The report in front of you details the current state of human rights for LGBTI people in 51 country in Europe and Asia in 2018, as well as activities of some key international organization working on this issue. The report is published by ILGA-Europe, a Brussels based NGO, continuing their tradition of producing annual reports which started in 2011, when the first such report was made. According to them, it is essential to understand and accept the change is not linear, each year across countries there are steps in good direction to be acknowledged and celebrated, but also changes in a negative direction, to be dealt with. “The lived reality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in Europe and Central Asia is complex, diverse, multi-faceted. In a world where attention-grabbing headlines and short social media feeds too often gloss over this complexity, the work of documenting the political, legal and social developments – both positive and negative – which affect the lives of LGBTI people becomes essential.”
In terms of improvements, the number of governments that adopted legal gender recognition laws based on self-recognition has increased, at the same time triggering discussion in many countries how to ban intersex surgeries. On the other side, the report notes the issue of “anti-gender” groups in some of the countries, whose activities often aim to hinder further advancements of LGBTI rights, especially in relation to marriage, family, inclusive education and access to information. In addition, the report noted, among many other challenges, there is insufficient protection for LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers who were forced to flee their countries and seek protection elsewhere. To see an interactive presentation of the report findings per country click here. The whole report is available on the link below.