Conference 2025

A blonde woman in a green sweater sits in a crowd of people. She has red sunglasses on her head and a red lipstick.

Reykjavik Pride’s Rainbow Conference 2025

Pride Centre – Iðnó

The Rainbow Conference at Reykjavík Pride will take place for the fourth time during Reykjavík Pride 2025.

Some programme items are still being finalised and will appear below as details are confirmed. The programme is packed with engaging lectures, panel discussions and sessions that together create a space for thoughtful conversation about queerness from a wide range of perspectives.


Thursday August 7 // PRIDE CENTRE

Main Hall // Ground floor

Click on a programme item to read more.

9:30 // SETNING RÁÐSTEFNUNNAR

Opening of the Reykjavík Pride Rainbow Conference

Hörður Torfason will formally open the conference. Moderators will be announced at a later date.

INFORMATION

OPENING

ICELANDIC

9:45 // KYNSLÓÐASPJALL

GENERATIONS IN CONVERSATION

The Elders Group (60+) invites you to a special generational dialogue at the Rainbow Conference. The oldest members of Samtökin ’78 have been meeting regularly over the past year to reflect on the past and discuss the future. Much more unites generations than divides them so we must talk to one another to keep the thread between us strong and unbroken.

INFORMATION

DIALOGUE

ICELANDIC

Presenters:

  • Ragnhildur Sverrisdóttir
11:00 // Lady Phyll – UK Black Pride

Lady Phyll – UK Black Pride

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah is the nucleus of the award-winning celebration and protest that is UK
Black Pride. Widely known as Lady Phyll – partly due to her decision to reject an MBE in the
New Year’s Honours’ list to protest Britain’s role in formulating anti-LGBTQI+ penal codes
across its empire.

She was also the executive director of Kaleidoscope Trust, an organisation
working to uphold the human rights of LGBTQI+ people around the world;

INFORMATION

PRESENTATION

ENGLISH

12:45 // Sen Raj with Amnesty International: Justice, Emotion and Global Queer Struggles

Sen Raj with Amnesty International: Justice, Emotion and Global Queer Struggles

LGBTQ+ people are living in increasingly precarious conditions as governments censor our lives as an “agenda” or “ideology.” We are witnessing legal rights for bodily autonomy, sexual expression, and movement subject to violent retrenchment as authoritarianisms escalate globally. Drawing on his new book, The Emotions of LGBT Rights and Reforms: Repairing Law, his talk will explore how emotions like anxiety, pain, shame, fear, and resentment are shaping political conflicts between and around LGBTQ+ rights and how we might feel with these emotions to imagine new possibilities for legal and social repair.

Sen will consider how we might confront persisting public tensions over issues like sex education in schools, religious freedom, free speech, and legal gender recognition. This is important if we hope to cultivate greater solidarity, dialogue, community, and justice.

INFORMATION

PRESENTATION

ENGLISH

14:00 // Samstaða samfélags í Baráttu

United in Resistance

Organizing Pride in Riga, Sofia, and Budapest amid government opposition and attacks on human rights.

As part of the Rainbow Conference, we welcome Pride organizers from Riga, Sofia, and Budapest—three cities where LGBTQ+ communities continue to resist, celebrate, and march despite facing government opposition, decreasing funding, and declining support.

Join us for a conversation on Pride as protest, cross-border solidarity, and how queer communities continue to build strength under increasingly difficult conditions.

INFORMATION

PANEL

ENGLISH

Panel moderator:

  • Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir
    Communications manager of the National Queer Organization of Iceland

Panel members:

  • Anastasija Laizāne
    from Riga, Latvia
  • Denitsa Lyubenova
    from Sofia, Bulgaria 
  • Marci Szakonyi
    from Budapest, Hungary
15:15 // ÖBÍ

ÖBÍ

INFORMATION

PANEL

ICELANDIC

Panel Members:


Sunnusalur hall // First floor

9:45 // Er samstaðan sterkasta vopnið?

Is solidarity our strongest weapon?

Interweaving feminist and queer struggles – past and present.

Feminist and queer movements have long been intertwined throughout history. Today, LGBTQ+ people, women, and other marginalized groups are under attack on multiple fronts. Solidarity is a powerful tool in the fight against backlash, but how do we ensure visibility and participation for all groups? What are the opportunities — and what are the challenges?

INFORMATION

PANEL

ICELANDIC

Panel moderator:

  • Sindri Sparkle

Panel Members:

11:00 // Ein Saga, Eitt skref og hvað svo?

Ein Saga, Eitt skref og hvað svo?

INFORMATION

ICELANDIC

12:45 // Frjósemi og framtíð: Trans fólk í samtali

Fertility and the Future: A Conversation with Trans Voices

Trans Iceland, in collaboration with Sunna Fertility and the trans health team at the Landsspitali Hospital, will host an educational event and open discussion on trans people and fertility. The event will offer a space for open conversation focusing on how hormone treatment affects fertility, while also addressing common myths and misconceptions.

INFORMATION

PANEL

ICELANDIC

Panel Members:

  • Alexander Björn Gunnarsson
  • Jóhann Kristian Jóhannsson
  • Kristbjörg Heiður Olsen
  • Unnsteinn Jóhannsson
14:00 // Hvernig móta áföllin sem við lendum í sjálfið og hinsegin samfélagið okkar?

How do the traumas we experience shape the self and our queer community?

No one goes through life without facing trauma or painful experiences. LGBTQ+ people often encounter unique forms of trauma and hardship that others in society may not relate to or experience in the same way.

In this conversation, psychologist Aldís Þorbjörg from Líf og sál and therapist Sigga Birna, head of counseling at Samtökin ‘78, along with others, will explore how trauma impacts queer individuals and the community as a whole.

How has the lived experience of queer people over time affected relationships within the community? Has it influenced how we treat different groups or individuals within the LGBTQ+ spectrum? How does it shape our sense of belonging? And how do the effects of trauma manifest in queer lives?

INFORMATION

DIALOGUE

ENGLISH

Presenters:

  • Sigríður Birna Valsdóttir
  • Aldís Þorbjörg Ólafsdóttir,
15:15 // Rödd á milli landamæra: Barátta intersex fólks frá Rússlandi til Evrópu

A Voice Between Borders: Intersex Struggles from Russia to Europe

Irene Kuzemko is a Russian-Ukrainian intersex activist and one of the co-founders of Intersex Russia. She currently lives in Germany and cannot return to Russia due to her public statements opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

INFORMATION

DIALOGUE

ENGLISH

Presenters:

  • Irene Kuzemko
  • Kitty Anderson