LGBTI asylum seekers are often at risk of additional danger because of their SOGIESC during their journey and upon arrival in the country where they seek asylum, which can take the form of harassment, exclusion, sexual violence, or other forms of violence. Often but not always, they qualify as vulnerable persons with specific needs in legal assistance, reception conditions, healthcare, and others throughout the asylum process.

As European NGOs working on asylum and migration and Afghan Diaspora organisations in Europe, we are alarmed about the situation in Afghanistan and concerned above all about the security of the people of Afghanistan, both those within the country and those displaced and seeking protection in the region and beyond.

The vast majority of displaced Afghans will likely be hosted in the neighbouring countries, as has been the case over decades of displacement from Afghanistan. For reference, since 2015, over six years, 570,000 Afghans sought protection in the EU and associated countries. The majority received a protection status. In contrast, by July 2021, Iran hosted 800,000 registered refugees and up to 3 million other displaced Afghans. In Pakistan, there were 1.4 million registered refugees and up to 2 million other displaced Afghans. These figures have been increasing by the day. In addition, there are close to 5.5 million IDPs in the country.

In this context, it is crucial that the small proportion of displaced people who do arrive in Europe are given rapid access to a fair asylum procedure in line with European states’ obligations under EU and international law.

We recommend the following five urgent responses for the EU and European countries:

1. Evacuation, resettlement and other safe routes to protection for Afghans

Evacuate as many as possible of the people facing immediate security risks, as quickly as possible.

This is the immediate priority, to then be followed by expansion of resettlement and complementary pathways for those most at risk and most vulnerable. A particular focus should be on women and girls and their (immediate) family members. Attention should also be paid to the situation of minorities where they are at additional and immediate risk of persecution.

Europe should continue the critical efforts to establish and implement safe and regular routes to protection, including for those who have worked for European institutions and agencies (military, diplomatic and civil society) in Afghanistan, and those at immediate risk after the Taliban takeover. Information on how to apply should be clear and procedures should be as simple as possible, taking into account that people are on the move, may have limited internet access and using mobile phones to apply, and that they may have struggled to obtain or lost their original documents on the journey.

We welcome the approach of European countries to bringing people to Europe, and the clear statement from High Representative Borrell that people cannot be abandoned and must be offered shelter in the EU. We support continued coordination by European nations to ensure this happens, and urge a wide approach covering as many as possible from at-risk groups, including journalists, human rights defenders, those who worked for the international community, those funded by but not directly employed by EU programmes, and those who were promoted by or visibly supported by international actors.

We note that family reunification is a crucial safe route to protection, and has untapped potential to be used in emergency situations. Implementing existing commitments and legal obligations on family reunion is a priority, including allowing safe routes and the necessary documentation for those seeking to apply and for those who have already been accepted. In addition, temporary programmes with a widened scope of family definitions to include more family members and an easing of evidential requirements (such as provision of documents that may be impossible to acquire) should all be considered. Similarly, complementary pathways, such as private sponsorship, student scholarships and humanitarian visa programmes should be rapidly expanded, especially given the willingness of communities, institutions and organisations to support Afghans.

2. Humanitarian assistance

Scale up provision of humanitarian assistance.

In line with calls from international organisations and humanitarian actors in the region, it is necessary to rapidly scale up coordinated humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan itself, via independent humanitarian organisations still able to operate, and to the neighbouring countries via all relevant actors. Preserving access for humanitarian actors should be incorporated into international negotiations and international responses. In particular, critical services for women and girls must continue to be delivered, and this requires female aid workers who are able to access communities and create safe spaces for women and girls.

It should be noted, however, that humanitarian assistance in the region is not a substitute for Europe offering protection in line with EU and international obligations. Nor is it a means to deter those who are vulnerable and at risk from pursuing a safe route to protection.

3. Re-establish security for the people of Afghanistan.

Use the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and other EU external action, including diplomatic efforts, civilian crisis management, sanctions and other operational tools, to support security for Afghans and international peace negotiations.

The EU should support engagement of all relevant international actors, including those supporting proxies in Afghanistan and with interests there, in efforts to stabilise the situation. Dialogue with all relevant actors in Afghanistan when it is in the interests of the people of Afghanistan is important. However, apart from humanitarian assistance, all other forms of cooperation with any potential future government should be conditional on respect for the fundamental rights of all Afghans, in line with the international obligations of Afghanistan and of the EU. It also has to be ensured that potential sanctions do not negatively affect the ability to provide humanitarian aid.

The objective of EU foreign and security support and operations should be the security of Afghans and protection of civilians in the short-term and peace in the long-term for the people of Afghanistan. This should be prioritised over counter-terrorism, anti-migration or otherwise narrowly defined European interests.

When the immediate crisis has abated, a thorough evaluation of the EU’s role in the international efforts in Afghanistan must also take place, in order to inform future Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and wider CFSP actions. The current situation is a test for the European External Action Service and it should lead Europe’s response.

4. Access to asylum in Europe

Ensure rapid access to fair asylum procedure; preparations should be made in Europe now.

European countries must provide rapid access to fair asylum procedures for the small proportion of displaced Afghans who seek protection here. EU and international obligations to offer protection to those in need should be respected. The practice of pushbacks and collective expulsions of Afghans (and other nationalities) at European borders must stop. Even before the significant deterioration of the security situation, the majority of Afghans arriving in Europe received a protection status. In addition, the likely number of arrivals is manageable. Resources and attention should focus on preparations, such as ensuring that asylum systems are functioning including with adequate reception space – as they should be in any case.

Examination of cases already in asylum systems must take into account the reality on the ground and re-examination of decided asylum cases should take place, given the dramatic changes in the situation in country. We strongly support the initiatives already taken by some Member States in this regard but express dismay that some countries have frozen decision-making in open cases.

We condemn the insular approach of certain European politicians who seek to make the situation about “us”, Europe, and the small impact that will be had here, rather than keeping the focus on the security and humanitarian needs of Afghans. We further condemn the use of the situation to stoke panic and fear about people seeking protection, as is their right. It is particularly self-serving to instrumentalise the situation in Afghanistan to pursue pre-existing proposals to prevent or reduce access to protection in Europe.

Fear-mongering about the small proportion of the displaced who may arrive in Europe:

• creates insecurity for Afghans in Europe and elsewhere;
• legitimises and encourages border closures, including outside Europe, that prevent people fleeing to safety;
• is highly counter-productive. Europe needs to do its fair share in supporting displaced people. Otherwise the neighbouring countries will no longer be willing or able to host the vast majority of those displaced from Afghanistan.

