The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has reaffirmed its support for the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and assembly for LGBTI people across member states. In its last meeting PACE approved the Resolution 2543 (2024) on Freedom of expression and assembly of LGBTI people in Europe calling on member and observer states to implement European Court of Human Rights judgments on LGBTI rights, repeal discriminatory laws, and enforce anti-discrimination legislation. It also urges authorities to condemn and prosecute bias-motivated violence and to improve LGBTI visibility.

"These are fundamental human rights possessed by every person, which they should be able to enjoy on an equal footing and in safety, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights," states the resolution.

During the last PACE meeting, the parliamentarians condemned the attacks on LGBTI rights in the member states, highlighting instances of cancelled or unauthorised LGBTI events and the enforcement of "anti-LGBTI propaganda" laws. They emphasised that such actions contribute to the stigmatisation and invisibilisation of LGBTI people, making them more vulnerable to human rights violations.

To combat violence and discrimination, the Assembly calls on member states to advocate for outlawing conversion practices*, invest in gender equality education, and support inclusive sexual and emotional education in schools. It also stressed the importance of training law enforcement to protect LGBTI groups and ensuring legal recognition of gender identity.

In honour of June – the Pride Month in North Macedonia and the upcoming 5th Pride March in Skopje on June 22, the Resolution 2543 (2024) on Freedom of expression and assembly of LGBTI people in Europe has been made available in Macedonian. The translation of the document was done in the framework of the action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in North Macedonia” (PRO-FREX), which is a part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.

* Conversion practices is used as an umbrella term to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which have in common the belief that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and expression (SOGIE) can and should be changed or suppressed. Such practices aim (or claim to aim) at changing people from gay, lesbian or bisexual to heterosexual and from trans or gender diverse to cisgender.