dividedindiversity

[dividedindiversity]

The European Commission is currently running three public consultations on the EU strategies regarding the fundamental rights of marginalised groups for 2026 to 2030. They are the public consultations on the gender equality strategy, on the anti-racism strategy, and the LGBTIQ equality strategy. Simultaneous to those public consultations, they are also running calls for evidence for each of these strategies. Public consultations call for your views and opinions on certain topics, calls for evidence call for concrete evidence (like statistics and scientific research) and evaluation of national and European regulation on the relevant topics. Any European citizen or organisation can contribute.

I'm sharing this bc yesterday I was at a conference of European equality bodies and several participants who are or know European commissioners mentioned that those public consultations are being targeted by waves of organised hatred. It is essential that we organise against those if we want to give the Commission legitimacy to act on these fronts.

The links are:

2026-2030 gender equality strategy:

Anti-racism strategy

EU LGBTIQ equality strategy for 2026-2030

[dividedindiversity]

Also the EU Parliament is talking about this! Consider writing an MEP from your country that you care about this!

To sum it up, the hungarian police isn't allowing the Budapest pride this year, (article from the Hungarian Helsinki Commitee) claiming that it's to protect children.

Meanwhile, the regime put together a list of news agencies, foundations that, "Threaten hungary's sovereignty" in the following ways, according to Telex's reporting:

[-threaten the independence and democracy of the country

-speak against the "unity of the nation" and the responsibility towards the hungarian diaspora in surrounding countries

-speak against the priority of marriage, families, and biological sex

-threaten peace, safety, and cooperation with other countries

-threaten the country's consitutional identity and christian culture]

Entities that get accused of any of these, whether due to recieving money from outside hungary or due to speaking out against injustice, will not be getting any funding, nor will they get the 1% of their supporters' tax that they pledged to them.

Those 1%s will instead be going to a specific hospital, which is awfully fucking suspicious and i am fully ready to allege that it'll end up in someone's pocket.

[dividedindiversity]

polish elections part 2: if you don't want to vote *for* either candidate, think who will want to hurt you less for resisting/protesting and chose him as your opponent for the next 4 years, go vote on sunday

Święta prawda (z poprawką, że to 5 lat*). Co ważniejsze: pamiętajcie, że ten, kto wygra, zyska prawo wetowania ustaw. Zastanówcie się, kto może w ten sposób bardziej wam zaszkodzić, i nie dajcie mu tego prawa.

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[dividedindiversity]

GOAL REACHED! YOU ALL ARE AWSOME!

Keep signing, more signatures = more pressure!

European Citizens' Initiative - Ban on conversion practices in the European Union

European Citizens' Initiative is a mechanism to bring issues direct from the people to the EU commission. I strongly urge every citizen of the European Union member states to sign this Initiative to ban conversion therapy and similar persuasion practices.

[dividedindiversity]

European Citizens' Initiative - Ban on conversion practices in the European Union

European Citizens' Initiative is a mechanism to bring issues direct from the people to the EU commission. I strongly urge every citizen of the European Union member states to sign this Initiative to ban conversion therapy and similar persuasion practices.

[dividedindiversity]

in november last year, a wave of what may be the largest student protests in the history of serbia began, with universities in serbia being blockaded by students for more than 2 months. it all started on november 1st in novi sad, when the canopy at the main train station collapsed, killing 15 people. just three weeks later, there was a violent attack against students at the faculty of dramatic arts. since then, the violence has not stopped. participants in the peaceful protests have been victims of brutal assaults, including being run over by cars, with some suffering serious head and jaw injuries. all of these attacks have been orchestrated by the ruling party.

on december 22 last year, over 100,000 people gathered in protest at slavija square. numerous mass protests, with thousands or even tens of thousands of participants, followed after slavija. on january 27, autokomanda—a road junction in belgrade—was blocked by tens of thousands of protesters for 24 hours.

yesterday, several hundred students set off on foot from belgrade to novi sad. they had to spend the night under the open sky because someone refused to let them use a sports hall.

the students are determined to keep fighting until the authorities fulfill all their demands, which are: the publication of the complete documentation related to the reconstruction of the railway station in novi sad, the publication of the findings of the investigation on those responsible for the attack against students of the faculty of dramatic arts and all later attacks, the immediate release of all citizens who had been detained during the non-violent protests, a withdrawal of all legally unfounded criminal and misdemeanor charges against citizens and a 20% increase in funds for state universities.

