As the EU seeks budget cuts to break a stalemate in member states’ talks, women’s rights groups are on the chopping bloc, prompting advocates’ concern that important causes are fading from the common agenda.
Violence, threats and discrimination against lesbians and gay men demand a serious human-rights response.
While governments celebrate milestones like WorldPride and same-sex marriage anniversaries, commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe Michael O’Flaherty warns that behind the scenes, crackdowns, smear campaigns and legal rollbacks are becoming the new normal.
Europe is right to strengthen stockpiles, early-warning systems, and civil defence. But the decisive question is not whether every person can survive 72 hours alone. It is whether Europe has designed its preparedness so that no one is abandoned during those hours.
The EU Commission stands by its vow that “there is nothing to ‘cure’ in LGBTIQ+ people,” yet so-called ‘conversion’ practices still continue unregulated in 18 member states despite recent campaigning. But will a ban on such practices be enough?
The deadly attack on Berlin’s annual pride parade was widely condemned by leaders across Europe from across the political spectrum, as the hard-right courts their newest voter base: the LGBTI+ community.
Europe can celebrate a landmark trans rights judgment in Luxembourg one week, yet still leave trans people fearing rising hate and legal limbo in countries just a short flight away. But what is actually the state of transgender rights in Europe?