Association of Nordic LGBT Student Organizations, ANSO http://www.anso.dk/, is an international non-profit non-governmental organization striving to improve the quality of life of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans - LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 - students in the Nordic

Nordic countries

The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...

 as well as Baltic

Baltic countries

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

 countries. ANSO targets its activity to LGBT students in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 and Åland.

History

ANSO was founded in November 2004 in Denmark and now has twelve member organizations:

BLUS - Bøsse/Lesbiske Studerende http://www.blus.dk/ of Denmark

Friðarbogin

Friðarbogin

Friðarbogin was the first organization working with the issues of homosexuals and bisexuals of the Faroe Islands. Friðarbogin was founded October 17 2003....

 http://www.fridarbogin.com/ & Bogin of Faroe Islands

Q http://www.queer.is/ of Iceland

Homoglobiini http://www.homoglobiini.fi of Finland

Telehpy http://telehpy.tky.fi/ of Finland

SFQ http://www.gaystudenterna.se/ of Sweden

UgleZ of Norway

Skeivt Forum http://www.uio.no/studentliv/studentforeninger/hobby/skeiv.html of Norway

Eesti Gei Noored http://egn.ee/ of Estonia

KPH http://www.kph.org.pl/ of Poland

TYA http://www.tja.lt/ of Lithuania

LGL http://www.lgl.lt/ of Lithuania

At its founding ANSO decided to have its seat in Mykines

Mykines

Mykines is the western-most of the main 18 islands in the Faroe Islands. See also the only settlement on the island, Mykines.Only 11 people live in village Mykines all year around. The oldest inhabitant is 75 and the youngest is 6 years old....

, Faroe Islands. In 2006 the seat of Anso was transferred to Denmark, as ANSO became a registered organization under Danish law.

ANSO is member of IGLYO, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation

IGLYO stands for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation. It was created in 1984 as a reaction to the need for better cooperation among regional, local and national LGBTQ youth and student organisations. As a peer-led membership-based network...

.

Funding

The funding of ANSO activities relies on grants from the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and other sources of project grants.

Achievements

ANSO organized the first gay pride event ever on Faroe Islands in 2005. ANSO has created a web forum http://www.phpbbcity.com/forum/?mforum=anso for interchange of information and ideas between Nordic LGBT student organizations. In addition to this, ANSO has completed a Youth for Europe project in 2006 in Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, Finland, discussing LGBT youth issues of small towns and remote areas. The next project, under the Youth in Action program, is "A Queer Perspective on European Students, in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 2007.