On Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favour of declaring the European Union (EU) an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone.” The resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority, with 492 MEPs favouring the proposal, 141 opposing it, and 46 abstaining from voting.
The resolution reads: “LGBTIQ persons everywhere in the [European Union] should enjoy the freedom to live and publicly show their sexual orientation and gender identity without fear of intolerance, discrimination or persecution.” It urges authorities across the bloc to “protect and promote equality and the fundamental rights” of the community.
Moreover, the MEPs also called for the bloc’s executive branch to initiate infringement proceedings against countries violating the provisions of the resolution before the European Court of Justice. However, the resolution acknowledged that the discrimination faced by the LGBTIQ community was “an issue across the EU” and needs to be addressed urgently. In this regard, it called upon member states to follow in the footsteps of Germany and Malta and ban “conversion therapy”, a rampant practice in the bloc that aims to change an individual’s sexual orientation.
The resolution is a symbolic move by the MEPs, who are seeking to oppose the anti-LGBTIQ policies adopted by the governments in Poland and Hungary. Since March 2019, Polish authorities across over 100 regions have created “LGBT ideology-free zones”. Furthermore, the Polish government also announced its plan to disallow single people from adopting children just hours before the European Parliament’s LGBTIQ proposal was made public. Polish Deputy Justice Minister Michal Wojcik, announcing the law, said, “We are preparing a change where... people living in cohabitation with a person of the same sex cannot adopt a child, so a homosexual couple will not be able to adopt a child.”
While same-sex couples were already banned from adopting children, this provision was previously used as a loophole for LGBTIQ couples. Now, the new law requires extensive background checks to be conducted prior to the approval of the adoption. More concerningly, same-sex couples applying as single people will also be criminally liable under the new law.
Apart from recognising the dismal state of affairs in Poland, the MEPs also noted the troubling situation for the LGBTIQ community in Hungary. Like their counterparts in Poland, Hungarian authorities have also enhanced their efforts to crack down on the community over the past few years. For instance, in November 2020, the town of Nagykata passed a law “banning the dissemination and promotion of LGBTIQ propaganda.
The resolution comes amidst “worrying trends” surrounding the treatment of members of the LGBTIQ community in the EU. In 2019, the bloc’s Agency for Fundamental Rights reported that 43% of LGBTIQ people felt discriminated against, which was a significant rise from 37% in 2012. Against this backdrop, this resolution is a symbolic declaration of the bloc’s support for the community across its member states.
European Parliament Votes to Declare EU as “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone”
Responding to the crackdowns on the rights of the LGBTIQ community in Poland and Hungary, the Members of the European Parliament voted to declare the European Union as an “LGBTIQ Freedom Zone.”
March 12, 2021
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS