December 2015
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Attitudes, opinions, beliefs about LGBTI equality in EuropeIn September this year, ILGA-Europe and PIRC (Public Interest Research Centre) started a new project, Reframing LGBTI Equality in Europe. Within the project, we now need you. Help us by sending surveys, resources, literature...you name it - from all over Europe.
Read more about how you can submit literature |
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Event: United Against Hate CrimesOn 8 and 9 December, ILGA-Europe organised an expert workshop on underreporting of hate crimes and a public event “United Against Hate Crimes”. At the expert workshop, we brought together representatives from EU member states and civil society activists. Jointly, all NGO and government representatives also agreed on a number of recommendations to tackle the underreporting of hate crimes in the whole of Europe. The next day, ILGA-Europe, ENAR, CEJI and Amnesty International invited EU policymakers to challenge them to think critically about the EU’s approach to hate crime.
Read more about the event here |
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Bias motivated violence |
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Transphobic hate attacks and killing in IstanbulOn 2 December, a sex worker trans woman was stabbed to death in Istanbul. The woman was murdered while she was working on the street. A week later, on 9 December, two trans women also in Istanbul were attacked. One was severely injured after a knife attack, and one were left trembling and traumatized after being kidnapped and raped. According to Turkish LGBTI organisations, no arrests have been carried out.
Read more on the website of KAOS GL |
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Write for Rights: Beaten up for being in loveThe Write for Rights campaign 2015 is one of the world's largest annual human rights campaigns and has been organised by Amnesty International every year since 2001 around Human Rights Day. Among this year’s cases is that of Costas and his partner – victims of a racist, homophobic attack in central Athens in August 2014.
Read more about the campaign here |
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Civil society space |
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Russia labels Open Society Foundation and Open Society Institute’s Assistance Foundation as “undesirable organisations”On 30 November, Russian prosecutors officially labelled the Open Society Foundation and the Open Society Institute’s Assistance Foundation as “undesirable organisations”, which practically bans any kind of cooperation between them and Russian citizens and organisations. The two are accused of posing a threat to Russia’s constitutional order and national security. Both organisations have been providing essential funding to human rights and civil society organisations in Russia.
Read more about the ban here |
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EU-NGO human rights Forum on civil society spaceOn 3-4 December, ILGA-Europe participated in the 17th EU-NGO Human rights Forum, a joint event by EU and HRDN (Human rights and Democracy network). The Forum focused on protecting and promoting civil society space, and allowed for interactive exchange and genuine debate between civil society organisations from around the globe who experience increasingly restricted space, representatives from the Member States, the European Institutions, the United Nations, academia and think tanks. The Forum was closed by EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini who reiterated her commitment to promoting ‘democracy, human rights and open spaces’ highlighting the importance of EU being ‘a serious, frank and reliable partner for civil society’. ILGA-Europe will follow up on those commitments and link the outcomes of this Forum to the work with our members.
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Employment |
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New Irish law protects against discrimination based on sexual orientationTeachers at Catholic-run institutions will no longer need to fear adverse treatment as a result of being open about their sexuality in the workplace. Previously, denominational institutions, such as schools and hospitals, were entitled to dismiss employees if their sexuality conflicted with their religious ethos.
Read more about the new law here |
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Equality and non-discrimination |
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EU fails to adopt LGBTI equality strategy, but proposes list of actionsOn 7 December, Věra Jourová, EU’s Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, presented the European Commission’s List of Actions to advance LGBTI equality. ILGA-Europe is disappointed that the EU failed to deliver an ambitious LGBTI equality strategy.
Read more about the list of actions here |
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Update on the legal protection for LGBTI people in the EUOn 11 December, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched its Update on the legal protection of LGBTI people in the EU. The analysis of the fundamental rights situation of LGBTI people shows there has been progress in some areas. However, in some countries progress is slower. The report also highlights the legal struggles faced by trans and intersex people, the low reporting rates of hate crimes and the persistent barriers that need to be lifted to allow all LGBTI people fully enjoy their rights.
Read more about the report here |
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Russia's Constitutional Court allowed to ignore international court rulingsOn 15 December, President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing Russia's Constitutional Court to decide whether to ignore or enforce rulings of international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights.
