Women protesting in europe about males being gay

National governments must also act decisively, not just in courts, but through policy, funding, and international pressure. Yet, judicial wins alone are not enough. Madrid’s pride parade, which takes place this Saturday, is the largest in Europe.

The latest edition, published todayshows this weaponising of LGBTI people has taken root as a strategy to erode the foundations of democracy. In today’s blog we share. ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review can be found here. Not providing healthcare for trans minors is increasingly framed as a matter of "protection," while restrictions on adults are justified as necessary to guard against the supposed threat trans people pose.

The European Union must take stronger action against states that violate fundamental rights, including by cutting EU funding and imposing fines and infringement procedures. The further erosion of fundamental freedoms that is happening in the wake of new anti-LGBTI laws is a tipping point.

If Europe fails to act quickly, the crackdown on LGBTI rights will serve as a blueprint for broader threats to the foundations of fundamental rights. This repression extends beyond national borders. Hate crimes have reached record levels, fuelled by a normalisation of hate speech by political and religious leaders.

The rights of Germany’s

Norway, and Romania. Similarly, a Ipsos poll revealed Spanish society to be deeply sensitive to issues like violence against women and gender equality, with more than half of the population defining itself as feminist.

This is an existential crisis for democracy. In Turkey, authorities have gone so far as to erase references to gender and sexual orientation from medical oaths, reinforcing a state-backed narrative of exclusion. At the launch of our Annual Review, ILGA-Europe’s Advocacy Director, Katrin Hugendubel delivered a stark warning about the growing wave of anti-LGBTI hate, misinformation, and legislative attacks across the region.

A report published today confirms what those on the frontlines of defending LGBTI rights in Europe have been warning about for some years: A new era of coordinated attacks on fundamental rights and freedoms has taken hold, and anti-LGBTI laws are being used as a gateway.

The Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention, has been the target of anti-gender movements in Croatia and Bulgaria. The courts have provided some pushback, through key rulings on asylum, hate speech, and legal gender recognition.

Political leaders across Europe must recognise that this is not merely an issue of minority rights. But the data shows that what started as an attack on one vulnerable group is quickly expanding into a broader erosion of fundamental freedoms. Experts are raising the alarm that women’s and LGBTQI+ rights that are increasingly being eroded across Europe, as they warn of a ‘rising onslaught’ of repression.

In Slovakia, anti-LGBTI rhetoric has been employed to target artistic freedoms, with the culture minister dismissing heads of major cultural institutions for alleged "political activism". Legal challenges can slow the erosion of democracy, but they cannot stop it when governments openly defy court rulings.

In European Union member state, Romania, anti-LGBTI sentiment has been leveraged in the presidential election to fuel nationalist rhetoric, distract from democratic backsliding, and rally support for far-right, pro-Russian candidates. Education has become a battleground.

The time to fight back is now. How flood control projects fail the poor in the Philippines. As governments weaponise discrimination to undermine democracy, she called for urgent political action to protect fundamental rights and freedoms. The consequences are dire.

The same governments pushing anti-LGBTI laws are also attacking academics, suppressing journalists, targeting artists, and undermining fair elections.

Women’s and LGBTQI rights

Protesters rallied against its ratification, using similar scapegoating tactics. At the same time, fear-mongering often accompanies either proposed or enacted restrictions on trans healthcare in countries such as Georgia, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

Even in traditionally progressive states like France, Austria, and Italy, new barriers to trans healthcare are emerging. A report published today confirms what those on the frontlines of defending LGBTI rights in Europe have been warning about for some years: A new era of coordinated attacks on fundamental rights and freedoms has taken hold, and anti-LGBTI laws are being used as a gateway.

Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Context or the Thomson Reuters Foundation. These attacks are not isolated.