The European International Lesbian and Gay Association Annual Conference will be held in Malta in 2009 following a presentation at this year’s conference held in October in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

Malta beat the other location, The Hague, that was competing to host the gathering. In a statement, the Malta Gay Rights Movement said that for such a small island the conference will present an ideal opportunity to raise the visibility of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues nationally, as well as in the wider Mediterranean and southern European region.

Between 25 and 28 October, delegates from all over Europe gathered in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius for the 11th European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association Annual Conference, at which Malta was represented by Gabi Calleja and Bernard Muscat from the Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM).

The conference theme was LGBT Rights are Human Rights – Respect, Recognition and Responsibilities.

Across five plenary sessions, two discussion panels, 21 workshops and a series of self-organised groups, delegates had a chance to listen, discuss and interact with prominent international, European and national experts on equality and human rights issues.

This year’s conference programme provided a diverse agenda and covered a range of issues from the work at the UN and European level, to organisational development challenges in evolving LGBT groups.

ILGA-Europe’s annual conference also acts as its annual general meeting, and delegates approved the strategic plan for 2008-2011 and elected a new executive board for 2007-2008 which, for the second year running, also includes Ruth Baldacchino, a Maltese LGBT activist. Ms Baldacchino was also elected to represent ILGA-Europe on the ILGA-World Executive board.

The conference heard from EU officials how the European Commission has included, in next year’s legislative action plan, a proposal for a new directive addressing the hierarchy of EU anti-discrimination laws. The EC will also introduce a ban on sexual orientation discrimination and other grounds in areas other than employment.

The conference also included a European launch of the Yogyakarta Principles, a groundbreaking international document giving the human rights issues for LGBT people a new perspective and impetus at universal level.