A new report from ILGA-Europe highlights a worrying trend across Europe and Central Asia, where attacks on LGBTI communities are evolving into systemic suppression of dissent and individual freedoms. The Annual Review shows that tactics once applied selectively against LGBTI people are now being used broadly as part of authoritarian governance, with laws and policies increasingly criminalizing and silencing these communities. According to Katrin Hugendubel, Deputy Director/Advocacy Director of ILGA-Europe, patterns of propaganda, scapegoating, and disinformation are escalating into legal frameworks that deny basic rights, creating a deeply concerning trajectory across multiple countries.
The report documents a disturbing rise in legal harassment and criminalization. Governments have adopted restrictive measures such as prosecuting Pride organisers, targeting activists, and amending laws to classify LGBTI-related content as harmful. Hungary, Turkey, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia have all introduced or intensified laws that punish advocacy, association, or education regarding LGBTI rights. Journalists and civil society actors reporting on these issues are also under threat, with arrests and investigations under disinformation or extremism laws, illustrating the broadening scope of repression beyond LGBTI communities.
Alongside criminalization, there is a systematic effort to erase trans and gender-diverse identities. Many policies now define sex strictly by birth, limiting access to legal recognition, healthcare, and equal treatment. Notable examples include legal interpretations in the United Kingdom, constitutional amendments in Hungary, and legislative changes in Georgia, all of which restrict acknowledgment of gender diversity. Educational spaces are increasingly targeted, with Hungary’s Child Protection Act restricting school content on gender identity, and similar challenges emerging in Italy, France, and Germany.
Despite these setbacks, the report notes that resistance and progress remain possible. Poland repealed its final “LGBTI-free zone” resolution, and regions in Spain countered attempts by far-right forces to dismantle equality frameworks. These cases demonstrate that democratic institutions can uphold rights when political will exists. Hugendubel emphasizes that the threat is not ideological but a tangible targeting of individuals, warning that without urgent action, democratic protections in Europe are at serious risk.
ILGA-Europe’s Annual Review, published for 15 years, compiles research from over 200 activists and legal experts across 54 countries. It tracks developments in legal protections, discrimination, freedom of assembly and expression, health rights, asylum practices, hate crimes, intersex bodily integrity, and civil society space, while also evaluating the role of regional and international institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, and the OSCE in shaping LGBTI human rights.
