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Loading ...Report: Widespread LGBT harassment throughout Europe
03.31.2009 9:01am EDT
(Brussels) Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals face widespread harassment, bullying and discrimination across Europe, according to an EU report released Tuesday.
That harassment and discrimination occurs “in all areas of social life,” from schools to the workplace to health care centers, the report by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency said.Agency Director Morten Kjaerum said the investigation found gays and lesbians continue to face assault and other physical attacks due to their sexual orientation despite EU rules meant to guarantee equality in the 27-nation bloc.
“These are alarming signals in an EU that prides itself on its principles of equal treatment and nondiscrimination,” he told reporters at the European Parliament.
The report said gay pride events were being obstructed in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Romania. Meanwhile, politicians and religious leaders in Italy, Hungary, Malta, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have also rejected calls to improve the rights of gays and lesbians.
Kjaerum said, according to the scarce data available from national authorities, “very few incidents” of assault, hate speech by public figures or verbal attacks are reported to police.
Current laws meant to protect against discrimination also do not cover areas such as housing, education or health care, he noted.
The report, which compiled studies and surveys from across Europe, said homophobic abuse is usually carried out by young men in groups, but is also persistent at work, in school or when trying to get medical care.
Kjaerum appealed to EU nations to improve equality legislation, to better record hate crimes “and to train police accordingly.” The agency also recommended better awareness campaigns to promote diversity and fight discrimination.
The topic is quite hot in the net at the moment. What do you pay attention to when choosing what to write ?
I can’t say I’m surprised by this report. However, I do think it is important that the European Union is recognizing the still all-too prevalent bias against glbt folks across Europe. Hopefully the EU member states will be even more forceful in adopting pro-glbt legislation.
Also, the report is a bit lengthy, but worth a read. Here’s the link to the EU’s agency’s website, follow the links to the glbt report and you can download a copy of the 160 page report (there are TWO, Part I (which came out some time ago) and Part II (which is the topic of this article):
http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/home/home_en.htm
All this hatred can be laid at the feet of religious dogma. We need more people to speak out about the lies that the church spew. Congrats to the “Lancet” medical magazine for calling it like it is.
Muslims absolutely are NOT part in Europe right now. That’s just crap that Fox News puts out. The countries with the most homophobia are Italy and Eastern Europe where there aren’t many Muslims. In Italy we get by just fine with skinheads, neo-fascists, the Vatican and macho mediterranean culture
I am so horribly sick of the situation in Italy and I hope that help will come soon from the EU. My old neighborhood is covered with swastika graffitti and my friends are afraid to go out to bars in Rome (you need a special gay identification card to get into in Italy!) since several people been stabbed in front of it and the bar has been set on fire. Plus no hospital visitation, no next-of-kin status, no immigration rights for foreign partner in Italy either.
Che situazione di merda..
LG, your governments need to wake up and curb Muslim immigration. They certainly do not want to assimilate into the given countries. They want to take the countries, put them under Sharia Law and not accept any deviation.
Muslims are no doubt a LARGE part of the anti-GLBT problems in Europe. It seems wherever they go, hatred, violence, death and destruction follow. If that is “God” – please send me to “hell” happily.
I just wonder what will happen to Europe when Muslims become a majority there
Eastern Europe should NEVER have been allowed into the EU! Cheap labor rates got them their free pass and we(gays) have to pick up the tab as usual. Truly f*ckin’ repulsive! I’d like to see someone drop a humongous H-Bomb on the Vatican and their sickk twisted cabal of child molesters! Death to you Pope Ratsass and all perverted catholics worldwide!
I had no idea the situation was so bad in Italy, although the lovely Vatican being wedged in there should have been a clear clue.
As for the others, they are really third world “nations” milking the geographical proximity for all it’s worth. Why they were allowed to join the EU in the first place, I’ll never understand…
Ah and the lovely Poles now display signs like “No Irish need apply” after they flooded the Irish work market for years with cheap and unskilled labor – comes to show what they intend to give back to the EU!
The Catholic Church, Conservative Christians of any denomination and the Islamic faith are single handedly responsible for the violence and death incurred upon GLBT people in this world. Through their intentional lies and distortions, they reveal themselves not only as immoral but about as close to evil as can be found in this world today. Sad, sick people attempting to “play God” because they are such ignorant and arrogant people.
When democratic governments no longer allow themselves to be held hostage by religion, then and only then will GLBT’s have some what of an equal footing without the fear of haarassment. Everyone is born without religion. If you choose to follow one that’s fine as long as your beliefs are kept in the place of worship, homes etc. and Not In GovernMent! Anyone who is harassed, verbally or physically threatened needs to call the police and not stop until action has been taken. I have and it works. In Florida, if you feel threatened you can now shoot first and ask questions later. Thanks to little Jebby Shrub and his Republican gun friends. So, GLBT of Florida, arm yourselves and don’t be afraid to use it!
