May 2021

We are celebrating the “finished” product of RICE 2020 – The Rainbow Index of Churches in Europe. For this occasion, the researchers and Forum representatives who were working on this research were interviewed. The whole interviews (there are two) will be published on Monday, May 10th. For now, you can see this overview. Join the live presentation on Saturday, May 8th from 11:30 to 12:45.

Shanon is a life-long activist and advocate for LGBT rights. They share their process of discovering who they are in a time where Trans* wasn’t a known identity, let alone being nonbinary. They talk of their experience, blessing, and challenges of going into transition, the challenges for friends and family, but also of having fun while people try to put them into a binary context.

Many of us living in Europe fight for the rights of LGBT+ people and we see the problems and discrimination, but we don’t really think about being prosecuted. Poland wasn’t a leading country in LGBT+ rights, but it wasn’t this bad either. A populist government made it possible to scapegoat a minority that managed to make progress. For many of them, it seems like it was for nothing. What does one do when the church and government turn against them? When they make use of a law that was intended to protect minority religions? How does someone keep their hopes up when they are threatened by being locked up in a prison or mental hospital for doing an LGBT+ mass (Chruch service)?

Gender is a hot topic in many countries, especially the Eastern European ones. We live in a binary world and many are trying to keep the divide clearly defined. Fear is being spread of what would happen if we lose this “set” distinction. But what about those people who don’t fit this binary image? How is it being in the middle, not identifying with the one or the other gender?