“Love Goes Beyond Tradition” is an 8-day youth exchange in Budapest about the image of LGBTs (general name of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people) within European society. Different social actors, such as politicians, religious institutions and the media, have different powers and attitudes towards LGBTs, which can also vary from region to region. 30 Participants, coming from Rotterdam, Cagliari, Riga, Oviedo and Budapest will discuss the issue of LGBT rights with representatives from these social actors. This will take place within an environment in which they feel free to share their views and open themselves to others’ opinions. The aim of the project is to make young people aware of the European situation of LGBT rights, to combat prejudices and spread solidarity, tolerance and understanding regarding sexual minorities around Europe, and to empower young people to form a well-informed opinion and take an active role in civil society. The activities will take place in an interactive way, using a variety of non-formal education tools, creating lasting knowledge by meeting LGBTs, analysing movies and legal cases, and carrying out a street action. By providing the participants with written and other information to take home, they can share the results of the project and their enthusiasm and knowledge with others.
The idea of this youth exchange originates in the desire to raise awareness within and beyond the AEGEE network about the situation of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBTs) and to make young people realise that this is a very international and thus European issue. The organisers involved in this project each come from different local AEGEE branches, spread across Europe. This being the case, they are aware of the fact that openness and tolerance regarding LGBTs do not exist evenly around the continent. Even though big parts of Europe consist of relatively open and tolerant societies, one can still easily find stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination against people with a ‘different’ sexual orientation. The recent incidents at the Budapest Pride, during which the participating people had to be severely protected against homophobic demonstrators and could not celebrate freely, further supported the project team’s desire to take a few active steps for LGBTs. Realising that discrimination can only be overcome by more openness, information, education and debate, the need for an exchange was born. This would have to be an exchange that brings together European youth and relevant social organisations and institutions, which have a strong opinion on the LGBT topic and/or can have a strong influence on public opinion. After creating the project team, the organisers came together in Krakow in May 2009. During this meeting, they set up their aims and developed the objectives and activities. Later on, other local organisations of AEGEE were asked for future cooperation and partners that expressed their interest in the project were selected.
The project team’s wish is to empower young Europeans to become actively involved in the issue of LGBT rights, and to spread information and understanding of LGBTs in order to remove prejudices. Heterosexual young people should become aware that LGBTs are not any different from them, but are fully part of European society and just as much important in and responsible for shaping Europe’s future.
The objectives of the project ‘Love Goes Beyond Tradition’ are:
- to create a common platform for participants, youth trainers and organisations working with LGBTs, in order to stimulate cooperation on the European level;
- to give the participants the necessary project management skills in order to enable them to disseminate the knowledge and information gained during the exchange by organising activities themselves in their home city, region and country;
- to share personal experiences with LGBTs and analyse discriminatory cases in order to be aware of the rights of LGBTs;
- to help the participants make a well-founded opinion about the issues surrounding LGBT rights and stimulate them to become active European citizens;
- to promote social cohesion, intercultural understanding and tolerance by connecting young people from various backgrounds and cultures, as well as by showing them how public opinion is influenced by politics, religious institutions and media;
Activities
Preparation: prepare a presentation on the LGBT situation in the participants’ home region/country
Arrival day: get to know each other
Day 1: expectation round, history of LGBTs and LGBT rights
Day 2: politics
Day 3: media
Day 4: religious institutions
Day 5: local organisations
Day 6: summary
Departure day
Evaluation: every day of the programme will be finished by an evaluation of the day. On day 6, the entire event will be evaluated.
