Opening of the Reykjavík Pride Rainbow Conference

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

INFORMATION

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.

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Presenters:

• Ragnhildur Sverrisdóttir

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;

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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.

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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.

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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

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INFORMATION

Panel Members:

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?

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Panel moderator:

• Sindri Sparkle

Panel Members:

Ein Saga, Eitt skref og hvað svo?

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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 Members:

• Alexander Björn Gunnarsson
• Jóhann Kristian Jóhannsson
• Kristbjörg Heiður Olsen
• Unnsteinn Jóhannsson

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?

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Presenters:

• Sigríður Birna Valsdóttir
• Aldís Þorbjörg Ólafsdóttir,
  

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

Presenters:

• Irene Kuzemko
• Kitty Anderson