some of them.
An association (non-profit organization under French law, « loi de 1901 ») was specifically created on April 26th, 2003 to prepare, bid for, and organise the 2005 conference, should ILGA-Europe so decide on October 18, 2003. Its name is « Association for Hosting the 2005 ILGA-Europe conference in Paris » (ILGA-Europe Paris 2005). Its members all have strong connections to or responsabilities in other LGBT associations.
The project has received the full support of Inter-LGBT (French umbrella organization for LGBT associations, based in Paris) which has appointed a member to the board of « ILGA-Europe Paris 2005 ». Other associations have shown their interest and will participate in the project : Centre Gai et Lesbien de Paris, SOS Homophobie, CARITIG, David et Jonathan, L'Autre Cercle, Homosexualités et Socialisme, Commission Gaie et Lesbienne des Verts, Association des parents et futurs parents gais et lesbiens (APGL), CQFD/Fierté Lesbienne, Juristes Gais, Syndicat national des entreprises gaies (SNEG),... Several of these associations have already shown their ability to organise public events (LGBT Pride March, conferences, fairs, press conferences), to work with non-LGBT organizations (trade unions, human rights organizations), to run public services, fund-raise, obtain public grants, get support from high-level politicians, lobby, reach the media, etc.
We intend to bring these associations, and others, together to work towards the success of the ILGA-Europe conference, each contributing its own capabilities, experience and ideas.
The first results of our project: 5 or 6 French groups have expressed their interest in joining ILGA, and the Euro-Letter is now translated into French.
ILGA-Europe Paris 2005 hopes that ILGA-Europe will decide to organize the 2005 ILGA-Europe conference in Paris. This decision would benefit the French LGBT network as well as ILGA-Europe and all its members.