Hate-motivated harassment against the LGBTQI+ community on the rise, EU Fundamental Rights Agency warns

Brussels – Amid a series of data showing slight progress, there is one counter-trend that can only set off alarm bells: in 2023, more than half of  LGBTQI+ people in Europe were victims of hate-motivated harassment. In 2019, it was one in three. This is the finding of the report of the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), which surveyed over 100,000 people in 30 European countries.

With only a few days to go before May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, and the Pride parade in Brussels on Saturday 18, the survey by the EU Agency is a cold shower for those convinced that the European project had now overcome discrimination against gender minorities. Or at least a realization that not all walls have been torn down. Over one-third of LGBTQI+ in Europe still experience discrimination in their daily lives, down slightly from 42 percent in 2019, but still too little.

What’s more, 19 percent of respondents – almost one in five – continue to experience discrimination in employment, the only area truly protected by EU law. Discriminatory practices continue in other sectors of society as well: in education, health care, housing, and social life, areas where current European law offers no special protections for the LGBTQI+ community.

Even more disturbing is the invisibility in which discrimination continues, as only 11 percent of the victims reported incidents to an official body. Even if 60 percent were aware of at least one equality body in their country. The reason is as simple as it is disarming: almost half of those who did not report incidents of discrimination claimed that they did not because they knew nothing would happen, while 37 percent said that “it happens all the time and it is not worth reporting.”

Unfortunately, intolerance toward gender minorities in the EU also manifests itself in violent practices. Fourteen percent of LGBTQI+ were assaulted in the five years before the survey, and the figure for 2023 alone is in line with  2019 (5 percent). More than half of respondents (54 percent) experienced at least one incident of harassment in the 12 months before the survey, such as offensive or threatening situations – including incidents of a sexual nature – at work, on the street, on public transportation, in a store, on the Internet, or anywhere else. The result is that one in two LGBTQI+  “often or always” avoid holding hands with their partner(s) in public places.

The pattern is always the same: less than one in five victims (18 percent) said they had reported the last physical or sexual assault they experienced to the police or an organization. Here, however, the issue becomes even thornier. It is not so much resignation that causes LGBTQI+ not to report acts of violence: one in three victims (34 percent) said they did not do so because they did not trust the police or because they feared being a victim of homophobia.

“Being openly LGBTQI+ in Europe should not be a struggle. Although we see signs of progress, bullying, harassment, and violence remain constant threats. It is time to act decisively and build on the progress we made so that everyone in the EU is treated equally and can live with dignity and respect,” said FRA’s director, Sirpa Rautio. Taking action as early as during the school years, where a large percentage of respondents (between 60 and 70 percent for all age groups) say they have been bullied, taunted, teased, insulted, or threatened because of theirLGBTQI+ identity. Up from 46 percent in 2019, although the share of people who say their educational institution never addresses gender issues in the classroom has decreased (35 percent in 2023, 47 percent in 2019).

The European Commission will celebrate May 17 with various initiatives. Věra Jourová, vice-president responsible for values and transparency, explains that “combating discrimination and promoting a Union of equality is an ongoing effort. Much has been done since the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses on May 17, 1990. But we must not let our guard down and continue to work so that no one feels threatened for who they are or what they love.”