Internationale dag tegen homofobie: EP-leden geven reactie op uitkomsten onderzoek (en)
The EU cannot tolerate shameless discrimination of millions of its citizens on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, Civil Liberties Committee MEPs said on Friday, the International Day against Homophobia. EU member states must stop blocking the proposed anti-discrimination directive, they added.
Fear, isolation and discrimination are common in Europe's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, says the largest-ever LGBT hate crime and discrimination survey presented on Friday by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) at a conference hosted by the Dutch government in The Hague.
Nearly half of all respondents reported having felt discriminated or harassed on the grounds of their sexual orientation during the previous year.
"The conclusions of the FRA's report are a wake-up call for all of us, Europeans, who praise the equality of people as a fundamental principle of our democracy. We cannot tolerate that millions of our fellow citizens are shamelessly discriminated on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We cannot tolerate that the homophobic speech and hatred against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are fostered without serious consequences by populist and far-right forces", said Civil Liberties Committee Vice-Chair Kinga Göncz (S&D, HU), who is representing the European Parliament in the conference in The Hague.
EU anti-discrimination directive needed
"As many as a third of LGBT respondents to the FRA's survey said they had been discriminated against in housing, education, or accessing goods and services. This would change if only the Council of the European Union stopped blocking the proposal for an EU anti-discrimination directive in these fields, proposed by the Commission in 2008 and approved by the Parliament in 2009", said Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur on the anti-discrimination directive, Raül Romeva i Rueda (Greens/EFA, ES).
European Parliament fights homophobia
The European Parliament has passed several resolutions strongly condemning any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and has pushed for anti-discrimination laws in the EU.
In a resolution voted in May last year, Parliament called on the European Commission to "carefully examine the future results of the Agency for Fundamental Rights‘ European LGBT Survey, and take appropriate action".
Parliament remains committed to equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the EU, says the resolution, and in particular to the adoption of a directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (the "anti-discrimination directive"), which has been blocked due to the objections of some member states.
MEPs also called on the Commission to produce a comprehensive roadmap for equality without discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Fundamental Rights Agency began investigating LGBT discrimination and homophobia in the EU in 2007, at the European Parliament's request.
The analysis of the survey findings will feed into discussions in the EU and member states on legislation and policies to improve the situation of LGBT people.