Articles about LGBTI+

Far-right lawmakers, followed by the center-right, are advancing three bills that would restrict the rights of transgender and intersex people—directly impacting young people’s ability to navigate their own journeys and grow into their own selves with dignity, respect, and support. At a time when many young people are already vulnerable to feeling lost or isolated, a sense of belonging is not optional - it is essential. A plenary debate on three of these bills is scheduled for today, with a final vote expected on March 20. If adopted, these bills would: • Revoke legal recognition of self-determined name and gender identity for transgender people • Prohibit legal recognition for young people aged 16–18 • Remove protections when a person’s gender identity does not match official documents • Roll back measures that support transgender children and young people in schools, including recognition of their chosen name • Ban awareness campaigns and inclusive initiatives related to LGBTI+ issues • Ban access to medically recognized care, such as hormone blockers for adolescents, even with parents’ consent • Erase protections for intersex children from non-consensual, medically unnecessary interventions These proposals risk increasing stigma, exclusion, and harm—undermining young people’s sense of safety, identity, and belonging. We should be clear: no one deserves to face discrimination, abuse, or harm simply for being who they are. By affirming trans identities, we can help everyone thrive and ensure that healthcare supports people as they truly are. Families and individuals deserve support - not political interference in deeply personal aspects of their lives. We stand with civil society in Portugal and with more than 200 healthcare professionals and researchers who have already warned against these measures. We urge parliamentarians to reject these harmful proposals, and we call on the EU to speak out clearly against discrimination. Now is the time to stand for a world where all people, regardless of gender identity, are supported to live their full lives with respect and compassion.

An open letter to EU Member States: Support the advancement of SRHR through the future EU Gender Equality and LGBTIQ Equality Strategies As Equality Ministers prepare to gather at the ‘Equality, Europe!’ Conference on 23 June under the Polish EU Presidency, to discuss the future EU Gender Equality and LGBTIQ Equality Strategies for the next five years, IPPF EN and its Member Associations across the EU urge Member States to demonstrate bold leadership and unwavering commitment to women’s rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and LGBTIQ rights. Europe faces mounting pressure on democracy and a backlash against gender equality. The urgency for bold and unified EU action has never been greater. Regressive forces threaten to roll back decades of progress, particularly targeting the bodily autonomy and dignity of women and LGBTIQ persons. We are witnessing rising attacks on reproductive rights, increasing barriers to care and shrinking civic space in several Member States and at the EU level. Against this backdrop, we call on Member States to champion strong, forward-looking Gender Equality and LGBTIQ Equality Strategies post-2025, and to endorse them through Council Conclusions when the time comes. These documents must reaffirm the EU’s determination to advance equality and ensure that SRHR and the rights of all women and LGBTIQ people are protected, promoted, and fulfilled across the Union. Building on the ambitious vision laid out in the European Commission Roadmap for Women’s Rights, we call for the future Strategies to include specific actions, recommendations and funding for the following priorities: 1. Highest standards of health – with SRHR at the core Everyone in the EU must have access to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including SRHR. The Strategies must contribute to ensuring: Access to comprehensive SRHR services for all in the EU, in line with international human rights and public health standards, including access to safe, legal, and affordable abortion care and fertility care. Access to respectful, high-quality obstetric and gynaecological care, and combating all forms of obstetric and gynaecological violence, including mistreatment during and denial of abortion care and forced sterilisation. Specific attention to the needs of LGBTIQ persons, especially trans and intersex people, in accessing affirming and non-discriminatory healthcare. 2. Freedom from gender-based violence The Strategies must affirm the right of all women and LGBTIQ people to live free from gender-based violence and contribute to: Combat all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape based on lack of consent, hate crimes and hate speech, harmful practices, female and intersex genital mutilation, ‘conversion therapies’. Guarantee comprehensive support services for all victims of sexual violence, including access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services. 3. Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) CSE is essential to keep all young people safe and able to thrive. It equips young people with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to understand consent, prevent violence, and foster a culture of equality and respect. CSE is a crucial tool in countering the rise of disinformation and the spread of masculinist and polarised ideologies among young men and boys. The Strategies must contribute to ensuring: Access to inclusive CSE in line with international standards guaranteed in all Member States. 