The European Parliament adopted by 447 votes to 78, with 45 abstentions, a resolution on growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ people across Europe in light of the recent homophobic murder in Slovakia.
The text adopted in plenary was tabled by the EPP, S&D, Renew, Greens/EFA and the Left groups.
On Wednesday, 12 October 2022, in central Bratislava, Slovakia, a far-right radicalised gunman, inspired by white supremacist terrorists, brutally murdered two young persons, Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič, and injured one other person. The shooting was a deliberate and planned attack explicitly targeting the LGBTIQ+ community and he intended to kill more people, including high officials. According to the Slovak police, this shooting was classified as a terrorist attack and investigations are still ongoing. If confirmed as a terrorist attack, it would be the first terrorist attack against the LGBTIQ+ community in the EU.
The LGBTIQ+ community in Slovakia has been subjected to hate-fuelled rhetoric and violence, also driven by many Slovak politicians but also by representatives of the church.
Parliament condemned in the strongest possible terms the cowardly act of terror against the LGBTIQ+ community and the murder of Matúš Horváth and Juraj Vankulič. It commended, on the other hand, the immediate, massive and positive response of Slovak civil society and citizens to the murders.
The Slovak Government is called on to:
- show genuine commitment to making meaningful progress in the protection of LGBTIQ+ people from any form of hate crime and homophobia in close cooperation with the LGBTIQ+ community and to take a strong public position against violations of the human rights of LGBTIQ+ people;
- effectively fight against the disinformation campaigns against LGBTIQ+ people, to encourage factual, objective and professional reporting by the media on LGBTIQ+ persons and issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and sex characteristics and to investigate the hate crime and hate speech against the members of LGBTIQ+ community living in Slovakia;
- secure equal rights for LGBTIQ+ people living in Slovakia based on the Charter, guaranteeing the respect of all rights, in particular private and family life, including legal recognition of same-sex couples.
Given that hate speech and hate crime are widespread across Europe and have been increasing in recent years, Parliament believes that the EU should launch campaigns against anti-LGBTIQ+ narratives, including right-wing extremism at EU level and develop and fund long-term programmes supporting local grassroots organisations and citizens’ initiatives at local level to help develop the population’s resistance to right-wing extremism.
The resolution underlined the individual responsibility of Member States in combating hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ people. Parliament is deeply worried that the younger generations in Europe and elsewhere feel less and less concerned about the history of fascism, including the embedded hate and discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people, ethnic minorities and the Jewish population, Parliament stressed the need to set aside more space on history curricula for objective and factual learning about different ideologies, their forms and their origins, including fascism, as well as their consequences and remnants in present times. It stressed the need to address the root causes of extremism through tailored preventive measures, in cooperation with schools and families. Moreover, Member States should step up efforts to ensure education also promotes the civic values of acceptance, tolerance, diversity, equality and respect on issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sex characteristics, for example through systematic human rights education and awareness-raising campaigns.