Dear Members of the Groups/Organisations of Parents of LGBTQIs in Europe,
We plan to unite organisations and individual activists who affiliate/associate themselves as parents of LGBTQIs in Europe, namely “Proud parents who can say YES! I have an LGBTQI child or are on the way!”
On behalf of the network I encourage you and your organization to accept our invitation and look forward to your response.
Please kindly find attached a chronological account of how this came about and our milestones.
You may contact me at your convenience if you need any further details to help you communicate this invitation to your colleagues.
Best Regards,
H.Metehan Ozkan (LISTAG)
On behalf of ENP Constituent Board
You can find below the links to join our network:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/465706283581898/edit/
Google Groups:
european-network-of-parents-of-lgbti@googlegroups.com
We would very much appreciate if would follow us on Facebook and be part of our google mailing group at this stage.
European Network of Parents of LGBTQI People (ENP)
In April 2015 in Kiev (Ukraine), we have adopted a resolution to help the establishment of a European Parents Network during the first international conference for parents of LGBTQIs – Our Families: Ways of Understanding, Acceptance and Support – and handed it over to the programme director of ILGA-EUROPE
In June 2015 in Warsaw (Poland), we have presented our ideas on the European Network of Parents at the international conference “Parents of LGBTQI Persons – Constant Dropping Wears Away a Stone”
Between 28 and 31 October 2015, the 19th Annual Conference of ILGA-Europe (the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) took place in Athens, Greece, under the theme “Many Voices, One Movement – Together, mobilized for a just society”.
The objective of the annual conference in Athens was to bring together activists, policy makers, representatives of institutions and other allies in order to discuss current developments across the continent, to learn and share experiences and knowledge, to strategize and to plan joint work.
Since the parents of LGBTQIs are recognised as the strongest allies in the field of advocating for human rights and equality for LGBTQI people, for this conference in Athens ILGA also invited representatives from organisations formed by the parents of LGBTQIs, working in various countries.
During the conference it was decided that the Parents of LGBTQIs should form an independent European Network to strengthen the local efforts of the various groups working at a national or regional level. During the ILGA conference, the participants deliberated many questions, including:
When we talk of mobilisation, how can we make sure that our work truly benefits from and promotes the rich diversity of our communities? If we truly want to instigate successful change, we need to make sure that all people are included and all our needs are addressed.
What are the best ways to engage with our new allies in this context? What are our commonalities?
In May 2016, following up from the conference in Athens representatives from the organisations of Parents of LGBTQI People were invited by ILGA to meet at the HQ in Brussels.The meeting gathered representatives from 9 different organisations throughout Europe, to exchange experiences of the work and to identify the initial establishment of a European Network of Parents of LGBTQI organisations and initiatives.
During this meeting a number of decisions were taken including:
(1) Defining our Vision Statement created from contributions from the participants.
The vision of the European Network of Parents of LGBTQI people is a world of equal opportunities, where sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions are secured, respected and affirmed.
Defining our Mission:
We are the European Network of Parents of LGBTQI people – ENP. Our mission is to unite the national organisations and initiatives of Parents of LGBTQI people at the European level; to be a voice for LGBTQI people’s dignity and equality and to empower initiative groups and organisations of parents of LGBTQI to become a voice for equality for LGBTQI people
(2) Established the first core group to work together to officially set up the network.
(3) Share the outcomes from this meeting with other parents organisations as part of the invitation to develop the Network
In October 2016 a small group of us were invited to attend the ILGA Europe annual conference in Cyprus. Naturally we took the opportunity to promote the ENP and were encouraged to keep up the effort by the positive response from the various representatives attending the conference.
In November 2016 the core team has been invited to participate in a parents conference organized by Parents’ initiative TERGO and will take the opportunity to work on the preparations for the launch meeting in Malta scheduled for the 22nd of February 2017.
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