ABSTRACT
The ‘global gay identity’ is a highly controversial concept, which is, particularly popular with the type of elite, male international it nonetheless holds certain power as it shapes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists, who dominate the lobby scene in Brussels. While European identity discourses try to consolidate boundaries between Europeans and ‘Others’, the borders of the European Union (EU) are, as the process of EU enlargement shows, fluid and continually expanding. The first and maybe most evident element of the ‘global gay identity’ that makes it attractive for EU identity discourses is its post-national character. Although the ‘global gay identity’ is an imagined identity that is only shared by some activists, it nonetheless holds certain power as it shapes European LGBTI activism in a way that facilitates it to be mainstreamed into EU policy. The ideas and practices of transnational solidarity resonate deeply with the EU’s attempt to create a common identity that is based on solidarity.
