BRUSSELS, October 27, 2006  –  A new website for the European Parliament’s ‘Intergroup on gay and lesbian rights is to be launched next month, it was announced today.

The group’s current website has been an important source of information about the European Parliament’s official Intergroup on the varied issues facing the LGBT community both in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

The new website will feature a Documentation Centre, regular press reviews, a massive links directory, and easy-to-use communication tools that enable direct interaction between the public and the members and secretariat of the Intergroup.

“We are convinced that with the new website, we will be better able to serve the LGBT community,” said Michael Cashman MEP (UK), the group’s president.

“The website is our most effective way of communicating with our LGBT constituents – we owe it to them to make it easy to get in touch with us.”

Whilst the new website remains under construction, the old website will remain accessible to the public at the same URL.  A holding page has been put in place informing the public of the website’s closure, its temporary URL, as well as a ‘name the domain name’ contest that is being organised.

“The new website will be a vastly updated one, giving our constituents much greater detail about Intergroup activities, the extent of its influence, and the tools it uses to make positive changes for the day-to-day life of each and every LGBT individual,” said Sophie In't Veld MEP (The Netherlands), a vice-president of the group.

“This website is made for the constituent in the spirit of greater transparency and ownership and reflects the rapid rise of LGBT rights on the political agenda of the European Parliament.

With nearly a hundred members, many of whom are Members of the European Parliament, the Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights is amongst the most active pressure groups fighting on behalf of the LGBT community against discrimination and homophobia.

Last summer, members of the Intergroup participated in Pride Marches in EU Member States that seemed poised to ban them. Such actions would have most certainly infringed on the LGBT community’s freedom of expression and assembly.

The Intergroup is regularly at the forefront of Parliamentary political action on behalf of the LGBT community.

The new website will be launched on November 15 in a meeting of the Intergroup during the Strasbourg plenary session of the European Parliament.  A contest is planned to determine a new domain name for the Intergroup’s website.

“We will be holding a small contest open to the public to choose our new domain name,”  Ms. In't Veld explained,   “We are looking for something simple, easy to remember, and reflective of the diversity that makes up the LGBT community.”

The domain name will end with ‘dot eu’ and the group is looking for something that combines with ‘.eu’ to make something ‘quirky’ short and easy to remember.  The winning entry will become the official domain name of the Intergroup and its nominee will see their name adorning the webpages of the Intergroup.

To enter the contest, click HERE.