The LGBTI-phobic hate speech of Patriarch Kirill must be condemned

Written declaration No. 747 | Doc. 15579 | 27 June 2022

Signatories:

Mr Christophe LACROIX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Thórhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Margreet De BOER, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Marina CAROBBIO GUSCETTI, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Even ERIKSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Etilda GJONAJ, Albania, SOC ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ LIMONES, Spain, SOC ; Ms Franziska HOOP, Liechtenstein, ALDE ; Mr Mogens JENSEN, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Ms Carmen LEYTE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Ada MARRA, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Luz MARTINEZ SEIJO, Spain, SOC ; Ms Marica MONTEMAGGI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Simon MOUTQUIN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Fiona O'LOUGHLIN, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Paulo PISCO, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Roberto RAMPI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Ms Lise SELNES, Norway, SOC ; Ms Petra STIENEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Ms Susana SUMELZO, Spain, SOC ; Mr Kim VALENTIN, Denmark, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

Amongst many declarations over the past few months supporting the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in March 2022 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sought to justify this illegal aggression by arguing that liberal democracies were running “genocidal campaigns” against countries that refused to “stage gay parades”.

In so doing, the Patriarch overstepped the bounds of any defence of so-called “traditional values” – values which are moreover being increasingly used as a rallying cry by political and religious leaders. Yet such discourse legitimates grave violations of the human rights of LGBTI people in Europe and throughout the world while at the same time threatening our democracies, which are based on the principle of equality of all citizens.

Now, a call to dehomosexualise society is being used to justify a war.

After two decades of often hard-won progress, we cannot remain silent in the face of such a radicalisation of speech.

The undersigned call on all States participating in the Parliamentary Assembly’s work to condemn these remarks without reserve and to fight the instrumentalisation of hatred against LGBTI people relentlessly.