On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, S&D Group leader Udo Bullmann said:
“The situation for LGBTI people both in Europe and around the world remains precarious. Over the last year we have seen brutal persecution in both Brunei and in Chechnya. Our Group led the fight in the European Parliament to ensure that the EU denounced the situation and took real action against the responsible governments. These are just the most extreme cases, we have also seen worrying trends within EU countries. We have seen increasingly hostile rhetoric from politicians, as illustrated by recent cases targeting Polish artists, and proposals to roll back hard won rights.
“We are the only group in the European Parliament that has a detailed and ambitious position paper specifically on LGBTI rights and we will push the next European Commission President to ensure this is at the heart of their work during the next five years. We have always been a leading force in the European Parliament on LGBTI rights, this year initiating a historic resolution on the fundamental rights of intersex people. I am glad S&D candidates were the most numerous signatories of the ILGA Europe’ pledge on LGBTI rights at the 2014 elections we look to be repeating this good result in this election,” concluded Bullmann.
