What is #SaferToBeMe?
A warm welcome to our #SaferToBeMe Symposium! We warmly welcome you to join us at this global Symposium to discuss LGBTQI+ human rights and development needs. This promises to be an exciting event, held in multiple venues from the 20th-22nd June 2023, across both the St. Peter's Campus and City Campus of the University of Sunderland, Sunderland, U.K.
From a launch event involving the Amsterdam Rainbow Dress, to online satellite events held before the event, a full Symposium main day comprised of talks and workshops, an evening film viewing and panel discussion, and campaigns and exhibits, there is something for everyone!
Everyone is welcome, whether you are an activist, practitioner, or academic, or a member of the public simply wanting to know more about global LGBTQI+ human rights, we look forward to meeting you at our various events.
We welcome our fantastic Keynote Speaker Mark Gevisser, the award-winning author of The Pink Line, and thank our sponsors (please see below) who have helped to make this whole event come to life. We especially thank our team, who have given their volunteer time, to make this event happen!
Ready to begin and to find out more?
Read below to find out more about why we are hosting #SaferToBeMe and meet our amazing team. Please also see our main page for more information about all of our planned events. You can also book tickets before they sell out!
Our Story
With the failure of the U.K. Government to launch their 'Safe to be Me' conference in 2022 and subsequent boycott by LGBTQI+ organisations, due to the government's conflicting U-turn on LGBTQI+ conversion treatments to exclude transgender and non-binary people from their proposed ban, ReportOUT took action. Aside from withdrawing from the original conference which was later cancelled, ReportOUT decided to offer a replacement event, which we have called 'Safer to be Me.' with the hashtag of the day: #SaferToBeMe
Our #SaferToBeMe Symposium is a partnership between ReportOUT and the University of Sunderland. It will bring together global activists, practitioners, and academics, to discuss the most pressing issues facing global LGBTQI+ human rights, and LGBTQI+ progress toward fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
After the Symposium has ended, we plan to develop a legacy through the creation of a Global Knowledge Exchange Forum to push for the human rights, and development needs, of sexual and gender minorities across the globe, and to bring specialists together to do this.
Our Symposium objectives are to:
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Bring together the resources and skills of a partnership approach.
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Organise a stream of pre, during, and post-symposium events related to global LGBTQI+ human rights and development needs.
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Compose a space to bring together academics, practitioners, and activists, to foster dialogue and networks.
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Generate the beginnings of a Global Knowledge Exchange Forum dedicated to global LGBTQI+ human rights and development needs.
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To offer a much needed global discussion about LGBTQI+ human rights, and development needs, after the failure of the boycotted Safe To Be Me Conference.
We recognise that we cannot offer something of the scale of the original conference, however, we have been bold in our thinking and we hope you love our plans. We look forward to seeing you there!
Meet The Team
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Our Funders and Sponsors
We would like to say a warm thank you to all of our sponsors and funders for helping to make #SaferToBeMe happen. You can read more about these amazing organisations in our ticket booking section.
