ERRC Launches LGBTIQ+ Roma Exhibition in Brussels
02 October 2025
Brussels, 2 October 2025: The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is proud to announce the opening of RoMagic: Proudly Queer. Unapologetically Roma, a groundbreaking exhibition bringing visibility to the struggles, resilience, and pride of Romani LGBTIQ+ communities. The exhibition opens on Thursday, 2 October at Rue Lebeau 43, Brussels, and runs daily until 8 October.
“LGBTIQ+ Roma are so marginalised, so invisible in the public imagination, that the first step must simply be to affirm that we exist. From there, we can begin to understand the struggles, identify systemic injustices, and confront these things through the law…I hope this project offers new, positive narratives. I hope it gives our families, our mothers, fathers, grandparents, and all who love us, words of courage when neighbours ask if they fear their queer Romani children will burn in hell. I hope it strengthens younger generations of queer Roma, so they choose life even when the struggle feels unbearable”- said Đorđe Jovanović, President of the ERRC.
What is RoMagic?
Co-created by Romani LGBTQI+ activists in collaboration with non-Romani allies and the ERRC, RoMagic documents oppression and presents brave personal testimonies through intimate documentary photography and raw audio interviews, accessible via QR codes. Alongside the exhibition, the RoMagic digital photobook was also released today. The book is a digital collection of the powerful stories and images that make up the exhibition and celebrates all kinds of love, humanity, and a refusal to remain silent in the face of oppression.
Why it Matters?
Romani people are the largest ethnic minority in Europe and still among the most marginalized and persecuted, facing severe human rights abuses, including segregated education, forced evictions, police violence, limited access to basic services, and more. For Romani LGBTQI+ individuals, these systemic barriers are compounded by homophobia, transphobia, rejection, or exclusion within their own communities and in wider society.
“RoMagic is a call to reject the forces that violate and oppress, and to stand with those that protect. It is a call for solidarity, not competition in suffering. Let Roma rights unite us. Let LGBTQI+ rights unite us. Let Romani and LGBTQI+ people together show us another path: one of justice, dignity, and humanity” concluded Jovanovic.
Practical Information
- Exhibition opening: Thursday, 2 October at 11:00 (with a special opening event at 19:45 with the artists and activists involved)
- Location: Rue Lebeau 43, Brussels
- Duration: Open daily, 11:00 - 20:00 until 8 October inclusive
The exhibition will also open in Bucharest and Belgrade later this year.
The RoMagic project was created by activists from the ERRC alongside RomaJust in Romania, and Vojvodanski Romski Centar in Serbia. The project was funded by the European Union.
The photobook can be viewed here.
The interviews for the exhibition can be listened to and read here.
For further information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Jonathan Lee
Advocacy & Communications Director
European Roma Rights Centre
jonathan.lee@errc.org
+32 49 288 7679
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