May 14 is marked as the international day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. Common to all three words, the “phobia”, is the aversion and discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or sexual identity. May 14 therefore marks our common fight for LGBT rights, equity and awareness.
With few exceptions, Europe has a long way to go in its respect for LGBT rights and in its guarantee of LGBT equality. The annual report of ILGA-Europe shows a divided Europe: on average, north-west Europe has developed a very positive ‘social climate’ against LGBT people, but in the south-east, human rights violations remain prevalent.
However, Europe has been making substantial progress. OECD’s report on LGBT inclusiveness shows a significant increase in almost all countries, compared to just a couple decades ago. This would have been good news if all countries were on a positive trajectory. But Greece, the country hit the hardest by neoliberal policies, exhibited a strong decline in homosexuality acceptance rates!
At DiEM25, we believe in equal rights for all people — and we believe that LGBT rights will always remain in jeopardy as long as racism and discrimination are cultivated by austerity and anti-democratic repression. All of these problems are interconnected: we need to fight for holistic, commonly-developed, progressive agendas and reforms throughout Europe — to restore democracy and achieve equity and full equality, irrespective of sexual orientation or sexual identity. Join us!

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