Europe’s epeng divi on gay rights - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• EUROPE’S EPENG DIVI ON GAY RIGHTS
• EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
• AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)

EUROPE’S EPENG DIVI ON GAY RIGHTS

Six 10 gay and lbian Europeans avoid holdg hands wh same-sex partners public, and over half of LGBTQ people Europe are almost never open about their sexual orientatns or genr inti, acrdg to a new survey. Evelyne Paradis, the executive director of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn of Europe, said the fdgs were "not entirely surprisg. "Echog the survey's fdgs, she said, "It's very clear that a broad rabow umbrella, the trans and tersex muni are even more margalized and vulnerable than lbian, gay and bisexual people.

Sign up to get the rt, cludg news om around the globe, tertg ias and opns to know, sent to your box every a Febary asslt on a same-sex uple at a Rome tra statn, lls heightened for what Italy lacked: A hate crime law to bat homophobia. “Two young men beaten up for a kiss, ” lamented Nila Zgaretti, ernor of Laz, the Italian regn where Rome happened next beme a se study of how gay rights have surged to the foreont of Europe’s culture wars.

The Italian far-right dismissed the proposed law — which would have also extend new protectns to women and the disabled — as “homosexual propaganda. ” The Vatin etted that Catholic schools might need to hold events for a natnal anti-homophobia day, cryg gement on eedom of a showdown last week, the Italian Senate rejected the bill an act that roed nservative lawmakers to a standg ovatn. ”The ntent bate Italy is more evince of how Europe is stgglg wh what wrer Mark Gevisser has lled “the pk le” — or the divisn between and wh natns over gay rights.

EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS

In neighborg France, where natnalist doyenne Mare Le Pen had leaned to most outreach toward gay voters, her newly surgg far-right challenger Éric Zemmour is toeg a ls clive le.

As a stand agast liberals Bssels who promote gay rights is a far easier sell to relig jury is out on whether opposn to gay rights n be a wng polil strategy Europe. Neverthels, the heated LBGTQ bate on the ntent suggts that equal rights are not que the done al the Wt that some gay activists once thought, particularly as the movement has broaned s foc to clu genr inty — a hot-button topic that has riled the right on both sis of the Atlantic for years.

AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)

But European far-right lears like Holland’s Geert Wilrs and France’s Le Pen have more often targeted migrants, not gay people, even labelg themselv as protectors of the LBGTQ muny om what they scribe as the dangers posed by Islamist fundamentalism. ’s tegry than Poland and Hungary, where anti-gay legislative efforts backed by right-wg ernments have been challenged by untri are now at the heart of the bate not only over “re European valu, ” but whether they n and should rema wh the European 's parliament has bated a proposed law to ban LGBT paras and other "promotn" of bill, which is a cizens' iative, received backg om some lg party MPs but led opposn MPs to leave the chamber prott Not om Poland ?? (@notompoland) October 29, 2021. Facg a tough challenge om a uned opposn electns next year, the tocratic Print Viktor Orban — who long promoted “Christian valu” while largely reag om a Poland-like war on gay rights — is now apparently lculatg that the issue is a polil wner.

“The anti-gay mpaign Hungary me out of almost nowhere this summer; ’s as if they cut and pasted the issue om the Polish ernment, ” Peter Kreko, director of Polil Capal Instute, a Budapt-based thk tank, told me. Hungary’s hardle natnalist ernment passed a new law earlier this month banng ntent that “promot” homosexualy and genr change om beg shared wh children, effectively prohibg any discsn of LGBTQ them schools. In dog so, Orbán has followed the playbook of Poland’s ernment, which has been chippg away at the rights of the LGBTQ muny for a number of years, adoptg discrimatory rhetoric and stokg homophobia.

“There’s a real regrsn happeng many different untri, and rights that had been regnized are now beg challenged, ” said Evelyne Paradis, the executive director of the European branch of the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn (ILGA-Europe). “It’s not about homosexuals, ’s about the kids and the parents, ” he told reporters, addg that he was a “eedom fighter” durg Hungary’s munist era.

“You have plac like Germany, France, Spa where 85% or more say that homosexualy should be accepted by society and then once you’re past the dividg le, on the other si of the former Iron Curta, those numbers beg to fall pretty rapidly and then get even lower as you go to Rsia, ” he said. “When you look at the former Eastern bloc, the untri had a long tradn of really progrsive legislatn towards LGBTQ rights, Poland for stance crimalized homosexualy 1932, which is really, really early, ” Kościańska said. Gay marriage and same-sex unns are legal almost 30 of the natns, allowg for untls pri celebratns to jo and a warm wele om tablished LGBTQ muni each.

On an afternoon Schöneberg, you’ll jo proud gay upl walkg the same historic streets where LGBTQ artists and activists once began the fight for gay rights, as early as the 1890s fact.