ILGA-Europe Annual Conference

Some moments stay with you forever. What happened at Friday’s plenary at the ILGA-Europe Annual Conference was one of them.

When D. Umut Uzun, ILGA-Europe board member and Fundraising and International Advocacy Coordinator at kaosgl, who is under travel ban and was unable to be with us at the conference, joined us live from Türkiye to speak about what LGBTI+ people and organisations are facing there, the room rose to its feet. The sustained standing ovation for Umut, for the work she continues to do, and for the people and movement she represents, was emotionally charged.

Later, we took that solidarity out onto the streets of Dublin, joining a protest organised by Dublin Pride outside the Turkish Embassy. Because the people we hear from on stage are not just voices on a screen. They are our friends, colleagues and fellow activists, doing the work under conditions many of us cannot imagine.

We’re grateful to dublinpride for organising the protest, and to our conference hosts, outhouse_dublin and lgbtireland_ie, for helping make it happen.

Umut, and everyone continuing to organise in Türkiye: we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you.
IEDublin2026