EU-Parliament endorses trans people human rights
Thursday 17 June 2010
On 16th June 2010, the European Parliament officially acknowledged discrimination on grounds of gender identity. It calls for accessible gender reassignment procedures, and insists future EU gender equality initiatives should address issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.
As a member of Transgender Europe (TGEU), the Scottish Transgender Alliance welcomes the strong endorsement by the European Parliament in favor of safeguarding transgender people’s fundamental rights.
The Figueiredo-report evaluating the European Union’s 2006-2010 Roadmap for equality between women and men was adopted today, and calls for more explicit measures to combat discrimination based on gender identity. In particular, the report:
- acknowledges discrimination and multiple discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity;
- calls on EU authorities to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations in future work on gender equality;
- stresses that gender reassignment procedures should be made accessible, including through public health insurance schemes; and
- requires that future EU actions in the field of gender equality explicitly cover issues linked to gender identity and gender reassignment.
Richard Köhler, TGEU-Steering committee member says: "The EU has the potential and willingness to become the world's pioneer in safeguarding transgender people's fundamental rights. We call upon the up-coming Belgian EU-Presidency to ensure internal and external coherence of the EU, when promoting Human Rights worldwide."
TransGender Europe – TGEU is a European third sector, umbrella organization, which works towards the full equality and inclusion of all trans people in Europe. Find out more information on http://www.tgeu.org/