The European Union is an international organisation that includes many sovereign, independent nations that voluntarily cooperative in certain areas. They differ considerably in how they respect the civil rights of sexual minorities and protections for same sex couples. The range is from nearly ideal (the Netherlands, Belgium) to horrific (Poland).
In terms of gay rights, there is a HUGE spread. In the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium (also the non-EU European country of Norway) have full marriage equality for same sex couples.
In addition, some countries offer full civil unions with all the rights of marriage such as the United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the non-EU European country of Switzerland. Other countries offer civil unions with less rights (discriminatory) than marriage. These include Germany, France, Czech Republic, Slovenia, and soon Hungary. Other nations are seriously considering creating civil union type arrangements such as Austria and Ireland.
The newer and more primitive (economically and socially) Eastern European nations such as the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and especially Poland are draconian in how they treat sexual minorities. In Poland and other very Eastern European nations, even free speech restrictions and open violence against LGTB people are frequent.
Cyprus and Malta are also very low in terms of how sexual minorities are treated and offer no protections for couples.
Finally, there are EU member countries which are horribly homophobic and discriminatory toward sexual minorities. They include
Italy offers no legal arrangements for same sex couples, but the situation is not so terrible as in Eastern Europe. Italy has the problem of the Vatican (the Catholic Church) holding it hostage in certain respects.
In summary, European countries (EU and non-EU) are very different in terms of how same sex couples are treated and how sexual minorities are treated.
Just goes to show that winning our rights aren’t the Holy Grail we believe it to be, but at least they would give us legal standing and equality in theory, if not in practice.
Finally someone takes notice that here in Europe the situation is basically unbearable!
I Live in Italy at the moment and the Catholic church is behind the discrimination every step of the way.
In Italy gay bashings are popular, but they are done in groups, and calling the police can prove useless. I am beginning to think they allow or promote neo fascist groups to do this, to clear areas that are cruised by gays, which are a very small number of areas if you compare it with the large number of straight cruising areas in Italy.
The government brings up occasionally the issue of opening up brothels for straights so they can help
the “Morally correct” straights pleasure themselves with cheap thrills.
Gay sex remains more of a taboo because of ignorance and the fear installed by religions on the topic.
Names of particular interest on the Italian homophobic scene:
- Paola Binetti, a parliament member also a member of the Opus Dei, on a regular basis calls homosexuals deviants and compares them to the mentally ill, plus a number of other goodies here and there, she is an avid opponent of anything gay and of course right behind the church, if anybody has the time (or the stomach) to look up a picture of her, it would be nice if some of the readers could give a basic profile, in
the sense that she is very manly (if you get my drift). Note she is also a member of the PD party which is basically the Italian Democratic Party, this is also a reason why the PD cannot win an election and hold power, they say they are progressive yet hold these
discriminatory dinosaurs on their lists.
- Mara Carfagna, is minister “believe it or not” of equal opportunity. Her most famous sentence to
this day since she has achieved her position through the Berlusconi government is:
“Gays are not discriminated in Italy”.
However now that she is a moralist and yes girl in the Berlusconi government, or better, in a puppet position, doggie style is more suited for her, and from what I know, she is no longer posing nude for magazines, says a lot, don’t you think?.
- Rocco Buttiglione, Parliament member in the phony UDC opposing party, their symbol is a shield with a cross, symbolizing their Christian faith but not ways. Some time ago since
he publicly declared that Homosexuality was a sin he was basically thrown out from heading the European Union commission for having those views. Which demonstrates that at least the UE sometimes shows some coherency.
He is a member of the Group “Communione e Liberazione” which
means communion and liberation, who knows, one of these days he could surprise us all and choke on his communion and liberate us from his presence. I also suggest taking a look at this characters picture, and if you can get a cut on “You Tube” you should hear his voice, I will
not say anything in regard but I do not think he is very clear on his own sexual orientation.
- Savino Pezzotta, although less visible and less known than the prior, he proves to be a strong ally in the
fight against equality, with this element I don’t know where to start, only to say that if you
needed to spit and contemporarily see him, it would repulse you so much that you would spit the other way.
I highly do not suggest you visualize this elements photograph.
- Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Member of the new inquisition against anything that makes sense or has to
do with the real world, member of the evil force to destroy logic and self determination, a clear step back
for humanity. WARNING: Do not leave alone with children!
And of course there are many others, too many to list here.
But finally the UE sees the problem!!!