MEPs welcome new report on LGBT rights in 47 European countries
Members of the European Parliament have welcomed the publication of a new report by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Europe.
Launched today in Strasbourg, the report provides an exhaustive analysis of human rights violations related to sexual orientation or gender identity. It is the most recent study of such violations, spanning all 47 Member States of the Council of Europe (including Russia and Turkey).
The report thoroughly examines human rights violations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in six domains:
- societal beliefs and attitudes towards them;
- the presence and implementation of legal protection or legal discrimination;
- freedom of assembly, expression and association;
- gender recognition and family life;
- access to healthcare, education and employment;
- and the granting of asylum.
It also contains 36 recommendations addressed to law- and policy-makers in all 47 Member States.
Ulrike Lunacek, Member of the European Parliament and Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup said of the report: “I am grateful for such a comprehensive review of LGBT people’s rights in Europe, including but not only the 27 EU Member States. This will greatly help our work in the European Parliament, and we will refer to some of these findings and recommendations in the upcoming accession reports of Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey.”
Michael Cashman MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup, also added: “Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg and his team have done tremendous work; we will no doubt refer to this landmark report in our future reports and letters. We must also salute the work done by a dense network of legal experts. Such a comprehensive snapshot was long overdue for all of us.”
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