LGBTIQ+ people are not an ideology, MP Rosianne Cutajar said, as she welcomed an initiative to make the EU an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone. Prime Minister Robert Abela also welcomed the intiative, saying that “equality and human rights are a fundamental value that we respect and promote”. 

The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday declaring that EU member states are an “LGBTIQ freedom zone”. This was a direct response to Polish municipalities which declared that they are “zones free of LGBTI ideology”. 

The symbolic resolution calls on the European Commission to insist that LGBT rights are respected in Poland. It could use infringement procedures, a new rule-of-law mechanism attached to the EU budget and even Article7 – the EU’s nuclear option which looks into serious breaches of the bloc’s values. 

The resolution states that the decisions of the Polish municipalities “are part of a broader context of increased discrimination and attacks against the LGBTIQ community in Poland”, which include “growing hate speech by public authorities, elected officials – including by the current President – and the pro-government media”, “arrests of LGBTIQ rights activists”, and “attacks against and bans on pride marches.” 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had called out the LGBT-free zones, saying they “have no place in our unions”. However, the European Parliament is insisting that the Commission takes a step further to stop the measures pushed by the Polish Law and Justice (PiS) government. 

“We cannot move forward when so many are left behind,” Vice-President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said. “So today we are here to tell all those in the LGBTIQ community that this is your Europe too. To tell all those parents who are worried about the safety of their LGBTIQ children, that we have their back. To tell every girl and boy that in this Europe, you can be whoever you want to be, whereer you want to be and our union, this house, will protect that right,” she added. 

“Every single person in every part of our Union should be able to live their lives with equal rights, irrespective of the way they were born,” MEP Cyrus Engerer said. “It sounds so simple, yet this is not the experience of thousands of persons in Poland and Hungary today that are seeing their rights being stolen away. Everyone must be given the assurance that as their representatives in the European Parliament, we are working tirelessly to safeguard their fundamental rights. Because this is what Europe means. Europe means the guarantee of fundamental human rights”. 

This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.