Pride Is Still a Protest
The LGBTQ+ community are one of the most vulnerable in society, facing systemic discrimination in many parts of the world, and attacks on their human rights in others. Despite what conservatives or ‘gender critics’ would like to convince us, LGBTQ+ people are not a threat to be stopped, nor a problem to be solved. Nevertheless, right-wing politicians across Europe are seeking to make a political enemy of the LGBTQ+ community, either to distract from their own political failings or to polarise society for their own political gain.
That a country can implement LGBTQ+ rights without imploding should go without saying, but it is a fact worth repeating in the current climate. An often-cited example, and for good reason, is Ireland, which in 2015 became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. Germany, meanwhile, formed a Federal Government Commissioner for the Acceptance of Sexual and Gender Diversity in 2022, to ensure the protection of all people regardless of their gender or sexual identity. Even though progress has been made in some parts, governments in too many European countries are implementing harmful and discriminatory policies which are fueling bigotry and negatively impacting the lives of millions of people.
Seeming to take inspiration from Russian legislation, Hungary has expanded its anti-LGBTQ+ ‘child protection’ law which was first introduced in 2021. In an attempt to protect the ‘Hungarian way of life’, new legislation will allow people to report those who oppose “the constitutionally recognized role of marriage and the family” and children’s right to “an identity appropriate to their sex at birth.” Although 15 EU member states have launched a legal case against this legislation, it is but a symptom of a much larger trend of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments across Europe.
Whilst same-sex civil unions are recognised in Italy, the country’s stance towards similar issues has recently come under widespread scrutiny. In March 2023, the Italian government, led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, implemented what is essentially a ban on same-sex parents being recognised as legal guardians of their children, with legal repercussions. Even before taking office in October 2022, Meloni had been openly propagating bigotry. Speaking to members of a far-right party in Spain in July of that year, she succinctly presented the views of her own party, proclaiming “[y]es to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby, yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology.”
Less than a year after the first terrorist attack in Slovakia’s modern history outside one of the few queer bars in Bratislava, LGBTQ+ rights have come under increasing threat. Mandated sterilisation for those seeking to legally change their gender was only briefly suspended in 2022, before being overturned mere months later due to political pressure from right-wing politicians. Now the Slovak government is seeking to implement what Amnesty International deem to be 'a de-facto ban on legal gender recognition'. Despite such brutal attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, the Slovak government has not taken action to protect this community which is already vulnerable.
After passing a Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) bill in December 2022, Scotland was set to join 11 other European countries which allow transgender people to obtain certification of their gender without a prior diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Not a month later, the UK government vetoed this legislation, impeding upon Scottish devolution for the first time since the Scottish government was formed in 1998. Despite this supposed threat to women, only 30 Gender Recognition Certificates are granted per year in Scotland, with the GRR potentially facilitating this to increase to 250-300 per year. Rhetoric from politicians and ‘gender critics’ have created a culture war over an issue that affects around 0.005% of the Scottish population, for no reason other than to create an ‘Us’ and a ‘Them’.
This culture war is part of a wider trend across the continent. A debate was held in the Croatian Parliament in February 2023 on the topic of “the increasing number of transgender children and young people in Croatia”, with the intention of discussing clinical causes and factors of what conservatives are referring to as a ‘growing trend’. The committees in charge invited guest ‘experts’ as speakers, all of them well-known right extremists and conservatives. The opposition walked out shortly after, and the debate ended an hour after it began due to a lack of scientifically based and supported evidence. This scrutiny comes at the same time as a very publicised case of four Croatian couples arrested in Zambia under suspicion of child trafficking. During the (still ongoing) trial, the media has zeroed in on the fact that one of the people was transgender. Another well-known extremist and conservative ex-politician went as far as contacting the Zambian government after the initial arrest to report this person for being transgender, which is illegal in Zambia.
These are but a few examples of the increasing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community in recent years. Pride began as a protest, and it is still a protest. The fight for legal and civil rights for LGBTQ+ people has been long fought and hard won, yet already those rights are under threat. We cannot risk being complacent and assuming that what we have gained will not be taken from us.
Hannah (she/her) & Mia (she/her)
Ecosprinter Editorial Board