The socialist and Luxembourg MEP Marc Angel, a staunch defender of LGTBI rights and equality, warns of the increase in anti-gender speeches in a European Parliament with the largest presence of far-right forces in its history. The politician (who was vice president of the institution in the previous legislature) supports a law that regulates genital surgeries in intersex babies.
Do you co-chair the LGTBIQ+ intergroup of the European Parliament, what exactly is it?
They are groups made up of members of different political families who work on a specific issue. The intergroup on LGBT+ is one of the largest, it has 120 MEPs.
The anti-gender movement is growing in Europe. What is the most worrying thing about your speech?
It is well-resourced, very well connected, and receives strong financial backing from funds from Europe, from conservative (sometimes extremist) Catholic religious movements, but also from the Kremlin and American evangelical groups. They have internationalized and have a very solid network of contacts. Their most effective narrative consists of encompassing everything they reject under the concept of “gender ideology.”
How do you combat it?
I always say that there is no “LGTBIQ+ ideology”, nor a “gender ideology”. It is an agenda of human rights, equality and the fight against discrimination, nothing more and nothing less. But, as we know, the far right and the anti-gender movement are dedicated to dividing people. They have tried to divide the feminist movement from the LGTBIQ+ movement with the debate about trans women. We don't talk about trans men, only about women... There you can see the entire patriarchal scheme behind it.
What other arguments do they use?
The dangerous thing is that they present it as a way to protect children. They suggest that people become trans, gay or lesbian simply because they hear about it in school or watch a movie on Netflix. Please! We are born gay, we are born lesbian; We are a product of the beautiful diversity of nature. When they say there are only two sexes... I'm sorry, but intersex people exist. And that is not ideology, it is biology.
How has the rise of the far right affected the European Parliament?
In the language. Since Trump came, there's a feeling that you can just [gestures venting]. It is almost always hate speech. It is provocative, aggressive and divisive; It is very forceful. I will give an example, although it has nothing to do with the LGTBIQ+ group, but with the vote on the return directive. They stood up and chanted: “Send them back!” This is something that when you study history and see what happened in Germany in 1933, it really gives you chills.
Are there more anti-LGTBIQ+ attacks in Europe or Spain?
Yes, it can happen anywhere. When politicians resort to hate speech and scapegoat a minority, it often leads to hate crimes. A few years ago there were murders in front of a bar in Bratislava. But then the phenomenon of homonationalism arises, in which sectors of the extreme right point the finger at immigrants.
You defend a law that prohibits genital surgeries on intersex babies. Is this an issue that worries the European Parliament?
All these issues are on the agenda of our intergroup, but we are also aware of which competences correspond to the EU and which to the Member States. Therein lies the problem. For example, everything related to family law is a national competence.
Why are you interested in intersexuality?
Ten years ago I attended a conference where I met people my age who, as children, had undergone surgery to assign them male or female sex. They told me what they had experienced: horrible things, situations that bordered on torture. It is a very, very, very taboo topic. We must talk openly about the issue and accept it. Also allow these people to decide if an operation is necessary or not. Some were castrated; They could have had children, but they had surgery.
Another of its priorities is the Quality Jobs Law. What specific changes will it bring?
The European Commission will present it at the end of the year. We want algorithmic management and artificial intelligence to be human-centric and transparent. Years ago there was a scandal in which one of these platform workers was killed by a motorcycle; The next day he received a WhatsApp message and an email informing him that he was fired because the pizza had not arrived. That's what happens when algorithms make these decisions. We do not want to end up being slaves to machines. I also hope that the law includes the right to disconnect.
