The European
Union says gays in several member nations need stronger
protections against discrimination, based on a report
released Tuesday by the E.U.'s Agency for
Fundamental Rights, according to the Associated Press.
The report noted
that while lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
people have broad legal protections in many of
the countries in the E.U., seven nations protect
against discrimination only in employment and need to
expand that to other aspects of life. These are Cyprus,
Denmark, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, and Portugal.
Other nations, according to the report, prohibit
antigay discrimination in such areas as housing and
access to goods and services.
The agency also
urged member nations to offer same-sex couples the same
rights as heterosexual married couples. Gay couples have
equal marriage rights in only three E.U. nations:
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. Several other
E.U. nations offer gays some form of registered
partnership.
The report,
however, criticized Spain as one of nine countries having no
"equality body" to handle complaints related to antigay
discrimination. The others are the Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Poland, and Portugal.
The agency also
said transgender people are especially in need of
antidiscrimination protections, and further called for
better application of existing laws covering hate
speech and hate crimes against LGBT citizens.
"Equal treatment
is a fundamental right that all members of our society
should enjoy," the AP quoted agency director Morton Kjaerum
as saying. (The Advocate)
