Call for EU ban on anti-LGBTQ 'conversion' gets 1 million signatures

BRUSSELS (AFP) — More than 1 million Europeans have called on the EU to ban “conversion”’ practices targeting LGBTQ people, the results of a petition showed Friday.

The landmark result, reached in the afternoon, means the initiative has secured enough backing to force the European Commission to provide a detailed response.

The campaign was supported among others by singer Pierre de Maere and former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

“Conversion therapy must be banned throughout Europe,” said Belgian singer Angele, another famous backer.

So-called conversion practices imply methods aimed at changing the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of gay, lesbians, queer and trans people.

The United Nations has called for a global ban, describing such practices — based on the erroneous belief that homosexuality is a disorder — as discriminatory, humiliating and a violation of bodily integrity.

Yet, in the European Union, only eight out of 27 nations — France, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and Greece — have enacted a full ban, according to the LGBTQ rights group ILGA.

This petition has the potential to “shake things up,” Matteo Garguilo, a 21-year-old student who initiated the campaign, told AFP. “It gets people talking.”

The petition had to reach the 1 million threshold before a Saturday deadline for Brussels to pay heed to it. It is not legally binding but the commission now has to issue a reply.

The EU’s equality commissioner, Hadja Lahbib, told AFP she supported those who “speak out against these practices,” which she described as “shameful” and aimed at “addressing an illness which does not exist.”

In a mission letter in September, commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had already instructed Lahbib to come up with a new LGBTQ strategy, including on “banning the practice of conversion therapy.”

A pride march is to take place in Brussels on Saturday, marking the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

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By Agence France-Presse