On 12 July 2021, the winners of the European Civic Forum's prestigious CIVIC PRIDE Award were announced, including lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova and the LGBT youth organisation Deystvie.
With the annual CIVIC PRIDE Award, the European Citizens' Forum recognises outstanding public initiatives in Europe and aims to raise their visibility at European level and bring together activists and change agents. To celebrate their inspiring work, the organisers will present the awards at a ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels in January 2022 to coincide with the publication of their stories in the annual Activate report.
European Citizens' Forum share:
"This year we have been inundated with success stories of activists who have been at the forefront of protecting and extending rights for people across the European continent. The stories cover successes in the areas of freedom of association and peaceful assembly, LGBTI rights, the rights of undocumented people, grassroots community organising, improving access to finance and more. We were inspired by all of the nominations and would like to thank those who submitted them for their outstanding work in reclaiming civic spaces!"
''The award recognizes the tireless commitment of Lyubenova and Deystvie in defending the rights of LGBTI people in the context of a complex cross-border family case and a hostile environment for the LGBTI community in Bulgaria.''
You can read more about Baby Sarah's case and the latest news here: https://www.deystvie.org/post/babysara
Regarding the award, lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova says:
"I am grateful for the recognition that the European Citizens' Forum has given us and I hope that our struggle will reach and encourage as many people as possible not to be resigned and to actively defend their rights, not only in Bulgaria, but in the whole European Union. We are still awaiting the decision of the European Court of Justice and we believe that it will be a step forward in the recognition of same-sex families across Europe. The law is changing slowly, in small steps, but with a lot of perseverance. I believe we have proven over the years that we have this quality in the Action Legal Programme."
Since 2014 LGBT Youth Deystvie has been providing free counselling and legal assistance to people from the LGBTI community for violations of their rights. Contact us through pravo.deystvie.org.