The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted the organisation’s first Strategy for equal rights for LGBTI people which provides a structured framework for implementing existing human-rights commitments to advance equality and prevent discrimination and violence.
Forty-five years after landmark ECHR judgment: new step towards dignity and equality for LGBTI people
The strategy comes 45 years after the European Court of Human Rights delivered its first judgment concerning the rights of LGBTI people in 1981 in the case Dudgeon v. the United Kingdom. Since then, the Court’s case-law, Committee of Ministers recommendations, standards of the European Commission against racism and intolerance (ECRI) and the work of other Council of Europe monitoring bodies have established a substantial framework for protecting LGBTI people. The new strategy brings this acquis together and focuses on its effective and consistent implementation.
Council of Europe Secretary General, Alain Berset, noted: “The adoption of the strategy does not mark the beginning of our commitment to LGBTI equality. It marks a new stage in it: providing a framework for action grounded in the Council of Europe’s human rights standards and the commitments undertaken by its member states.”
Although important progress has been made in member states, it remains uneven, the strategy notes. Discrimination, violence, hate speech and crime persist. Polarising narratives and disinformation increasingly target LGBTI people, and digital technologies and artificial intelligence can compound these risks by reproducing bias, enabling intrusive surveillance, facilitating technology-facilitated violence and accelerating the spread of harmful content.
The strategy proposes that action be taken across many areas, including private and family life, education, employment, healthcare, public services, civil society, and the field of digital technologies and artificial intelligence.
"The Council of Europe was founded on the conviction that human rights belong to everyone. This strategy helps make it a reality. There can be no exception to inclusion," the Secretary General stressed.
Priorities for action: recognition, protection, preventing violence, countering disinformation
Four priorities for action are the recognition of the equal rights and dignity of LGBTI people and promotion of a culture of respect and inclusion to counter stigmatisation; countering disinformation and manipulation of information concerning LGBTI people in order to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law; preventing and combating violence and hatred against LGBTI people; establishing, safeguarding and strengthening protection through effective legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks.
At the national level, Council of Europe member states have a central role to play in the implementation of the strategy. The Council of Europe will support them through standard-setting, monitoring and cooperation.
The strategy will be officially launched on 26 January 2027 at an event organised under the Montenegrin Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
Anti-LGBTI hate speech harms democracy: new report published
The relevance of the priorities of the new Council of Europe strategy is illustrated by the findings of the new report published today. It examines how European countries prevent and combat hate speech based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC), and what can be done to strengthen responses.
Increasing hostility towards LGBTI people and organised opposition to LGBTI equality are exacerbated by disinformation and AI tools which can increase the reach of hate speech. This results in fear, anxiety, depression and avoidance of public life among LGBTI people, weakens social cohesion and contributes to democratic erosion.
Legal protection remains uneven. According to the report, 35 member states explicitly cover sexual orientation in criminal hate-speech provisions, compared with 18 that cover gender identity, six for gender expression and six for sex characteristics. Only three member states (Belgium, Denmark, Malta) explicitly cover all SOGIESC grounds.
Legislation alone does not ensure protection in practice. The report shows that distrust in institutions, fear of secondary victimisation and reluctance to disclose sexual orientation or gender identity contribute to underreporting. In many countries, the absence of disaggregated data means that SOGIESC-based incidents are absorbed into broader statistics and the hate element disappears. Civil-society organisations often provide reporting, monitoring and victim support that public systems do not adequately take into account.
Stronger action against anti-LGBTI hate speech recommended
Member states should close persistent gaps between legal commitments and effective protection, the report stresses, making a number of recommendations.
In the field of prevention, the report recommends whole-government frameworks ensuring coordinated action across public authorities, accountability mechanisms for public officials and elected representatives, and approaches involving all school stakeholders in addressing hate speech, bullying and misinformation.
It is recommended to explicitly cover all SOGIESC grounds in national hate-speech legislation; better record hate speech and conduct victimisation surveys; strengthen specialised police and prosecution structures; that the civil-society organisations whose role in providing essential support and services to people targeted by hate speech is essential should benefit from sustainable funding. Greater use of trusted flaggers (certified expert organisations that report illegal online content), suitably trained content moderators and guidance on AI-generated hate speech is also recommended.
Read more about the Council of Europe’s work on inclusion and equality