We wish to underline that the EU, Turkey and countries neighbouring Afghanistan should all offer protection to Afghans fleeing from Afghanistan, hosting those in need in safety and dignity. However, Turkey, already the largest refugee hosting country in the world, cannot be considered a safe country of asylum for Afghans; there is no possible legal argument that can be advanced to support such a claim. Ongoing efforts to persuade Turkey to take on additional responsibilities are misguided and are out of step with responsibility sharing committed to by EU Member States in the Global Compact on Refugees.

Any efforts to close borders and forcibly prevent the movement of displaced people undermine the global protection system and directly contribute to serious harm to people seeking protection. Ultimately, protection in other regions, including in the countries neighbouring Afghanistan is dependent on the EU taking on a fair sharing of responsibility for displaced people, given that the willingness of other countries to host displaced people will be eroded if Europe aims to prevent all arrivals.

5. Suspending deportations to Afghanistan

Halt deportations to Afghanistan.

It was not safe to deport people to Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover; now it is certainly not the case and courts will – rightly – halt deportations. Asylum and other cases where human rights concerns preclude deportation need to be reviewed in light of current developments. It can be assumed that the majority will meet the criteria for international protection. Alternatives to deportation and related detention need to be considered, including providing legal statuses and the right to remain; decision-making should not be put on hold.

Signatories

#DiasporaVote!; 11.11.11; ACT Church of Sweden; aditus foundation; Afghan Action U.K.; Afghan Youth Association in Denmark; Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland; Associazione Consulenza Economica per migranti e rifugiati (ACEIR); AsyLex; Bureau for Rights-Based Development (BRD)-Sverige; Center my Right for Supporting Rights and Freedoms – Geneva; Centre for Peace Studies; Child Circle; CIRÉ (Coordination et Initiatives pour Réfugiés et Étrangers); Conselho Português para os Refugiados – CPR (Portuguese Refugee Council); Defence for Children International Greece; Donate and Educate Foundation; Donate and Educate girls; Eurodiakonia; European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE); European Evangelical Alliance; European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL); French Refugee Council; Generation Outside Afghanistan; Hakunila International Organization, Vantaa – Finland; HIAS Europe; HIAS Greece; ICMC Europe; ILGA-Europe; Interkulturelles Entwicklungs-Zentrum (IEZ); Irish Refugee Council; JRS Europe; Kids in Need of Defense (KIND); Lesvos Solidarity; Ligue des droits humains (Human Rights League, Belgium); Mosaico-azioni per i rifugiati; New Women Connectors; NOAS; Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC); Oxfam; PICUM; PRO ASYL; Refugees International; Swiss Refugee Council; Symbiosis-School of Political Studies; The European Coalition  ?of Migrants and Refugees; The Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups, FARR; Vluchtelinenwerk Vlaanderen; WE organization NL; World Hazara Council (WHC); YAAR

According to ILGA-Europe, the infringement procedures announced by the European Commission today show that the EU has come to a tipping point; after years of governments testing how far they can go, the European Commission has taken a clear step to hold Hungary and Poland accountable on the rule of law and fundamental rights.

Today, July 15, the European Commission announced that it will take landmark infringement procedures against both Hungary and Poland. The procedures against Hungary concern the censorship of a children’s book portraying LGBTI characters, and the legislation that entered into force last week, which prohibits the inclusion of LGBTI people in material in schools or in media for under-18s. The procedures against Poland concern a refusal to clarify whether LGBTI people are discriminated against in the labour market in the country’s so-called LGBT Free Zones .

According to ILGA-Europe, the leading LGBTI rights organisation in Europe, the infringements are  a clear message to all member states that they are bound by their membership to respect the core principles of the European Union.

The first infringement against Hungary is in respect of a book of reimagined fairytales with diverse characters entitled, Wonderland is for Everyone, which was published in September 2020. The book became an immediate target of homophobic attacks by politicians in the ruling Fidesz party, including the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, calling it “homosexual propaganda”. In January, the Hungarian government ordered the publisher of Wonderland is for Everyone to print disclaimers identifying books containing “behaviour inconsistent with traditional gender roles”, thus restricting the right to freedom of expression and the right to non-discrimination as enshrined in Articles 11 and 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and breaches the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. 

The second Hungarian infringement is in relation to legislative amendments voted in on June 15, banning the “portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality” for persons under 18 and for public servcie advertisement even without any age limit. The language surrounding this ban has been introduced into the following Hungarian legislation: the Child Protection Act, the Family Protection Act, the Act on Business Advertising Activity, the Media Act, and the Public Education Act, clearly breaching  a number of EU laws and violate international human rights norms, in particular restricting cross-border information society services, and the Treaty principles of the freedom to provide services (Article 56 TFEU) and the free movement of goods (Article 34 TFEU), by failing to demonstrate that the restrictions are necessary, non-discriminatory, and proportionate and pursue a legitimate interest.

On the day the Hungarian legislation came into force, the European Parliament voted in favour of urgent legal action against its member state, saying that the law was “another intentional and premeditated example of the gradual dismantling of fundamental rights” in the country.

The infringement against Poland has been launched because of the non-cooperation of Polish authorities in clarifying the question in how far the so-called Family Charters and LGBT Free Zones, which over 100 Polish local governments have adopted since 2019, might lead to discriminationon the grounds of sexual orientation and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, specifically ensuring non-discrimination in access to and in the labour market in line with EU anti-discrimination law, and also regarding management of the Structural and Investment Funds. 

According to ILGA-Europe’s Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel: “By opening infringement procedures, the EC clearly states that the Polish and Hungarian governments are violating fundamental rights and, as they are unwilling to engage in sincere cooperation, and is now stepping up and opening a clear procedure to ensure the full respect of the Treaties and EU legislation. This could ultimately result in the EC bringing both countries in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).”

Over the past two years, ILGA-Europe has been advocating at the highest EU levels for sanctions against Poland and Hungary, as the governments of both countries have increasingly stoked anti-LGBTI hatred, thereby sewing political and societal division. ILGA-Europe stated concerns that this instrumentalisation of a vulnerable minority, which was first employed by Vladimir Putin in 2013 with the Russian anti-propaganda law, was providing an example to the governments of other EU member states leaning in this direction, who saw Poland and Hungary acting with impunity in violation of EU directives and core values.

Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, Evelyne Paradis said: “For years now, we have been observing some EU member states consistently testing EU democracy and the protection of the rule of law and fundamental rights. The infringement procedures announced today send a clear signal that enough is enough. EU member states can no longer act against human rights with impunity, nor can governments go on instrumentalising minorities for political gains. They have to and will be held accountable.” 

