Campus Pride - Communitary Advocacy Campaigns for Safe Universities

”Campus Pride – Communitary Advocacy Campaigns for Safe Universities” is a project with roots in the international community and that has started its activity since 2015. Campus Pride is the first initiative in Romania that aims at creating a safe and welcoming environment and an accepting climate for all of the students from the Romanian university environment, no matter the sexual orientation or gender identity. The project, dedicated and created by the LGBT (lesbians, gay, bisexuals, and trans) students in Bucharest created the first safe space in which they were able to get informed, to socialize, and to develop leadership skills, all in the context of a deeply homophobic reality.

Starting with October 2021, we opened three student centers in Bucharest, Cluj, and Timișoara, where the LGBT youth and allies could regularly meet to share their experiences, to take part in various community building activities and to support each other.

Between 2015 – 2016 , the project engaged the LGBT students in organizing three key events: LGBT Allies Week – a series of social events (forum theater storytelling, debates, quiz night, karaoke, living library, party, board games, treasure hunt, movie night etc.); LGBT History Month – workshop, laser tag; Pride Week – banners workshop, PhotoVoice exhibition, Diversity March. Other events that had been organized during that year include: an event on the “Transgender Day of Remembrance”, an event on the Asexual Visibility Day, the Queer Prom “How Queers Stole Christmas”.

In 2017 Campus Pride organized social gatherings (parties, brunches, movie nights) and workshops (on sexual education, and on the intervention in cases of violent incidents of all forms).

In 2018, the LGBT students organized themselves to put together a party at Macaz, the “Brave To Be Me” exhibition, with snapshots of the LGBT students’ lives, and in collaboration with IBM România, they organized two personal trainings within the Faculty of Sociology, and the SNSPA.

After a pause of three years, the project was reinstated in 2021. During this year, the project commenced multiple actions and events in Bucharest, Cluj, and Timișoara, but also online, such as:

  • Campus Pride Talks – discussion with LGBT students(in all of the three cities)
  • Community parties
  • Initiative fair
  • Participation within the 2021 Pride March
  • Cultural and community events
  • The Rainbow Tram
  • Campus Pride Leadership Summer School
  • Opening of the Campus Pride Centers (in all of the three cities)
  • Social events
  • Events during PRIDE and LGBT History Month 2021
  • Partnership with 10 student associations

In 2022we found out together the realities of the LGBT students in the universities in Romania.

  • We launched the website www.campus-pride.ro
  • We organized dozens of events in the three centers in the country
  • We organized events as well as within PRIDE 2022, as well as LGBT History Month 2022
  • We took part in the 2022 March Pride
  • We traveled to Reykjavik to exchange experiences with the National Queer Organization of Island – Samtokin`78
  • We organized 3 dissemination meetings about the results of the Report in Iași, Sibiu, and Brașov
  • We organized the protest march LOVE IS OUR TRADITION in Bucharest, advocating for civil partnership, trans rights and against the anti-LGBT legislative proposal submitted by UDMR
  • We carefully analyzed the inclusion policies of the Romanian university environment, and gathered LGBTQIA+ students’ experiences, launching the Campus Pride National Report

In the period of 2021-2022 the project was carried out by MozaiQ LGBT Association in partnership with Pride Romania Association, Identity.Education and Samtökin ’78 and was sponsoredthrough the Active Citizens Fund Româniaprogram, by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the SEE 2014-2021 Grants.

In 2023, we developed the Pride@Workproject, which is a continuation of the Campus Pride – Advocacy Campaigns for Safe Universities project and aims to both disseminate its results and to increase the level of integration on the labor market of LGBTQI+ students. Campus Pride has created a safe space for them, and Pride@Work aims to complement this with another element, namely the entry of LGBTQI+ students and young people into the labor market.

For this we have organized:

  • An event with inclusive companies during the 2023 Oslo Pride Festival, at Oslo Pride Business Forum
  • An event with inclusive companies during 2023 Bucharest Pride Week at Rainbow Breakfast.ÎIn both of these events we created new network connections and we exchanged good practices in regards to inclusion on the labor market.
  • We launched The Campus Pride National Report in English, which can be downloaded HERE.

Moreover, Pride@Work also continues the Unicorns@Workproject, încheiat la finalul lunii mai 2023, concluded at the end of May 2023, which aimed to increase the employability of transgender and LGB+ people in the labor market, working directly with people from the community as well as with several companies in Romania, acting as an information space for them.

You can contact the Campus Pride team at: bucuresti@campus-pride.ro

We work together for a more inclusive Europe.

The project is currently being implemented by MozaiQ LGBT Association partnership with Oslo Pride Association and benefits from a grant of 30.000 EUR, through the Active Citizens Fund România programme, funded by Iceland. Liechtenstein, and Norway through the SEE 2014-2021 grants. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the SEE and Norwegian 2014-2021 Grants; for more information visit http://www.eeagrants.org. Information about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at http://www.activecitizensfund.ro.

Project implemented by: