Extreme demands of the LGBT movement in EU Strategy – the critical position of Ordo Iuris

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The European Commission intends to launch the first LGBT Equality Strategy, whose aim will be to promote the LGBT ideology in Member States. The Strategy will contain demands, among others granting same-sex cohabiting couples with the privileges of married couples, including adoption. Apart from the plans targeted against the protection of families and marriage, the actions proposed by the European Union are in breach of treaties and the law of some European countries. Moreover, the studies that form the basis for the activities put forward were conducted in a flawed manner and the proposed draft is a threat to the freedom of speech. The Ordo Iuris Institute took part in public consultations and pointed out the threats posed by the implementation of the Strategy.

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The proposed Strategy is intended as a follow-up of the 2015 List of Actions to Advance LGBTI Equality, whose aim was to delineate the European Union policy on this matter. Importantly, this document already contained controversial demands contrary to the European Union law and the national law of numerous Member States. Although no official draft Strategy has been published yet, its preparation has been announced as a pressing issue by Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli. However, the direction of the proposed activities is known from the roadmap documents presented at the starting point of public consultations of the Strategy.

One of the key acts referred to by European Union officials is the summary of a high-level conference on “advancing LGBTI equality in the EU until 2020”. It emphasises, inter alia, the need to limit the freedom of speech that contradicts the LGBT ideology. Fighting the so-called hate speech would apply not only to social media users but also to religious leaders. Hence, traditional religious teachings on homosexuality will be deemed “homophobic hate speech”, which European Union officials say should be combated.

In addition, the conference participants openly insisted that the new LGBT Strategy should demand the promotion of legal means that would grant marriage privileges to same-sex cohabiting couples, despite the fact that such demands are not in compliance with the EU treaty law and the national law of many countries. The documents referred to in the roadmap contain a proposed extension of the term “family” so that it includes same-sex couples eligible to adopt children. They also strongly emphasise the need to increase the funds for movements promoting the LGBT ideology. Eurocrats are calling for even greater financial support for actions aimed at promoting and familiarising Europeans with the LGBT ideology and lobbying European governments.

As part of the public consultations, the Ordo Iuris Institute prepared an analysis drawing attention to the non-compliance with the treaty law of the proposed direction of European Union policy concerning people with homosexual inclinations referred to in the documents mentioned in the roadmap. In it, the Institute pointed out firstly that the EU has no competence in regulating the family policy of the Member States. Ordo Iuris also emphasised that the different treatment of people in different situations does not constitute discrimination according to EU law. The Institute also analysed the studies mentioned in the roadmap. As emphasised in the analysis, they raise a number of methodological doubts. For example, EU LGBTI Survey II, conducted by the Agency for Fundamental Rights, was based on questionnaires that could be completed an unlimited number of times by the same person, and the questions were asked in a biased way.

“We will keep a close eye on further actions of the European Commission concerning the creation of the LGBT Equality Strategy. Unfortunately, this discourse is very prone to radicalism instead of a matter-of-fact, well-informed debate based on the applicable treaty law. Note that whenever the European Commission formulates any policies, it must act within its lawful competences. The demands contained in the documents that are to form the basis for the draft Strategy go far beyond these competences,” emphasised Karolina Pawłowska, Director of the Centre of International Law of the Ordo Iuris Institute.