4. Strong institutional mechanisms and Funding The EU must ensure that progress on gender equality and LGBTIQ rights is monitored, sustainable and resistant to rollback. The Strategies must prioritise: Dedicated and increased funding for civil society organisations advancing gender equality, SRHR, and LGBTIQ rights, notably through a strengthened stand-alone Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme in the next MFF. An EU-wide accountability mechanism to monitor implementation and respond to retrogressions in Member States. Funding conditionality against anti-gender equality, anti-choice and anti-rights actors. Intersectionality at the heart All actions must be rooted in an intersectional approach, addressing the specific, compounded and systemic forms of discrimination faced by women and girls in all their diversity – LBTIQ women, including trans, non-binary, intersex women, migrant and racialised women, Roma women, women with disabilities, and others. True equality leaves no one behind. Conclusion: A call to the Council We urge the Council of the EU to champion ambitious future Gender Equality and LGBTIQ Equality Strategies at the Conference, and when the time comes, to endorse them through Council Conclusions and participate in their implementation. This will send a strong political message: that Member States stand united in upholding fundamental rights and that the EU will not waver in the face of backlash. Equality, dignity, and justice cannot wait. The time to act is now.   Signatories: International Planned Parenthood Federation - European Network (IPPF EN) Austrian Family Planning Association, ÖGF (Austria) Fédération Laïque de Centres de Planning Familial (FLCPF - Belgium) Sensoa, Flemish expert center for sexual health (Belgium) The Danish Family Planning Association, DFPA (Denmark) Mouvement français pour le planning familial (France) pro familia Bundesverband (Germany) Aidos Italian Association for Women in Development (Italy) Rutgers (Netherlands) FEDERA Foundation for Women and Family Planning (Poland) SECS Association (Romania) SEDRA-Federación Planificación Familiar (Spain)  

All people deserve to live with dignity and humanity, and it is only right that everyone has the freedom to be who they are and to love whom they love. And yet, this is not the case in Türkiye — among other places. We are deeply outraged by the Turkish government’s systemic campaign against the LGBTIQ+ community, which has escalated through harsher jail sentences, the silencing of civil society organizations, and the imposition of punishments for nonconformity with binary gender norms. These attacks on the LGBTIQ+ community are a stark indicator of the shrinking civic space and ongoing democratic backsliding in Türkiye. This deteriorating situation is reflected in the latest ILGA Rainbow Map, where Türkiye’s LGBTIQ+ rights record ranks among the most concerning in the region. In a recent alarming move, the Ministry of Family and Social Services sent a directive to all state institutions banning the use of gender and LGBTIQ+ concepts in national education and policymaking. The directive, which simultaneously declares 2025 the “Year of the Family” while excluding and vilifying LGBTIQ+ people, exposes a deeply exclusionary agenda. The Ministry’s decision to erase essential terms such as “gender,” “gender identity,” “LGBT,” “SOGIESC” and “comprehensive sexuality education” from public discourse constitutes a direct attack on the dignity, safety, and humanity of LGBTIQ+ people. The entire directive and the narrative it is pushing are not only dangerous, but profoundly dehumanizing. Additionally, one of the harshest anti-LGBTIQ+ laws in Europe is currently advancing through the Turkish Parliament. The bill severely restricts LGBTIQ+ expression and visibility, jeopardizes the right of trans people to marry, and permits arbitrary detention based on ambiguous allegations. These ideologically driven attacks are not without consequence. Activists are reporting a rise in suicide among LGBTIQ+ people in Türkiye, driven by the increasingly hostile political environment. No one deserves to face harm, abuse, or discrimination simply for being who they are. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community in Türkiye and ask allies to spread the word about the situation and call for the safety and protection of LGBTIQ+ people.   Read more: A "warning" from the Ministry of Family to its directorates against LGBTI+: “Do not use the concepts of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation” ILGA Rainbow Map and Türkiye’s profile Press release: Turkey poised to further roll back LGBTI rights amid ongoing democratic crackdown   Credits illustration: Paul Martín del Campo (Otto Pastias)

On August 28, Serbian President announced that the EuroPride march in Belgrade planned for September 17 would not go ahead. Two days ago, the Serbian police instead announced a ban on the route for the parade, which had already been agreed between the organisers of Pride and the Serbian authorities. IPPF EN and IPPF Member Associations from Serbia (Center for population policies and sustainable development -CPPSD), Norway (Sex og Politikk) Romania (SECS – Contraception and Sexual Education Society) and North Macedonia (HERA - Health Education and Research Association) stand with Serbian LGBT and human rights activists in condemning the banning of the LGBT march event as a huge blow for human rights. The parade, due to take place this weekend, was cancelled amid fears that counter protests could turn violent. The atmosphere of fear, threats of violence and numerous serious acts of discrimination which are illegal and punishable - have reached a peak and achieved their goal. A ban on fundamental rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in the public space is a threat for all of us as citizens and for our capacity to operate as civil society organisations serving groups marginalized by systemic oppression. Banning the LGBT march at a time when ultra-nationalist and far-right groups are tolerated to express hatred and contempt against this minority in the streets of Belgrade will intensify hate crimes and hate speech and fuel violence. Not only are the national authorities clearly failing to respect their obligations under human rights law to ensure freedom of assembly for all citizens, but they also fuel anti-LGBTI rhetoric which puts LGBTI people and community at increased risk of violence. This is a very sad day for Serbia, and not one, but one hundred steps back for human rights in this country. It is more important than ever in these difficult times to stand in solidarity with the LGBT community in Serbia and not allow artificially designed gaps between the majority and this minority to deepen. We will be present at the Pride March in Belgrade on Saturday and call on the Serbian authorities to respect their national and international obligations in ensuring the security of the participants during and at the end of this march for human rights.   Press contact: Antonio Mihajlov from Sex og Politikk, [email protected], +4740633704 or [email protected]. Photo by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash.

High on the list of things that Viktor Orban doesn’t want you to know: homosexuality is a Hungarian invention. Before human rights campaigner Karl-Maria Kertbeny sat down to write a quiet letter to a leading German activist in 1868, the word homosexual did not exist. Neither did heterosexual. When he invented these terms, Kertbeny became the first European thinker to give queer people a neutral label for their experience, and to say it was equal to straightness. Many people continue to lay flowers at his grave in Budapest in recognition of this important Hungarian contribution to the history of LGBQ* dignity. Until recently, Hungarian society has continued in this vein, not always a pioneer but frequently showing its neighbours an example of steady advancement in the field of human rights. Homosexual sex was decriminalized there in 1961, relatively early compared to other contemporary socialist states in Europe – East Germans and Bulgarians, for example, had to wait until 1968. In the EU era, Hungary’s parliament adopted the bill to approve civil partnerships in 2007, making them accessible to their citizens substantially faster than in Croatia (2014), Greece (2015) or Italy (2016). And earlier this year, an independent poll demonstrated that the Hungarian people are still carrying on this tradition of reaching gradually for social progress: 59% of Hungarians believe that gay couples should have equal rights to adopt a child, an increase from the 42% who felt the same way in 2013. This historical trajectory is rather inconvenient to Mr Orban. He would like Hungarians to believe the European value of LGBTQI* freedom is a Western import, a foreign ‘ideology’, rather than something their country did much to realize long before the inception of the European Union. Fidesz, his ruling right-wing party, has a particular passion for victimizing LGBTQI* people, parcelling up actions that trample on trans and queer people’s human rights with measures designed to shut down intellectual life and access to education. Academic gender studies have been banned in Hungarian universities since 2018. In 2020, transgender and intersex people were robbed of their access to legal gender recognition. Summer 2021 saw the regime manoeuvring its wide-ranging package of amendments to “Child Protection” and “Family Protection” laws into place: as of July, it is illegal to share information about LGBTQI* lives with young people under the age of 18. Sexuality education that tells the truth about the range of human sexuality and gender has been banned in schools; no content relating to queer or trans people can be shown on television if a child might see it; booksellers within two hundred metres of a school or a church face prosecution for stocking literature featuring queer or trans characters. Political homophobia spreads  Hungary is of course not alone in falling victim to such deterioration. These measures are fed by, and feed into, a wave of human rights rollbacks threatening millions of Europeans. Hate against LGBTQI* people is increasingly legitimized through measures that forbid any public mention of their existence, on the pretext of shielding children from supposedly harmful knowledge. In Romania this summer, far-right party AUR felt emboldened enough by Hungary’s latest move to announce its own proposed law to “limit the representation or promotion of homosexuality and gender reassignment among minors”. While the party are not currently in government, and were likely angling for attention during a quiet period, this threat comes hot on the heels of several years of attempts to give parents the right to control what information about gender and sexuality their children receive in school, and to enshrine homophobia in the country’s constitution with a proposed amendment regarding marriage rights. Just as in Hungary, a homophobic, transphobic and anti-education bill that was presented in Poland’s parliament in 2019 was dressed up as a protection against paedophilia. It would make anyone providing comprehensive sexuality education to young people in schools a criminal. That bill is currently frozen in legislative process, neither adopted nor rejected. Recent announcements suggest that it will soon reappear in the form of a much broader, more dangerous anti-LGBTQ* law, more similar to Hungary’s, that will apply to many other settings beside schools. Since then, there has been a continuous escalation in brutal state violence committed against those protesting Poland’s shutdown of reproductive healthcare – their shocking testimonies must be read to be believed. Anyone following the situation can see how a law preventing street demonstrators even mentioning LGBTQI* rights – in case a child reads a placard - will be hugely destructive for any and all people taking a stand on these connected struggles. The paradox of conservative censorship Thinking about public expression is key to understanding what exactly is going on here. It is, after all, categorically strange for right-wing parties to be so enthusiastic about state intervention in private life, and so violently opposed to the protection of that profoundly libertarian value: the right to say what you like. This is not a phenomenon unique to central Europe, but a trend across the continent – consider the appetite for sexuality-related censorship of far-right groups Fratelli d'Italia, VOX in Spain, and Portugal’s Chega. Certainly for those hardline conservatives who are in power, one goal is to misdirect public attention from their mishandling of economic, and latterly pandemic, issues. Framing LGBTQI* citizens as the current major threat to national stability is a smoke-and-mirrors diversion tactic, designed to disguise holes in a manifesto or deflect state accountability for preventable deaths, rocketing unemployment, and spiralling hopelessness. These leaders are exploiting multiple issues that trigger primal fears (“other” groups threatening social order, harm coming to one’s children and so on), in order to make loss of freedoms seem more palatable and therefore get away with shutting down dissent. A clear message from European leaders The fight to win back decades of gains in human rights, sexual autonomy and self-determination depends on affected citizens participating fully and freely in national and international exchange. This is what IPPF EN seeks to facilitate. We bring together activists operating on different progressive causes in challenging European contexts to share knowledge, increase their sense of community, and help them develop their tactics. The strong stances we saw from European leaders expressed in June’s letter from the EU Council have been an encouraging sign of international solidarity, as have the Commission’s infringement procedures launched against Poland and Hungary in July, and the tabling of a wider parliamentary resolution on protecting LGBTQI* rights across Europe in the September 13th plenary. As these darkly conservative narratives play out to the same rhythm, again and again, it’s clear that such messages from European leaders must be backed up with financial support for activists if we want to combat an increasingly organized international threat. It might seem counterintuitive, but the upcoming referendum that Orban has scheduled on his offensive law should offer a glimmer of hope. The referendum questions are patently biased, written to confuse and manipulate, leaving people no way to express disagreement with the law and therefore no choice but to boycott it if they don’t support hate. We should see this as an admission of weakness. Orban fears he cannot count on a free vote to deliver a result against human rights, and so has engineered a rigged one. He knows there are plenty of people left who will resist him if they feel it is possible. It is down to the rest of us to ensure that it is. *Note: when we write LGBTQI*, we are referring to everybody who isn't straight and cis   Written by Catherine Bailey Gluckman, IPPF EN Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

