■ Lissy Gröner MEP:  “I hope that this report once and for all enables everybody to clearly understand that there is no doubt that [LGBT] people are discriminated against in Europe.”

BRUSSELS, July 1, 2008  –  The call for member states of the European Union to tackle discrimination by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), has been welcomed by the European Parliament’s all-party ‘Intergroup’ for gay and lesbian rights.

The FRA report, published yesterday, included a legal analysis on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation throughout the European Union.

In the report the FRA calls upon the European Union and its member states to bring forward greater legislative protection in areas of EU competence in order for LGBT people to enjoy full and equal rights.

“I hope that this report once and for all enables everybody to clearly understand that there is no doubt that homosexual, bisexual and transgender people are discriminated against in Europe,” commented German MEP Lissy Gröner, a vice-president of the Intergroup for the PSE group.

“Politicians in member states and at the European Parliament can no longer perpetuate the myths that discrimination of LGBT people does not exist.”

Michael Cashman, the president of the Intergroup, said that the FRA report “confirms once again what civil society has been telling us for a long time”.

“Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons are experiencing severe discrimination in some parts of the European Union and it is the responsibility of the European Commission to propose adequate legislation in the areas of EU competence to guarantee that every European citizen enjoy full and equal rights,” he added.

Speaking for the ALDE group, Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld  said that discrimination of same-sex couples, married or in registered partnership, needs to end.

“All couples should have equal rights and advantages, including in the fields of free movement and family reunification,” she said.

“The FRA report, which I had requested in the LIBE committee in 2007, underlines that homophobic hate speech and crime should be fought through EU-wide criminal legislation.

“Furthermore, the appalling conditions for transgender people should be put on the political agenda urgently,” she insisted.

“I fully support these requests, which is what ALDE promotes through its campaign ALDE 4 Equality, that brought Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to Zagreb and myself to Istanbul last weekend to ensure that LGBT rights are protected inside and outside of the EU.”

SEE ALSO

Wider Powers Needed to Tackle Discrimination Against Gays in Europe, Says Rights Agency.  Equal protection by European Union anti-discrimination law remains an ideal – not a fact – for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexual people (LGBT) living in many parts of the EU, a report published today says.  (UK Gay News, June 30, 2008)

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Posted: 1 July 2008 at 18:30 (UK time)