On the 28th of June Rémy Bonny will be one of the speakers during the Stonewall Rally Commemoration in front of the legendary Stonewall Inn in Christopher Street – New York City. The Stonewall Uprising is internationally seen as the start of the modern international LGBT+ movement. This year the movement celebrates the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.
As a political scientist and activist, Bonny investigates the influences countries have on the spread of homophobia and transphobia worldwide. He’s especially focussed on Eastern Europe. For the moment, Bonny (originally Belgian) is living in the Hungarian capital Budapest for a research to the Russian interference in European LGBT+ Politics. This research is happening in the context of a programme at the Global Campus for Human Rights (former European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights & Democratisation).
Death threats
In the last few months, Bonny has been sharing and commenting on several problems concerning LGBT+ politics in Eastern Europe with international media. He has also been invited by several organisations in Belgium, France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania and the USA to share his thoughts about the current political situation for LGBT+ in Europe. Next summer he will also be speaking at Europe’s best music festival Sziget.
Last year, Bonny went viral in the Belgian media after he received death threats for publishing an article on the rights of transgenders in Armenia in a Dutch-speaking magazine.
Honor
“This is a childhood dream coming true. As a young, very unconfident teenager – growing up in a small village in the Western province of Flanders – I could never imagine this. When I was still in the closet, I secretly watched videos on YouTube about the heroes of the Stonewall Uprising. It was one of the reasons why I was politically engaged from such a young age. Now – it’s difficult to believe that I will be speaking at this legendary place and during such a legendary event. When I received the invitation, my eyes were in tears.”, according to Bonny.
Earlier this week – the European LGBT+ umbrella organisation ILGA-Europe released a report stating it is not going to right direction with LGBT+ equality in Europe. “This confirms what I was already saying much longer. The homophobic and transphobic conservative movement was able to organise itself quite good in the last few years. I even suggest that they are financially stronger than the LGBT+ movement itself. It’s my goal to make a call in New York towards Western politicians to have more attention for LGBT+ people who get discriminated, persecuted, tortured or even killed across the world. I want to be a ‘voice for the voiceless’.”, Bonny concludes.
Interviews
Bonny is available via WhatsApp. His number is +32 495 81 91 14. You can also reach him via e-mail.
⭐️ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT ⭐️
🇺🇸 I have the honour to speak at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rally in New York City at the end of June. Stonewall is internationally seen as the start of the LGBT+ movement.
🏳️🌈 This is a childhood dream coming true. pic.twitter.com/0KHV0PwFiG— Rémy Bonny (@RemyBonny) May 15, 2019
Rémy Bonny 
Yay. Congrats on getting noticed and recognised.