Doc. 11423
8 October 2007
Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
and gender identity
Motion for a recommendation
presented by Mr JURGENS and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it |
1. It now seven years since the Assembly prepared a report on discrimination against Lesbians and Gays in Council of Europe member states. In the intervening period there are new developments, both positive and negative.
2. Positive: the introduction of the Yogyakarta Principles in November 2006. They codify a broad range of human rights and standards in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. These principles affirm binding international legal principles with which all states must comply.
3. Negative: hostility to Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Intersex people appears to be intensifying in a number of member states. Patriarch Alexy II’s response to a question in the Assembly on 2 October 2007, in which he described homosexuality as an illness and an abnormality comparable to kleptomania, illustrates this phenomenon.
4. There is therefore a need for the Assembly to update its previous report, examining discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and drawing up recommendation.
Signed (see overleaf)
Signed1:
JURGENS Erik, Netherlands, SOC
EÖRSI Mátyás, Hungary, ALDE
ERR Lydie, Luxembourg, SOC
van GERVEN Henk, Netherlands, UEL
GRAF Angelika, Germany, SOC
JACOBSEN Bjřrn, Norway, UEL
JONKER Corien W.A., Netherlands, EPP/CD
KOX Tiny, Netherlands, UEL
LAMBERT Geert, Belgium, SOC
LINDBLAD Göran, Sweden, EPP/CD
LOTMAN Aleksei, Estonia, UEL
MEALE Alan, United Kingdom, SOC
MEULENBELT Anja, Netherlands, UEL
NAKASHIDZÉ Nino, Georgia, ALDE
de PUIG Lluís Maria, Spain, SOC
ROSSI Alessandro, San Marino, UEL
RUSSELL-JOHNSTON, United Kingdom, ALDE
VERMOT-MANGOLD Ruth-Gaby, Switzerland, SOC
VIS Rudi, United Kingdom, SOC
1 SOC: Socialist Group
EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
EDG: European Democratic Group
UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
NR: not registered in a group