Get your MEP to Be Bothered about equality and human rights!
January 2012 marks the mid-term of the current European Parliament and that is why ILGA-Europe is revisiting Be Bothered! campaign by organising the Be Bothered! event at the European Parliament on 24 & 25 January 2012 for the Members of the European Parliament. See what you can do to get your Members of the European Parliament to Be Bothered about equality and human rights.
In 2009, during the European Parliament elections, ILGA-Europe organised a very successful Be Bothered! campaign which resulted in 20% of the elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) signing our 10-point Pledge to support equality and human rights of LGBT people in the EU and beyond.
While the campaign was very successful and we managed to get 20% of elected MEPs on board, there are still 80% of them who did not sign the Pledge. And we hope you can help to ensure more MEPs pledge their support for equality and human rights for LGBT people!
You can find a table below with an overview of how many MEPs per country signed our Pledge as of 17 January 2012. You can see their names on our website (click on your country):
We want...
- to encourage more MEPs to sign our Pledge
- to raise awareness about the human rights situation of LGBT people
- to debate with MEPs and generate their further support
- to make an assessment how the European Parliament was acting to support the rights of LGBT people since 2009
- to identify what the remaining challenges until 2014 are.
Martin Schulz, the new President of the European Parliament, who was elected earlier today, confirmed he will take part in our event and will sign the Pledge.
What can you do
- Tweet about Be Bothered! campaign and event: #BeBothered
- Send e-mail to the Members of the European Parliament from your country who have not yet signed our Pledge and ask them to do so.
We have compiled a document listing all the MEPs who have not yet signed the Pledge by country with their e-mail addresses.
In case of any doubt, please visit the European Parliament’s website which lists of current Members of the European Parliament by country.
And here is suggested text of e-mail which you can adapt to your national language:
| Dear Mr/Ms ……, I want you to Be Bothered about human rights of LGBT People! Please join 157 Members of the European Parliament who have already signed Be Bothered! Pledge (link to the Pledge: http://ilga-europe.org/home/how_we_work/european_institutions/be_bothered/pledge) to support equality and human rights for LGBT people. The Pledge is created by ILGA-Europe, the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and summarises in 10 points what the European Parliament and its Members can do to improve the human rights situation of LGBT people. While Europe is a global LGBT human rights leader, there are still wide-spread discrimination, violations of basic human rights, hatred and violence against LGBT people in Europe. Moreover, Europe must continue being a leading voice and force to protect the human rights of LGBT people around the globe. You can sign the Pledge...
Thank you very much for your support and solidarity! Yours, [Your name] |
Thank you very much for your support,
let’s make this European Parliament
100% LGBT human rights friendly!
***
| EU Member State |
How many MEPs signed |
Total number of MEPs per country |
| Austria |
6 |
19 |
| Belgium |
5 |
22 |
| Bulgaria |
0 |
18 |
| Cyprus |
0 |
6 |
| Czech Republic |
0 |
22 |
| Denmark |
7 |
13 |
| Estonia |
0 |
6 |
| Finland |
5 |
13 |
| France |
24 |
74 |
| Germany |
16 |
99 |
| Greece |
8 |
22 |
| Hungary |
2 |
22 |
| Ireland |
4 |
12 |
| Italy |
0 |
73 |
| Latvia |
0 |
9 |
| Lithuania |
0 |
12 |
| Luxembourg |
2 |
6 |
| Malta |
6 |
6 |
| Netherlands |
8 |
26 |
| Poland |
1 |
51 |
| Portugal |
5 |
22 |
| Romania |
1 |
33 |
| Slovakia |
0 |
13 |
| Slovenia |
3 |
8 |
| Spain |
27 |
54 |
| Sweden |
5 |
40 |
| UK |
22 |
73 |