High on the list of things that Viktor Orban doesn’t want you to know: homosexuality is a Hungarian invention. Before human rights campaigner Karl-Maria Kertbeny sat down to write a quiet letter to a leading German activist in 1868, the word homosexual did not exist. Neither did heterosexual. When he invented these terms, Kertbeny became the first European thinker to give queer people a neutral label for their experience, and to say it was equal to straightness. Many people continue to lay flowers at his grave in Budapest in recognition of this important Hungarian contribution to the history of LGBQ* dignity. Until recently, Hungarian society has continued in this vein, not always a pioneer but frequently showing its neighbours an example of steady advancement in the field of human rights. Homosexual sex was decriminalized there in 1961, relatively early compared to other contemporary socialist states in Europe – East Germans and Bulgarians, for example, had to wait until 1968. In the EU era, Hungary’s parliament adopted the bill to approve civil partnerships in 2007, making them accessible to their citizens substantially faster than in Croatia (2014), Greece (2015) or Italy (2016). And earlier this year, an independent poll demonstrated that the Hungarian people are still carrying on this tradition of reaching gradually for social progress: 59% of Hungarians believe that gay couples should have equal rights to adopt a child, an increase from the 42% who felt the same way in 2013. This historical trajectory is rather inconvenient to Mr Orban. He would like Hungarians to believe the European value of LGBTQI* freedom is a Western import, a foreign ‘ideology’, rather than something their country did much to realize long before the inception of the European Union. Fidesz, his ruling right-wing party, has a particular passion for victimizing LGBTQI* people, parcelling up actions that trample on trans and queer people’s human rights with measures designed to shut down intellectual life and access to education. Academic gender studies have been banned in Hungarian universities since 2018. In 2020, transgender and intersex people were robbed of their access to legal gender recognition. Summer 2021 saw the regime manoeuvring its wide-ranging package of amendments to “Child Protection” and “Family Protection” laws into place: as of July, it is illegal to share information about LGBTQI* lives with young people under the age of 18. Sexuality education that tells the truth about the range of human sexuality and gender has been banned in schools; no content relating to queer or trans people can be shown on television if a child might see it; booksellers within two hundred metres of a school or a church face prosecution for stocking literature featuring queer or trans characters. Political homophobia spreads    Hungary is of course not alone in falling victim to such deterioration. These measures are fed by, and feed into, a wave of human rights rollbacks threatening millions of Europeans. Hate against LGBTQI* people is increasingly legitimized through measures that forbid any public mention of their existence, on the pretext of shielding children from supposedly harmful knowledge. In Romania this summer, far-right party AUR felt emboldened enough by Hungary’s latest move to announce its own proposed law to “limit the representation or promotion of homosexuality and gender reassignment among minors”. While the party are not currently in government, and were likely angling for attention during a quiet period, this threat comes hot on the heels of several years of attempts to give parents the right to control what information about gender and sexuality their children receive in school, and to enshrine homophobia in the country’s constitution with a proposed amendment regarding marriage rights. Just as in Hungary, a homophobic, transphobic and anti-education bill that was presented in Poland’s parliament in 2019 was dressed up as a protection against paedophilia. It would make anyone providing comprehensive sexuality education to young people in schools a criminal. That bill is currently frozen in legislative process, neither adopted nor rejected. Recent announcements suggest that it will soon reappear in the form of a much broader, more dangerous anti-LGBTQ* law, more similar to Hungary’s, that will apply to many other settings beside schools. Since then, there has been a continuous escalation in brutal state violence committed against those protesting Poland’s shutdown of reproductive healthcare – their shocking testimonies must be read to be believed. Anyone following the situation can see how a law preventing street demonstrators even mentioning LGBTQI* rights – in case a child reads a placard - will be hugely destructive for any and all people taking a stand on these connected struggles. The paradox of conservative censorship   Thinking about public expression is key to understanding what exactly is going on here. It is, after all, categorically strange for right-wing parties to be so enthusiastic about state intervention in private life, and so violently opposed to the protection of that profoundly libertarian value: the right to say what you like. This is not a phenomenon unique to central Europe, but a trend across the continent – consider the appetite for sexuality-related censorship of far-right groups Fratelli d'Italia, VOX in Spain, and Portugal’s Chega. Certainly for those hardline conservatives who are in power, one goal is to misdirect public attention from their mishandling of economic, and latterly pandemic, issues. Framing LGBTQI* citizens as the current major threat to national stability is a smoke-and-mirrors diversion tactic, designed to disguise holes in a manifesto or deflect state accountability for preventable deaths, rocketing unemployment, and spiralling hopelessness. These leaders are