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Background to infringement on Poland:

In September 2020, ILGA-Europe together with Polish LGBT rights organisations KPH (Campaign Against Homophobia) and Fundacja Równo?ci (The Equality Foundation) submitted a legal complaint to the European Commission setting out how these declarations introduce discrimination against LGBTI people and thus breach the European Council Directive (2000/78/EC), establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, as well as the Charter of Fundamental Rights Article 15 on Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work, and Article 21 on non-discrimination. Based on the complaint, the EC has requested information from the Polish authorities in February this year, which to this day has not been provided, thereby constituting failure to comply with the principle of sincere cooperation under Article 4(3) TEU.

Further information:

• Read more about Hungary in our Rainbow Map and Annual Review. 
• Read more about Poland in our Rainbow Map and Annual Review. 

For further comment, contact Ana Muñoz, ILGA-Europe: ana@ilga-europe.org and +32 493 35 60 55

As Hungary adopts Russian-style anti-LGBTI legislation, it is time for the EU to use all instruments available to hold its member state accountable for the respect of fundamental rights, including LGBTI rights, and for clear breaches of EU law, says ILGA-Europe.

Today, 15 June, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a number of amendments which directly discriminate against LGBTI people. The amendments were tabled by the ruling FIDESZ party and introduce a ban on the “portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality” for persons under 18.

The amendments clearly breach a number of EU laws and violate international human rights norms, in particular the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, UN Human Rights Committee and the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights (Articles 11 and 21) and Treaty on the European Union (Articles 2 and 6).

This language surrounding this ban will be introduced into the following Hungarian legislation:

• The Child Protection Act;
• The Act on Business Advertising Activity;
• The Media Act – all such content will be qualified as category V (unsuitable for minors), and the publication of such content will be banned in public service advertisements;
• The Family Protection Act and the Public Education Act – such topics cannot be part of sexuality education, schools cannot invite external speakers or NGOs for education on “sexual culture, sexual life, sexual orientation or sexual development” unless they receive a special licence by the state to do so. Participating in such activity without a licence is classified as a misdemeanour.

The discriminatory language being introduced to the Media Act constitutes a clear violation of the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive. The discriminatory language being introduced to the Act on Business Advertising Activity constitutes a violation of the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. The discriminatory language being introduced to the Business Advertising Activity Act and the Family Protection Act breaches the right to freedom of service provision and freedom of movement of goods as set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

According to Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, Evelyne Paradis: “With this vote, Hungary has adopted a Russian style anti-propaganda law that will effectively ban the representation or communication about diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics in the Hungarian public sphere, as well as specific places such as in schools. This law clearly violates EU principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaties, as well as at least two EU directives.

“The European Commission can no longer turn a blind eye to the ongoing legislative attacks launched by FIDESZ against the human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTI people in Hungary, but needs to use all instruments available to hold Hungary accountable for the respect of fundamental rights, including LGBTI rights. The enabling conditions of the Cohesion Funds clearly state that Member States need to respect the fundamental rights set out in the Charter. Hungary is violating fundamental rights with this new law and thus no EU funds should be paid out to Hungary before the law is withdrawn.”

Paradis concluded: “Building on the European Commission’s LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and renewed public commitments, LGBTI people across the EU are still waiting for the Commission to take a clear stand towards Member States and use all tools available: negotiations, infringement procedures, the rule of law reports, ongoing Article 7 procedures, as well as funding instruments, to ensure that the Hungarian government stops the ongoing violation of LGBTI human rights in its country.”

ILGA-Europe’s advocacy director, Katrin Hugendubel and Björn Sieverding from the Network of European LGBTIQ Families explore the issues coming down the line in terms of rainbow family rights, including direct child-parent recognition from birth, equal opportunities for children to find new parents by adoption or foster care, access to ART (including funding), and multi-parenting possibilities.

The EU is now an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone, as declared by the European Parliament. This is great news, but real action must be taken to make this a lived reality for LGBTI people across the EU.

On 11 March 2021, in response to the proliferation of over 100 so-called ‘LGBT-Free zones’ in Poland, the European Parliament voted and declared the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. While it’s a strong symbolic gesture, this will not have any positive impact in LGBTI people’s lives unless it’s followed by meaningful actions and measures at EU and national levels.

Across the EU, we are witnessing a stark rise of hate against LGBTI people. In our recently published Annual Review, we reported an increase of hate speech from political, religious leaders and on social media in several countries of the region. Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis has made vulnerable communities even more vulnerable.

It’s not only in Poland and Hungary that LGBTI people and communities need protection. Earlier in March, a gay man was murdered in Beveren, Belgium, having been lured via a dating app to a park, where he was attacked by three teenagers. Declaring the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone is not enough: this strong statement must be followed by actions that bring real change to LGBTI people and communities in the region.

Here is how LGBTI people’s lives are negatively affected in every single member state of the European Union:

Austria

There is no protection against hate speech or hate crimes based on gender expression, gender identity and sexual characteristics.

Belgium

Hate and violence are on the rise. A gay man was brutally murdered on March 6 in Beveren. Three teenagers allegedly stabbed him to death after luring him into a fake date arranged on a dating app.

Bulgaria

Children of a same-sex couple can lose one parent just by crossing an EU border. A child of a same-sex couple is currently at risk of statelessness as Bulgarian authorities have not recognised the baby’s valid EU birth certificate.

Croatia

There is an increase of hate speech and violence. In February 2020, an effigy of two men kissing and a child was burnt at a festival, weeks after the country’s highest court ruled that same-sex couples could become foster parents.

Cyprus

The reform of legal gender recognition has been stalling for years now.

Czechia

Sterilisation is required to access legal gender recognition. A case law from the European Court of Human Rights on the matter has been waiting for years now to be implemented.

Denmark

The country failed to ban unnecessary surgeries and treatment on intersex infants and minors, despite multiple United Nations’ recommendations.

Estonia

Attacks on civil society have increased. Despite recommendations from the UN Human Rights Committee in 2019, no progress has been made to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the hate speech and hate crime legislation.

Finland

Trans people are required to be sterilised before accessing legal gender recognition.

France

The number of hate crimes against LGBTI people increased in 2020, for a fourth consecutive year, according to SOS Homophobie. Two LGBTI children, who were bullied at their schools, committed suicide.

Germany

Same-sex couples cannot adopt. Legal gender recognition legislation is outdated and its reform has been stalling for years.

Greece

The latest amendments to immigration legislation have restricted the rights of LGBTI asylum seekers. In January 2020, a booklet was distributed by the Church in the Athens Holargos high school, saying that being “homosexual” is a “hateful act” and that LGBTI people were “traitors” and “murderers”.

