Men who identify as women should not only be included in all the EU’s feminist policies—the recognition of their ‘right’ to be treated as women should also be defended as a priority. That’s the recommendation from the European Parliament to the Council, approved this Thursday in the Strasbourg plenary.
The text was adopted with the support of the left-wing groups and, stunningly, by the majority of the supposedly center-right European People’s Party (EPP).
A proposed amendment stating that “only biological women can become pregnant” was rejected after 233 MEPs voted against it, with 200 for and 107 abstentions.
The initiative comes from a report prepared by Socialist MEP Lina Gálvez (S&D), which proposes that the EU’s external actions should make the legal recognition of self-perceived gender identity a top priority and reflect this in its equality policies. The document also argues that the EU should actively promote this position in international forums and in its dialogue with non-EU countries. An interesting proposition, in particular when it comes to diplomatic engagement with Muslim or outright Islamist countries like Syria.
Although formally a recommendation to the Council and not a directly binding rule, the text sets out a political position that could influence diplomatic action and shape future legislative initiatives.
Specifically, the report calls for ensuring the recognition of “trans women” as women and their full inclusion in all strategies and programs linked to gender equality.
Criticism from conservative groups
The decision immediately drew criticism from groups on the right side of the chamber. VOX MEP Hermann Tertsch said that the Eurochamber “has adopted as an international priority an ideological agenda that redefines the concept of woman and imposes it as the Union’s official position.” In his view, the recommendation effectively becomes a diplomatic guideline—“a concept based on gender identity that does not enjoy consensus in numerous member states.”
The Patriots for Europe group also denounced that, despite being the third largest force in Parliament, it was excluded both from the prior negotiations of the text and from the official mission that will travel to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March.
The vote comes at a time when the European Union is facing significant economic, geopolitical, and internal cohesion challenges. The decision to prioritize the recognition of gender identity in its external action reflects persisting blindness to the real issues facing Europe’s populations and intransigence regarding an ideology that is rejected by the majority of EU citizens.
The recommendation approved in Strasbourg has no immediate legal effects, but it reinforces a political direction that is likely to continue generating controversy inside and outside the European Parliament.
In the coming months, the Council will have to take a position on the proposed guidelines in a context where issues relating to gender identity, fundamental rights, and the definition of equality policies continue to divide governments, parties, and societies in several member states.