exploiting multiple issues that trigger primal fears (“other” groups threatening social order, harm coming to one’s children and so on), in order to make loss of freedoms seem more palatable and therefore get away with shutting down dissent. A clear message from European leaders   The fight to win back decades of gains in human rights, sexual autonomy and self-determination depends on affected citizens participating fully and freely in national and international exchange. This is what IPPF EN seeks to facilitate. We bring together activists operating on different progressive causes in challenging European contexts to share knowledge, increase their sense of community, and help them develop their tactics. The strong stances we saw from European leaders expressed in June’s letter from the EU Council have been an encouraging sign of international solidarity, as have the Commission’s infringement procedures launched against Poland and Hungary in July, and the tabling of a wider parliamentary resolution on protecting LGBTQI* rights across Europe in the September 13th plenary. As these darkly conservative narratives play out to the same rhythm, again and again, it’s clear that such messages from European leaders must be backed up with financial support for activists if we want to combat an increasingly organized international threat. It might seem counterintuitive, but the upcoming referendum that Orban has scheduled on his offensive law should offer a glimmer of hope. The referendum questions are patently biased, written to confuse and manipulate, leaving people no way to express disagreement with the law and therefore no choice but to boycott it if they don’t support hate. We should see this as an admission of weakness. Orban fears he cannot count on a free vote to deliver a result against human rights, and so has engineered a rigged one. He knows there are plenty of people left who will resist him if they feel it is possible. It is down to the rest of us to ensure that it is. *Note: when we write LGBTQI*, we are referring to everybody who isn't straight and cis Main photo by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash

Today marks the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), a day to draw attention to the discrimination and violence experienced by the LGBTI community. The day represents a major global annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, corporations, opinion leaders and local authorities to the alarming situation faced by people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics. Sexual and reproductive health and rights are for everyone, inclusive of sexual and gender diversity. This is particularly important since the outbreak of COVID-19, where people not conforming to sexual and gender norms are facing further abuse, neglect, incarceration and stigmatization. IPPF’s vision for "a world where all people can make decisions about their sexuality and well-being, in a world free of discrimination" strongly supports the position that all people have the right to self-determination according to their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics. IPPF is made up of people who also reflect sexual and gender diversity – many of our staff, board members, volunteers and partners are part of LGBTI communities. Our Federation is committed to providing quality and non-discriminatory services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, and to fight for the recognition of the rights of sexual and gender diverse people worldwide. “The trans community has been implementing projects for sexual health promotion with MEXFAM for many years. We work with our peers from the LGBTI community, but also with the general population and they really appreciate what we do. They come to us for counseling and information. We are not the ‘weirdos’ anymore."  – Joseline Sosa, volunteer at MEXFAM Oaxaca, an IPPF Member Association           We work in cooperation and solidarity with the LGBTI movement by:  Promoting inter-governmental declarations that recognize the right to a life free of violence and discrimination for LGBTI people at the UN in Geneva and New York  Fighting for the decriminalization of same-sex acts where it is still prohibited, including Trinidad & Tobago and India Provide friendly services for HIV and STI prevention and treatment for men who have sex with men in Botswana  Partnering with LGBTI organizations to respond to humanitarian situations in Nepal and Tonga Supporting teachers in providing sexual and gender diverse education all over the world Implementing protocols for sex change for trans people in Colombia Providing trans-specific dignity kits during natural disasters in Sri Lanka Fighting for same-sex marriage and recognition of same-sex families in Romania Those are just a few examples, but members of our Federation have been supporting the movement for years, and in some cases for decades.   Since 2018, IPPF has established a Steering Committee, led by our Member Association in Norway, Sex og Politikk, to advance the sexual and gender diversity agenda within and outside our Federation.The Steering Committee includes representatives from all the Regional Offices.  On 17 May, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, we reaffirm our commitment to achieving a world in which no person suffers discrimination or violence because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or sex characteristics; a world where the life or the integrity of people is not put at risk by prejudice; a world where all people can decide with whom to share their sexuality and their life; a world where people live healthy lives regardless of their sexual practices and their bodies.  IPPF – in all of its diversity – will continue to fight for the human right for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and sex characteristics, to be respected, celebrated and recognized. In the end – love wins. Happy IDAHOBIT!

