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The European Parliament has said that countries which have applied for membership of the European Union must protect lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender people against discrimination.

The statement came in light of a recent review of the applications by Turkey, Macedonia and Croatia, in which the countries were told that they must provide genuine protection for sexual minorities, after their records in this area were criticised.

Michael Cashman, MEP for the West Midlands and co-president of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights said that “Minorities must be protected from discrimination as laid out in Article 19 of the Treaty - and that includes sexual orientation.”

The Republic of Macedonia was criticised in January for rewording proposed anti-discrimination legislation so that it no longer referred specifically to sexual orientation, and it was told to bring its legislation in line with that of the EU. Croatia was similarly criticised, and its government was also called upon to bring in anti-discrimination laws.

Turkey’s human rights record in general is the subject of intense scrutiny and its treatment of LGBT people has been singled out by Human Rights Watch, which said that the murder of transgender activist Ebru Soykan – whose appeal to the authorities for protection was overlooked - in 2009 illustrated a deep-rooted climate of violence relating to gender and sexual identity. The progress report on Turkey’s accession noted the persecution of sexual minorities.

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