EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy – First year implementation evaluation

The first ever EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, adopted in November 2020, is a major step in the EU’s overall commitment and detailed efforts to ensure the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ people and fight discrimination. Many people welcomed the strategy, including ILGA-Europe, who noted in their press release that it marks a ‘qualitative shift from the European Commission towards playing its full role to defend and protect LGBTI rights in times of real backlash’.

It is an important part of the Union of Equality, set out by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The strategies and structures put in place in the 2019-2024 European Commission to mainstream equality and tackle discrimination and inequality are key, not least in a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has further shed light on poverty and exclusion across the EU, and inequalities have been exacerbated.

With this briefing, ILGA-Europe wants to set out five key points that have become clear in the first year of implementation of the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy. We have collected feedback from LGBTI organisations and activists from across Europe and organised a dedicated call to discuss our respective assessment of the first year of implementation with key European LGBTI networks, such as TGEU, OII Europe, IGLYO, and EL*C. In addition, the assessment was discussed in a meeting with DG Justice in September 2021 and the key points where shared following the meeting.

See also

Report

EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy – Second year implementation evaluation

Half-way through, the evaluation of LGBTI organisations is positive, but also pointing clearly to where more is needed to ensure the implementation of the strategy […]
read more
Report

EU Enlargement Review 2023

ILGA-Europe has worked with ERA – LGBTI Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey, to produce our annual LGBTI Enlargement Review, assessing gaps in […]
read more
Blog

The infringement against Hungary: Behind the scenes

As the deadline for member states to decide whether they will join the European Commission’s lawsuit against Hungary for its introduction of anti-LGBTI legislation fast approaches, we look at the vital work ILGA-Europe has been doing behind the scenes to bring this case before the EU Court of Justice and to bring countries on board.
read more
Press Release

LGBTI organisations welcome EU parental recognition proposal with the best interests of the child at its core

EU-wide parenthood recognition is key in ensuring equal protection for all children in the Union, say ILGA-Europe and NELFA.
read more
Blog

Activists on Accession to the EU

Although achieving EU membership can take several years, even decades, the accession process can already have a positive impact in LGBTI people in a candidate country. We speak to activists in the latest candidates, Ukraine and Moldova, and from Montenegro, which has been a candidate since 2010.
read more
News

Hungary to be Brought Before Top EU Court For its Ban on LGBTI Content

The European Commission has referred Hungary to the CJEU over discriminatory amendments adopted in June 2021, which ban the “portrayal and the promotion of gender […]
read more
News

European Commission and Council should refrain from approving recovery funds to the governments of Poland and Hungary

An Urgent call on the European Commission and the Council of europe to refrain from approving recovery funds to the governments of Poland and Hungary, […]
read more
Blog

The 5 trending attacks on the fundamental rights of LGBTI people in the EU in 2021

Right now, as the war on Ukraine escalates, democracy, human rights and equality matter more than ever in Europe. In our submission to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law report, we’ve identified key trends in the systematic attacks on the rights of LGBTI people across EU member states.
read more
News

EU Ministers must act on the serious breach of EU’s rule of law and values in Poland

While Poland keeps attacking LGBTI people and their rights, ILGA-Europe have signed a joint letter along with 86 other NGOs asking EU Ministers to take action.
read more
Blog

The EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy: What’s Happening One Year On?

Just over a year ago, the European Commission adopted the first ever EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, committing to be at the forefront of efforts to better protect LGBTIQ people’s rights. But how far has the Commission gone in its implementation so far? We looked closely, and here are our five conclusions.
read more
Podcast

Hope and the LGBTI Movement in 2021

It was a year of further lockdowns, of new strains of the COVID virus, and the uncertainty they have brought, and most of all, enormous […]
read more
News

Commission includes LGBTI people in initiative to tackle hate crime and hate speech across the European Union

The European Commission has put forward a legal initiative to extend the list of EU crimes to include hate speech, both online and offline, and hate crime, with clear understanding that LGBTI people must be protected.
read more
Press Release

EU Holds Firm in Face of Hungary’s Blatant Lies Surrounding Anti-LGBTI Law

As the European Commission takes the second step in its infringement procedure against Hungary, Europe’s leading LGBTI organisation welcomes its clarified commitment to the equal […]
read more
News

Open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

ILGA-Europe,  OII Europe, and TGEU urge the European Commission to acknowledge the existing prevalence of the violence and incitement to discrimination against LGBTI people, through naming SOGIGESC explicitly as protected grounds in the upcoming EU-level hate crime and hate speech legal initiative.
read more
Policy Paper

Policy Briefing on LGBTI Refugees and EU asylum legislation

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 […]
read more
News

Joint Statement: Current priorities for an EU response to the situation in Afghanistan

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.
read more
Press Release

With today’s infringements the EU has clarified that member states can no longer act against human rights with impunity

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 […]
read more
Press Release

Europe’s leading LGBTI rights organisation calls on EU to act as Hungarian parliament adopts legislation censoring communication about LGBTI people

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 […]
read more
Podcast

Rainbow Family Rights in Europe – Part 6: The Future

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 […]
read more
Blog

How the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child will protect LGBTI kids

From committing to end intersex genial mutilation to improving freedom of movement for rainbow families, find out in our blog why this new EU strategy is great news for LGBTI kids.
read more
Blog

The lived realities of LGBTI people in every single EU country show that it’s not yet an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone

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.
read more
News

Is The EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone? 

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

Joint manifesto for an inclusive and comprehensive eu gender-based violence policy for all

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 […]
read more
Blog

LGBTI activists create a Twitter storm for EU infringement procedures against Poland over so called ‘LGBT-free Zones’

ILGA-Europe launched an-hour long Twitter Storm demonstration on February 11, calling on the European Commission to take infringement procedures against Poland, making the Polish-based hashtag #infringementNOW trend
read more
News

Help us create a Twitter Storm calling on the European Commission to hold Poland to account for its treatment of LGBTI people!

On Feb 11, as the current KPH campaign draws to an end, we would like to create a Twitter storm to get the hashtag #infringementNow trending, asking why the EU Commission has not taken infringement procedures against Poland yet. Here is how you can help create this important moment.
read more
Blog

“If You Are Parent in One Country, You Are Parent in Every Country”: But still today a child can be stateless in the EU just because it has two mothers

A baby born to two mothers, one from Gibraltar and one from Bulgaria, has become a test case at the European Court of Justice for the freedom of movement of rainbow families in the EU. Read on and find out how to join our campaign for parents without borders!
read more
Podcast

The Frontline: 2020 – The EU & LGBTI Equality in an Extraordinary Year

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 […]
read more
Blog

The EU LGBTIQ Strategy at a glance

Yesterday, 12 November 2020, EU Vice-President Jourova and Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli launched the first EU LGBTIQ Strategy 2020–2025, marking a significant step forward for the European Commission in protecting and ensuring LGBTI rights. We’ve read through it, and here’s an easy-read version.
read more
Press Release

EU shifts gear with adoption of LGBTIQ Equality Strategy

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.
read more
News

Joint letter on Poland to Commission President von der Leyen

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. 
read more