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According to the EU Commission, discrimination against sexual minorities in Europe is increasing. Brussels now wants to take action against this and has come up with its own LGBTIQ strategy for the first time.
By Michael Schneider, ARD-Studio Brussels
EU Vice President Vera Jourova made that clear from the start. There have been some improvements in recent years. But at the same time, the climate for lesbian, gay, trans and intersex people in Europe is getting worse rather than better.
43 percent of them experience discrimination in their daily lives, more than ten years ago, according to Jourova. “More than half of LGBTIQ people hardly dare to openly show who they are. That means: they are afraid to admit their feelings. They are afraid of social stigmatization after coming out.”
“No one needs to be repaired “
The Commission has started to fight this. The new strategy aims to reduce discrimination and systematic disadvantage. Not only through closer coordination between states and agreement on common values, but also through a number of European criminal offenses. Hate speech and violent crimes against sexual minorities should be able to be prosecuted across Europe.
The Commission also wants to address questionable practices that aim to “change” LGBTIQ people, said EU Equality Commissioner Helena Dalli: “No one needs to be repaired. Discrimination must be eradicated. Likewise, harmful interventions such as Surgical operations on intersex children or young people without their consent.
This also includes “mutilations or the forced drug treatment of trans people,” continues Dalli. “These practices against LGBTIQ people must stop.”
Equal status for “rainbow families”
Brussels also insists on equal rights for so-called rainbow families. Here we should aim for a standardization. Family relationships should have the same status across Europe, Vice President Jourova said. “When rainbow families cross an EU border, it may happen that their child is no longer their child. That is not acceptable.”
These are advancements that have received much praise from the LGBTIQ community. For some, however, the Brussels plans do not go far enough. Green MEP Terry Reintke, for example, calls not only to look at children. Same-sex couples must also be recognized in Europe.
MEPs call for criminal proceedings against EU countries
Furthermore, many MEPs are calling for criminal proceedings against individual EU states. Because while Brussels works on its strategy, rights are restricted elsewhere. Hungary, for example, wants to drastically restrict adoption options for same-sex couples with a new family law.
Here, however, the commission does not have much influence, Jourova said: “Family law is a matter for the member states. However, when reforming, they must pay attention to their human rights obligations.
In plain language: Brussels can only act when a law is already in force. This is what happened in the case of the “LGBT free zones”, which were declared in Poland last year. The EU cut financial subsidies for them and left no doubt: for Brussels, sexual orientation is not a question of ideology, but of identity.
