Trans Pride Community Picnic

Join us at our first Trans Pride on Sunday 20th of July! 🏳️‍⚧️

Important: location update!

Due to unforeseen weather circumstances, we had to move the event to an inside location. It will take place at the Rainbow Center at 19, Rue du St Esprit, L-1475 Luxembourg.

We will be hosting a picnic at the Parc des trois glands in Kirchberg Rainbow Center! Bring some snacks, friends and sunscreen an umbrella for an afternoon with speeches, music and trans joy! In solidarity with trans, intersex and non-binary people all over the world!

This event is open for all Trans people as well as friends, families and allies of the community!

Why Luxembourg needs Trans Pride

While Luxembourg is often touted as a safe haven for LGBT+ people, it would be far more accurate to call it a safe-ish haven for ‘LGB’ people only. Trans, intersex and non-binary people are often left by the wayside, facing issues accessing healthcare, being targeted by politicians and generally lacking safe spaces.

Although Luxembourg’s healthcare system is fairly robust, trans and non-binary people often face hurdles accessing gender-affirming care. Not only do individuals often face invasive and ignorant questions from so-called ‘professionals’ who have no understanding of transness, but they are also denied access to the healthcare they are entitled to, meaning those who don’t have the privilege of access to private healthcare are left unable to get the care they need.

In addition, intersex people in Luxembourg still get medically unnecessary and nonconsensual surgeries, with decisions being made about which sex they ‘should’ be in direct contravention against the United Nations’ position on the practice.

While Luxembourg legalised self-identification for trans people in 2019 (making it easier for people to change their name and gender), there is still no gender marker for non-binary individuals, excluding them from official recognition. In addition, as is the case elsewhere in the world, trans+ people in Luxembourg have also become political scapegoats, with people across the political spectrum inciting hatred and even violence towards trans+ people. One Luxembourgish member of parliament even implied support for the ‘extermination of LGBTIQ+’ in relation to Donald Trump’s transphobic policies.

Socially, as mentioned before, Luxembourg is often touted as being ‘LGBT-friendly’, however the country has very few specifically LGBT+ spaces, and perhaps no truly ‘queer’ spaces in which gender diversity and all its intersections with other marginalised identities are recognised and celebrated. Many places claiming to be LGBT-friendly tend to completely disregard trans, intersex and non-binary people, and are often even complicit in contributing to their marginalisation.

Pride was born out of resistance – the Stonewall riot was led by trans+ people of colour who refused to accept the violence and marginalisation imposed on their lives. Their courage was – and remains – a revolutionary act against the police and other forces of control. That moment was not only the foundation of Pride, but a reminder that our liberation is collective.

Today, trans+ people, especially trans+ people of colour, trans+ Palestinians, trans women, disabled and working-class trans+ people, all live under intersecting systems of oppression that sustain and legitimise one another: transphobia, racism, ableism, classism, colonialism, imperialism and patriarchy.

Trans liberation is, therefore, inherently anti-colonial; colonialism and imperialism have shaped the conditions that trap trans+ people in cycles of violence, dispossession and invisibility. To fight for trans lives is to fight against all systems of oppression.

In Luxembourg, we constantly need to advocate for ourselves and educate people at best, or, at worst, be openly discriminated against and marginalised. That is why we need Trans Pride in Luxembourg – we need a space that is truly safe for trans, non-binary and intersex people, a space in which we can be ourselves, share our trans joy, rage against Luxembourgish transphobia and, most importantly, be in solidarity with each other.

None of us are free until all of us are free! Join us on 20th July!