The most recent Shadow Report by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) highlights that ethnic and religious minorities in Europe continue to suffer from discrimination, prejudice and disadvantages on a daily basis in most walks of life: from employment to education, from housing to policing.[1]

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ILGA-Europe would like to draw attention to the issue of multiple discrimination. Many people in Europe are subjected to discrimination, prejudice and violence because of their various characteristics: race, nationality, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity among others. At the moment there is no European Union legislation addressing the issue of multiple discrimination and therefore ILGA-Europe reiterates its call for EU Member States to adopt a proposed EU Directive and among other things address multiple discrimination.

At the same time there is still work to be done towards elimination of racial discrimination and prejudice within the LGBTI communities and homophobia and transphobia within the minority ethnic and racial groups. Representatives of various minority groups need to stand united against various forms of prejudices and discrimination. To this effect, this year ILGA-Europe’s annual conference was entitled “Expressing our differences, challenging our prejudices, developing our alliances”[2] and will pay particular attention to addressing various forms of prejudices within the LGBT communities and strengthening alliance with other minorities’ movements.

Brussels

19 March 2010

[1]www.enar-eu.org/Page_Generale.asp?DocID=15294&langue=EN

[2]www.ilga-europe.org/conference