On 18 April 2024, Forbidden Colours released the ‘Queer your EU‘ report. This research evaluates what the institutions of the European Union have done for LGBTIQ+ people from 2019 to 2024. The NGO analyzed the votes of the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) revealing that 1 MEP out of 4 voted against the rights of LGBTIQ+ people. MEPs from Ireland, Luxembourg, and Malta have been the most supportive while those from Italy, Hungary and Poland have been the less supportive.

Based on its analysis, Forbidden Colours calls for the EU institutions to act more decisively to protect every citizen in the EU. 

The NGO calls all EU citizens to vote for parties that support the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, as polls currently suggest that the number of MEPs voting against the rights of LGBTIQ+ people could rise to more than 40% in the upcoming European Parliament. 

The NGO also requests an evolution of the EU treaties to give more power to the EU to protect LGBTIQ+ people from discrimination and break the unreachable unanimity on these legislative files in the Council of the European Union.

Worrying evolutions in the EU over the last 5 years

Over the last five years, Forbidden Colours has witnessed a worrying trend within our European Union as the LGBTIQ+ communities were being instrumentalised and scapegoated by illiberal or autocratic leaders and governments. We have seen the introduction of ‘LGBT-free zones’ in Poland. 

“We have seen the adoption of an ‘anti-LGBT propaganda’ law in Hungary. We have seen Romania and Bulgaria refusing to recognise rainbow families despite rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union. We have seen mothers losing their parenthood rights in Italy. We have seen hate speech and hate crime on the rise, and waves of disinformation about the LGBTIQ+ communities flooding social media”, the NGO says in a press release. 

These attacks seriously threaten the progress made in the past decades to ensure that every citizen can fully access their most fundamental human rights everywhere in the EU. Yet, beyond their devastating effects on LGBTIQ+ people, these attacks concern every citizen in the EU as they aim to weaken our democracies and dismantle the rule of law.

“The threat posed to the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people by so-called ‘anti-gender’ and anti-rights movements has been growing in the EU over the last 5 years. With a Council of the EU where progress is blocked and a European Commission sometimes reluctant to defend the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, we need a very supportive European Parliament. Our analysis provides all the information for EU citizens when it comes to voting for candidates and parties that support the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people”, Vincent Reillon, Outreach & Policy Officer at Forbidden Colours and author of the report, says.

‘Queer your EU’ report

In the ‘Queer your EU’ report, Forbidden Colours analyses the competencies of the EU institutions on the matter and evaluates the achievements of each of them over the last five years.

“With the adoption of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy in 2020, the European Commission has shown some leadership. However, the implementation of the strategy has led to a limited impact. The legislative files put forward by the Commission on hate speech and hate crime or parenthood have been blocked in the Council of the EU as the necessary unanimity of Member States has not been achieved. Moreover, the European Commission has been slow to act to defend the fundamental values of the EU when these were infringed by some Member States”, the NGO argues. 

The Council of the EU has failed to adopt any Council Conclusions on the rights of LGBTIQ+ people since 2016 and the horizontal equality directive is still blocked, 16 years after it has been proposed by the European Commission. The impossibility to reach unanimity in the Council regarding the defence of the rights of LGBTIQ+ people has become the major deadlock at EU level.

In the European Parliament, whereas almost 57% of the MEPs have always voted in favour of the key texts regarding the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, Forbidden Colours unveils that 1 MEP out of 4 has voted against the rights of LGBTIQ+ people. 

MEPs from Ireland have been the most supportive, followed by those from Luxembourg and Malta. The bottom slots in the ranking are occupied by MEPs from Italy, Hungary and Poland, the three Member States where the backlashes on the rights of LGBTIQ+ people have been the most evident in the last five years.

MEPs from the Greens, Renew Europe, the Left and the Socialists & Democrats have consistently supported the text defending the rights of LGBTIQ+ people while those from the European Conservatives and Reformists and Identity and Democracy have strongly opposed them.

Based on the current polls, Forbidden Colours expects that the share of MEPs voting against the rights of LGBTIQ+ people could rise from 27% to more than 40% in the next European Parliament.

“In June 2024, EU voters can participate in the European Elections. Their vote is critical to make sure the European Parliament will be fully supporting the fundamental rights of all EU citizens. We will fight to make sure that we defeat the current predictions”, Rémy Bonny, Executive Director of Forbidden Colours, says. 

Recommendations

To answer these raising threats, Forbidden Colours calls for a European Union firmly committed to defend its core values as defined in the EU treaties. The NGO expects strong EU institutions devoted to protecting the fundamental rights of all EU citizens, including LGBTIQ+ people.

Forbidden Colours calls all European citizens to take part in the European elections of June 2024 and cast their vote for the candidates of the political groups that have shown clear and strong support for the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people. The report is complemented by 27 country fiches analysing the votes of each national parties represented in the European Parliament to help EU citizens make their decision on 6-9 June 2024.

Forbidden Colours calls on all the EU institutions and the Member States to work together in a modification of the EU treaties to ensure better protection of the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people at the EU level. These modifications should introduce in the treaties gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics as grounds for discrimination alongside sexual orientation. The competences of the EU should be extended when it comes to the protection of LGBTIQ+ people against discrimination. Finally, the ordinary legislative procedure should be used for any piece of EU legislation dealing with the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people, breaking the unanimity currently required in the Council.

Forbidden Colours calls on the current and upcoming presidencies of the Council of the EU to make sure that the proposals currently blocked or discussed – the horizontal equality directive, the introduction of hate crime and hate speech as EU crimes, or the directive on parenthood – are adopted as soon as possible.

Forbidden Colours also expects that the portfolio of a Commissioner for Equality will be maintained and calls for the adoption of a more ambitious LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy for 2025-2030.

Comparing to Rainbow Europe Map and Index

The ‘charts’ from Forbidden Colours and the Rainbow Europe Map and Index by ILGA-Europe differ. And more than you think. Of course, both NGO don’t measure the same thing, but it does show even gay friendly countries don’t necessarily have gay friendly MEPs. 

Belgium, number 2 on Rainbow Europe Map and Index, only scores 9th on the Forbidden Colours chart. 

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