Lgbtq+, a June of demonstrations against discrimination and for rights

In reality, national statistics struggle to comprehensively investigate the gender identity and sexual orientation of the population and confidentiality issues have often hampered the work of statistical institutes and quantitative research centres. Thus, the European Union itself, which already in 2011 expressed the need for more reliable data in order to be able to monitor and guarantee social protection, has failed to produce comprehensive reports on this issue. In the United States, a Gallup poll based on telephone interviews of over 12,000 Americans reveals that about one in 13 adults identifies as LGBT+. Again, the percentage rises with age, to one fifth among people born between 1997 and 2005.

Attention, including political attention, in the United States is very high with respect to the LGBT+ community, so much so that in his speech for Pride month, President Joe Biden remarked: 'I signed the historic Respect for Marriage Act, which protects the marriage of same-sex and interracial couples. I am proud to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving in the United States military. I have signed historic executive orders strengthening civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, and the justice system. We are also fighting the dangerous and cruel practice of so-called 'conversion therapy'". The other side of the coin in the country is the flurry of bills targeting LGBT+ rights every year. In the first half of 2024 alone there were 275 bills, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

On the other hand, on a global level, the rights map is made of lights and shadows: if there are countries such as Thailand and, shortly before, Greece that have approved egalitarian marriage, there is no shortage of countries that are exacerbating measures against the LGBT+ community, such as Russia, which last March put the 'LGBT movement' on the list of extremist and terrorist organisations.

Globally, there are still 60 countries where it is illegal to be gay, with penalties ranging from imprisonment to the death sentence. In these contexts, Pride month becomes an opportunity to come out and demonstrate against discriminatory laws. Among the icons of courage is a photo from a few years ago showing a young Ugandan with a sticker on his face that reads 'Slike Ugandans are gay. Get over it!" (Some Ugandans are gay. Get over it!), in a country where relationships between men are punished with life imprisonment.

Anti-gay laws are compounded by discrimination-related violence. The Tgeu association, for example, monitors the violent deaths of trans people every year: from September 2022 to September 2023, 320 deaths were counted, with Brazil holding the record, with more than a thousand murders since 2008. This is, however, only the tip of the iceberg, because for instance the Bureau of Justice Statistics points out that among Lgbtq+ people, victims of hate crimes are 43.5 per thousand people aged 16 and over, a figure more than twice as high as among straight people (19 per thousand).

On this side of the Atlantic, the latest report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights showed that violence against LGBT+ people is on the rise, so much so that in 2023 33% of respondents said they had suffered three or more violent attacks in the previous five years (compared to 26% in 2019). Also of concern is the figure for bullying in schools: 67% in the EU say they have been victims of bullying, with the percentage rising to 79% for gay people. So much so that 54% of LGBT+ people avoid holding hands in public places. And this happens in the advanced Europe in terms of rights, which has become a destination for immigration due to discrimination in other countries.

Pride month, in light of all this, takes on a significance beyond the colourful and festive celebration of parades. It remains a month dedicated to a minority that is still discriminated against.