Ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia marked on the 17th of May, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland urged for justice and full protection against discrimination for all persons, irrespective of their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, in all the Council of Europe member states.
“There must be no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and this prohibition must be clearly spelled out in the law and implemented in practice in all our member States,” Thorbjørn Jagland said.
He added that the future discussions in the Committee of Ministers on the review of the 2010 Recommendation on combatting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity will allow member states to show political will and further the progress in protecting everyone from discrimination.
The majority of the Council of Europe member states have expressly prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in their anti-discrimination legislation, or in specific laws regulating employment, education, health, goods and services. A smaller number of states have expressly banned discrimination on the gender identity basis.
Secretary General also raised the issue of medical operations required for legal gender recognition (the process of changing name and gender of transgender persons in official documents and registries).
“European states must bring their legislation and practices in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in this area,” he said.
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