The images that remain in our minds after Pride are often those of the street festival. However, Pride, including the Luxembourg Pride, encompasses much more than just this festival, despite being the most prominent and visible event of the Pride Week.
Despite the opening of our Rainbow Center on May 17, there is still much to do! In 2023, Luxembourg fell two places from 5th to 7th in the ILGA Europe Rainbow Index. We note that a new wave of prejudices and discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community is coming from the USA: suddenly, trans and intersex individuals, as well as drag queens, are seen as a problem, only to distract from other issues. The European Conservative thanks and incorporates these issues into their discourse, while we are still working to establish legal equality and acceptance in all European countries.
On October 8, 2023, voters in Luxembourg are once again called upon to cast their votes and thus help determine the political fate of Luxembourg. Now is the time to communicate our demands for more equality to the candidates of the political parties.
Like every year, we are once again putting the focus on 5 demands from the catalogue of demands by Rosa Lëtzebuerg, which, by the way, all parties have received for inspiration for their election programs:
- A Ministry for Diversity & Anti-Discrimination: a solution to the stagnation in LGBTIQ+ issues
Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl urgently calls for the establishment of a Ministry for Diversity and Anti-Discrimination. This Ministry would have the express mandate to promote diversity and combat discrimination in all its forms. It would be responsible for implementing comprehensive strategies that address not only overt discrimination but also dismantle legislative and administrative inequalities. This step would also be in line with the contents of the EU’s LGBTIQ+ strategy paper of November 12, 2020. - Establishment of an LGBTIQ+ contact point within the grand ducal police
Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl has been noting for many years that, while there are many exemplary officers, a significant knowledge gap exists among some police officers in Luxembourg regarding the handling of cases with a queer focus. Many officers are not intimately familiar with LGBTIQ+ topics. Furthermore, in clear cases of queerphobic violence or hate speech, the police often respond hesitantly or not at all.
There is also a lack of statistics on the number of cases involving queerphobic violence or hate speech. Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl is therefore calling for the creation of an LGBTIQ+ contact point within the police force, the more consistent introduction of LGBTIQ+ training, and a mandate to collect relevant statistics. - No gender entries on official documents
Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl calls for the abolition of binary gender system. A quick and feasible first step would be removing gender entries on all official documents where this information doesn’t provide added value, such as registration certificates, birth register extracts, and identity cards. - Urgent call for a ban on conversion therapies in Luxembourg
Conversion therapies, aiming to change or suppress LGBTIQ+ individuals‘ sexual orientation or gender identity, are based on false premises and can cause severe harm. While the EU Parliament and neighbors like France and Germany have endorsed bans, Luxembourg lags. Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl urgently calls for a comprehensive ban on offering and conducting such therapies, and recognition for their victims. - Intersex: no interventions that are not necessary for life or health without the informed consent of the people concerned
The diagnosis of „gender identity disorders“, which consisted of the three main categories of transsexualism, transvestitism maintaining dual gender roles, and childhood gender identity disorder, has been replaced by the term gender incongruence. The diagnosis is not classified as a mental disorder, but as a „condition related to sexual health“.
Despite this, the Caisse National de Santé (CNS) still requires in its statutes (Annexe C) a „detailed medical report established by a specialist in psychiatry“. We demand an urgent revision and transparency of the CNS requirements.
We also insist that Intersex & Transgender Luxembourg asbl, as well as Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl, be involved as experts in this process.
Please translate:
The demands written by Rosa Lëtzebuerg for the parliamentary elections on October 8, 2023, have been sent to all parties with the request to include as many of these demands as possible in their election programs. You can find the entire catalogue of demands here (in German, with English and French translations to follow soon).