Council of Europe Denounces Rise in Hatred Against LGBTI People

TGEU welcomes the report ‘Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe‘ that focuses on the growing movement that misportrayals the fight for LGBTI rights as “gender ideology” and harms LGBTI people and women within and outside of the LGBTI community.

Developed by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, this report documents the nature of current attacks and includes TGEU and its members’ input.

The report describes anti-gender movements’ ideology and insists that these are well-organised and dangerous to LGBTI people, among other groups. The document accurately explains how this is merely an instrumentalisation and their hate rhetoric has other political purposes: to gain political power and promote broader anti-human rights and anti-democracy political agendas.

The document covers different attacks to LGBTI people’s rights in the region, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Section 7 focuses on attacks targeting trans people and provides an overview of the high number of countries that have either stalled progress or reported backlash related to trans rights. Specific country situations include attacks in Hungary, Spain, and the UK, as well as extreme levels of violence in countries such as Montenegro, Ukraine, Russia, or Azerbaijan.

Finally, the report makes a clear call to politicians:

“Listen to trans people and their organisations, educate ourselves about their situation and rights, empower them, and urgently re-set the agenda and narratives, so that debates are reframed to correspond to complex realities rather than catchy but simplistic slogans. Trans people have a right to recognition before the law, to protection of their private and family lives, to freedom from discrimination, and to safety and security, as do all people; it is our (politicians’) responsibility to make these rights a reality.”

TGEU endorses these demands and insists on the urgency for States to take action to ensure trans people’s human rights are respected. Moreover, regional and international institutions such as the European Union and the Council of Europe should act when hate speech comes from high-level political leaders.

TGEU acknowledges and appreciates Mr. Fourat Ben Chikha, as the rapporteur, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, for this thorough and necessary report. We also extend our gratitude to our member organisations for their crucial input. This report will be very valuable in our continuous work towards the full respect of trans people’s human rights.