The Socialist MEPs Javier Moreno, Laura Ballarín and Marc Angel called on the European Commission this Tuesday to take measures to stop the two legislative proposals of the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso to reform trans and anti-LGTBIphobia laws in Madrid. The Socialists have asked Brussels whether they are aware of the Popular Party’s (PP) reforms in the Community of Madrid, whether they believe they “violate the rights of LGBTI people” and what measures the Commission might take. This is another card that the opposition has played in recent weeks, given the possibility that the changes will be approved in the Madrid Parliament, where the PP has an absolute majority.
Since mid-November, the PSOE, Más Madrid and the Not a Step Back platform have been strongly resisting the limitation of rights resulting from the reform of laws 2/2016 and 3/2016 passed during the popular government of Cristina Cifuentes. Ayuso’s proposal – introduced in the Assembly on November 23 – requires medical examinations before minors begin gender reassignment surgery; eliminates reversal of the burden of proof or punishment for unlawful discrimination; and deletes the right to recognition of freely expressed gender identity, to free personal development and to treatment according to gender identity. The PP wants to reform both laws this year.
More information
Opposition parties and LGTBI groups are in a race against time. The PSOE of Madrid traveled to Brussels at the end of November to meet with Iratxe García, President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PES) and MEP of the European Parliament, as well as with representatives of the International Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans and Intersex (ILGA, acronym for English), which brings together more than 1,900 LGTBI associations around the world.
According to Juan Lobato, Secretary General of the PSOE in Madrid, “It is about declaring in Brussels that Madrid will be the first region in Europe where, rather than progressing, social and LGTBI rights are regressing.” ” . “We hope that the political influence that Brussels could have will make the Community of Madrid think,” says Lobato. Santiago Rivero, Socialist MP and member of the Assembly’s Commission for Family and Social Affairs, says it is crucial to bring the issue to the table in Europe. “At the European level there is a rule that if a member country has a set of recognized civil rights – such as LGTBI – if there is a setback, the EU usually steps in,” he says.
The PSOE in Madrid will also present amendments to the whole with alternative text. “We are retaining the legal texts from 2016 and adding a few points. “In the LGTBI law we present the creation of a museum of memory, a safe space for minors and an educational figure who will be like a kind of coordinator who will help educational centers deal with cases of harassment and work on diversity plans,” leads Rivero out of. The PSOE proposes to add to the Transgender Law an article ordering the establishment of accommodation for transgender women and another article providing for the creation of scholarships for vocational training or university degrees.
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to
Más Madrid, for its part, registered changes to the entire proposals of the Madrid PP last Friday. The party proposes additions such as including a third box for non-binary people in forms and administrative communications, expanding gender identity training programs, a health plan for transgender people in rural areas and setting a maximum length of waiting lists for gender reassignment surgeries Year. Carla Antonelli, Más Madrid MP and senator, had assured in an interview with EL PAÍS that they would knock on all the necessary doors. “We will fight in the assembly first. Then we will go to all the national and international courts and spaces that exist, it will not stay that way,” he explained.
The full changes will be debated at the Assembly’s plenary session on December 14.
Today, since then @MasMadrid__with my classmate @Jimegongowe have registered the CHANGES OF ALL the indecent and safe laws of a wretch @IdiazAyuso and the PP for the repeal of Madrid’s 2016 TRANS and LGTBI laws. In the end, the much-touted “Freedom existed…” pic.twitter.com/GSlXJ1wCCT
— Carla Antonelli / 🏳️⚧️☂️ (@CarlaAntonelli) December 1, 2023
In addition, LGTBI collectives such as Chrysallis, the Pedro Zerolo Foundation and Cogam, which were not consulted for the reform projects, intervened this Monday in the Family and Social Affairs Commission to warn of the consequences of the 2016 legislative changes.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter about Madrid here.