European Parliament Says the EU Should Do More for Transgender People’s Rights
STRASBOURG, June 16, 2010 – The European Parliament adopted today a strong position in favour of safeguarding transgender people’s fundamental rights.
MEPs officially acknowledged discrimination on grounds of gender identity, called for accessible gender reassignment procedures, and insisted that future EU gender equality initiatives should address issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.
The Figueiredo report evaluating the European Union’s 2006-2010 Roadmap for equality between women and men was adopted today. It calls for more explicit measures to combat discrimination based on gender identity. In particular, the report:
● acknowledges discrimination and multiple discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity;
● calls on EU authorities to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations in future work on gender equality;
● stresses that gender reassignment procedures should be made accessible, including through public health insurance schemes; and
● requires that future EU actions in the field of gender equality explicitly cover issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.
Ulrike Lunacek and Michael Cashman MEPs, co-presidents of the all-party Intergroup on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Transgender Rights, said in a joint statement: “We are glad this report was adopted, it represents a true milestone for improving the EU record on gender equality for all – including transgender citizens. It states clearly that gender equality strategies must explicitly address issues linked to gender identity, and thus sets a clear position on transgender people's fundamental rights in the future.”
Raül Romeva i Rueda MEP, vice-president of the LGBT Intergroup and Member of the Greens/European Free Alliance, added: “The European Parliament showed today that the rights of transgender people are of no less importance than other citizens’. It sent a strong signal, and I trust the Commission will follow our lead and start addressing discrimination based on gender identity more explicitly.”
The European Commission will now take this report into account when planning future actions in the field of gender equality.
Commenting this evening, Evelyne Paradis, executive director of ILGA-Europe, said: “We hope that the European Commission will follow-up on the European Parliament’s leadership and actively takes on board the promotion of gender equality for all, tackling multiple discrimination experienced by women and transgender people.
“We also hope that the European Commission will follow the example of the Council of Europe’s Conference of Ministers responsible for Equality between Women and Men which identified that ‘women and girls discriminated on grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity, [and] transgender persons’ were particularly vulnerable group needing specific attention.”