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About ILGA World
Why this source is used
ILGA World overview page used for organisation history and consultative-status context.
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- ILGA World
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- organisation
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- 8 pages
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International Gay Association (IGA) Founded in Coventry
Thirty delegates from organisations across 14 countries met at a fringe meeting of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality conference in Coventry, England and founded the International Gay Association (IGA). Chaired by activists Rob Pistor and Peter Ashman, the IGA aimed to decriminalise homosexuality and coordinate political action internationally. Key founding members included Joseph Douce, a gay Baptist preacher from Paris, and Jeff Dudgeon, a Belfast activist. The organisation would later become ILGA — the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association — growing into the world's largest federation of LGBTQI+ organisations with over 2,600 member groups across 170 countries.
ILGA World's UN ECOSOC Consultative Status Restored After 17 Years
After 17 years of exclusion, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted 29 in favour, 14 against, with 5 abstentions to restore ILGA World's consultative status. A resolution proposed by Belgium and co-sponsored by the United States secured the vote. ILGA had first gained — and then lost — ECOSOC status in 1993–1994 following political attacks by US Senator Jesse Helms. Multiple reinstatement attempts were blocked in 2002, 2003, and 2006, making this one of the most prolonged and contested NGO accreditation battles in UN history.
