The European Commission (EC) has taken a significant step in protecting the rights of the LGTBIQ+ community. In an official communication presented yesterday, Wednesday, the Community Executive urged all member states to prohibit the so-called “conversion therapies”, but clarified that it will not promote binding legislation that requires its veto at the level of the entire European Union (EU).
“Conversion therapies have no place in our Union. The EU is proudly on the side of the LGTBIQ+ community,” the president of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, expressly stated in a statement.
However, despite pressure from the European Parliament and various human rights organisations, the Commission has opted for a recommendations-based approach. Without further ado. For this reason, it is being criticized for taking insufficient steps, because it renounces a legal ban at the European level. Brussels’ main argument lies in the lack of a solid legal basis in the European treaties to directly legislate on a practice that is situated at the intersection between health, child protection and criminal law.
The Commission was categorical in classifying these interventions – which seek to change, suppress or annul people’s sexual orientation or gender identity – as acts that violate fundamental rights and, therefore, the founding rights of the Union itself, which justify its existence. According to the document, these practices “have no scientific basis, are ineffective and can cause permanent physical and psychological damage.”
The Commissioner for Equality, Hadja Lahbib, defended Brussels’ position by underlining the responsibility of national capitals: “Our position is clear: conversion therapies have no place in an Equality Union. However, under the current treaties, the responsibility to criminally prohibit these practices falls on the Member States,” quotes AFP. Dalli added that Brussels “will support and pressure national governments to act urgently and protect their citizens from these cruel practices.”
Division of opinions and lack of powers
To date, only a small group of EU countries, including Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, have implemented rules that prohibit or restrict these practices, which are “deeply harmful” interventions and “based on the medically false idea that LGTBIQ+ people are sick,” as defined by the Commission.
In contrast to these steps forward, other nations maintain a legal loophole that allows these pseudotherapies to continue operating, often under the umbrella of religious institutions or private counseling centers, as well.
The decision not to propose a European directive has generated mixed reactions. On the one hand, diplomatic sources cited by media such as Euractiv They state that a legal proposal would have faced strong opposition in the Council from countries with conservative governments, which could have blocked the initiative for years. They understand it as prudent not to go further, but to publicly commit against therapies. There are at least three member states that are considering the issue and that is what they are clinging to, an “extremely positive” trend.
“These practices, which can include verbal abuse, coercion, isolation, forced medication, electric shocks, and physical and sexual abuse, effectively have no therapeutic value, since there is nothing that heal o delete“, it affects the EC.
On the other hand, activists and progressive MEPs have shown their disappointment. “It is a missed opportunity to establish a minimum security standard throughout the Union. An LGTBIQ+ citizen should not be less protected in one Member State than in another,” sources from the European Parliament told the aforementioned digital channel after learning of the announcement.
“Legislative competence on health and sanitation issues falls fundamentally on the governments of the countries of the European Union, so the European Commission has little room to act in this area, as already happened with the European citizens’ initiative that asked Brussels to create a fund to help European women exercise their right to abortion,” EFE contextualizes.
The commitment
In the absence of a European law, the Commission has committed to activating an action plan that will change things without falling into alleged interference in the Twenty-seven and their legal system.
Among the most notable measures in this document is the idea of financing awareness-raising and training campaigns for health professionals and security forces, exchanging best practices between countries that already have laws in force and those that have not yet legislated, and closely monitoring the situation, including the use of European funds to ensure that entities that promote these therapies are not financed.
A Commission spokesperson concluded emphatically: “Sexual orientation and gender identity are not diseases that need to be cured. We urge states that have not yet done so to follow the example of their neighbors and legislate to end this abuse once and for all,” he said. The World.
With this move, the ball is now in the court of national governments, as Brussels tries to balance its human rights ambitions with the strict limitations of its legal powers.
The French Green MEP Mélissa Camara, who is part of the LGBTQIA+ intergroup of the European Parliament and is openly homosexual, called the recommendation “a step in the right direction” but that she “remains too timid”, given “the damage and trauma” that these practices create.
