LGBTI rights are misunderstood in large parts of the world. So why is it that in many Western countries LGBTI groups get equal recognition? It’s because in a liberal democracy people are equal and they have equal access to services, equal access to rights. And there is a principle of non-discrimination. And in the EU, non-discrimination directive, which is a bureaucratic paragraph, but it’s very nicely written. It’s non-discrimination on the basis of sexuality, sexual orientation, gender, age, but also capability and disability. So it’s really part of a package of thinking about people as equal. And I think this should be just again and again communicated. I’m very worried in a way now about the future EU enlargements, which will involve several majority Orthodox countries. So Serbia is a candidate country, Ukraine has become a candidate country in Moldova. Because there the Orthodox Church is very much on the line of also the Russian Orthodox Church thinking about the EU as that great threat. Because they will bring LGBTI rights. And I think it’s very important to explain to people and to the public what non-discrimination is about. Why it is a basic principle of democracy. And not to allow the critics of LGBTI rights, those that use them in their fight against democracy, to use precisely only that topic. Which they use because they find it easy to mobilize and they think they understand what it’s about. But it’s not only about gender sexuality orientation, it’s about non-discrimination, it’s about equality.
[Clip] LGBTI rights are misunderstood in a large part of the world
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