Membership

During the ILGA World Conference 2022 held in Long Beach, US, the General Assemblythe main deliberative and policy-making organ of the United Nations which makes decisions on international issues such as development and peace and security. All 193 member States are represented, and each has one vote. (representatives of full member organisations) passed a resolution confirming that ILGA World will establish a sliding scale for annual membership fees paid by members in all six ILGA regions. The amount to be paid by each member organisation depends on their annual budget for the year of payment. Please refer to the table below to learn about the membership fees applicable from January 2023 onwards:

Full members

Associate members

ILGA World has a current practice, confirmed by the ILGA World Board at its meeting in October 2018, whereby ILGA World member organisations wishing to exercise the rights of a member [including but not limited to voting; having a person from your organisation run for a position (including alternate) at the World or Regional level; having a person from your organisation’s representative hold office in one of the five ILGA World Steering Committees (Bi, Intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against., Transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth., Women, Youth) (under Section C6 of the Constitution); nominating a person for a board, alternate or committee position; having organisation’s representative participate as a member of the Chairing Pool at an ILGA World or Regional conference; bidding to host a World Conference] are required to pay the three most recent years of their annual fees (i.e. the current calendar year and the previous two years).

Organisations that have been members for less than three years are required to pay all outstanding annual fees.

Membership fees in 2021 & 2022 – ILGA World understands that many of our member organisations faced financial challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis. If your organisation is amongst them, ILGA World is pleased to announce that it will – upon request – grant a reduction of 50% in membership fees for 2021 & 2022. You can write to [email protected] for further information.

Each membership application is subject to a thorough review process run by the ILGA World Executive Board, democratically elected by our members at the World Conferences (or regional conferences held by the relevant ILGA World region.) The ILGA World office (also known as the Secretariat) is in charge of the timely receipt and transfer of the applications to firstly, regional board members and then the rest of the board.

As each application requires meticulous assessment to make sure the applicant’s aims and values are in line with those of ILGA World and the adhesion will best serve the global LGBTIacronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Although this is not the acronym available to describe people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics, it is the most commonly used in United Nations spaces and advocacy. movement, you may expect to hear back about the result in up to 2 months.

ILGA World memberships aren’t revoked based on the payment status. Paying the membership fee is one meaningful way for members to express their support and commitment to ILGA World and its operations on the global and regional levels.

With the new fee structure allowing for more flexibility in terms of both financial and practical points of view, we hope to better facilitate the timely receipt of the membership dues every year.

The implications of not paying fees include not being able to exercise electoral rights on both regional and World levels (e.g., voting, running in Executive Board elections, nominating for Executive Board position, participating in Chairing Pool, bidding for conference host). However, all our members are welcome to be present in the ILGA spaces.

If you have any pending payments from previous years, you will be able to pay your dues retrospectively. Please email us at membership [email protected] to request your customised payment link.

Storing the most up-to-date information about our members is essential to our global operations as we wish to make sure our members can access the information including but not limited to advocacy and scholarship opportunities. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to share with us the updated contact details by sending an email to [email protected].

Membership applications can only be processed by our Executive Board through ILGA World’s assessment system. Regional offices per se cannot accept nor deny membership applications. After a multi-stage Board review approves their application, eligible organisations become ILGA World members. The ILGA World region your organisation will become part of is determined by your country of operations and/or registration you provided in your application. For example: If your organisation is based in, let’s say, Malaysia, you will be listed as a member in the ILGA Asia region.

Our members’ contact information is not shared externally unless explicitly requested or consented to by the organisation in question. Additionally, ILGA World can anonymise your organisation’s name on the website if you indicate so in the relevant section of the membership application form.

ILGA World sends outbeing open about their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. annual membership fees beginning of the year in January.

The fees are sent outbeing open about their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. via email with enclosed link to a payment page. The payment page is already pre-populated with your organisational data and you would only need to confirm and chose a payment method. You can pay by PayPal, credit card or by bank transfer. The payment link is valid for 30 days and in case you need a new link to be send, you can send an email to [email protected].

Payment reminders are being send outbeing open about their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. in March.

All members must support the aims of ILGA World.

Under the Constitution, a member may be suspended from ILGA membership by the ILGA World Executive Board for failure to comply with the ILGA World Constitution by at least a 50% plus 1 majority of its members voting for the suspension. The suspension, unless revoked by the Executive Board, shall remain in force until the next World Conference.

The ILGA World Board at its April 2020 Board meeting has determined that it will make such a decision after a considered recommendation is received from the ILGA World Board Ethics Committee following an investigation using the board-approved ILGA World Complaints Procedure, and arriving at its final recommendation will ensure that the following additional points are also considered when determining whether a member organisation has failed to comply with the aims and objectives of ILGA World:

1. the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness;
2. reasonable interpretation of “supporting the aims of ILGA World” includes any policies, values and rules of ILGA World; and
3. “Supporting the aims of ILGA World” is more than merely expressing support for those aims, it is also based on the actions of the member organisation.”

The ILGA World Board Ethics Committee is a committee of five ILGA World Board members appointed by the Board.

Under the Constitution, a member may be expelled from membership by motion at a World Conference for failure to comply with the ILGA World Constitution. Members facing the possibility of expulsion have the right to present their defence.

ILGA membership is for life, unless the organisation is suspended or expelled or withdraws.

Members are not suspended or expelled for non-payment of fees (but they may not exercise the rights of a member without paying fees). Notwithstanding, a member may decide that they still wish to leave ILGA World. Member organisations may at any request to cease to be a member organisation of ILGA World by sending a letter from the authorised representative of the organisations to [email protected], explaining that the member organisation would like to withdraw its membership from ILGA World (and consequently also the relevant regional ILGA entity – eg ILGA-Europe, ILGALAC etc) and setting outbeing open about their diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics. the reasons for leaving.