17 May – International Day against Homophobia

Today the European Union marks International Day against Homophobia. The aim of the day is to draw attention to the fact that the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination should be applied to all groups of society, also to sexual minorities.

Sexual orientation is one of the most frequent reasons for discrimination and intolerance in the European Union and leads to prejudices, hate and violence. Especially difficult the situation is on the area of employment. In 2005 Latvia witnessed the fist court case when a victim was not employed because of his sexual orientation. In 2004, 38% of the Latvian population confessed they do not want to have homosexuals as their neighbors.

To ensure the application of the equal treatment principle in all EU member states, in 2000 an equal treatment in employment directive was adopted (2000/78). The directive requires all EU member states to ban discrimination in employment including on the grounds of sexual orientation. In Latvia, this directive is being transposed gradually amending several laws.

The Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration stresses that ban on discrimination is applicable to all groups of society regardless of their race, nationality, language, sexual orientation and other grounds. Implementation of the equal treatment principle reduces intolerance and potential violence in society.
Today, when marking the International Day against Homophobia, the Secretariat appeals to every person in Latvia to actively be involved in promotion of tolerance a cultural dialogue.

Since 2005 the Secretariat is responsible for the National Tolerance Programme and one of the target groups of this Programme is sexual minorities.

Secretariat’s website: www.integracija.gov.lv