Pan-European and Global Influence: Shaping Policies and Laws
Dinah Bons' impact extends far beyond community organizing to influence policy and legislation at European and global levels. Her career demonstrates a unique capacity to translate grassroots community needs into the language of high-level policy.
During her leadership at Transgender Europe (TGEU), Bons played a fundamental role in "shaping transgender rights and policies for the EU through policy and research." As Strategic Director, she was the "person with legal responsibility" for TGEU's relationships with the EU, a formal designation indicating her central role in lobbying.
Currently serving as Co-Chair (2023-2025), she continues to influence the direction of European trans rights advocacy at the highest levels.
Her work included advising EU commissions and litigating strategic cases before the European Court, bringing community struggles to the highest judicial levels.
This work developed within the context of the EU's own LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025, a framework that, while progressive, activists often consider slow or insufficient in its implementation.
Bons' influence extends beyond Europe, as demonstrated by her role as UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) NGO Delegate for Europe in 2022. This position involves representing European civil society perspectives in global HIV strategy and decision-making.
This role directly connects her grassroots HIV activism with the realm of global policy, ensuring that the voices of the most affected communities are heard in forums where global health policies are formulated.
As PCB NGO Delegate, she represented the perspectives and needs of European civil society organizations in UNAIDS' highest decision-making body.
Her powerful 2018 International AIDS Conference speech exemplified her approach to global advocacy, where she presented herself as a "proud trans woman of color, long-term survivor and trans HIV and sex work activist" to challenge those in power.
Her main message was a critique of tokenism and a demand for meaningful participation: "We, people living with HIV, are not here as window dressing. Building bridges means sitting at the table when decisions are made."
Bons' career exemplifies a sophisticated "inside-outside" strategy for social change, working simultaneously within established power structures while building radical alternatives.
While building radical community-led institutions (the "outside" work), she simultaneously occupies positions of power within European and global policy bodies (the "inside" work).
This dual positioning allows her to inject radical perspectives, based on lived experience, into bureaucratic environments that are often disconnected from the communities they serve.
Her speech on depathologization is a perfect example of this synergy: she uses a personal and grassroots story ("my friend") to present a powerful argument for high-level policy change.
This is a sophisticated strategy where the credibility and urgency of her grassroots work grants her legitimacy in policy spaces, and in turn, the knowledge and access gained in those spaces can be used to better resource and direct grassroots work.
Bons' engagement with formal politics in Amsterdam reveals a significant ideological evolution and reflects broader trends in European social justice movements.
Initially, Bons was linked to the Labour Party (PvdA), a traditional social democratic party, and was even a candidate for Amsterdam city council.
The PvdA represents an established route to political influence within the Dutch political system.
Later, she became the faction leader for the BIJ1 party in the city council, representing a significant shift in political alignment.
BIJ1 is a party founded on principles of anti-racism, intersectionality, and radical equality.
This trajectory reflects a broader trend in European social justice movements: growing disillusionment with traditional center-left parties and a turn toward more radical, intersectional political formations that explicitly center anti-racism.
Bons' move from PvdA to BIJ1 is not just a personal career choice, but a political statement about the limitations of conventional politics and the need to build new political vehicles capable of addressing the systemic issues of racism and colonialism that she prioritizes.
Her role as BIJ1 faction leader (~2021-2022) positioned her to advocate for radical equality and anti-racist policies within Amsterdam's formal political structures.
This experience in formal politics complements her other advocacy work, providing another avenue for advancing intersectional approaches to policy and governance.
Influencing EU legislation on gender recognition, healthcare access, and anti-discrimination protections for transgender people across Europe.
Shaping global HIV strategy through UNAIDS and advocating for meaningful community participation in policy development.
Advocating for decriminalization and protection policies at European level through ESWA and other networks.
Bons' approach to policy influence is grounded in lived experience and community connection. Her credibility comes not from academic credentials or political connections, but from her authentic representation of marginalized communities.
This authenticity allows her to speak with authority in policy spaces while maintaining accountability to the communities she represents.
Her policy work consistently applies an intersectional framework, ensuring that solutions address multiple forms of marginalization rather than single issues in isolation.
This approach challenges policy makers to consider the complex realities of people's lives rather than addressing issues in bureaucratic silos.
Through her various leadership roles, Bons has helped build and strengthen global networks that connect local communities with international policy processes.
| Organization | Scope | Role | Policy Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transgender Europe (TGEU) | Pan-European | Strategic Director, Co-Chair | EU trans rights policy, legal advocacy |
| UNAIDS PCB | Global | NGO Delegate (Europe) | Global HIV strategy, community representation |
| ESWA/ICRSE | European | President, Board Member | European sex worker rights policy |
| NSWP | Global | Operating Board Member | Global sex worker advocacy |
| BIJ1 Amsterdam | Local | Faction Leader | Local anti-racist policy |
Bons' approach to policy influence focuses on creating sustainable change by building the capacity of marginalized communities to represent themselves in policy processes.
Rather than simply advocating for specific policies, she works to change the structures and processes through which policies are made, ensuring that marginalized voices are permanently included.
Her career provides a model for how activists from marginalized communities can effectively engage with policy processes without compromising their radical principles or community accountability.
This model demonstrates that it is possible to work within systems of power while maintaining a commitment to transforming those systems.