Orlando LGBT+

Orlando LGBT+ (also referred to as Orlando LGBT) is a non-profit scientific organization based in Greece, focusing on the mental health of LGBTQ+ idividuals. Orlando LGBT+ was founded during the summer of 2018 by psychologists Nancy Papathanasiou and Elena-Olga Christidi with the aim of "[creating] a scientific body focused on issues of [...] orientation, identity, expression and gender characteristics." The organization's activities include offering mental health services for LGBTQ+ individuals, conducting or participating in research projects around the mental health disparities affecting the LGBTQ+ population, organizing conferences, as well developing various educational materials for mental health professionals and the general public.

The organization's aim, as stated on its official website, is to "promote the only modern scientific approach to the mental health of LGBTQI+ individuals, based on the complete depathologisation of [...] orientation and gender identity, on absolute respect for self-identification and human rights, as well as on combating discrimination, which is the main risk factor for the mental health of LGBTQI+ individuals."

According to the founders, the name "Orlando" was inspired by the namesake novel Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf.

Controversies

Orlando LGBT+ has engaged in several controversies regarding anti-LGBTQ+ groups or decisions made by influential institutions.

In May of 2022, Orlando LGBT+ issued a joint press release along with many other LGBTQ+ organizations, urging the Hellenic parliament to amend a bill that would ban the use of conversion therapy on minors. Among other criticisms, the organizations took issue with one of the bill's provisions which allowed conversion practices to be used on adults as long as the patient has provided oral consent. They instructed the parliament to "not vote on an article that defends that there can be consent to psychological abuse." After the bill passed, Orlando LGBT+ released a statement providing a more detailed criticism of the bill, as well as expressing disappointment that their objections were not taken into account.

In June of 2024, after homophobic statements by metropolitan bishop Mesogaias Nikolaou, Orlando LGBT+ would criticize the Greek Psychiatric Association's concise response as being inadequate, stating that "the responsibilities of scientific associations are greater."

In March of 2024, cofounder of Orlando LGBT+, Nancy Papathanasiou, reported that the youth wing of the defunct neo-[...] party and criminal organization, Golden Dawn, had attacked the offices of the group Colour Youth, vandalizing property and making threats that forced the group to cancel a party that was going to take place on the same day.

In April of 2024, Orlando LGBT+ criticized the National Center for Social Solidarity for featuring two speakers without scientific backgrounds after Nancy Papathanasiou's speech at the event, as The Two went on to argue against adoption rights for same-[...] couples "without offering scientific counterargument or corresponding data, only making general references to their personal opinion." According to Papathanasiou, "they invoked unscientific views on what defines the suitability of parents, pathologized same-[...] couples, and overall developed their proposals using blatantly homophobic language."

In October of 2024, the organization reported on a "secret conference" involving trans youth, organized in Athens by the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM). According to them, SEGM had "developed ties with psychoanalytical, medical, psychotherapeutic and educational centers in Greece." They highlighted SEGM's promotion of conversion therapy as well as its classification as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, going on to state that "SEGM [is] a dangerous organization and gender-exploratory psychotherapy potentially seriously harmful to transgender and gender-exploring children."

In December of 2024, Orlando LGBT+ released a statement rebuking the president of the right-wing Greek Solution political party, Kyriakos Velopoulos, for remarks he made in parliament regarding an event the organization had held on the Western University of Macedonia.

See also

• LGBTQ rights in Greece
• Colour Youth
• Gender studies