Genspect’s Submission on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy for 2026–2030
By Genspect
Genspect is an international organisation advocating for evidence-based, ethical approaches to sex and gender.
Through our Beyond Trans programme, we support over 1,000 families and more than 360 detransitioners, many of whom are based across Europe. Drawing on research and direct work with affected individuals and families, we raise several concerns about the EU’s LGBTIQ strategy, grounded in both emerging evidence and lived experience.
The current framework conflates two distinct groups—those defined by sexual orientation and those by gender identity—despite their fundamentally different characteristics. Sexual orientation does not require medical intervention. Gender identity issues, by contrast, often lead to invasive treatments such as hormone therapy and surgery, with lifelong consequences.
This conflation complicates accurate data collection and impedes meaningful policy development. When surveys group all LGBTIQ individuals together, they obscure differing needs, vulnerabilities, and outcomes.
This has real-world implications for vulnerable young people. Many who question their gender later come to identify as gay or lesbian adults if supported without medical intervention. Among the detransitioners we work with, a significant number describe having been same-sex attracted prior to transition, feeling their natural development was interrupted by premature medical response. By conflating sexual orientation with gender identity, the strategy risks misinterpreting same-sex attraction as necessitating gender transition, thereby placing gay and lesbian youth on irreversible medical paths.
Equally concerning is the Commission’s stance on “conversion therapy.” Genspect supports banning coercive practices aimed at changing sexual orientation. However, we strongly oppose equating ethical, non-directive psychotherapy for gender-related distress with conversion therapy. Many detransitioners we support report being denied psychological support and instead fast-tracked into medical interventions, resulting in lasting harm.
As one individual told us: “I needed therapy, not testosterone.”
The UK’s Cass Review warned that equating therapeutic support with conversion therapy “may prevent young people from getting the emotional support they deserve.” The EU must ensure that legitimate therapeutic care remains both lawful and accessible.
We are also concerned by how the Commission frames public discourse. While rightly condemning harassment and abuse, treating terms such as “gender ideology” as inherently hateful risks silencing legitimate democratic debate. The 2022 Forstater ruling and the 2025 UK Supreme Court decision on the definition of women affirmed that gender-critical beliefs are protected under equality law. The EU must uphold freedom of expression as a core democratic value.
Finally, we highlight concerns about gender self-identification policies within the EU. Self-ID featured prominently in the 2020–2025 LGBTIQ strategy, and we urge caution in continuing this approach. These policies have often bypassed democratic scrutiny in Member States. Allowing legal sex changes without objective criteria has wide-ranging implications—particularly for women’s rights, child safeguarding, and institutional integrity. Families report increasing conflict following implementation of these measures, which are frequently introduced without basic safeguards. This raises serious concerns around single-sex spaces, competitive sport, and criminal justice.
Genspect urges the Commission to clearly distinguish between sexual orientation and gender identity in policy and data collection. Ethical, non-directive psychological care must be explicitly protected. Open, good-faith debate on gender issues must remain permissible in democratic societies. Without these safeguards, the strategy risks undermining the very equality and inclusion it aims to promote.
We remain open to constructive dialogue with policymakers committed to evidence-based approaches.
Genspect urges others to take part in this important consultation. Individuals and organisations can submit their feedback on the EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy for 2026–2030 here:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/14551-EU-LGBTIQ-equality-strategy-for-2026-2030