Symposium: Queer Solidarity Across and Beyond Borders

In recent years, we have witnessed a rise in anti-gender authoritarianism in Europe which has negatively impacted the daily lives of queer people. The state-sanctioned violence and brutality have become normalized through the policing of Pride events and suppression of various spaces of queer activism. This backlash against the LGBTQI+ community is related to the growing prominence of populist, far-right, nationalist, and xenophobic ideologies across Europe, from PiS in Poland, to Fidesz in Hungary, AKP in Turkey, and SD in Sweden. The ongoing COVID19 pandemic has also laid bare and worsened the structural inequalities that mark the lives of queer and transgender people.

Nevertheless, queer activists continue to mobilise and strengthen their intersectional alliances within national sites as well as beyond borders through online and offline activism. At this event, we invite activists from Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and Turkey, who are involved in these struggles to share their resistances and organizing strategies for queer futures. The Symposium aims to facilitate the exchange of ideas and solidarity between activists across borders and provide tools to resist growing anti-gender and anti- LGBTQI ideologies. All welcome!

Program:

• 13:15 - 14:00 - Keynote Talk: Mia Liinason (LU) "A divided world? Reflections on anti-gender mobilizations and why queer solidarities across borders still are vital"
• 14:15 - 15:15  - Activist presentations
• 15.15 - 16.00 - Fika/Coffee break

Panel discussions

• 16:00 - 17:00 - Anti-gender authoritarianism and religion
• 17:15 - 18:15 - Queer Solidarities, challenges, and resistances
   

The event is organized by the Department of Gender Studies, Lund University with the support of Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) research network fund [RJ F17-1268:1]; Vetenskapsrådet (VR) research environment grant [2020-04164]; Embassy of Sweden in Budapest; and Embassy of Sweden in Warsaw.