The NGOization of LGBT activism: ILGA-Europe and the Treaty of Amsterdam

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the Europeanization of social movement organizations using the case of ILGA-Europe, the umbrella of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations in Europe. It examines the impact of Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which bans discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and focuses on three entrenched dynamics ILGA-Europe has rapidly undergone: NGOization, institutionalization, and professionalization. It argues that although we should be aware of the role of the European political opportunity structure in shaping civil society organizations, we cannot overlook internal organizational dynamics and movement identities. Following the literature on the Europeanization of social movements, this piece confirms institutional opportunities and interactions with European institutions are a major cause of transformation: The adoption of Article 13 and the development of a European equal opportunity policy constitute a pivotal moment in ILGA-Europe’s history, endowing it with easier access to EU institutions and core funding. This allowed the organization to NGOize, contributed to a transformation of its internal structures, and led to the appointment of highly skilled professionals. However, this article also insists on the importance of movement identity. These transformations are not solely the result of interactions with the European institutional environment, but had been prepared by long-term orientations within ILGA, that is a preference for reformist claims and institutional strategies. ILGA-Europe’s NGOization is thus not only a response to institutional and political changes, but also results from specific ways of imagining activism. It is the interaction between movement identity and arising institutional opportunities that allowed the organization to transform.

KEYWORDS:

• ILGA-Europe
• NGOization
• Europeanization
• LGBT activism
• Treaty of Amsterdam

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche scientifique (FRS-FNRS), Belgium.

Notes

1. Apart from the women’s secretariat and more recent transgender, intersex, and bisexual secretariats, which are still – at least partly – run by local groups.

2. Of which ILGA was not yet a member.

3. ILGA-Europe ran another project in 1999: Stepping Stones and Roadblocks. Funded by the Commission, it was aimed at comparing success and failure factors in action against discrimination. It was organized with two other NGOs (ILGA-Europe, 1999).

4. Particularly, the Brits Nigel Warner, Peter Ashman, and Jackie Lewis, the Austrian Kurt Krickler, the Dane Steffen Jensen, the Romanian Adrian Coman, and the German Nico Beger.

5. The survey was carried out in 2011 and 2012 among current and former employees of ILGA and ILGA-Europe. Questions dealt with education, language proficiency, activist background, and work experience. Thirty-five current and former staff members were contacted: 17 filled in the questionnaire (48.57%), 3 refused (8.57%) and the others never answered, despite several reminders (42.86%).

6. Since 2012, numerous changes have taken place within ILGA. One of its oldest staff members was fired, and another left due to ILGA’s move from Brussels to Geneva in 2014. Several new collaborators were also hired. This recent relocation, which is intimately connected to increased opportunities at the United Nations, may have induced an NGOization process similar to the one experienced by ILGA-Europe and led to crucial changes within the organization.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche scientifique (FRS-FNRS), Belgium.