States have not only the legal, but also the moral obligation to enact new laws, but also to amend older ones, in order to protect all our fellow human beings as a whole without exceptions, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also demands.
Written by Anna Apergi Konstantinidis | Special Advisor Diversity Charter Greece
LGBTQI+ people, and especially trans people, in our country continue to face a wide range of stereotypes, prejudices, harassment, discrimination and violence, as well as limited access to employment, social welfare, insurance, healthcare and education, in addition to the widespread hate speech and violence they face in both the private and public spheres.
Have steps been taken to combat them? Clearly, they have been. There are now laws to protect LGBTQI+ rights, but most of them are incomplete.
On February 18, 2025, the annual ILGA-Europe Report was published with the ranking map as well as relevant data on the progress of countries in relation to the human and individual rights of LGBTIQ+ people, with our country occupying 6th place among the 49 countries of the Charter, with a percentage of 70.78%, a percentage that shows us that there is a clear improvement in terms of the integration of legislation concerning equality and freedoms in LGBTIQ+ rights . [1]
Apparently this improvement has to do with the passage of the legislation on equality in civil marriage for same-sex couples, which guaranteed the recognition of civil marriage also to same-sex persons (in the anatomical sense of gender).
It is also very interesting that the indicator regarding equality and non-discrimination is at a high level of 97.91%, while the percentage regarding legal recognition of gender identity is at 64.86%. This is because through Law 5089/2024 on equality in civil marriage, both Law 4443/2016 on equal treatment was amended to include LGBTQI+ in all fields and not only in the field of employment, and Law 4491/2017 regarding the removal of the requirement of celibacy for legal recognition of gender identity.
If someone who is not familiar with the above data provided by ILGA-Europe were to look at it, while also looking at the individual indicators of the data, they would say that in Greece we have made great progress and that there is no unequal treatment against LGBTQI+ people at all, while also looking at the indicator regarding hate speech and crimes, which is at 64%, they would say that in our country there is not such a particular problem regarding hate speech or hate-motivated crimes.
But is that so? Regarding hate speech, I don’t think I need to explain many things, we all know that it is not at all like that. You will of course remember, when the draft law on equality in civil marriage was put out for consultation, the torrent of comments that were written under each article. The “coffee shop” discussions that took place on television shows and the extremely abusive and dangerous voices that were heard in them. You will also remember the hate sermons from church representatives, as well as the racist speech that was freely used even within the Greek Parliament itself, and much more. Also, you will all remember that incidents of violence and hate attacks against LGBTQI+ people had increased alarmingly after this whole climate of intolerant speech that was expressed everywhere and above all freely.
Apparently the 64% indicator is also due to the fact that Greek legislation is somewhat harmonized with European standards on hate speech and hate crimes. And indeed, this is true: our legislation on hate crimes contains sexual orientation, identity and gender characteristics, in short, LGBTQI+ is partially covered. Similarly, our legislation on protection against public incitement to violence or hatred, the so-called anti-racism law which is an integration of the relevant European framework, also covers them.
This brings us to the obvious thought that legislation is always a very important tool, but it is nothing more than half the way. The remaining half is called upon to be covered by the citizens themselves and Civil Society, demanding the implementation of the law in practice, especially in a country like ours, where education regarding diversity and human/individual rights is unfortunately a science fiction scenario.
Knowledge, education, information and training, therefore, so that LGBTQI+ people know that they are not completely unprotected against intolerance, so that they can demand the correct implementation of laws in practice, in contrast to the State, which does not show particular zeal for this issue.
It is also interesting to see the data we have from the Racist Violence Incident Recording Network , in order to see how widespread hate crimes are. According to the Network’s latest Report, a total of 158 incidents of racist violence were recorded through interviews with victims, of which 61 incidents involved targeting and hate attacks and violence against LGBTIQ+ people .
As the Network reports, the spread of attacks against LGBTQI+ people is large, in many different areas of the public space. Incidents have been recorded both on social media and on the street, in restaurants or outside entertainment venues, on the beach, in shops and in the workplace of the victims. The victims, while going about their daily activities, receive unprovoked violence , usually initially verbal attacks with homotransphobic characterizations, which often end in physical violence. Among the attacks recorded, special mention is also made of incidents of domestic violence that take place when the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is disclosed to his or her family, while at the same time, intra-school or intra-university attacks by classmates/fellow students of the victims or employees of the institution’s administration are also identified.
