Europe’s leading LGBTI+ rights organisation, ILGA-Europe are alarmed to observe that in the past week the Turkish government has stepped up its systematic attacks on and defamation of LGBTI+ people and calls on President Erdo?an to guarantee the fundamental rights of all minorities without discrimination, as enshrined in the country’s Constitution.

Authorities in Bulgaria have not recognised the valid EU birth certificate of the child of a same-sex couple. On February 9, the Court of Justice of the European Union must clarify that if you are a parent in one EU country, you are a parent in every EU country.

Romania has been found to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights because its authorities present transgender people with an impossible dilemma. 

A judgement issued today by the European Court of Human Rights finds that the response of Croatian authorities to a hate crime against a lesbian woman was “particularly destructive of fundamental human rights”.

The trial of three women accused of “offending religious beliefs” will take place, tomorrow on January 13 in Plock, Poland. The activists face up to two years in prison for disseminating posters of the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo symbolic of the LGBTI flag. Six international human rights NGOs are calling for all charges to be dropped, and for the Polish authorities to amend their legislation and bring it in line with international and regional human rights standards. 

Turkey must uphold its domestic and international commitments, and dismiss all charges against 19 human rights defenders, prosecuted for their participation in a peaceful Pride march at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara in May 2019, says Europe’s largest LGBTI rights umbrella organisation, ILGA-Europe.

The publication today of a five-year EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy marks a qualitative shift from the European Commission towards playing its full role to defend and protect LGBTI rights in times of real backlash, says Europe’s largest LGBTI umbrella organisation, ILGA-Europe.

The European Commission and member states are duty bound to hold Poland accountable to EU Treaties, asserts ILGA-Europe, alongside two Polish equality organisations, in a legal complaint citing the violation of fundamental rights of the EU by inciting hatred and discrimination against LGBTI people.

After nearly 2 years of mounting pressure, things came to a boiling point yesterday, August 7, in Warsaw. A spontaneous protest related to the “preventative detention” of an LGBTI activist, Margot Szutowicz, resulted in 48 arrests and extensive police brutality last night. More protests, and more arrests, are expected today as the repression of LGBTI people goes unabated.

In the judgement Rana v. Hungary delivered today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that Hungary had breached its obligation to protect the right to private life under Article 8 of the Convention by rejecting the application of an Iranian transgender refugee to have his name and sex marker changed officially.

TGEU, ILGA-Europe, IGLYO, and OII Europe condemn decision of Hungarian Parliament to follow the government and restrict access to fundamental rights for trans and intersex people.

There has been little progress in the lived experience of LGBTI people in Europe over the past seven years. This is a clear message coming out of the report on the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)  2nd LGBTI survey published yesterday.

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, the annual ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map shows we have come to a pivotal moment for LGBTI people’s human rights in the region.

In a judgement delivered on 23 April 2020, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) held that statements made by a lawyer during a radio programme, saying he would never recruit a “homosexual” or wish to use the services of such persons, fall within the material scope of EU Directive 2000/78 (‘the anti-discrimination directive’).

ILGA-Europe and Transgender Europe, the two largest networks of LGBTI and trans organisations in Europe and Central Asia, representing over 800 organisations and groups across the region collectively, are calling on the Hungarian Parliament and the Justice Committee of the Parliament to drop Article 33 of a legislative omnibus bill, which would deny access to legal gender recognition in the country.

Amid rising hate speech and crime, vulnerable people across Europe find themselves disconnected from the popular story of the region’s success in securing LGBTI rights, major human rights review finds.

A letter sent today (27 January) to the Croatian Presidency by ILGA-Europe and the Equal Rights Association (ERA) stresses that opening accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania is critical in protecting LGBTI rights.

Today, the European Court of Human Rights found Lithuania’s failure to investigate online hateful comments against a gay couple to violate their rights to private and family life as well as being discriminatory on the ground of sexual orientation.

Civil Rights Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Front Line Defenders and International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe) call upon Turkish authorities to drop all charges against 19 LGBTI+ rights defenders due to stand trial on 12 November 2019 in Ankara

As a sharp rise in hate attacks on LGBTI communities in Hungary, Serbia and Poland is reported, ILGA-Europe calls for the EU Commission to step […]

Europe is at a dangerous crossroads and that’s why this is a critical time for the Commission to adopt a comprehensive LGBTI strategy over the […]