The 150 lawmakers fighting for LGBTI rights in the EU Parliament

The LGBTI Intergroup at the European Parliament watches over member states and the Commission closely while also influencing legislative files ‘to make sure the LGBTI community is not forgotten’, Greens/EFA MEP and co-President of the LGBTI Intergroup Kim van Sparrentak told EURACTIV.

The Intergroup comprises 157 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the 27 EU member states and almost all political groups, including S&D, EPP, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA, and The Left.

Coordinating their political activity, “they all get the voting alerts to make sure that they vote in favour of LGBTI rights, but also they can come with initiatives, and they also then have access, of course to all the other MEPs and they join when we go on missions to EuroPride or other prides,” van Sparrentak said.

Having members from across the political spectrum “means that we can make sure that the [relevant LGBTI] topics are high on the agenda of all the political groups,” she added.

Pushing for equality with EU law

The Intergroup operates as a political watchdog for LGBTI rights across the EU and a platform for MEPs to push for EU legislation to encompass LGBTI rights and equality provisions.

Focusing on the legislation on the table, the Intergroup’s current flagship file is the Regulation to achieve equal recognition of rainbow families by member states, proposed by the Commission in December after the Parliament demanded action to ensure the enforcement of the mutual recognition of parenthood principle established by the Court of Justice of the EU’s (CJEU) jurisprudence.

Another key file is the directive on combating violence against women, “which for us is absolutely crucial that we include gender-based violence to broaden its scope, for example, intersex violence,” van Sparrentak said. “It should not matter whether you’re a cis woman or a trans woman or an intersex person,” she added.

Lastly, the Intergroup is working on the new proposals made by the Commission in December to strengthen equality bodies, aiming at protecting citizens from discrimination across the EU.

Apart from these files, the intergroup also has a broader focus, striving for all EU legislation to encompass equality and LGBTI rights. “We always look at a lot of legislation and we put in amendments to make sure that we have some say and push for equal rights within other legislations,” van Sparrentak said.

The Intergroup also makes sure to scrutinise “very closely” and “to keep the pressure high” on the Commission to make sure their calls for legislation at a European level “are being heard and pushed forward,” she added.

Scrutinising member states

With increasing hate speech and actions against the LGBTI community, another key activity of the Intergroup is to monitor what is happening across the European Union.

“So when we see something happening in Italy where mayors are forbidden to recognise same-sex parents or in Hungary where they come up with this snitch act where you can tell anonymously when a kid lives with two people of the same sex then we’re immediately there, we ask questions to the Commission and we make sure we stand in solidarity”, van Sparrentak said.

The intergroup also aims to be a hope for Europeans whose elected representatives ignore LGBTI rights, as well as “a contact point for the LGBTI community in Europe”. “It is as important and as valuable to make sure that people feel heard by us”, she added.

van Sparrentak mentioned the example of the LGBTI-free zones in Poland, to which the Intergroup responded by calling the EU to declare itself an LGBTQ freedom zone to stand in solidarity with the Polish LGBTI community.

“Queer Summit”: Planning ahead of EU elections

With the EU elections scheduled for June 2024, the Intergroup has started planning its next mandate with a “queer summit” at the end of June with stakeholders, including Commissioners, MEPs, activists, and civil society organisations, to discuss the priorities.

“We are gathering with activists and civil society organisations to make sure that we really get a good idea of what are the next steps that we can push for legislation in the next mandate, and to make sure we stand united”, van Sparrentak said.

With the rise of the far-right across Europe, the Intergroup is planning on calling for a parliamentary resolution asking the Commission to continue fighting for LGBTI rights

“Realistically looking at the growth of the far right, we don’t know if we will have as many members again next mandate, which worries us. But we can now already make sure that we set the stage for the next mandate to some extent”, van Sparrentak concluded.