EU proposes new rules to protect LGBTQ+ people amid 'worrying trends'

Proposals follow creation of ‘LGBT-free zones’ in Poland and Hungary’s proposed ban on adoption

Daniel Boffey in Brussels
Thu 12 Nov 2020 18.07 GMT

Brussels has put itself on a collision course with the Polish and Hungarian governments after proposing to criminalise hate speech against LGBTQ+ people under EU law and secure recognition of same-sex partnerships across the bloc’s borders.

Věra Jourová, a European commissioner, said the measures followed new “worrying trends”, with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights reporting that 43% of LGBT people had declared feeling discriminated against in 2019, compared with 37% in 2012.

The proposals were announced as part of the commission’s first ever strategy to secure equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, intersex and queer people.

Jourová cited attacks on Pride marches and the move by more than 100 Polish municipalities to declare themselves as “LGBT-free zones” as further evidence of increased discrimination. A so-called “LGBT ideology” was recently described as “more destructive than communist indoctrination” by Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda.

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