Je voudrais dédier cette stratégie à Mustafa.
Mais il aurait tout aussi bien pu sappeler Daniel, Claude ou Monique.
Cétait un garçon que jai connu quand javais une douzaine dannées. Il était à lécole avec nous. Il passait beaucoup de temps avec les filles — à écouter nos histoires, à nous conseiller, à danser, à rire avec nous. Il était devenu notre confident.
Et puis, un jour, ça a dérangé. Pour une raison ou pour une autre, certains ne lont plus accepté.
Un matin, on la retrouvé dans un coin de la cour de récréation, le nez en sang, le visage tuméfié.
Il avait été battu — simplement parce quil dérangeait, parce quil nétait pas comme les autres.
Alors je voudrais dédier cette stratégie à Mustafa, à Claude, à Monique, à Christine, à Jean, à Paul — à tous ceux qui peuvent se reconnaître dans ce petit garçon différent.
Et aussi à toutes celles et ceux qui ont manifesté à Pécs le week-end dernier, qui ont bravé linterdiction.
Aux centaines de milliers de personnes qui ont donné encore plus dampleur à la marche des fiertés, devenue une véritable marche de la liberté à Budapest le 28 juin dernier.
Jy étais, et jai vu à quel point la liberté dexpression, la liberté dêtre soi, daimer qui lon veut, comptent pour tant de personnes. Ça ma profondément touchée.
En tant que Commissaire à lÉgalité, il me semblait essentiel de présenter cette nouvelle stratégie dès aujourdhui — quelques mois avant la fin de lactuelle, prévue jusquen décembre 2025.
Parce que les temps sont à la régression.
Parce que ce que nous croyions acquis est à nouveau remis en question. Et cest profondément inquiétant.
LEurope doit rester ce phare, cette lumière, cette sentinelle qui alerte et qui protège la liberté et légalité.
Cest tout le sens de cette stratégie.
Parce que notre Union a un devoir : protéger les personnes comme Mustafa, Daniel, Monique, et tous ceux qui se sentent différents.
That is why this new strategy focuses on three areas, starting with protecting, followed by empowering and engaging.
First, we must protect LGBTIQ+ people from all violence.
Conversion practices are not therapy. They do harm. They can cause serious physical and mental damage and above all, they are an attack on a persons dignity.
The numbers are shocking. One in four LGBTIQ+ people — and almost half of all trans men and women — have experienced conversion practices, including physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and humiliation.
This must stop.
We have heard the strong voices from civil society and from citizens, including through the European Citizens Initiative against conversion practices. We will work with Member States, in full respect of their competences, to end these harmful practices.
We must also do better at tackling hate — offline and online. Online hate is a poison that does not stay online, it fuels violence in the real world. Sadly, despite growing acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people, violence and hate crimes are still rising.
That is why we are working to strengthen EU law to better fight incitement to hatred and violence, especially online. We will also set up a new knowledge hub on illegal hate crimes online. It will help put into action our 2025 Code of Conduct on hate speech online, already signed by all major social media platforms.
The second focus of this Strategy is empowerment, making sure LGBTIQ+ people can live free and equal in all areas of life. Equal access to healthcare and social protection, equal access to education, and equal access to housing, goods and services.
This is why the Equal Treatment Directive matters. The Commission has kept it on the table for further political discussion. I want to be clear: I am personally committed to making progress on this.
Diversity is not a burden — it is a great power — fuel for innovation, creativity, and Europes competitiveness. When people can be themselves at work, they give their best — their ideas, their talents. That is good for business.
Fair hiring is smart hiring. The Commission will therefore present guidance on diversity and inclusion policies — especially in hiring — working with the EU Platform Diversity Charters.
Finally, we will empower LGBTIQ+ people through stronger equality bodies. This is important because equality bodies are the bridge between the law and peoples daily lives. When someone faces discrimination, this is where they turn for concrete support. The Commission has already adopted two landmark Directives setting standards for these bodies. Next year, we will go further, with Implementing Acts that set clear indicators on their powers, resources, independence, and effectiveness.
The third focus of this Strategy is engagement, bringing the whole of society on board, together with Member States. To back this up, the Commission has more than doubled funding for civil society organisations and stakeholders working on equality and fundamental rights to €3.6 billion. This is for the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values strand in the new AgoraEU programme of the next EU budget. We will also launch a new LGBTIQ+ Policy Forum, a space for open dialogue with civil society, social partners, and academia.
We need national action too. So far, thirteen Member States have adopted national LGBTIQ+ equality strategies. But it is not enough. The rest must follow. The Commission calls on all Member States to adopt national LGBTIQ+ equality strategies, and we are ready to support them. National action complements and reinforces EU action.
We also need good, reliable data. It is the only way to design and monitor effective equality policies, especially when people face more than one form of discrimination. That is why we will propose a Recommendation to improve how equality data is collected, analysed, and used.
In recent years, we have fought hard for the freedom of
LGBTIQ+ people. Now we are going further to build a Union that is more just, more equal, and free for all. LGBTIQ+ equality is not just the fight of one community, it is everyones fight because Europe without LGBTIQ+ people would not be Europe.
We owe it to Mustafa, Daniel, Claude, Monique and to every child like them. No one must ever be told they are wrong for being themselves. Diversity and equality — this is Europes power.
