En tant que Vicepresident de l'Intergrup sobre Drets LGBT al Parlament Europeu, i com gairebé totes les institucions europees, commemoro avui, el 17 de Maig, el Dia Internacional contra l'Homofòbia i la Transfòbia.

El Parlament Europeu, la Comissió Europea, el Consell Europeu, el Servei d'Acció Exterior Europeu, així com l'agència de drets Fonamentals, han expressat el seu suport i han emès comunicats al respecte. L'única excepació enguany ha estat el Consell de la UE, presidit per Hungria.

La data commemora la decisió de l'Organització Mundial de la Salut (OMS) de desclassificar l'Homosexualitat com una malaltia mental (va passar el 17 de maig de 1990). (veure diverses noticies anteriors).

 

A continuació adjunto alguns extractes de les delcaracions que han fet les institucions europees:

European Commission

Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship issued a statement condemning homophobia as “a blatant violation of human dignity”:

Homophobia is a blatant violation of human dignity and is incompatible with the principles upon which the EU is founded. I am fully committed to combating homophobia and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The principle of equal treatment is a fundamental value for the EU. This principle is guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Charter prohibits any discrimination based on sexual orientation. Yet, sadly, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the EU are still victims of exclusion, hate speech, hate crime, discrimination and other forms of intolerance. This is confirmed by the available data collected by the Fundamental Rights Agency, by Member State institutions and by civil society.

Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, will address the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, currently meeting in Budapest. The text of his intervention will be made available later today.

European Council

Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, published a strong statement fully endorsing comments by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon against violence and the discrimination of LGBT people:

Last December, on Human Rights Day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared: “When individuals are attacked, abused or imprisoned because of their sexual orientation, we must speak out.” He added: “Yes, we recognize that social attitudes run deep. Yes, social change often comes only with time. Yet, let there be no confusion: where there is tension between cultural attitudes and universal human rights, universal human rights must carry the day.” I can fully endorse the Secretary General’s statement.

In particular, when individuals are victims of discrimination, attacked, abused or imprisoned because of their sexual orientation or other reasons, we must speak out. Such attacks do not just affect the individual victims – they are attacks on all of us. They devastate families. They pit one group against another, dividing larger society.

We have a collective responsibility to stand against discrimination, to defend our fellow human beings and our fundamental principles.

European Parliament

Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, read a moving speech while opening an exhibition on gay prides in Europe, at the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament on 10 May. He declared:

Homophobia is deplorable because it aims to denigrate people and deprive them of these rights on the basis of their sexual orientation.

But as we celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, we must also remember, which may be of special importance, that some people are not only deprived of their basic rights, but may be tortured and punished because of their sexual orientation. In some countries they may even face the death penalty.

We have a duty to protect human rights, wherever they are, and in whatever form they take.

Louis Michel, Co-President of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, opened the joint parliamentary assembly’s meeting in Budapest yesterday by reading strong remarks to parliamentarians from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries:

I wish to say with the greatest determination that we will never accept that governments or politicians may use, or even exploit, any ‘cultural’ argument in an attempt to justify the hunt and demonization of homosexuality.

Any minority, regardless of what makes it one, must benefit from identical rights.

I would like to take this opportunity to urge all European and ACP parliamentarians not to be carried away by misleading approximations. The sexual difference between consenting adults, love between two men, or two women, or between a man and a woman definitively belongs one’s intimacy, which is a sacred entitlement for any human being.
 

The European Parliament website also features a special report on the International Day.

European External Action Service

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will publish a written statement condemning the harassment and violence faced by LGBT human rights defenders. (Statement coming soon.)

Fundamental Rights Agency

The Fundamental Rights Agency announced it would start working on a EU-wide survey of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity:

Today, on the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, in some EU countries, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are better protected than before. However, in others they are not, underlining the need for the relevant governments to act to treat all citizens equally across a variety of issues. The Agency will provide policy makers with concrete evidence of unfair treatment, abuse or violence following the launch of its survey of LGBT people in early 2012.

The EU-wide online survey will capture the actual experiences of discrimination and hate crime felt by LGBT people, something that has never been done on this scale before. In 2012, the Agency will also identify good practice by authorities in preventing and addressing discrimination and abuses against LGBT people.