Brussels, 16/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, the association for the defence of lesbian, gay, transsexual and bisexual rights, LGTBI-Europe, drew up an inventory of the rights of LGTBI in the various member states. In that inventory, Bulgaria and Italy appear to be at the bottom of the European class, with Bulgaria, for example, not having any laws against homophobic aggression or discourse. The United Kingdom, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and France, with its very recent “marriage for all” legislation, come, on the other hand, at the top of the class. The study looks long and hard at the legal framework protecting the rights of LGTBI, such as laws against discrimination in employment or against hate discourse, the possibility of legal marriage and of founding a family, and the granting of asylum to refugees fleeing a country due to their sexual leaning. This is an interesting element at a time when the European Commission is once more engaged in tricky talks with Budapest - Hungary does a good job coming shortly after Denmark (and Iceland), and even has the most developed legislative framework of eastern European countries.
The president of the ALDE Group, Guy Verhofstadt, called on this occasion on all EU member states that have regulated the partnership and marriage between persons of the same sex and have undertaken to eradicate homophobia to breathe an attitude of change into the Council which, for years, has blocked the horizontal directive on anti-discrimination. Renate Weber (ALDE, Romania) said that in nearly half the countries of the world, homosexuality is still considered a crime and that, in five countries, it is liable to the death penalty. (SP/transl.jl)