Hungary

The Hungarian Parliament banned legal gender recognition in May 2020. The following December, it also voted to abolish the Equal Treatment Authority, Hungary’s most important equality body. Bookshops selling the children’s book ‘Wonderful is for Everyone’, which depicted diverse families and characters, were labelled as promoters of homosexuality and their staff were threatened. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán commented on the book saying that homosexuals should “leave our kids alone”.

Ireland

The country witnessed deeply worrying cases of hate crime and violence. A young gay couple was beaten up and stubbed in Kildare in February 2020. In September, a video on social media showed ten students from a Dublin private school verbally assaulting a classmate who had recently come out.

Italy

There is no legal protection against discrimination outside the labour market on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Latvia

In January 2021, the Latvian Parliament started examination of the constitutional amendment seeking to restrict the extension of the concept the concept of family. The country does not recognise same-sex partnerships and still requires trans people to be sterilised before having access to legal gender recognition

Lithuania

Partnership is not recognised. Politician and LGBT rights activist, Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius (Liberty Party) secured a seat in parliament during the autumn elections. When he wanted to be chair of the human rights committee, he was received with homophobic hate and threats.

Luxembourg

In July 2020, the town of Esch-sur-Alzette announced it would prohibit shared flats if those cohabiting are not relatives or partners, which would forcefully out many same-sex couples and could be used in a discriminatory manner.

Malta

The Equality Act has not been implemented yet.

Netherlands

Schools have the right to ask parents to sign a statement rejecting a homosexual lifestyle, as long as the school ensures a safe environment for all pupils. During the summer, over 60 cases of discrimination and violence against LGBTIQ asylum seekers were reported.

Poland

In Poland, over 100 towns have declared themselves ‘LGBT-free zones’. Officially led hate speech and scapegoating of LGBTI people continue to be on the rise. In August 2020, 48 people protesting the detention of LGBTI activist Margot Szutowicz were also arrested. Partnerships are not recognised.

Portugal

There is no legal protection against discrimination outside the labour market on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Romania

The CJEU judgement in the Coman case, which three years ago established that same-sex spouses are fully recognised as spouses under the EU freedom of movement directive, has to this day not been enacted by the Romanian state, and the partner of Adrian Coman still has not been granted a residence permit in Romania, leaving other same-sex couples in similar situations in limbo. There is no partnership recognition and trans people are still required to be sterilised before having access to legal gender recognition.

Slovakia

The country still requires trans people to be sterilised before having access to legal gender recognition.

Slovenia

Non-governmental organisations in Slovenia are increasingly targeted by the government’s restrictive measures and hostile rhetoric. Leading the government, the radical right Slovenian Democratic Party and PM Janez Janša direct their hostility especially towards NGOs engaged in independent cultural production and defending human rights, media freedom and the environment.

Spain

There are very harmful debates at the moment around the Trans Law. A group of trans people and their families are on hunger strike since March 2021. They will continue until the proposed legislation is debated at the Spanish House of Representatives.

Sweden

At the initiative of the right wing populist party Sweden Democrats, the municipality of Hörby put forward a new policy banning raising the rainbow flag on municipal flagpoles. The local church responded by displaying the rainbow flag on their flagpole. The policy was later withdrawn, but follows a similar and successful ban passed in 2019 in Sölvesborg.

The ambition is right, but the reality is very different, says leading European LGBTI rights organisation

In response to the proliferation of over 100 so-called ‘LGBT-Free zones’ in Polish municipalities, the European Parliament today is debating a resolution declaring the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. It’s a strong symbolic gesture, but clear action needs to follow to make this a lived reality, according to ILGA-Europe.

The European Parliament (EP) in this weeks plenary session will debate and adopt a Resolution declaring the European Union (EU) an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. Europe’s leading LGBTI organisation, ILGA-Europe, say much work needs to be done to align the resolution with the truth of LGBTI people’s lives in Europe.

According to Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director with ILGA-Europe: “It is great to see the European Parliament wants the EU to be an ‘LGBTIQ Freedom Zone’, in other words a space where LGBTIQ persons can be who they are and love whom they love, free and safe. At ILGA-Europe, our day-to-day work reminds us very clearly that a lot still needs to be done to makes this a reality across the EU. We need to see more concrete action, from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Council, as well as national governments and policy-makers, and from regional and local authorities.”

Last month, ILGA-Europe published its ‘Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe and Central Asia 2021’, clearly setting out how far the reality of LGBTI people across the EU is from living in a ‘freedom zone’.

Beyond the stories about Poland and Hungary, which have made most of the anti-LGBTIQ headlines in recently, there are so many ways in which the EU and its member states are falling short of ensuring LGBTI are free and equal in the EU, including:

• Member states such as Portugal and Italy have yet to legislate to protect LGBTI people against discrimination outside the labour market.
• The CJEU judgement in the Coman case, which three years ago established that same-sex spouses are fully recognised as spouses under the EU freedom of movement directive, has to this day not been enacted by the Romanian state, and the partner of Adrian Coman still has not been granted a residence permit in Romania, leaving other same-sex couples in similar situations in limbo.
• Children of a same-sex couple can lose one parent just by crossing an EU border, while the recent case of a child born to a same-sex couple not being recognised by the Bulgarian authorities, currently leaves that child stateless.
• Two years after the introduction of the first LGBT-free Zones and Family Rights declarations in Poland, the EC still has not brought infringement procedures against the Polish government, even though such declarations clearly infringe on the principle of non-discrimination set out, for example, in the EU employment directive.
• Only Malta, Portugal and some regions in Spain have banned non-medically necessary surgeries on intersex children.
• The Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Romania and Slovakia still require trans people to be sterilised before having access to legal gender recognition, while Hungary last year abolished any procedure to have legal gender recognition for trans people recognised.

Hugendubel added: “To ensure the EU will become a true LGBTIQ freedom zone, the Commission has to make full use of all tools in its box. It should ensure full implementation of all relevant EU directives and CJEU judgements in every member state. It should ensure that all member states spend EU funding in full respect of the principle of non-discrimination and respect for fundamental rights. It has to hold EU governments accountable to the principles set out in the EU treaties and the Charter for Fundamental Rights.”

According to Evelyne Paradis, Executive Director of ILGA-Europe: “It is great to see clear commitments to LGBTIQ equality from the European Parliament through this resolution, as well from the European Commission through the ‘EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy’. Now that the EU is an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone, we need to see all actors using the full range of tools at their disposal to ensure that respect of LGBTIQ rights is guaranteed. Otherwise there is a big risk of losing credibility.”

