The Party of the European Left and its Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTiQ) Working Group express their solidarity with the victims of the homophobic attack which took place in Orlando (United States) on the 12th June. 49 people lost their lives at the Pulse Club due to their sexual orientation, in what was clearly a hate crime. This is a reminder of the LGBTiQphobia that is still present in our societies and keeps showing its face in the form of violence, as in the attack in Mexico on the 22nd May in which over 15 people were also murdered for the same reason.

These events highlight again the need to introduce stricter gun control regulation. Free circulation of weapons only increases the dimensions of this kind of violence.

We condemn the invisibilization of the homophobic character of this attack, and stress that omitting it is yet another form of violence. Visibility is the first step towards the creation of an inclusive and diverse society. Therefore, we urge the authorities and the media to walk in that direction rather than to continue with the current relegation of LGBTiQ people, which is one of the main sources of LGBTiQphobic violence and hatred. 

The European Left stands for full rights for LGBTiQ people, as social unequality is another of the sources of LGBTiQphobia, which our goal is to erradicat. Consequently, we also reject the instrumentalization of this crime from sectors of the right-wing, in order to present LGBTiQ rights as opposed to those of migrants, refugees, and muslim communities. We will not follow their divide-and-rule strategies.

Society will not be free until full rights for all are granted. 

The LGBTiQ Working Group