YE in Romania

WHY? l CONTEXT
More and more young people are publicly taking a stand against LGBTQIA+ community, while there is a growing trend of hate speech in the public space. Also, at the European level, more and more politicians assume a populist, nationalist discourse against human rights, supported by religious leaders and nongovernmental structures such as the Coalition for the Family in Romania. Campaigns to discredit the LGBT+ community have been organized in all the countries participating in the project and beyond, while the mass media promotes a stereotypical image of the LGBTQIA+ community. The EU Agency for Fundamental Human Rights observes that, at the EU level, LGBTQIA+ people face discrimination, physical and verbal aggression. The COVID–19 pandemic has worsened the situation of LGBTQIA+ youth, as they are portrayed negatively in the media and social media, being considered “guilty” for the pandemic (speech used by many religious leaders and homophobic politicians). According to Helena Dalli, Commissioner of the Commission for Equality of the European Commission, domestic violence and homophobic or transphobic abuse in isolation or the refusal of equal social protection and medical care are some of the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth. At the same time, the homophobic discourse comes together with other related topics, such as women’s rights (many of those who oppose the LGBT community are against equal rights for women), the right of young people to sexual and reproductive health (many oppose sexual education for young people), gender identity (many young people do not know about gender, the difference between gender, sex and sexual orientation, and traditional gender roles continue to be consolidated as the only acceptable ones in society) etc