On Thursday, March 11, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution declaring the European Union an “LBTIQ Freedom Zone,” and strongly denounced any form of violence or discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender. The resolution emphasizes the significance of equal treatment and non-discrimination as a fundamental right central to the EU Treaties and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and restates that LGBTIQ rights are human rights. It condemns resolutions adopted across Poland and Hungary that cut directly against this core principle, seeking to diminish LGBTIQ rights and protect against LBTIQ “propaganda.” The resolution acknowledges numerous complaints and petitions issued by the Polish Ombudsman for Human Rights, multiple NGOs, and activist groups regarding these outwardly discriminatory practices, and expressed its deep concern with the marked uptick in intolerance and violence towards LBTIQ individuals as of May 2020, particularly in Poland. The resolution further acknowledges that transgender individuals persistently confront severe forms of discrimination and observed that only 13 out of 31 countries surveyed in a 2018 European study provide forms of protection on the basis of gender identity. Recognizing that many member states continue to lack enshrined non-discrimination laws consistent with minimum EU standards protecting individuals from sex or gender-based discrimination, the resolution stresses that combatting inequality comprises a shared responsibility. A press release covering the resolution is available here.