NELFA

07/10/2026

🌈 NELFA at the ILGA-Europe Annual Conference 2026!

NELFA is happy to be part of this year’s ILGA-Europe Annual Conference, always an important opportunity to reconnect with our members and partners, exchange experiences and strengthen our work for rainbow families across Europe. 💜

Together with our wonderful colleagues from Associazione Famiglie Arcobaleno, we are also bringing the rights of LGBTIQ people and families in assisted reproduction and surrogacy into the conversation.

For NELFA, this is fundamentally about equality, bodily autonomy, protection from exploitation, children’s rights and legal certainty for families. Surrogacy is not an exclusively LGBTIQ issue, but discrimination against LGBTIQ people and their children certainly is. We believe these complex questions deserve rights-based approaches that protect everyone involved rather than leaving families in legal uncertainty.

A big thank you to our Italian member Associazione Famiglie Arcobaleno for their work and important contribution to moving this conversation forward. 🌈

And to all our NELFA members attending the conference: come find us, say hello, and join the conversation! This gathering is first and foremost a chance for our movement to meet, connect and learn from each other. 💜

01/10/2026

A useful reminder that simply being LGBTIQ does not automatically make someone an ally of LGBTIQ people.

Ana Brnabić has just become Serbia’s acting president, making her the first openly gay person to serve as head of state in the Balkans. That sounds like an important milestone for representation. But representation and political support for equality are two very different things.

Brnabić has been one of Serbia’s most powerful politicians for years, while same-sex couples in Serbia still cannot marry or adopt jointly. She has also explicitly said that advancing LGBT legal reforms was not among her priorities. Serbian LGBTIQ activists have repeatedly criticised the gap between the international symbolism of having an openly le***an leader and the actual rights available to LGBTIQ people.

And Serbia is hardly the only example. In Germany, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel is openly le***an and raising children with her female partner. At the same time, AfD has opposed marriage equality and promotes a traditional family model centred on mothers and fathers. Its recent proposals in Saxony-Anhalt have even included banning rainbow flags in public buildings.

Being gay, le***an, bisexual or trans tells us something about who a person is. It does not tell us what politics they support, whether they believe in equality, or whether they will stand up for the rights of other LGBTIQ people.

Visibility matters. Representation matters. But ultimately, rights are measured in laws, policies and people's everyday lives, not in the identities of the politicians holding office.

Ana Brnabić has become the first out gay President of a Balkan country, after taking office on 28 September.

04/08/2026

🌈 NELFA is heading to WorldPride Amsterdam 2026!

On Friday, 7 August at 9:30, NELFA and Meer Dan Gewenst will host a joint session at the WorldPride Human Rights Conference, dedicated to rainbow families and the future of our rights across Europe and beyond.

Together, we will explore Dutch, European and global perspectives on rainbow families, looking at the relationship between social acceptance, lived realities and legal recognition. And what better place for this conversation than Amsterdam, the city where the world's first same-sex marriage took place 25 years ago. 💜

The session will bring together lived experiences from rainbow families and an expert panel of activists and legal experts from the Netherlands, France, Argentina and South Korea. We will talk about how families are changing, where our rights are progressing, where they remain under pressure, and what we can learn from each other.

If you're attending the WorldPride Human Rights Conference, come join the conversation!

📍 Toorpzaal, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam
📅 Friday, 7 August
🕤 9:30

26/07/2026

We are deeply saddened by the tragic events in Berlin, where one person lost their life and many others were injured after a vehicle drove into the crowd during Christopher Street Day celebrations.

Our thoughts are with the victim's family and loved ones, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to everyone who was injured.

Regardless of the motive that will ultimately be established by the investigation, this tragedy is a stark reminder that LGBTIQ communities across Europe continue to face threats to their safety. Pride is a celebration of our communities, but it is also a reminder of why the fight for equality, dignity, and the freedom to live openly is far from over.

We also cannot ignore the broader climate in which anti-LGBTIQ rhetoric is increasingly normalised. When public figures and political leaders spread prejudice or portray LGBTIQ people as targets for political gain, those messages do not remain confined to speeches or social media. They shape public attitudes, fuel hate, and can contribute to an environment where violence becomes more likely.

Words have consequences. Those with public platforms have a responsibility to use them to protect human dignity, not undermine it.

Today, we stand in solidarity with the people of Berlin and with LGBTIQ communities everywhere. We will continue working towards a Europe where everyone can celebrate Pride without fear.

20/07/2026

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten will open the WorldPride 2026 Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam.

The event will bring together activists, policymakers, academics, and human rights advocates from around the world to discuss the future of LGBTQIA+ rights.
The conference is part of WorldPride 2026, which also marks the 25th anniversary of marriage equality in the Netherlands

17/07/2026

🌈❤️ Many celebrities have publicly supported their LGBTQ+ children, showing that unconditional love is at the heart of parenting.

Actors, musicians, and athletes are using their platforms to promote acceptance, respect, and visibility, helping to break down stigma and inspire families around the world

15/07/2026

Celebrity LGBTQ+ parents show that families are built on love, care, and commitment - not on the gender or sexual orientation of the parents.

Their visibility helps challenge stereotypes and offers support and representation for rainbow families around the world 💕

03/07/2026

Acceptance of LGBTQ+ people made remarkable progress in the 2010s. Why has that momentum slowed in the 2020s?

Over the past decade, public support for gay rights grew significantly in many countries. Today, however, new surveys suggest that this progress has slowed or even stalled in some places.

History reminds us that social progress is rarely a straight line. Rights can advance, stall, or even come under threat. That's why visibility, education, and solidarity remain as important as ever

01/07/2026

The Netherlands is moving to ban conversion therapy for children and vulnerable adults.

This proposed legislation marks another important step toward protecting the dignity, safety, and mental health of LGBTQ+ people.

So-called "conversion therapy" seeks to change or suppress a person's sexual orientation or gender identity - practices that many leading medical and psychological organizations have described as ineffective and potentially harmful

29/06/2026

Decades of research have found that a parent's sexual orientation does not determine a child's well-being. What matters most is the quality of the relationships, the security children feel, and the love and support they receive.

Too often, "protecting children" is used as a political slogan to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ families. But if we genuinely care about children, our attention should be on the real challenges they face—not on prejudice against families that look different