17/07/2026 LGBTI | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI persons, Kate Osborne (United Kingdom, SOC), has expressed concern at the growing number of bans and restrictions affecting Pride marches across Europe, warning that this trend reflects a wider shrinking of democratic space and increasing pressure on minority groups.
From the continued blocking of the Oradea Pride March in Romania to councils in the United Kingdom withdrawing support for local Pride events, similar patterns are emerging across Council of Europe member states, with local authorities citing public order or neutrality grounds to restrict LGBTI communities' right to visibility and safety.
Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are rights guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights and reaffirmed in a recent PACE resolution. The Rapporteur underlined that these restrictions are not confined to states already under scrutiny for democratic backsliding; their spread to long-established democracies shows that shrinking space for LGBTI persons is becoming a broader European trend rather than an isolated phenomenon.
The Rapporteur commended the sustained work of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in supporting LGBTI equality at local level and called on national governments to stand firmly behind local authorities that continue to support Pride organisers rather than yield to pressure.
She invited members of the Parliamentary Assembly to raise these developments in their own national parliaments and to work closely with civil society organisations defending LGBTI rights on the ground, so that this concern translates into concrete action within their own countries. She reaffirmed the Assembly's solidarity with LGBTI communities affected by these developments and pledged its continued attention to this issue.