Sexual minorities in religions to focus in Pride week

An international seminar titled ‘LGBTIQ People of Faith’ will be held in Helsinki on Friday during the Pride week.

The seminar jointly organised by the Rainbow Rights project of the Ministry of Justice, HeSeta, Loisto Settlement and the Lutheran Parish Union of Helsinki will address the issue of multiple discrimination faced by people from gender and sexual minorities who belong to religious and spiritual communities, said an official press release.

The aim of this seminar is to give a voice to members of gender and sexual minorities who belong to religious and spiritual communities in Finland.

They are often marginalised in both groups. The seminar is first of its kind both in the Finnish religious field and within the LGBTIQ community. The theme of the seminar has raised a lot of interest, and the seminar was fully booked very quickly.

The seminar will address not only discrimination but also the role of minorities as dynamic actors. Gender and sexual minorities with religious beliefs have a lot to offer to both the LGBTIQ community and their own spiritual communities.

The seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss these important topics together with the authorities, researchers and representatives of religious communities.

The speakers at the seminar include Matti Peiponen, Doctor of Theology and expert on international and multicultural relations, Johanna Aapakallio, Master of Arts working with issues of honour-related violence, and Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, Imam, who has promoted the equality of Muslims who belong to gender and sexual minorities.

The Rainbow Rights project has received funding from the EU Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme.