LGBTI Equal Rights Association for West Balkans & Turkey

Location: Western Balkans and Turkey

Focus: Empowering trans, non-binary, and intersex activists

Website: https://www.lgbti-era.org

ERA are the regional LGBTI network in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Despite some minor legal advances in the last few years, trans and non-binary people in the region still do not enjoy most rights related to their gender identity and expression. Trans communities continue to be denied legal gender recognition, are pathologised, and have little protection against discrimination and violence. Public attitudes also remain extremely negative across the region.

ERA’s Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex (TNBI) Caucus was established in November 2019 with a grant from GiveOut. As activist B. Ginova put it, the Caucus was “the first ever convening of only trans, non-binary and intersex activists in the Western Balkans and Turkey. When we told participants that the funding which made this possible came from a trans woman in the UK, Antonia Belcher, their faces changed. This money was coming from our community, and this had special value for us.”

The pandemic affected the Caucus’s work. Activities planned for 2020 were postponed, with attention diverted to COVID relief efforts. During the pandemic, many within TNBI communities faced job losses, a lack of access to appropriate health care and increased violence and discrimination. In 2021, GiveOut’s grant will support ERA’s Caucus in planning a regional public event aimed at celebrating TNBI people in the Western Balkans and Turkey and advocating for their rights.

GiveOut is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Registered Charity Number 1176434).