European Parliament Votes To Support EU-Wide Ban On Ex-LGBTQ Torture Practices As “Akin To Hate Crimes”
The European Parliament writes via press release: The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) placed fundamental rights, dignity and equality at the centre of its April plenary session, holding a high‑level debate on Union of Equality: Advancing LGBTIQ+ rights and banning conversion practices. The debate was followed by the adoption of two key EESC opinions … The post European Parliament Votes To Support EU-Wide Ban On Ex-LGBTQ Torture Practices As “Akin To Hate Crimes” appeared first on Joe.My.God..
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The European Parliament writes via press release:
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) placed fundamental rights, dignity and equality at the centre of its April plenary session, holding a high‑level debate on Union of Equality: Advancing LGBTIQ+ rights and banning conversion practices.
The debate was followed by the adoption of two key EESC opinions calling for stronger enforcement of the EU’s LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2026–2030 and a comprehensive EU‑wide ban on conversion practices.
Despite progress in recent years, speakers pointed out that discrimination, violence and harassment continue to affect many LGBTIQ+ persons across the European Union, with particularly severe impacts on trans, non‑binary and intersex people.
Conversion practices (aimed at changing, suppressing or erasing a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression) still exist in parts of Europe, despite being widely condemned as harmful, akin to hate crimes and incompatible with fundamental rights.
Setting a clear tone for the debate, EESC President Séamus Boland rejected any justification for so‑called conversion practices, saying: ‘These so-called conversion practices or therapies are not only harmful, they are a profound violation of human dignity and fundamental rights. Let us be absolutely clear: there is nothing to fix or cure. What needs to change is not people, but the systems, attitudes and structures that deny them their dignity.’
In its own‑initiative opinion on the Ban on conversion practices in the EU (SOC/854), the EESC strongly condemns all forms of conversion practices as violations of human dignity and fundamental rights.
It calls on the European Commission to propose a comprehensive and legally binding EU‑wide ban covering both children and adults, prohibiting the conduct and advertising of such practices, ensuring effective penalties, and providing full protection and support for survivors, including intersex persons.
The Washington Blade reports:
The European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of banning so-called conversion therapy across the European Union. The proposed ban had the support of 405 MEPs. The European Commission is expected to formally respond to it by May 18.
Seven EU countries — Belgium, Cyprus, France, Malta, Norway, Portugal, and Spain — have banned conversion therapy outright.
Greece in 2022 banned the practice for minors. German lawmakers in 2020 passed a law that prohibits conversion therapy for minors and for adults who have not consented to undergoing the widely discredited practice.
Hit the first link for more!
European Parliament backs EU-wide ban on conversion therapy.
sidetrack.blog/2026/04/30/e…
— Rainbow News (@rainbownews.bsky.social) April 30, 2026 at 4:27 AM
The post European Parliament Votes To Support EU-Wide Ban On Ex-LGBTQ Torture Practices As “Akin To Hate Crimes” appeared first on Joe.My.God..