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For further comment, contact: Ana Muñoz Padrós, ILGA-Europe: ana@ilga-europe.org, +32 493 35 60 55

Together with the under-signed organisations we call on the European Union to adopt a forward-thinking and truly inclusive approach to gender-based violence – that leaves no one behind and strives to achieve real change in the lives of all people, without discrimination.

To meaningfully address gender-based violence in the European Union, we must promote inclusion, safety, protection, well-being and effective remedies for those most at risk.

In the lead up to International Women’s Day, 8 March, and the expected publication of a draft EU law to address violence against women and domestic violence, the under-signed organisations have adopted this manifesto for a truly inclusive EU law and policy. We welcome the leadership of the European Commission in taking action, and the engagement of the European Parliament, and urge everyone who will be involved in this effort to take an inclusive and intersectional feminist approach.

People facing marginalisation and intersectional discrimination – such as racialised women, women with disabilities, sex workers, those of lower socio-economic status, experiencing homelessness, with precarious or irregular migration status, as well as people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions and sex characteristics including trans and non-binary people, are among the most at risk of gender-based violence and least protected and supported by existing efforts to prevent and tackle violence and other harm. 

Measures that aim to address gender-based violence by focusing on increasing criminalisation, policing and incarceration can make many people and communities more vulnerable, reproducing structural, institutional and interpersonal discrimination and violence.

We urge the European Union decision makers to strive for an ambitious and comprehensive package of legal, policy and financial measures to address gender-based violence and to ensure victims’ rights that:

• Centres the perspectives, concerns and recommendations of those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.
• Takes an intersectional and rights-based approach, recognising that to achieve gender equality and freedom from gender-based violence and protect fundamental rights for all, we have to address all forms of violence, in particular when linked to gender, gender identity and expression, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, age, disability, class, religion and migration status, and that those who experience intersectional discrimination face greater vulnerability to all forms of gender-based violence and domestic violence.
• Addresses structural and historical harms and drivers of gender-based violence, and underlying issues such as poverty and oppression, including those created, enabled and normalised by states.
  • Addresses the laws, policies, practices and by-laws that discourage and prevent victims from reporting – such as those that criminalise aspects of sex work including clients, migration and homelessness – or that deny survivors access to essential sexual and reproductive health services, as well as gender-based and intersectional violence perpetrated by police. 
  • This requires review and reform of such laws, policies, practices and by-laws as well as specific measures to promote inclusion, safety, well-being, remedy and reparations for particularly affected groups, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the increased powers of the police and requirement to present personal identity and vaccination documents increase the risk of policing of marginalised groups.

• Prioritises a social, community and survivor-centred approach over further criminalisation, invests in holistic social and support services, including mental health and sexual and reproductive health care, social protection and harm reduction, information provision, community interventions, and mechanisms that enable people to access services, remedies and stability, including residence status, without conditions or requirements to engage with law enforcement and the criminal legal system. Ensures that all women as well as people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions and sex characteristics fleeing violence are able to access safe, suitable and stable accommodation and other support services without furthering the cycle of abuse. 
• Addresses harmful practices such as female genital mutilation; human trafficking; and non-consensual medical interventions such as forced abortion, forced contraception, forced sterilisation, intersex genital mutilation, forced gender reassignment, through this rights-based and intersectional feminist approach. 
• Ensures safety and protection for people who do wish to engage with authorities and with the criminal legal system, protection from secondary victimisation, including sanctions, penalties and immigration enforcement, and ensures accessibility of the justice system and procedural accommodation for victims, including people with disabilities. 
• Does not fall behind, and rather builds upon, existing European standards, including the Istanbul Convention and the Victims’ Rights Directive.

Sign now!

Signed by: 

• Amnesty International
• Center for Reproductive Rights
• European Federation of Organisations working with Homeless People (FEANTSA) 
• European Network Against Racism (ENAR)
• The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe)
• European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance  (ESWA)
• Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice (Equinox)
• Fair Trials
• International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF EN)
• La Strada International
• PICUM- Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants
• TGEU – Transgender Europe

RESOURCES:

Victoria Law: Against Carceral Feminism. 17.10.2014, Jacobin. Available here.

Towards Gender Justice Rethinking EU Gender Equality Policy From an Intersectional Perspective. Equinox- Initiative for Racial Justice, 2021. Available here.

 The EU Victims’ Rights Directive refers to gender-based violence as “violence that is directed against a person because of that person’s gender, gender identity or gender expression or that affects a person of a particular gender disproportionately. See more.

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic went global, we worried that equality would slip off EU agendas as lockdowns and an unprecedented economic crisis took hold. In this episode of The Frontline, we look back at the extraordinary year that was 2020, and the engagement of the EU in LGBTI equality issues, exacerbated during the coronavirus crisis.

Our Executive and Advocacy Directors, Evelyne Paradis and Katrin Hugendubel look back on what surprisingly turned out to be a successful year for EU engagement. Activists from ILGA-Europe member organisations in Slovenia and Hungary talk about the rise of ultra-right populism in both EU countries, Hungary’s slew of anti-LGBTI laws as the virus raged on, and their respective responses to EU institutional engagement and how it can go forward.

Members of the EU Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup, MEP’s Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, Germany) and Maria Walsh (EPP, Ireland) give an inside view on the year gone by, and reflect on a challenging first year for the new Intergroup. It all adds up to a comprehensive look at the EU and its engagement in equality, in a Europe where LGBTI rights have become a sharp dividing line.

Listen below or click here to listen and subscribe to The Frontline on your favourite podcast platform.

Following her State of the European Union speech, with KPH and Fundacja Równo?ci we wrote a letter to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. 

Dear Commission President von der Leyen,

As you are well aware, over the past years LGBTI people in Poland have been experiencing increasing levels of discrimination from the Polish government, authorities and religious leaders, which has created a dangerous and unwelcoming environment for LGBTI people. This most recently has culminated in the regional Family Charters and respective declarations and resolutions, more commonly known as “LGBT-free zones”, a viciously LGBTI-phobic Presidential election campaign, LGBTI people being slandered as paedophiles on billboards and through loudspeakers in various cities (accompanied by police protection), and disproportionate detention of LGBTI activists, including police violence. 

Given this increasingly dangerous context, we would like to thank you for your strong message of support for our community in Poland during your State of the Union Speech on the 16 September 2020 in the European Parliament. Your strong statement that “LGBT-free zones” have no place in the European Union was something the LGBTI community across the EU has been waiting for and takes hope and courage in.  Also, the clear commitments regarding ensuring the freedom of movement through mutual recognition for all, including LGBTI people and their families, as well as to provide protection from hate crime on extended grounds, including sexual orientation, are important signals that the European Commission stands firm on the protection of LGBTI rights in these challenging times. 

