The conference is a collaboration between La Monnaie and the organizations Forbidden Colours, Rainbow House Brussels and Visit.Brussels. Idea of the day? “Defending LGBTQI+ rights against intolerance and violence, and affirming the importance of free expression and free artistic creation,” the website reads. During two panel discussions, participants will discuss “the state of European democratic values and the rights of people who identify as LGBTQI+.”
Among the speakers are several politicians: Hadja Lahbib (MR), Minister of the Federal Cultural Institutions, Petra De Sutter (Green), Deputy Prime Minister, and Pascal Smet (Vooruit.Brussels), Brussels Member of Parliament. Marie-Colline Leroy (Ecolo), State Secretary for Equal Opportunities, and Philippe Close (PS), the Mayor of Brussels, are also present.
Absent? The centre-right parties (CD&V, Open VLD and the N-VA) and more radical parties, such as Vlaams Belang and PVDA.
“You can ask questions about that,” says Gilles Verstraeten, Brussels N-VA member of parliament and himself a member of the queer community. “De Munt is a federal cultural institution. But no one from the federal opposition parties has been invited.”
“The impression is now being created that only progressive parties have something meaningful to say or are not aware of these types of issues. While centre-right parties such as the N-VA are also committed to this.”
“I understand that you have to make choices, and this is not a classic political debate. This is largely a Vivaldi meeting and I find that disappointing,” Verstraeten adds.
About two weeks ago, Rainbouw House also canceled an election debate after it received dozens of French-language responses about the N-VA’s participation. This caused quite a stir, both within the LGBTQI+ community and among the participating parties.
Tags: Conference queer community rights Monnaie Vivaldi gettogether
