Therefore, the European Commission adopted on 12 November 2020 the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 (in all EU languages). The European Union has to be at the forefront of efforts to better protect LGBTIQ people’s rights. Not all feel safe to report verbal abuses and physical violence to the police. An important number of LGBTIQ people are also at risk of poverty and social exclusion. For several LGBTIQ people in the EU, it is still unsafe to show affection publicly, to be open about their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (be it at home or at work), to simply be themselves without feeling to be threatened.

In a 2019 survey, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and sex characteristics was actually increasing in the EU: 43% of LGBT people declared that they felt discriminated against in 2019, as compared to 37% in 2012.ĭiscrimination against LGBTIQ people persists throughout the EU. Recent research also shows that even when greater social acceptance and support for equal rights is present, it has not always translated into clear improvements in LGBTIQ people’s lives. In 2015, the Commission presented the “List of Actions to Advance LGBTI Equality”, the first policy framework specifically combatting discrimination against LGBTI people. In recent decades, legislative developments, case law and policy initiatives have improved many people’s lives and helped us building more equal and welcoming societies, including for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people. The European Commission, the Parliament and the Council, together with Member States, all share a responsibility to protect fundamental rights and ensure equal treatment and equality for all. Our social, political and economic strength comes from our unity in diversity: Equality and non-discrimination are core values and fundamental rights in the EU, enshrined in its Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

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