ILGA-Europe, Campaign against Homophobia (KPH, Poland) and Fundacja Równo??.org.pl (The Equality.org.pl Foundation) have submitted a legal complaint to the European Commission, setting out how these Family Charters and declarations introduce discrimination against LGBTI people and thus breach the European Council Directive (2000/78/EC), establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, as well as the Charter of Fundamental Rights Article 15 on Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work, and Article 21 on non-discrimination.

Separately from this, over 400 citizens have sent emails to you and Commissioners Reynders, Dalli and Vice-President Jourova, sharing their experiences of hate and discrimination in Poland, often as a result of the Family Charters adopted by their regions and municipalities and the hate-speech surrounding them, including President Andrzej Duda’s election campaign, which pledged to adopt a Family Charter for the whole of Poland, called LGBTI people an “ideology” and compared them as worse than communism. A further 15 individual complaints were submitted via the European Commission’s official complaint mechanism.

The many individual complaints sent in paint a picture of the current reality on the ground for LGBTI people living in Poland.  For example, in one of these emails a young gay man, Cezary Nieradko, who lives in Kra?nik town which adopted an anti LGBT resolution, describes the day-to-day discrimination and violence he experiences as the only openly gay person in Kra?nik, from verbal abuse in the streets, to being refused medicines in a pharmacy. “With adopting this resolution, town council has turned my life into living hell”, he says in the email. 

Another example is an email from a lesbian teacher in a public school in Kraków, in the Ma?oposkie region, which also adopted an anti LGBT resolution. She describes the constant fear she has of losing her job due to her sexual orientation. “After adopting this resolution I’m constantly stressed of losing my job, other teachers warn me all the time I should be careful of what I say and do.” The regional education supervisor, Barbara Nowak, has already last year publicly threatened to take consequences on teachers who support any LGBT educational activity at school, and following this announcement, this teacher was told by the school principal that she had to cancel “Rainbow Friday” (an LGBT student-teacher initiative) if she wanted to keep her job. 

The LGBT organisation Rownosc.org.pl Foundation was refused twice to organise an LGBT film screening in local venues, once in Nowy S?cz, again a town that has adopted an anti LGBT resolution, and the second time in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska. In the second case, the venue was a cultural centre which is receiving EU funds. The local authorities were and still are debating the introduction of the Family Rights resolution. While the argument in the second case was, that “They will never agree to promote LGBT ideology” in their town, a clearly homophobic event was given the go ahead in this EU funded space at the same time. 

These are only three examples of the daily discrimination LGBTI people and LGBTI organisations face in Polish cities and regions that have adopted Charters and declarations otherwise known as “LGBTI free zones”. Together with all these citizens directly affected, we hope that following your clear words, the European Commission will start taking action and open an infringement procedure against Poland for violation of the right to non-discrimination as set out in the European Council Directive (2000/78/EC) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. We also hope that the European Commission will put forward an amendment to the reasoned proposal that triggered the current ongoing Article 7 procedure regarding Poland to include the ongoing systemic violations of fundamental rights in the Council’s deliberations. The interim report of the European Parliament, adopted in September,  was very clear on this, and it is important for the European Commission to follow suit and also call for a widening of the mandate and a hearing in the Council before the end of the year.  It is furthermore key that future EU Rule of Law reporting cycles will include fundamental rights in their scope.

The developments in Poland are seriously worrying, but at the same time mark only the tip of the iceberg. We have unfortunately seen similar discriminatory statements and action recently from the Hungarian government, and from political forces in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Slovenia. Only last week, the Hungarian Prime Minster Orbán used the publication of an inclusive fairy tale book to associate sexual orientation with pedophilia, a statement later officially reinforced through an official post by his party Fidesz. We increasingly see governments encouraging each other in their efforts against women’s rights, sexual reproductive and LGBTI rights. In September, it was reported that the Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro had invited Slovenia in a letter to join Poland in withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention. Earlier, Ziobro had labelled the Convention a feminist invention that wants to justify homosexual ideology. It is therefore more than ever important the European Commission is standing firm on the principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the EU treaties and clearly shows that it will not tolerate the violations of fundamental rights, including LGBT rights, and is ready to act. 

If you should need further information about the discrimination LGBTI people are facing at the hands of Polish authorities, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Best regards,          

Evelyne Paradis, ILGA-Europe

Slava Melnyk, KPH (Campaign against Homophobia)

Miko Czerwinski, Fundacja Równo?ci (The Equality.org.pl Foundation)

We talk to Polish activist Slava Melnyk from KPH (Campaign Against Homophobia) about how the situation has come to a head in the aftermath of the re-election of far-right President, Andrzej Duda.

David Socha, a young gay man living in the city of Pulawy, which has been designated one of Poland’s LGBT-free Zones, tells us about how this has affected his day-to-day life, and the ILGA-Europe advocacy team discuss the role of the EU institutions and external actors, and ways forward for the LGBTI movement in Poland.

Listen below or click here to listen and subscribe to The Frontline on your favourite podcast platform.

“Attitudes towards LGBTI people are changing and changing fast,” says activist, Lilly Dragoeva from the Sofia-based Billitis Foundation, in this episode of The Frontline, which delves into the current situation in Bulgaria, a country we don’t often hear about as Poland and Hungary’s governmental persecution of LGBTI people grabs the headlines. There may not be LGBT-free zones in Bulgaria, but it’s a country with almost no protections for LGBTI people, a growing, so-called ‘anti-gender’ movement, a successful spreading of demonising fake news stories, and an alarming advance in societal rejection of LGBTI people.

Along with Lilly, we speak with activist Simeon Vasilev from GLAS Foundation about a growth in official anti-LGBTI hate speech and the role the EU can play, and with Dimithar Dimitrov from the Bulgarian city of Plovidiv, where in September there were organised attacks on young people who are perceived as LGBTI.

Some hope for Bulgarian LGBTI people comes in the form of strategic litigation for the recognition of a rainbow family, and we speak to attorney Denitsa Lyubenova, from the LGBTI youth organisation, Deystvie, about the current state of play with the case.

Rounding the episode up, ILGA-Europe’s Programmes Director, Bjorn Van Roozendaal talks to us about the wider picture in Europe, the reasons behind the growth we’re seeing in anti-LGBTI politics and movements, and the way the LGBTI movement can strategise to counteract this.

Listen below or click here to listen and subscribe to The Frontline on your favourite podcast platform.

