With just a few weeks to go before the elections, 18 EU Member States have pledged to pursue policies designed to strengthen the rights of the LGBTQI+ community. Our choir sang at the signing of this pledge.
Belgium holds the presidency of the European Union from January to June 2024. While our country is renowned for its promotion of the rights of the LGBTQI+ community (this year, Belgium came 3rd in Ilga-Europe’s Rainbow Index), this is not the case for the country that will take over the presidency in July: Hungary. What’s more, the European elections on 9 June could lead to a strengthening of the far right.
It was against this backdrop that 18 Member States signed a commitment confirming their desire to pursue the European strategy for equal rights for LGBTQI+ people. Belgian Secretary of State for Equal Opportunities Marie-Colline Leroy and European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli were among those present at the event, symbolically organised on 17 May, the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. The full press release is available here.
Our choir Sing Out Brussels! was honoured to be invited to sing at the event, in keeping with our values of activism. We sang two songs during the signing of the document, and two songs during the reception. The concert marked the start of a busy Pride Week for us, just a few weeks before our end-of-season show Various Voices Rising, whose theme is European solidarity.