Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the MEPs to the Chamber. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is the only international instrument that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. While an increasing percentage of Europeans support equal rights for LGBT people, they are facing increased discrimination in the EU. There are obvious moves in some EU member states to exclude and discriminate against LGBT people. I do not need to talk about Poland or Hungary, where a new law means that only married heterosexual couples can adopt children. The list goes on for all of those matters so I will not spend my time on them.

Most EU member states do not allow for legal recognition based on self-determination for trans people but, rather, based on mental health diagnoses. I will not talk about LGBT zones either, but I know that as part of the MEPs' work in the European Parliament, a resolution was passed that declared the EU a LGBT freedom zone. While that is a symbolic move, it shows that MEPs will continue to protect and promote LGBT rights as a key European value even when some national governments fail to do so. The EU LGBTIQ equality strategy 2020-2025 seeks to tackle discrimination against, and increase the inclusion of, LGBT people, for example, by respecting cross-border situations, strengthening legal protections against hate crimes, hate speech and online abuse, improving recognition of trans, non-binary and inter-sex people and upholding the rights and promoting attention to the specific needs of people claiming asylum for reasons based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

I would like the MEPs' views on all these matters and on whether the European Commission and Europe have been too tame in response to national governments. As a defender of the treaties, should the Commission move much more decisively to champion the freedom of citizens to live and love who they wish and to promote sexual and reproductive rights?