IPPF has welcomed the news that Botswana’s High Court has overturned a ban on same sex relationships. The court ruled the law used to criminalise same sex relationships unconstitutional. “Botswana has done it, yes the good work starts here and now,” said Una Ngwenya, Executive Director of the Botswana Family Welfare Association, IPPF’s member organisation in Botswana. Monica Tabengwa, one of the first leaders of LeGaBiBo (Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana), the main SOGIE organisation in Botswana, said: “All our work has been proven worth it through this decision.” Botswana’s Government can challenge the decision in the Court of Appeal. Monica added an appeal was unlikely, and would fail in any case. She said: “If the Government does decides to appeal, it may not be a bad thing, as a defeated challenge would strengthen today’s decision even further.” The Botswana law is more or less a copy of the law in many other former British colonies introduced during colonial rule. The judgment equals the India Supreme Court judgment last year, which stated that colonial era laws did not ensure human rights as expected under post-colonial constitutions. IPPF’s Director General Alvaro Bermajo said: “We recognise today’s ruling as another milestone in the fight to reduce discrimination in Botswana and hope it will serve as an encouragement to those fighting similar laws in other places. We salute Botswana on this decision and hope it will lead the way for others.”

IPPF EN deeply regrets that the Council Conclusions on “Gender Equality, Youth and Digitalisation” could not be adopted yesterday, due to Poland and Hungary’s efforts to remove any mention of LGBTIQ people in the text. Poland additionally opposed any reference to gender equality. It is unacceptable that the discriminatory stance of these two Member States blocked the adoption of strong and inclusive Council Conclusions. This is only one of the latest examples of the systematic efforts by a few Member States to undermine EU values and disregard human rights, targeting specifically LGBTIQ and gender equality. “Politics are not harmless. Attacks on LGBTIQ rights ‘on paper’ by some EU Member States in the Council do translate into discrimination, verbal attacks and hate crimes against individuals and communities. We must not back down in front of such illiberal moves and the EU must retain a strong and clear voice on its fundamental values. An attack against LGBTIQ rights is an attack on EU fundamental values and the EU itself.”, says Caroline Hickson, IPPF EN’s Regional Director.   The governments of Poland and Hungary claim that their refusal to include LGBTIQ youth in the text among other marginalized youth groups is a reflection of the Polish and Hungarian societies’ views. We know this is not true. In both countries, a vibrant and active civil society is actively pushing back on these illiberal politics. In Hungary, many supported gender studies programmes that the government targeted and attacked within universities. In Poland, whereas LGBTIQ rights organizations get increasingly physically attacked, more and more people attend Pride marches to reclaim public space. The EU must not give up on its LGBTIQ citizens, regardless of where they live. Member States should above all listen to the voices of young people themselves. The organisation of the Gender Equality and You(th) Conference in Vienna in October was a great initiative, to which our youth network YSAFE was glad to participate. The outcomes of the Conference had been reflected in the text of the Draft Council Conclusions. We therefore particularly regret that some Member States could not listen to and stand up for all young people. IPPF EN however welcomes the strong stance taken by the other 26 Member States, which refused to be pressured into giving up on EU fundamental values of equality, non-discrimination and inclusion. Although the Presidency Conclusions do not have the same legal weight as Council Conclusions, we are glad that the text has not been watered down. In addition, IPPF EN strongly supports the Joint Non-Paper led by Malta and signed by 19 Member States, which calls for much greater effort to advance LGBTIQ equality, and for the adoption of a comprehensive EU LGBTIQ Strategy. It further calls for better data collection on discrimination and violence against LGBTIQ people, funding and space for civil society working on these issues, and for the EU to serve as a platform of exchange for Member States to collectively strive to uphold all human rights, for all. We are very much looking forward to working together with all European institutions, including the next European Parliament and European Commission, to ensure this strategy sees the light of day.

