Meeting in plenary this week, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe adopted on Wednesday 16 June a Resolution and a Recommendation on the responsibility of local and regional authorities to protect LGBTI persons at a time of rising anti-LGBTI hate speech and discrimination (see other news).
These texts were voted on the basis of a report presented by the British Conservative Andrew Boff and the Swedish Socialist Yoomi Renström, calling on central governments to draw up national plans that strengthen human rights by combating discrimination.
Read the Resolution and Recommendation: https://bit.ly/3xrM6ux
Poland. Following a fact-finding mission in November 2020, the Congress also adopted a specific Resolution on Poland. It calls on the elected representatives of more than 90 cities that have passed resolutions and recommendations against “so-called LGBT ideology” to rescind them.
During the debate, President of the Congress Leendert Verbeek expressed concern about “the rise in anti-LGBTI hate speech and discrimination” and was very worried to “learn about the legislation passed by the Hungarian Parliament on Tuesday, particularly at a time when Hungary presides over the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers” (see EUROPE 12740/32).
Read the resolution on Poland: https://bit.ly/3gA2pAc
Hungary. Invited by the Congress on Thursday, the current mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony (Dialogue for Hungary Party, ecologist), returned to the issue of this law banning the promotion of homosexuality among minors, which is, according to him, “unenforceable in practice”, but through which “the government hopes to win votes” by “adding fuel to the fire for its political benefit”.
“In fact, he says, the government keeps diverting public attention by focusing on problems that do not exist”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)