ECOM Hosted Academy for LGBT Youth in Tallinn

From July 9 to 16, the fifth IGLYO Activist Academy, which brings together young LGBT people aged 18 to 30 every year, took place in Tallinn. ECOM was the host this year, and welcomed 25 participants from all over the world in Tallinn.

Together with partners from IGLYO, ECOM experts shared their experience and conducted workshops for participants on various topics. Yuri Yoursky, ECOM’s Programs Lead, conducted a seminar on public speaking. Meanwhile, a team of experts consisting of Tina Sobko, Communications Officer, Elvira Tilek kyzy, Human Rights Officer and Uluk Batyrgalieva, Health Officer, organized a workshop on the use of social media for human rights advocacy.

“We taught participants how to make videos to achieve various advocacy goals. We not only shared the theory with them, but also managed to put the theory into practice. Participants filmed videos to achieve their advocacy goals, for example, to oppose a law on LGBT propaganda in their country,” stated Tina Sobko. 

ECOM staff supplemented expert seminars and workshops with outdoor activities for participants. During the activist picnic, all those present were able to get to know activists from Estonia better. In addition, a queer tour of Tallinn, led by local LGBT historian Taavi Koppel, allowed participants to delve into the history of LGBT activism in the country.

During the week, 5 teams (Vangs, PROs, The Tallinguins, Ghost Sockers and Mooovement) worked on solving real problems using the knowledge they gained. All participants received IGLYO Activist Academy diplomas.

The IGLYO Activist Academy is a skills-based training program for young people aged 18 to 30 who are starting their activist careers and have a strong interest in advocating for the rights of LGBT people. The Academy is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme.

This year, for the first time, participants from Europe were joined by activists from China and Indonesia.