Last weekend, a referendum was held in Romania with the aim of establishing a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Romanians were asked to vote on whether they wanted to amend the current gender-neutral description in their constitution to specify that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. In the event, just over 20% of those eligible turned out to vote, in spite of the government's decision to exceptionally extend the voting period over two days. The initiative therefore failed to meet the 30% threshold required for it to be valid.  In practice, the referendum was a futile exercise that would have had no immediate impact on the rights of LGBTI people, since Romania doesn’t recognise gay marriage or civil unions. However, if successful, it would have drastically set back the rights of rainbow families for future generations. The constitutional change would have made it exponentially more difficult for gay couples to marry in the future. A few days before the vote, the government reduced anti-fraud monitoring means and limited options for challenging the result. Around €40m was spent to organise it. The ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) used nationalistic rhetoric to mobilize people to vote, presenting the referendum as a move to defend what they described as traditional Romanian values. Meanwhile, in rural Romania, observers reported that mayors and priests pushed villagers to the ballot box using threats that they would no longer be welcomed to church, or by withholding communion. The powerful Orthodox Church openly supported the proposed change in the constitution. In the end, most of those who did vote were in favour of defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. But they were vastly outnumbered by those of us who stayed home and celebrated love, in all its variety, instead of casting a ballot against it.  As two young Romanians, we are heartened by the result and will continue to stand firm against all types of coercion. But it is alarming to see just how easily the rights of a minority can be taken hostage by political interests. The Romanian referendum underlines that we need to stay vigilant and protect the human rights of LGBTI people, minorities or any marginalised group. Human rights are inherent to all of us, and should never be the subject of popular vote. It will be difficult to repair the harm caused to LGBTI people in Romania by the high levels of hate speech and fearmongering around the referendum. Homophobic reactions and lies were widely shared on social platforms, and most political parties were either silent on the matter or added their own discriminatory views. This hateful discourse forced an already marginalised community into an even more precarious position.   Romania is not a tolerant society when it comes to expressing one’s sexual orientation and gender identity. ILGA-Europe ranks the country 25th out of 28 EU states when it comes to hate speech, discrimination and harmful legislation. Romania only decriminalised homosexuality in 2001, much later than most neighbouring countries. We still have a long way to go, but we remain hopeful and wish to believe that the boycott shows that most of us believe in upholding human rights. Ultra-conservative, regressive forces are advancing their agenda in many European countries, including Romania. These regressive movements are openly calling for the cancelation of subsidies for contraception and elective abortion care, proposing to force parents of minors to have counselling if they want to divorce, and advocating to lower taxes for married couples. We hope Romanians will continue to fight against those who seek to censor vulnerable groups and strip them of their rights.    By Anamaria Suciu, Programme & Performance Assistant and Cosmina Marian, Communications & Campaigns Advisor at IPPF EN