The policy brief presents concrete proposals of legislative and policy initiatives to be included in the EU LGBTI Strategy. 

ILGA-Europe congratulate Ursula von der Leyen on being the first woman ever elected president of the European Commission – a historic step forward for gender equality in Europe.

Open Letter to the European Council regarding the EU’s strategic agenda for 2019-2024: Strong fundamental rights framework must be part of the next strategic agenda for the EU

Prior to EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels on 21-22 June, ILGA-Europe call on the European Council to include a strong and explicit commitment to the protection of the rule of law and fundamental rights in the strategic agenda 2019-2024 with this open letter:

On 20-21 June, EU leaders will meet in Brussels to adopt the EU’s strategic agenda for 2019-2024, which will be used to plan the work of the European Council as well as provide the basis for the work programmes of the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The adoption of the strategic agenda is a key moment for the EU to reaffirm in strong terms its commitment to defending rule of law in the EU and the fundamental rights and freedoms of its people, and to protecting them from existing risks and emerging threats. However, drafts of the strategic agenda that have been circulating omit any specific mention of the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law within the EU, instead focusing on protecting borders and promoting democracy and human rights in the world. This is not enough, considering the challenges to human rights people face within EU borders. As existing laws and policies disappear, countries are moving backwards for the first time in the 10 year history of the Rainbow Map, ILGA-Europe’s annual benchmarking tool ranking 49 countries in Europe on their LGBTI equality laws and policies – resulting in an increasingly unsafe and unsustainable environment for LGBTI organisations and human rights defenders in a growing number of countries.

Challenges to human rights in general, and the human rights of LGBTI people in particular, have increased significantly in the EU.  We see that the rise in populism and hateful and divisive public discourses are having a real impact on the lives of minorities and marginalised communities, including LGBTI people. Marginalised people across the EU feel under increasing pressure, and are experiencing a resurgence of hatred directed against them and their communities. We are observing an increase in the number of reported incidents of LGBTI-phobic hate speech and hate crimes. We are documenting more violations of the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech within the EU. Well-resourced and organised movements are actively working to curtail human rights in Europe and globally, especially with regard to LGBTI human rights and equality, women’s rights, and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), as highlighted by the European Parliament Resolution adopted in February 2019. The intensely hostile and violent climate these groups create have a real impact, turning back time when it comes to the achievements on women’s rights and LGBTI rights, as well as regarding the safety and freedoms of civil society.

In this context, we need the EU to ensure the fundamental rights of people living in Europe. EU institutions have a duty to act to ensure that the values set out in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights are upheld across the Union and for everyone, including LGBTI people. This is the call made by the European Parliament as well as 19 Member States, in their respective Resolution and Joint Non-Paper calling for adoption of a comprehensive strategy to address discrimination and hatred against LGBTI people.

ILGA-Europe thus call on the European Council to include a strong and explicit commitment to the protection of the rule of law and fundamental rights in the strategic agenda 2019-2024, including a specific EU Strategy on LGBTI human rights and equality as well as a strong strategy on gender equality, as called for by a clear majority of Member States and the European Parliament. “Promoting the interests of our citizens” and “protecting citizens and freedoms” as the draft agenda states, can only be done if the EU institutions make concrete and clear commitments to working on protecting and advancing fundamental rights for all over the next five years.

We remain at your disposal to provide any further information that may be required.

With the highest voter turnout the European elections has seen since 1994, so too arrives the largest number of MEPs elected committed to LGBTI equality.

ILGA-Europe is ready to work with the 215 MEPs from eight different political groups who signed our ComeOut  pledge and thus promised to actively protect and progress the human rights of all LGBTI people in Europe and beyond concretely at EU level.   

“There is both a strong will and urgent need for LGBTI equality to be a definitive political priority over the next five years at EU level. This is clear, not just from the sheer number of MEPs that have pledged to work with us, but also from commitments made by the main political party leaders. A first crucial order of business is to harness all this support to make sure that LGBTI equality features explicitly as a priority of the next EU Commission in the form of a robust and comprehensive EU strategy on LGBTI human rights.” said ILGA-Europe’s Executive Director, Evelyne Paradis.

With over 1650 candidate signatures across all EU Member States, ILGA-Europe’s ComeOut campaign showed how much support for LGBTI equality has grown within the EU, and this amidst an increasingly polarised social and political climate at both national and supranational levels.

“It is truly encouraging to see the large number of candidates from many different political groups who rallied around our call for equality. In today’s world, cross-party support is the best response to anyone who fuels polarisation and division. It is a clear sign that our work is about standing up for inclusive and fair societies” said Paradis. “We look forward to working with our ComeOut elected MEPs through a re-established LGBTI intergroup which will not only ensure solid, strategic and meaningful collaboration across parties, but also hopefully build strong alliances with other groups in the Parliament to secure human rights, freedom and equality for all in the EU.”

What can MEPs who signed the ComeOut pledge concretely do to advance LGBTI equality?

Over the next five years, we will need strong efforts from the European institutions, ensuring full protection against discrimination for LGBTI people and finally advancing the protection of human rights of trans and intersex people.

ILGA-Europe needs our supporters to lend all their support to ensure that the EU Commission adopts a strong EU strategy on LGBTI equality. Within this framework, we will need the active support of MEPs on the following specific policy and legislative priorities as outlined via ILGA-Europe’s ComeOut pledge:

• Work to close gaps in legal protection on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in the areas of anti-discrimination, hate crime and hate speech
• Support adoption of concrete policies for trans and intersex people in the EU
• Ensure that concrete measures are taken to effectively stop online hate speech, including against LGBTI people
• Ensure the adoption of measures which raise protection for LGBTI asylum seekers, including the adoption of the reformed Common European Asylum System
• Ensure the effective implementation of last year’s Coman judgement which confirms that freedom of movement should be equally available to same-sex couples and their families
• Support the work of LGBTI organisations and human rights defenders by ensuring continued, accessible EU funding, by actively challenging any restrictions to civil society space and to the rule of law, and by holding EU member states accountable to their commitments.
• Bring underrepresented voices of the LGBTI community to the table, and raise awareness about their issues placed on the EU agenda.
• Harness their influence as an MEP to advance human rights, equality and inclusion for all both within and beyond the EU, whilst engaging with activists and civil society organisations is crucial.

The 2019 European Parliament elections come in an increasingly polarised social and political climate. Human rights, in particular, the human rights of LGBTI people, are facing a forceful challenge.

ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Europe Map has shown much progress in the legal and policy situation for LGBTI people across Europe in recent decades. However, increasingly, progress in some places has been accompanied by regression in others, and the strongest trend has been that of stagnation, providing fertile ground for backlash and backsliding. The current context makes it ever more important to openly “Come Out” in support of the human rights of LGBTI people, and proactively seek opportunities to ensure their protection.

