LGBT DISCRIMINATION: EUROPEAN AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVES AND ACTIONS

Agenda of the Workshop 

15:00
Welcome and introduction

15:05
Presentation of the 2020  EU Fundamental Rights Agency Report:” A long way to go for LGBTI equality” by  Juul VAN HOOF, Programme Officer and seconded national expert at the FRA.

15:30
The situation in Cardiff and Wales -The view from a campaigning NGO. Iestyn Wyn , Campaigns, Policy and Research Manager, Stonewall Cymru

16:00
The work of the Hamburg Police LGTBI team- Marco Burmester-Krüger and Petra Marzian, police officers

16:30 Painting the Rainbow: How LGBTI freedom of artistic expression is denied – key findings of report produced by Freemuse-Paige Collings, Advocacy Officer

16:45 End of workshop

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Background Note

We live in age of misinformation and fake news. Many people therefore are of the view that discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) groups has greatly diminished.  However, unfortunately the reality is that the picture is much more complex.

ILGA-Europe’s , a leading international NGO focused on this issues states in its 2020 review :”Yes, there are good news stories, which we must acknowledge, celebrate and build upon, but while we pay attention to positive developments, we must not be blind to the larger picture, which is less reassuring”

Similarly, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency 2020 report(the results of a survey of 140,000  LGBTI people) is entitled  “A long way to go for LGBTI equality”. The report highlights the fact that a majority of LGBTI respondents (58 %) had experienced, ”harassment in the form of offensive or threatening situations – including incidents of a sexual nature – at work, on the street, on public transport, in a shop, on the internet, or anywhere else.”

Alongside these European overviews we can also see the negative aspects at national/local levels. So for example  a number of Polish cities have openly declared themselves to be "free from lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex communities.”

But the backlash against LGBTI communities is not limited to Poland.:

Post-Brexit UK, for instance, registered a 147-percent spike in homophobic and transphobic hate crimes (ILGA 2020 report)

Several EU states also provide no legal recognition for same sex couples.

There is evidence of official hate speech from political and religious leaders in countries including Albania, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey.

Even at the EU institutional level , whilst Commissioner Dalli has positively  stated that the Commission would make advancing LGBTI rights a priority for the next five years, it is salutatory to remember that discussion on the  Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation has been blocked in Council since 2008.

Sources

https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2020/eu-lgbti-survey-results

Annual Review 2020 | ILGA-Europe