A recent study commissioned by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) shows that as much as 43 percent of representatives of the LGBTIQ community in Europe feel discriminated against in one way or another because of their sexual orientation. As much as 58 percent has experienced homophobic or transphobic aggression towards itself in the last five years.

During the presentation of this report at the EURACTIV.pl webinar, the European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli said that this situation prompted the European Commission to prepare the first strategy for equality of non-heteronormative people in the history of the European Union.

“The way we were born is not an ideology. How we were born depends on nature, biology, this is science, ”Helena Dalli stated.

The EU strategy is to bring about changes in the law that in the future would apply to the entire territory of the EU. It is primarily about expanding the list of crimes to include homophobic hate speech.

“Too many people cannot be themselves without fear of discrimination, exclusion, or violence. We are observing a disturbing trend of incidents in Europe, such as attacks on equality marches and the adoption of declarations on ‘LGBTIQ-free zones’," Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for values ​​and transparency, said.

The second important element of the EU strategy is the issue of cross-border regulation of parenthood of same-sex couples. The point is that all Member States should recognize such parentage, even if in some countries it is not possible to adopt children by homosexual couples.

(EURACTIV.pl)