[dividedindiversity]

Ban Conversion Therapy in the European Union

If you're not from the European Union, please help further this initiative by reblogging it or sharing it to groups that may have European people seeing it. European Union people, if you can translate this and help spread it would be great :)

DEADLINE IS 17TH OF MAY, 2025.

To pass: it must reach 1 million votes [we are at 199'483 votes.] and reach minimum threshold in 7 countries [two countries so far.]

SIGN IT HERE

country breakdown here

[dividedindiversity]

EU prepares to hit Big Tech in retaliation for Donald Trump’s tariffs

The EU is planning to hit Silicon Valley with retaliatory measures if President Donald Trump follows through on threats to impose tariffs on the bloc, in the first use of a Brussels “bazooka” that could drag services into a trade war. The European Commission is looking to use its “anti-coercion instrument” in a potential dispute with Washington, said two officials with knowledge of the plans, which would allow the EU to target US service industries such as Big Tech. Dubbed a “bazooka” by some EU officials when it came into force in 2023, the ACI allows the bloc to select from a wide range of retaliatory measures, such as revoking the protection of intellectual property rights or their commercial exploitation, for example, software downloads and streaming services. It also allows the EU to block foreign direct investment or restrict market access for banking, insurance and other financial services groups.

EU trade ministers met on Tuesday in Warsaw to discuss the US president’s threats. Officials briefed on the closed-door discussions said the majority expressed support for punitive action if necessary. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said he wanted to negotiate a way to avoid tariffs but added: “If we are hit, we will react firmly.”

[dividedindiversity]

Lots of options in some Nordic country! (there's multiple languages that call a deposit on bottles 'pant')

We have that in Germany and the Netherlands too, funnily also called 'Pfand' in Germany, and 'statiegeld' in Dutch because we need some kind of special word IG

One thing I think the Netherlands does better than the area of Germany I now live in, is that in the Netherlands, supermarkets will usually have a set of glass recycling bins outside, while in the place where I live now in Germany they will be in random places. (Sometimes in the Netherlands there will be a random glass recycling bin somewhere as well- but eh) I prefer the Dutch way because I'm going grocery shopping at some point anyways, so I can get rid of my empty jars just as I'm getting new ones. This had me thinking-

[dividedindiversity]

I'm fascinated by the 'nuance' person, wished they'd have left tags. Home pickup does appear to be a ting, which is interesting. I hope they don't have to deal with breakage too often. Also, what do y'all think is the best way to collect glass recycling?

One thing I think the Netherlands does better than the area of Germany I now live in, is that in the Netherlands, supermarkets will usually have a set of glass recycling bins outside, while in the place where I live now in Germany they will be in random places. (Sometimes in the Netherlands there will be a random glass recycling bin somewhere as well- but eh) I prefer the Dutch way because I'm going grocery shopping at some point anyways, so I can get rid of my empty jars just as I'm getting new ones. This had me thinking-

[dividedindiversity]

One thing I think the Netherlands does better than the area of Germany I now live in, is that in the Netherlands, supermarkets will usually have a set of glass recycling bins outside, while in the place where I live now in Germany they will be in random places. (Sometimes in the Netherlands there will be a random glass recycling bin somewhere as well- but eh) I prefer the Dutch way because I'm going grocery shopping at some point anyways, so I can get rid of my empty jars just as I'm getting new ones. This had me thinking-

[dividedindiversity]

January 1, 2025 - A stray dog in Petea receives applause for being the first to cross the newly visa-free border between Hungary and Romania, as Romania joins the Schengen area.

