TGEU releases 2023 Progress Report on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025

TGEU launched our 2023 progress report on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 and its key action items for trans people.

Key message

The concerns we highlighted in the first progress report, such as a lack of concrete action on trans people’s specific needs, lack of timelines and points of contact, and mainstreaming of intersectional approaches in the activities under the Strategy, remain unresolved.

Why this report?

TGEU’s annual progress reports on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy focus on the implementation of action items specific to trans people and those which could impact trans people. The goal of these progress reports is to keep trans activists and other stakeholders informed of how the European Commission is performing against its stated goals.

What can I find in it?

The 2023 Progress Report contains TGEU’s assessment of how well the strategy is delivering (or not) for trans people in the EU, and an update of what has been achieved toward the biggest highlights we identified in our first report.

We also include examples of how TGEU has been supporting the implementation of the strategy and our recommendations to relevant policymakers. Finally, we comment on other features of the strategy that were highlighted in our first report and second report and present a table of main pieces of legislation and their status.

Main findings

While the Strategy mentions trans people and specific needs, this has not translated into sufficient concrete action that protects trans people. Three years into the implementation of the Strategy, the EU hate crimes extension proposal is still blocked. Mainstreaming of trans issues across different divisions of the Commission needs improvement. In addition, adopting an intersectional approach in policy-making is essential to recognise and address the challenges faced by trans people of different backgrounds, who experience discrimination due to the compounded effects of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, and xenophobia. Moreover, the visible opposition to trans rights in many EU member States and concrete legal and policy rollbacks need to be addressed head-on.