PRIDE FOR EVERYONE
Every European !                 Every Parent !                 Every Gender !

The Pride is a celebration. A celebration for all who long for an open society, full of diversities. But beneath the cobblestone of the streets where our parade and the Gay Village take place, let’s not forget the huge beach of challenges that must still be addressed. For this 2010 edition, we want to draw everyone’s attention to three priority projects.
A new European directive against discrimination has been proposed in July 2008 by the European Commission. It is still in negotiation. This directive is very important because it aims at protecting people against discrimination, particularly in education, access to goods and services or health care. Though it is supported by the European Parliament, the Council lingers to adopt it. If Belgium has chosen to support the text (while lengthening the time of its implementation), many Member States still oppose it.

New EU directive against discrimination
The Belgian Presidency of the European Union must show its determination to have this new legislation adopted

If the directive is voted in, all Member States will have to amend their legislation and tackle discrimination in all fields, not only in the professional one.

As Belgium holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2010, the Belgian Federal Government should take leadership in this area, and spare no effort to have this important directive passed. Our country has a heavy responsibility in this regard.

Furthermore, a revision of the 2004 directive on equal treatment between women and men is required, in particular to include protection against discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

Filling up the gaps in legislation on same-sex parents
A matter of political courage and will

Adoption is legally open to homosexual parents since 2006. This provision allows full domestic adoption to couples of women who used anonymous  donor insemination. However, it still does not achieve fulfillment in other adoption situations, where many gaps still need to be filled in. 
For same-sex couples turning to international adoption, major problems are still to be overcome as countries of origin of children with which Belgium is working do not accept gay applicant adoptive parents or those with a transgender past. Knowing that there are countries of origin that would be willing to accept homosexual parents, it should be ensured that they are taken into account in opening new channels for adoption. We want the Central Authorities in matters of adoption, with the support of the competent Ministers of both the French Community and the Flemish governments, to intensify bilateral contacts as far as adoption involving these countries is concerned. We particularly think of the European countries, South Africa, the United States or Brazil.
 
We also want parents who use gay (international) adoption to be entitled to adoption leave, even in cases where the child is formally adopted by only one of them.
 
In addition, the Adoption Act of 2006 does not erase all forms of discrimination against homosexual parents.
For cohabiting or married lesbians, we want a possibility of recognition of the children by both parents. Unlike heterosexual couples using the same reproduction technique with anonymous donor, the mother’s girlfriend or wife still can’t recognize her own child. The adoption, heavy and expensive, is compulsory before her bond with the child be legally recognized, and the length of the procedure takes automatically away her entitlement to adoption leave.
 
We demand the right to 10 days of leave after childbirth (paternity leave) to be finally granted to the female partners or the wives of the mothers.

Fight against gender stereotypes
Sexist stereotypes are not only poisoning the relations between men and women, they also affect all those whose gender identity does not fit the sexist and binary norms.

Gender identities and expressions of genders are part of the dignity and humanity of every person and should not be the cause of discrimination or abuse. This includes those called effeminate, androgynous, butch, drag kings, drag queens, transvestites, “tomboys”, people in transition or transgender and intersex people. They still face, nowadays, prejudice, mockery and insults, particularly in schools and professional environment but also in the health sector.

To be truly effective, the policy of equal opportunities must include not only equality between women and men but also the fight against gender stereotypes.

In Belgium, transgender people, identified as transsexuals in the psychiatric and legal jargon, are forced to follow a standard psychiatric “man or woman normalization protocol” which does not meet their aspirations in terms of gender identity. According to the Belgian law on transsexuality, individuals are required to receive hormone therapy and / or to be surgically sterilized in order to change their gender or to adopt a first name of the opposite gender.

We demand the right to change one’s first name easily and for free, on request, with no medical or psychiatric criteria. The new first name should appear on all official documents. Similarly, the gender specification should be deleted at the request of the person. According to one of the recommendations of the Institute for Equality of Women and Men, we demand the Belgian law on transsexuality to be reviewed. Similarly, access to adoption and medically assisted procreation must be allowed for people with fluid gender identity.

Finally, we demand information and awareness actions on sex and gender diversity to be conducted, as well as actions against transphobia and intersexophobia. Changing mentalities and attitudes passes through legislation but also through actions on the field.

This post is also available in: Dutch, French