❓WHAT HAPPENED: The European Commission has proposed a new ‘LGBTIQ+ equality strategy 2026-2030’ allowing children across the European Union (EU) to choose their gender at any age and removing therapy requirements or age limits for gender recognition, regardless of the wishes of national governments.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The European Commission, EU member states, and anti-gender ideology campaigners such as Maya Forstater of Sex Matters.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The proposals were published on Wednesday and would apply across the European Union, with conservative-led member countries subject to sanctions for resisting.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Gender activists have entrenched their ideology in European institutions with devastating consequences for women and girls, vulnerable children, and gay and lesbian people.” – Maya Forstater
🎯IMPACT: Critics warn of devastating consequences for women, children, and other vulnerable groups, with potential funding penalties for non-compliant EU member states.
The European Commission—the unelected body that serves as the European Union’s executive—has introduced its draft LGBT Equality Strategy for 2026–2030, including proposals that would allow children to legally change their gender at any age without medical or psychological approval. The document states the Commission will “support the development of legal gender recognition procedures based on self-determination that are free from age restrictions.”
This approach contrasts with the current laws in most European Union (EU) countries. Only nine out of 27 member states permit legal gender changes based on self-identification without requiring medical procedures or evaluations. Twelve countries still mandate medical prerequisites, such as hormone therapy or surgery.
The Commission also criticized countries like the United Kingdom—despite no longer being an EU member following Brexit—for requiring a doctor’s approval for legal gender recognition, signaling that EU member states unwilling to align with radical gender ideology could face financial penalties. The strategy warns that “discriminating regions” could lose access to EU funds for non-compliance with the bloc’s principles.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of United Kingdom-based campaign group Sex Matters, described the proposals as “chilling,” warning, “Gender activists have entrenched their ideology in European institutions with devastating consequences for women and girls, vulnerable children, and gay and lesbian people.”
In the U.S., hospital data between 2019 and 2023 shows that more than 14,000 minors received gender-related medical interventions, including hormone therapy and mutilating surgeries, generating an estimated $120 million in hospital revenue. Critics of gender ideology argue this data disproves the claim that gender transition in youth is rare, and also raises questions about profit motives and long-term health outcomes.
Image: CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2023– Source: EP.
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