A majority of MEPs voted on Thursday 14 February in favour of the first European Parliament resolution, led by Claude Moraes (S&D, UK), calling for better protection in the EU of the fundamental rights of intersex people, i.e. those born with sexual characteristics that do not correspond to the standard binary definitions of male or female bodies.
"Today, we made history by adopting for the first time a resolution on the rights of intersex people in plenary session. We are sending a strong political signal that should be the legacy of this Parliament to the next Parliament" Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (EPP, Sweden), who was directly involved in the drafting of the text, was happily shared on Twitter.
Another author of the resolution and co-chair of Parliament’s LGBTI intergroup, Daniele Viotti (S&D, Italy) called on Member States to ban medically unnecessary procedures - whether surgical, hormonal or other - to which intersex children are subjected without consent in order to sexually 'normalise' them.
"Governments should provide greater support to ensure that the rights of intersex people are respected", he added.
Parliament has also adopted a separate resolution calling on the next European Commission to present a comprehensive and ambitious strategy on LGBTI issues for the period 2019-2024.
Two days before these votes, during a debate on the rights of intersex people in the Strasbourg Chamber, Sophie in't Veld (ALDE, the Netherlands), criticised the "hypocrisy" of the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, regarding the rights of LGBTI people.
According to her, "Mr Tajani is one of the keynote speakers at the World Congress of Families, which is probably one of the most homophobic and anti-choice events you will find in the world".
While a publication on the Facebook page of the Congress of Families does announce the presence of Mr Tajani, a source close to the President of Parliament, contacted by EUROPE, denied this information by saying that nothing had been confirmed. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot - intern)