[dividedindiversity]

i think what us in the west and particularly europe must mostly focus on rn are the rights of syrian refugees who several european countries are already planning to expel en masse and deny future asylum requests. the far right in most of our countries is already clamouring for their departure and we can't let that happen

[dividedindiversity]

How to help the people in Spain

As you may have seen online, Spain is going through a flash fall since October 29. It's mainly affected the Community of Valencia but also some parts of the south-west and the cold drop is now moving to the north-east.

95 bodies have been found at the time I'm writing this (edit: 158 now), there's still people missing and entire towns are isolated as they don't have electricity and their roads have been destroyed. A lot of people don't have tap water or any means to cook. If you're wondering why people didn't evacuate beforehand, it's because authorities didn't care enough to warn people so technically everyone had to go to work and school. Though politicians should be held accountable, the most important thing at the moment is to help those in need. So here's some ways you can help both people and animals that have been affected.

Families and towns

Horta Sud is a county in Valencia that has been the most affected by the floodings. People are leaving their houses because they're scared of the infrastructure getting damaged and even walking by foot to Valencia capital to get food. You can help those families via this gofundme.

Hambre Cero is a Spanish non-profit that was founded after the earthquakes in Indonesia. They will be giving food to those who need it. Here's different ways you can donate.

Cáritas is a Spanish organization formed by different Catholic non-profits. They'll be giving food and also helping clean up the towns. You can donate here by clicking the button where it says "donar".

You can help rebuild the town of Letur (Albacete) by donating to this gofundme that's directly coordinated with the town hall.

This gofundme is joining efforts with the town hall of Valencia to help people who have lost their homes.

Please help this family in Valencia rebuild their home.

Una copa por Valencia ("a drink to Valencia") is a campaign organized by Spanish influencer David Aliagas. The idea behind it is to donate the amount of money you would spend on drinks on a night out. He'll be joining effort with local non-profits. You can help here.

Animal shelters

Refugio Minipow was home to 50 rabbits and guinea pigs. Thankfully, the owners were able to move all the animals to their homes and those of their neighbors, though the shelter itself has been destroyed right after recent renovations. There's different ways to donate here.

El Refugio de María a dog shelter in Sueca (Valencia), is completely flooded, leaving the dogs visibly distressed, as shown here. You can donate to PayPal maria.g.may@gmail.com

Modepran is a dog shelter in Campanar (Valencia) where infrastructure damage has left some dogs without a proper sleeping area. You can donate through PayPal here.

Gatos Campo de Gibraltar is a cat shelter in Los Barrios (Cádiz). need of assistance for relocating cats to new homes and rebuilding damaged facilities. You can donate to their PayPal gatoscampodegibraltar@gmail.com

Protectora San Antón is an animal shelter for cats and dogs in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz). The entire place is flooded and the animals don't have a comfortable place to sleep in. Cats can't even walk on the ground. You can donate to their PayPal protectorasananton@hotmail.com

I'll be adding more as I find them. Thank you everyone for your help.

[dividedindiversity]

HEY GUYS!!

GUYS!!!

FRANCE HAS REACHED THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF SIGNATURES ON THE CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE AGAINST CONVERSION THERAPY IN THE EU!!

ONE COUNTRY DOWN, SIX TO GO!!

We also need still quite a few signatures in order to reach the one million required.

As to date, the six other countries with the most signatures are:

Spain - 38.72%

Finland - 30.31%

Ireland - 24.86%

Netherlands - 24.15%

Germany - 23.54%

Belgium - 23.09%

So yeah, still a long way to go, but we ARE slowly getting closer. Don't stop now! Don't let this stay within the community, either, if you have any friends or family who are open to queer rights, get them to sign, too!

[dividedindiversity]

Central and Eastern European floods

Starting on September 14th, floods have been sweeping central and Eastern Europe. As I think quite a few of the people who follow this blog might be affected, I thought I'd use the wisdom of the crowd to make a masterpost with links to information. Don't get your info from tumblr posts, but I can link, you know? So here I present: The highly cynical poll to boost engagement. Please leave links to any good sources in the comments, reblogs, asks, etc. (for the purposes of the poll, anyone who lives in Europe, has a European citizenship, or otherwise has a strong connection to Europe counts as 'European')