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EU LGBTI Survey

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    #2
    Lackadaisical
    Closed Accounts Posts: 518 ✭✭✭Lackadaisical


    The one thing I'd bring up in it is that I don't feel the EU institutions are very proactive about LGBT rights. There's a deafening silence on the topic most to the time and I think they're taking a lowest common denominator view to avoid offending right wing member states.

    My rights aren't the same across the EU and I don't even feel safe in some EU countries around LGBT issues. There are huge variations in attitudes and in the law too.

    It's definitely not seen as an issue of the same priority as say gender equality or employment rights.

    I mean I know that European law and the Norris Case drove decriminalisation here in Ireland back in the 1990s but it's like things have just entered a period of stagnation or even regression since then, particularly with the rise of the extreme right in some eastern members states but even the foot dragging on same sex marriage etc etc. Why isn't that a universal right? I see and hear very little from any EU body on the topic anymore.

    It's like the institutions are fine with the idea of a progressive and regressive Europe just coexisting on LGBT rights.

    That's not an anti EU sentiment btw, it's just disappointing that it's become so passive on LGBT issues of late.


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    #3
    Ten of Swords
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,414 CMod ✭✭✭✭Ten of Swords


    This is why surveys like this matter, to identify trouble spots or gaps and to overlay actual human experience over faceless legislation and statistics.

    As an aside I'm glad to see that Serbia and North Macedonia have been included in this survey. The Balkan nations had a poor reputation for LGBT rights up until recently (last decade) and there are still some issues with rights and pride marches in some countries, will be interesting to see what comes of this survey

    Moderator: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender, Vegan & Vegetarian

    Category Moderator: Social & Fun



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    #4
    Annasopra
    Registered Users Posts: 40,880 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    To be fair the EU parliament itself has an lgbti intergroup which is quite proactive. The problem to some extent is the growth of anti lgbti sentiment that has resulted from the growth of far right nationalism and authoritarianism in Europe e.g. Orban et al

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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    #5
    Lackadaisical
    Closed Accounts Posts: 518 ✭✭✭Lackadaisical


    Yeah. Hopefully things start swinging back as it could really change the EU's outlook generally if we start seeing a load of far right parties in a significant numbers of countries. It's not just the Eastern Bloc either, places like Italy and Austria are headed the same way.

    I suppose though it's always been a bit like this. Ireland's only recently joined the Western European progressive group. We were fairly hardline social conservatives until relatively recently, even with the protocols on the treaties specifically reassuring the extreme position of Irish abortion laws at the time.

    It's a bit of a barrier to freedom of movement though if rights aren't harmonised though.


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    #6
    jobbridge4life
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭jobbridge4life


    Done.

    As regards the EU and LGBT rights, I don't think it is fair to suggest that they don't value and promote LGBT rights. At the end of the day the EU is a project of integration and values building, one that Member States are coming to with very different starting points on many issues. So yes by its nature progress must often be iterative and frustrating slow but the ground work is being done for much greater progress down the road.

    As Joey has observed the reality is that we face a severe backlash across the Union, and beyond, from forces who whether the loudly announce it or don't are anathema to LGBT individuals rights. I'm not suggesting that we kowtow to these forces but I am saying that we must be prudent and deliberate at this time.


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    #7
    Lackadaisical
    Closed Accounts Posts: 518 ✭✭✭Lackadaisical


    The EU is ultimately an expression of the democratic choices made by member states. The parliament being directly elected, the commissioners appointed by governments and the council literally being representatives of those governments.

    So I think it's very important that we don't just make assumptions about general policy direction as there's a significant swing to the right going on in a lot of member states. It's a very different picture to where we were at the turn of the 21st century when the direction was very decidedly towards socially progressive politics and the EU was smaller and more western Europe centric.

    Ireland has become a lot like other Northern & Western European neighbours on some of these issues, but we all need to be lobbying a lot harder for LGBTI rights.

    I still find a lot of the time political figures are a bit over polite about gay rights.


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