The democratic and progressive political forces both in our country and throughout Europe must awaken , unite and act , leaving behind what divides them and seeing only what unites them and which is clearly much more.
Regarding equal treatment, although Law 4443/2016 may have been amended and the principle of equal treatment was extended to all sectors beyond work, such as health, social security and healthcare, education, access to the provision and provision of goods and services, in reality, unequal treatment continues to plague LGBTQI+ people and especially trans people.
Our country, responding to both modern developments and the need for full equality, without discrimination – particularly in the health sector – it is necessary to proceed immediately with the amendment of the classification lists of mental disorders, in order to ensure that transgender people, including children, will not be stigmatized , in accordance with the Decision of the World Health Organization for the revision of the international classification list, the Resolution of the European Parliament of 22.11.2012, the statement of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) on 15.11.2017, and the position of the Intercultural Psychiatry Section of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association (EPSA).
In the health sector as well, in addition to the necessity for our country to comply with the decisions of the World Health Organization and the immediate integration of the new ICD-11 classification list , it is more than necessary to take other special precautions with the aim of: a. ensuring that transgender persons, regardless of whether they have changed their gender registration through Law 4491/2017, will have unhindered and without violations of their privacy, access to health services, through changes that must be made to the state’s information systems, such as, for example, the Electronic Prescription System, and that any other positive action will be taken to remove any obstacle to the exercise of the right to full unhindered access to the health system, b. full access to the health system, without the categorization of “mental illness” due to gender expression, identity or characteristics, which should be perceived as natural variations in the gender spectrum, including non-binary and intersex persons, c. full insurance coverage of gender reassignment procedures, d. the amendment of Article 62 (Conversion practices), par. 2 b, of Law 4931/2022, so that there is an explicit horizontal prohibition of any type of psychiatric or other practice aimed at “conversion”, “change” or “redefinition” of a person’s sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, and e. the amendment or repeal of legal provisions, presidential decrees, ministerial decisions or circulars that stand in the way of equal treatment of transgender persons.
Furthermore, with regard to employment , steps may have been taken and although there is a law in our country that incorporates EU legislation on equal treatment, equal opportunities, and the prohibition of discrimination, and its scope concerns, among others, LGBTQI+ people in both the public and private sectors, the question that always arises is whether the law is applied in practice, and whether the control mechanisms are sufficient for its implementation.
Because, although the legislation states that it concerns the selection criteria and the terms of employment, so theoretically no one can reject a candidate employee because they are, for example, trans, but we know very well that in practice this happens. Because, the employer may not openly say (fearing the consequences of the law) that they are rejecting them for this reason, but they can invoke anything to cover up the real reason for rejection. In short, LGBTQI+ people, and I repeat especially trans people, continue to experience enormous exclusion and discrimination in the workplace.
In the meantime, in the ILGA-Europe Ranking Chart, the indicator may be at the top with a percentage of 97.91% in terms of equal treatment for LGBTQI+ people, but this is fictitious as it refers only to the incorporation and amendment of laws and not to the extent to which they are implemented in practice and of course to the tragic reality experienced by LGBTQI+ and especially our trans fellow human beings , who not only do not enjoy equal treatment, but their human and individual rights continue to be violated daily. A large percentage of LGBTQI+ people live at the poverty line – if not below it – due to their exclusion from work, while most trans people try to survive through some meager benefits, when and if they can get them.
So when equal treatment does not go hand in hand with the right to a decent living, there can be no equality, as it divides people into two categories, those who can and those who cannot .
The democratic and progressive political forces both in our country and throughout Europe must awaken , unite and act , leaving behind what divides them and seeing only what unites them and which is clearly much more. Especially now, where after the global political developments, extreme racist discourse is developing at a very rapid pace, while they are trying to trample on and abolish already existing achievements in terms of human/individual rights.
We need a European family that is inclusive and safe, like a big ship that can accommodate us without exclusion or discrimination!