Read more about the decision here |
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Reminder: open call from the European Commission for transnational projects preventing homophobia and other forms of intoleranceOn 27 November 2015, the European Commission published a call for transnational projects to combat homophobia and other forms of intolerance. Moreover, other calls related to hate crime and victims’ support are coming up soon. If you are interested in applying, please inform Michael Cerulus, Senior Policy Officer, if you want us to help you bring different organisations together, e.g. for transnational projects.
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Family |
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Disappointment as Poland and Hungary block EU proposal on property regimes of married and registered couplesOn 3 December, the Polish and Hungarian governments blocked the adoption of a 2011 proposal on property right of married and registered couples by the European Commission, at the Justice and Home Affairs Council.
Read more about the block of EU proposals here |
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Referendum in Armenia brings constitutional reformsOn 6 December, Armenia held a referendum on a wide package of constitutional reforms. The Central Election Commission formally approved the results on December 13, announcing that the reform package had passed successfully. The reforms have been accused of having far reaching anti-democratic effects, and the opposition alleges that violations and fraud took place at the referendum on a large scale. The adopted constitutional amendments also include a re-definition of marriage to be a union between a man and a woman.
Read more about the referendum here |
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Is marriage equality going to be a reality in Slovenia?On Sunday 20 December, we will know the result of the referendum which decides on whether marriage should be available for same-sex couples. The ILGA-Europe hopes that Slovenia will join the 12 other European countries with marriage equality.
Read more about the referendum in Slovenia here |
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Greece to vote on civil partnerships for same-sex couplesGreek parliamentarians will soon vote on a new civil partnership bill. The ILGA-Europe Annual Conference in Athens added an extra push for the move toward partnership recognition for same-sex couples. If the bill goes through same-sex couples will now benefit from rights and protections that were previously only enjoyed by married couples. These protections include inheritance and taxation but the bill does not include the ability to apply for adoption. The bill also aims to extend greater anti-discrimination protection on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Read more about the upcoming vote here |
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Estonian Cohabitation Act to enter force without implementing actsImplementation acts to the much debated Cohabitation Act in Estonia, which gives same-sex couples more rights, will not be passed this year. This means the initial act will enter force on 1 January with a number of legal loopholes and problems. The implementing acts are necessary to clarify legal details for same-sex couples and third parties alike.
Read more about the Cohabitation Act here |
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Czech court ruling gives parenting rights to same-sex couplesA court in the Czech Republic delivered a breakthrough ruling when it recognised the adoption of 10-year-old twins by a Czech-French gay couple living in the United States. Ruling is seen as a breakthrough for parenting rights for same-sex couples in the Czech Republic.
Read more about the ruling here |
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New Coalition for Civil Partnerships in PolandFrom a Register Office to the European Court of Human Rights – five Polish lesbian and gay couples open a new chapter in the fight for civil partnerships.
Read more about the new coalition here |
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Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment |
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UN Committee against Torture reprimands Austria and DenmarkOn 9 December, the United Nations Committee against Torture published its binding "Concluding Observations". The Committee issued strong recommendations on intersex and genital mutilation practices for Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong and China.
Read the findings from the UN Committee here |
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Health |
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World AIDS Day 2015On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2015, ILGA-Europe created a short video message highlighting the priorities in our work on HIV/AIDS.
Watch the short video message |
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Legal gender recognition |
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Social media campaign on trans visibility in Lithuania - #Trans_LTOn 8 December, Lithuanian Gay League released a video which features members of the trans community in Lithuania. They share their experiences and the difficulties they face - especially in the absence of legal gender recognition in Lithuania. The video also incites the viewers to sign a petition. The goal of the campaign is to increase the visibility of trans people and push the Lithuanian government to take action and enact a gender legal recognition legislation. ILGA-Europe supported the campaign through our programme, Creating Opportunities.
Read more about the campaign here |
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Norway ethics body backs IVF for trans menA Norwegian scientific ethics body is backing the government plans to allow those who change legal gender from female to male to retain their ovaries and have children.
Read more about the opinion from the Norwegian ethics body |
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This website has been produced with the financial support of the Rights Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme 2014-2020 of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ILGA-Europe and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.
