European Parliament says the EU should do more for transgender people’s rights

Today the European Parliament adopted a strong position in favour of safeguarding transgender people’s fundamental rights. The Parliament officially acknowledged discrimination on grounds of gender identity, calls for accessible gender reassignment procedures, and insists future EU gender equality initiatives should address issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.

The Figueiredo report evaluating the European Union’s 2006-2010 Roadmap for equality between women and men was adopted today, and calls for more explicit measures to combat discrimination based on gender identity. In particular, the report:

• acknowledges discrimination and multiple discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity;
• calls on EU authorities to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations in future work on gender equality;
• stresses that gender reassignment procedures should be made accessible, including through public health insurance schemes; and
• requires that future EU actions in the field of gender equality explicitly cover issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.

Ulrike Lunacek and Michael Cashman MEPs, Co-presidents of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights, declared: “We are glad this report was adopted, it represents a true milestone for improving the EU record on gender equality for all―including transgender citizens. It states clearly that gender equality strategies must explicitly address issues linked to gender identity, and thus sets a clear position on transgender people’s fundamental rights in the future.”

Raül Romeva i Rueda MEP, Vice-president of the LGBT Intergroup and Member of the Greens/European Free Alliance, further added: “The European Parliament showed today that the rights of transgender people are of no less importance than other citizens’. It sent a strong signal, and I trust the Commission will follow our lead and start addressing discrimination based on gender identity more explicitly.”

The European Commission will need to take this report into account when planning future actions in the field of gender equality.