NELFA PRESS RELEASE:
A strategic alliance for rainbow families in Europe! – NELFA and the Euro LGBT Family Law Institute join forces to create a new legal support group
The Network of European LGBTIQ* Families Associations, NELFA, has started a close relationship with lawyers from all over Europe. This was discussed and finally appointed at a meeting of the Euro LGBT Family Law Institute, FLI, in Frankfurt am Main. The main aim is to support rainbow families with legal struggles, especially by sharing legal cases and best practices in strategic litigation, as well as serving as a roster of qualified attorneys by region and nation to handle cases for rainbow families. The European branch of FLI has 25 European member attorneys who are experienced in LGBTIQ* family law, and is rapidly growing.
NELFA President Eleni Maravelia says, “Our member organisations have always been working with lawyers to advance the rights of rainbow families. And, of course, these legal experts have already worked together successfully on different occasions. However, our special goal is now to establish a sustainable alliance. LGBTIQ* family lawyers from all over Europe are invited to unify their knowledge, to create a lively dialogue with rainbow family activists and to fill – jointly – the existing gaps and traps in European legislations.”
NELFA Vice President Björn Sieverding adds, “After our recent encounters with decision-makers at the European level, we have to learn that political efforts for rainbow families are still difficult to achieve. Therefore, we need to strengthen our efforts for strategic litigation. Many recent court cases show how absurd the legal circumstances are, in particular in cross-border situations. We need to make this crisis for families visible to the public. For sure, this will help to fight against ignorance and to increase understanding for our difficult situation.”
The Director of the Euro LGBT Family Law Institute, Diana Adams, states, “It is incredibly inspiring to bring together lawyers from across Europe who work to support LGBTIQ* families, to create a community for these attorneys, particularly on cross-border cases. Now we can take this collaboration to the next level by joining forces with NELFA, to support their network with qualified legal referrals to get these families as much legal stability as possible, and also share our insights on strategic litigation with NELFA as well as the consistent challenges we see for these families, in order to work together to expand the opportunities for parenting rights to keep children and parents together, as they should be.“
Most recently, NELFA has elaborated a new webpage with legal service for rainbow families. Just follow this link: http://nelfa.org/resources/nelfa-legal-service/
NELFA is the European platform of LGBTIQ* families associations, bringing together LGBTIQ* parents and parents-to-be from all over Europe. NELFA currently represents 34 organisations in 28 European countries with more than 20,000 members. NELFA is a member of ILGA-Europe, Transgender Europe and COFACE Families Europe. Website: http://www.nelfa.org. Leaflet: http://bit.ly/2rJW0us. Newsletter: https://bit.ly/2Ppsxlf.
Euro FLI is led by US attorney Diana Adams, who is based in Frankfurt and serves Americans in Europe as well as the US. The Family Law Institute was founded ten years ago in the United States by legendary attorney for LGBTIQ* families, Bill Singer, as a joint project of the two US nonprofits National LGBT Bar Association and National Center for Lesbian Rights, to create a network of legal experts in LGBTIQ* family law for support and collaboration. In the meantime, FLI has regional chapters in the US, UK/Ireland, Canada, Europe, and as of last month, South America. FLI hopes to create and support a worldwide network of attorneys. To read more about the US LGBT Family Law Institute, please read here: https://lgbtbar.org/programs/member-practice-area-groups/family-law-institute/
Further contacts: Eleni Maravelia: +34 666 862 034, Björn Sieverding: +32 498 70 80 75
