Network of European LGBT Families Associations (NELFA)

In many European countries, Rainbow Families, that is families where parents are LGBT, are faced with unsuitable domestic laws, if not a total legal void.

This lack of proper recognition of Rainbow Families exposes them and especially their children to all sorts of legal risks. These families live with the thought that if a tragedy touches their life, for instance, the death or accident of the legal parent, the bond of the social parent to the child may not be recognised by the Law and basically their family life can be severely disrupted.

It goes without saying that this precarious situation may of course produce negative effects on the family and its members: a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty, social invisibility and psychological stress to name a few.

2nd European Conference on LGBT Families in Spain, Lloret del Mar - 28. April - 1. Mai 2012

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We are deeply convinced that action at European level is long overdue. With this objective in mind, on 1st May 2009, seven LGBT families organisations came together to start working on a European Network. These organisations are:

1. APGL – the French LGBT Parents Association;
2. FLG – the LGBT Families Association of Catalonia
3. GALESH – the LGBT Families Association of Valencia
4. GALEHI - the LGBT Families Association of Madrid
5. Associazione Famiglie Arcobaleno – the Italian Rainbow Families Association
6. Meerdangewenst – the Rainbow Families Association from the Netherlands
7. Rozalija, forum for LGBT parents and future parents in Slovenia.

The result of the work carried out on 1st May 2009 was the creation of NELFA, the network of European LGBT Families Associations. NELFA’s aims are:

• To raise awareness about our families,
• To provide support to LGBT families in countries where currently there is no Association of LGBT families and assisting them with creating one.
• To lobby EU Member States to obtain, the same rights for our children that other children have.

NELFA is network of associations and, as such, it seeks to co-ordinate efforts, and assists individual associations. Upon NELFA's creation, it was decided that a network rather than a more structured organisation would allow NELFA more flexibility. It was decided that the leadership of NELFA would be carried by different associations every two years. The French LGBT Parents Association - APGL - was voted to carry the leadership until 2011.