As more than 200 organisers of LGBTQIA+ pride events gather in Portugal for their biggest ever annual conference this weekend, new data from the European Commission shows that awareness of EuroPride is thought to be at an all time high.
According to the Eurobaromenter data published this month, 53% of people in member states of the European Union have heard of EuroPride, the annual pan-European pride event that is awarded to a different city each year. In 2024, EuroPride was held in Thessaloniki in Greece. In 2025, pride events in the Portuguese capital Lisbon get the upgrade.
The Eurobarometer data reveals EuroPride to be “the most well-known awareness raising event in the EU in the areas of justice, rights and values”, according to the European Commission. Awareness was highest in Malta (91%), Sweden and Slovenia (78%) and Latvia (77%). Awareness was lowest in Germany (40%), France (44%) and Bulgaria (46%).
Choosing EuroPride
This weekend’s conference of the European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) will decide between four bids for EuroPride 2027: set to battle it out are ACOGAT Torremolinos Pride from Spain, Coordinamento Torino Pride in Turin from Italy, LGL Baltic Pride Vilnius from Lithuania, and Pride in Gloucestershire from the United Kingdom.
Alongside the bids for EuroPride, the conference includes speeches, workshops and debates, with participants attending from as far as Georgia, Finland, Ukraine and Iceland.
EPOA’s EuroPride Coordinator and interim President, Patrick Orth (he/him), said: “It is wonderful to see that more than 50% of EU citizens know about EuroPride and therefore know about pride itself. With a rise in anti-LGBTI+ rhetoric and an increase in far-right attacks on pride, including in my native Germany, pPride is more important and more relevant than it has been in many years.”
“Our conference this weekend will be encouraged by these new figures, which are just reward for the thousands of volunteers who give their time to organise pride across Europe. The fact that this is our biggest ever conference, and only the fourth time in 30 years that we have had to choose between four bids for EuroPride, shows the importance of our movement’s work.”
Variations
EPOA’s conference takes place on Friday 1, Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 November in Porto, hosted by Variações – Associação de Comércio e Turismo LGBTI de Portugal, one of the hosts (with ILGA Portugal) of EuroPride 2025 Lisbon.
President of Variações, José Marquina (he/him), said: “Variacoes is delighted that Porto is hosting the biggest ever EPOA AGM. We have been pleased to invest significant time and resources into the event and look forward to welcoming 200+ participants from more than thirty countries.
“In a workshop led by Variações, vice-president Alexandra ‘Kiki’ Pais de Sousa will propose a code of ethics for LGBTI+ activism. In her own words, she will address the need for an ethical foundation in the third sector.”
EuroPride?
EuroPride began in London in 1992 and has taken place almost every year since. Initially focused on western European cities, it first went to the former eastern bloc in 2010 with EuroPride in Warsaw, to the former Soviet Union in 2015 with EuroPride in Riga, and in 2022 EuroPride in Belgrade saw the far-right and nationalists respond with riots and protests across the city.
LGBTQIA+ and travel
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- ILGA WORLD | Despite more legal protections for LGBTI people, stark opposition has been a recurring theme in debates in every UN member State.
- UPDATE | 64 countries where gay sex is illegal.
- RAINBOW EUROPE MAP AND INDEX 2024 | These are the LGBTQIA+ friendly and LGBTQIA+ unfriendly countries in Europe.
- Spartacus Travel Awards pinpoint Brussels and Taiwan as top LGBTQIA+ destinations.
- SPARTACUS GAY TRAVEL INDEX 2024 | Malta, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal the most gay friendly destinations; Belgium now 21st.
- Pride movement in Europe expecting increased hostility.
- QUEER ANDORRA | Entre Nous, the only gay bar in the village.
- Europeans more accepting of LGBTQIA+ people than their political leaders.
- Grindr Unwrapped: Belgium and the Netherlands are lands of leather men and twinks.
- Queer Iceland & Rainbow(baiting) Reykjavík.
- Heading for the sun in gay destination Torremolinos.
- Manchester’s gaybourhood around Canal Street.
- 13 US states still officially punish gay sex.
- Sang Young Park, an insight on queer life in South Korea.
- Pride in Valladolid, Yucatán and queer encounters in Mexico.
- FLORIDA SOLO ROAD TRIP | Eye-opening encounters in Miami.
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- FLORIDA SOLO ROAD TRIP | Fort Lauderdale.
- FLORIDA SOLO ROAD TRIP | National Pulse Memorial and Museum in Orlando.
- Queer in a hostile world: more likely to be arrested for looking gay than for actual homosexual acts.
- Travel guide for people with HIV.
- LGBTQ+ get-together on Majestic Princess.
- HOW TO | Travel to the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Gays failing at being gay? ‘LGBTQ Mix & Mingle’ on Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas lacked enthusiasm.
- Gay Tel Aviv: pinkwashing or genuine?.
- To be or not to be out and proud LGBTQ when travelling?.
- A plea for LGBTQ travel in post-communist Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
- Gay Taipei with misterb&b.
- VIDEO | Looking for intimacy in a crowd of strangers in Japan and South Korea.
- Are you travelling to a hostile destination?.
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