Zoekresultaten: brussels

• Brussels welcomes 4,000 LGBTQI+ singers for Various Voices

  Jun 23, 2026 Marc Dirix

  Brussels will be flooded over the coming days by no fewer than 120 LGBTQI+ choirs and 4,000 singers from 18 countries. They will take part in 350 concerts scheduled as part of the Various Voices choir festival.

  Founded in Cologne in 1985, the festival has grown into a leading European event for the LGBTQI+ choral community. The 2026 edition is organised by the non-profit organisation Various Voices Brussels 2026, an initiative of the Brussels-based choir Sing Out Brussels!

  From Wednesday to Saturday, more than 350 concerts will take place at venues including Bozar, La Madeleine, the Royal Circus and the ING Arena. Performances will also be held in public spaces such as the City Hall, the Vaux Hall and Brussels Park. The festival showcases artists from the Brussels, Belgian and wider European queer communities.

  Each day, the festival presents a major show bringing together different choirs and artists around a common theme under the artistic direction of Simon Paco.

  "These shows take us on a journey through the history of our LGBTQI+ community, celebrating its culture and defending its interests," explains artistic director Simon Paco. "The programme highlights the diversity of identities, the diversity of artistic practices and the diversity of life journeys. It also reflects the European dimension of the festival."

  The detailed festival programme is available at https://various-voices.be/. Visitors can also find a presentation of each participating choir on the website.

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• Prison sentences of 15 and 6 years requested for Brussels gaybashers

  May 29, 2025 Marc Dirix

  The public prosecutor requested prison sentences of fifteen and six years on Wednesday for two men who, last year, assaulted and robbed eight gay men in Brussels.

  Between April 7 and June 23, 2024, several gay men were contacted via the dating app Grindr and lured to a park in Brussels. The profile used for this was linked to 20-year-old Rayan R. Once at the park, the victims were not only verbally abused but also beaten and robbed. They sustained serious injuries; some lost teeth and now require dental prosthetics. In addition to the physical violence, phones and bank cards were stolen—sometimes with amounts of up to €1,600 extorted. These incidents may be just the tip of the iceberg, as Brussels’ RainbowHouse reported receiving 217 complaints during and prior to this period.

  During the preliminary hearing, Rayan R. admitted to being present for most of the incidents, though he denied certain elements, such as the use of weapons or overtly homophobic statements. He claimed he was driven by a “distorted sense of justice,” believing that the men he met on Grindr posed a threat to minors. “I thought I was doing the right thing, but I attacked people who had done nothing wrong,” he admitted. He also acknowledged that he had been using alcohol and drugs and that he had created fake profiles of young men to lure his victims.

  Anas T. was also on trial alongside Rayan R. According to the public prosecutor, he was an accomplice involved in three of the assaults. A minor also helped lure the victims and is expected to appear before the juvenile court. The prosecution asked the court to convict the two for assault and battery with a discriminatory motive, threats, unlawful detention, weapon possession, extortion, and cyber fraud.

  The two defendants claimed they saw themselves as "pedo hunters" and believed—wrongly—that homosexuality and pedophilia were the same. The lawyer for Anas T. stated that his client was “mentally confused” after encountering a large amount of misinformation online.

  Unia and the NGO Ex Aequo have joined the proceedings as civil parties against the attackers. Last year, Unia did so in ten similar cases. “We intervene as a civil party to support victims and guide them throughout the legal process,” said director Els Keytsman on the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17, in connection with the case. “These cases are particularly important because such attacks send a hostile signal to an entire community. Unia also informs the courts, so they pay attention to the discriminatory motive. The assault is then recognized not as an ordinary one, but as one with an aggravating circumstance.”

   

  The verdict is expected on June 24.

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• Brussels RainbowHouse Restores Partnership with RTBF after Uproar over Transphobic Sketch

  Apr 9, 2025 Marc Dirix

  RainbowHouse Brussels has reinstated its partnership with RTBF in the run-up to Brussels Pride.
  Last year, the partnership between the LGBTQ+ organization and the Walloon broadcaster was suspended after a transphobic sketch aired on September 24 during the satirical program Le Grand Cactus on Tip!k. The sketch referenced the song 3e sexe by the band Indochine and singer Rahim Redcar.

  In the segment, Belgian comedian Damien Gillard and French comedian Cécile Giroud performed a song titled Le 128e sexe, a parody of Le 3e sexe by Indochine. The song mocked the fact that transgender people change gender and suggested that there are more than two genders.

  In a statement on its social media channels, RainbowHouse said that, in the weeks following the broadcast, it had contacted RTBF and sat down at the table with them, together with the IEFH (Institute for the Equality of Women and Men) and the CSA (High Council for the Audiovisual Sector).

  “The dialogue between RTBF and various associations, collectives, and LGBTQIA+ activists made it possible to clarify the feelings and realities of those involved, starting as early as September 2024,” the statement reads. “This meeting was marked by a rich, open, and constructive discussion. We observed that RTBF did not wait for the resolution of this situation to strengthen its efforts toward awareness around diversity — and especially LGBTQIA+ issues.”

  Just a few days after the sketch aired, the organizations had already met. RTBF showed that since 2022 it has been organizing training sessions for its internal departments and the Le Grand Cactus team. In collaboration with Média-Animation vzw and the LGBTQIA+ federation Prisme, RTBF also developed a “toolkit” to integrate diversity principles into the company. Concrete actions have been taken, such as content warnings on social media, a radio show on trans identities (Les Clés d’Arnaud Ruyssen), additional content in the LGBTQIA+ section of the RTBF Tip!k platform and RTBF Auvio, as well as various video clips and testimonies on RTBF Vews.

   

  During this period, the IEFH and the CSA received complaints from LGBTQIA+ stakeholders. Each institution is processing the files independently. Following these complaints, the IEFH issued several recommendations. The final report from the CSA is expected in the coming weeks.

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