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The Come Out Pledge 2019

Candidates for the European Parliament, pledge to stand up for the human rights and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in the European Union and beyond, and will do so by working to:

• Strengthen protection in EU law and policy
• Ensure an enabling environment for LGBTI human rights defenders
• Be an ally to under-represented voices
• Ensure EU leadership on LGBTI rights
• Harness the power of my position  

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Come Out to Vote

Come out to vote on May 23-26! Find out whether you need to register, how to do so and how the elections work at www.european-elections.eu.

The European Elections are approaching at a fast pace, and our campaign activities are picking up speed!

In February, ILGA-Europe launched the ComeOut campaign with the No Hate Appeal completing the campaign package. More than 100 candidates from 15 countries have already pledged to Come Out for human rights and LGBTI equality.

Now we are announcing the European elections series of webinars providing tools, inspirations and good practices to support LGBTI organisations’ work around elections.

On 5 April, ILGA-Europe will kick off the series with an interactive webinar on campaigning, agenda setting and alliance building for LGBTI activists focused on EU elections. We will look into the experience of activists around Europe and discuss strategies for reaching out to candidates, building alliances and for putting LGBTI rights on the agenda!

You will hear from activists from KPH (Poland), ILGA Portugal and COC Netherlands

The webinar will take place on Friday 5 April 2019 from 11.00 to 12.30 CEST (Central European Summer Time).

REGISTRATIONS CLOSED

For more information on our campaign and to get involved, follow our hashtag #ComeOut4EU

ILGA-Europe and 21 other civil society organisations and unions today launch #ElectNoHate, our joint call for EU elections campaigning free from hate speech and divisive rhetoric, which legitimise hateful actions and pose a threat to human rights.

MEP candidates, politicians, the media and those in the public eye are asked not only to avoid engaging in, or amplifying, rhetoric that may incite discrimination, prejudice or hatred on any grounds, but also to actively counter it.

The diversity of organisations behind this appeal – working across the EU for justice in the areas of human rights, labour rights, development and the environment – reflects how hate speech and divisive rhetoric inextricably pervade and threaten all aspects of our lives, most notably in the context of populism and extremism.

“At a time when hate speech and divisive rhetoric cause a worrying backlash and backsliding for all human rights across Europe, ILGA-Europe considers it crucial to unite with a broad and diverse alliance of organisations to take a clear stand against hate speech and divisive rhetoric targeting any community.” commented ILGA-Europe’s Executive Director Evelyne Paradis.

She added: “The protection of one group must never be used as an excuse for discriminating against others. This is why all EU election candidates signing ILGA-Europe’s ComeOut pledge are also requested to sign the #ElectNoHate appeal.”

In Europe and elsewhere, recent evidence highlights how hate speech and divisive rhetoric lead to harm in everyday life.

A 147% spike in homophobic and transphobic hate crimes (1) and a 41% increase in the number of racially or religiously aggravated crimes (2) following the Brexit referendum campaign is a stark example of this. Women – who are in general 27 times more likely than men to be harassed online (3) – also experience exceptionally high levels of violence in politics, with 85.2% of women reporting having suffered psychological violence while in office. (4)

The list of signatories are as follows:

• Amnesty International Europe
• A.R.T Fusion Romania
• Associazione Crea
• Corporate Europe Observatory
• Culture Action Europe
• European Alternatives
• European Disability Forum
• European Movement International
• European Network Against Racism
• European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network
• European Trade Union Confederation
• Fern
• Friends of the Earth
• Greenpeace
• Human Rights Without Frontiers
• IGLYO
• ILGA-Europe
• IPPF European Network
• Light for the World International
• Riksförbundet För Sexuell Upplysning
• Social Platform
• TGEU

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1. ?The Hate Crime Report 2016: Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in the UK [Galop, 2016]
2. Hate crime, England and Wales, 2015 to 2016 [UK Home Office], https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016
3. #HerNetHerRights: Mapping the state of online violence against women & girls in Europe [European Women’s Lobby, 2017],https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/hernetherrights_report_2017_for_web.pdf

Today, as Europe faces a social and political climate of uncertainty and polarisation, ILGA-Europe formally launches ComeOut – our campaign for the 2019 Eu elections.

From 23 – 26 May, the public will vote in Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who over the next five years will act as the voice of more than 500 million Europeans.

The very core values on which the EU is founded – respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law – are being called into question.

Human rights – in particular, those of LGBTI people – are facing a forceful challenge.

The time for an EU that defends its own values is now. 

ILGA-Europe seeks to unite the voices of fellow civil society organisations, activists and the public at large in our call for a Europe that defends all human rights.

We are asking MEP candidates to sign our ComeOut pledge publicly, committing them to:

• Strengthening protection in EU law and policy
• Ensuring an enabling environment for LGBTI human rights defenders
• Ensuring EU leadership on LGBTI rights
• Harnessing the power of their position
• Being an ally to under-represented voices

Yesterday evening in Strasbourg, candidates from all major EU political parties (EPP, S&D, ALDE, GUE/NGL, Greens-EFA) were the first to officially sign the pledge.

“While the legal and policy situation for LGBTI people has progressed in some areas of Europe, backlash and backsliding have occurred in others – largely as a result of stagnation,” commented ILGA-Europe’s Executive Director Evelyne Paradis.

“We urgently call on candidates for the European Parliament to step up against the current threatening wave of populism and extremism, and make a commitment to protecting, supporting and empowering the citizens they represent, and their fundamental rights.”

• For more information on our campaign and to get involved, follow our hashtag #ComeOut4EU.
• Download the Come Out Pledge in PDF version and start calling the candidates in your country to sign it.
• Watch the launch event that took place in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 13 February:

Ten years on and nothing to show for the horizontal directive, say european ngo’s

On 2 July 2008, the European Commission proposed an important new anti-discrimination law.

This horizontal directive could ban discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in all areas of social life, including education, housing, and access to goods and services.

But 10 years on, the directive that planned to introduce an EU-wide minimum level of protection against discrimination on all grounds listed in Art. 19 of European Treaties remains in cold storage. 

ILGA-Europe and our NGO partners say that these legislative gaps need to be closed! 

• Read the full statement here

Signed by:

• AGE Platform Europe (AGE)
• The European Disability Forum
• The European Women’s Lobby (EWL)
• ILGA-Europe – the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans & Intersex Association.
• IGLYO- The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth & Student Organisation
• Transgender Europe (TGEU)