“Being yourself is not an ideology. You are at home in the
EU. The EU is an area of LGBTIQ
freedom. LGBTIQ-free zones are humanity-free
zones.”
By saying these words on the 11
th
of March this year, the President of the European
Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, recalled that the European Union is a zone of LGBTIQ
freedom.
Why, when equal rights have been strengthened by legislation over the last decades, is it so
crucial to emphasize them again?
Even though the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and international human
rights law protects the enjoyment of human rights by LGBTIQ persons, the situation of
LGBTIQ persons is of great concern today.
In 2019, 43% of LGBT persons in the European Union felt discriminated against compared to
37% in 2012 (source : European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights).
Violence and discrimination affect our fellow citizens in all areas of their lives. LGBTIQ
persons face a disproportionate level of insecurity and violence - especially the youngest ones
–
as well as discrimination in access to employment or difficulties in accessing healthcare. What
is more, there is a rise of hate speech and anti-LGBTIQ hatred on social networks and
stigmatization going as far as the denial of their very identity. These attacks against LGBTIQ
persons are intolerable and breach the core values of the European Union. In this context, a
large number of LGBTIQ persons are at increased risk of marginalisation and social exclusion.
We, the Ministers of the European Union Member States, reaffirm that everyone must be able
to live in safety and enjoy the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Everywhere on our territories, violations and abuses of the human rights of LGBTIQ persons
must be resolutely combated and firmly condemned. We will never identify with social projects
that divide and exclude.
The publication by the European Commission of the first EU Strategy on Equal Treatment for
LGBTIQ persons is a significant step towards improving the equal treatment and situation of
LGBTIQ persons and it is our common responsibility to implement the strategy, in accordance
with our national strategies, to protect as well as to enhance the inclusion of LGBTIQ persons.
While some Member States of the European Union are blowing on the embers of anti-LGBTIQ
hatred in Europe, we welcome that the European Parliament has adopted a resolution on March
11, 2021, proclaiming the European Union a
“zone
of freedom for LGBTIQ persons”. But we
must also go further.
This begins with the mobilisation of all the levers of action that EU law confers by
systematically activating suspensions of European funding when the rights of LGBTIQ persons
are infringed, and, where the law allows doing so, we encourage the European Commission to
bring legal proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
This then involves reinforcing the protection of LGBTIQ persons against all forms of hate
crimes and hate speech in order to safeguard everyone in the European Union against such
violations and abuses.