Promoting LGBT rights at home and abroad: the role of the EU

TODAY: 6 December 2013. This year's Sakharov Debate

The 2013 Sakharov Debate aims to critically examine the state of LGBT rights in Europe, with a particular focus on the role of the EU in promoting same-sex equality among EU member-states and in states outside the EU.

As in previous years, this event is organised jointly by the European Parliament UK Office and the UCL European Institute.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in June 2011 that 'acts of violence committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity' was 'an attack on the universal values that the United Nations and I have sworn to defend and uphold'.

While respecting LGBT rights is promoted by the UN as a universal value, this view is far from being universally accepted.

Europe has emerged as a world-leader in terms of the respect for and protection of LGBT rights. Especially since the inclusion of sexual orientation in the equalities agenda of the European Union through Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, there has been increased pressure at the European level for the existing members and accession states to promote the equal rights of their LGBT citizens.

Despite similar top-down pressure, however, the legal situation for LGBT people differs markedly from state to state in terms of the type and extent of the rights accorded or indeed whether rights have been accorded at all.While there has been a general improvement in most European legal systems at the national, supranational and international levels, some states, such as Italy and Poland, have experienced only a minimal improvement, while others, such as Russia, seem to be moving in the opposite direction compared with the rest of the continent.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Anna Grodzka (first transgender MP, Poland)
• Michael Cashman MEP (Co-President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights)
• Robert Wintermute (School of Law, King's College London) 
• Richard Mole (UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies)

Chair: Patrick Strudwick (journalist)

Welcome: Sir Stephen Wall (UCL Council, former UK Permanent Representative to the EU)