Athens, 23 January 2024

PRESS RELEASE:

Subject: «The GTSA denounces the intolerant and transphobic statements of the President of the “Greek Solution” political party, Kyriakos Velopoulos»

The GTSA denounces the intolerant and transphobic statements of the President of the “Greek Solution” political party, Kyriakos Velopoulos

The Greek Transgender Support Association (GTSA), is a voluntary non-governmental organization that promotes the rights and freedoms of trans, gender-diverse, and LGBTQI persons in general, as well as sex workers, denounces the unacceptable misogynistic, highly transphobic and racist speech of the President of the Greek Solution, Mr. Velopoulos, who insults and abuses trans/gender-diverse persons, as well as children who grow up with trans parents.

Specifically, in a Press Release , the President of the Greek Solution, Kyriakos Velopoulos, regarding the presentation of marriage equality, made the following transphobic statements:

“We live in the age of the upside down world. We live in the age of paranoia. If someone dresses up as Napoleon the Great, takes a horse and go on Syntagma square, we certainly don’t trust him and take him to the psychiatrist. But if someone dresses as a woman, wears heels and other extremely female accessories, we are ready to trust him and give him innocent souls. This is why the world is upside down, this is why everything we live in is paranoia”.

These statements abuse and promote discrimination against:

a. Trans persons as it considers trans status as a psychiatric condition,, contradicting both the right to respect gender identity based on Law 4491/2017 on the legal recognition of gender identity, as well as spreading unscientific and fake positions as the new classification list of the World Health Organization (ICD- 11) has removed any concept related to gender identity from the list of mental disorders, so that the trans condition is simply a human condition.
b. Trans parents and specifically towards trans mothers, in which on the one hand it does not recognize their identity, on the other hand promoting misogynist views on how women who are mothers or who wish to become mothers should express their gender.
c. Children who are already growing up with trans parents, stating that these children do not live and grow up in a healthy environment, instead in an “upside down world” and in “paranoia”.
d. Families with trans parents. Trans parenthood is not protected by the legal recognition of gender identity (L.4491/2017), on the contrary, there is the highly unreasonable condition which excludes married trans persons from the procedure, as a result of which trans married persons are forced to divorce (as a consequence and their family) in order to recognize their gender identity, which the Scientific Committee of the Parliament had pointed out at the time in its relevant Report. In addition, if this trans person is also a parent, the children’s birth certificate does not change according to the registered gender of the parent.

Also, the statements of the president of the “Greek Solution” political party, which were made public through a “Press Release”, are a form of abuse of transgender/trans persons in terms of the right to respect their private and family life, which is expressly prohibited in Recommendation CM/Rec (2010)5 of the Council of Europe . Our country is checked at regular period for compliance with the Recommendation and the Council of Europe issues reports that evaluate the country’s performance both regarding the punishment and prohibition of transphobic speech, as well as regarding the abuse of trans persons. Therefore, this extremely racist, transphobic behavior of the president of the “Greek Solution” cannot be ignored, on the contrary, it should concern both the Greek Parliament and the Special Standing Committee on Parliamentary Ethics.

In addition, the GTSA reminds that according to the Resolution of the European Parliament on October 20, 2022 on growing hate crimes against LGBTIQ+ people across Europe in point 12 referring to the Member States:

[…]underlines that hate speech by public figures, notably politicians, is perceived as legitimising hatred by those who perpetrate it; deems it necessary to tackle these forms of expression, which incite, spread or promote hatred, and are contrary to the principles of a democratic and pluralist society; is concerned by the increasing prevalence of LGBTIQ+-phobic rhetoric emanating from far right, alt-right and ultraconservative parties; calls on the public authorities and, in particular, local authorities to help stop the tide of intolerance that surrounds these and other types of attacks; ·[…]

In the context of the protection of LGBTI families, Decision 14620 of September 21, 2016 of the Council of Europe calls on the Member States:

“ 4.5. protect the rights of parents and children in rainbow families without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and accordingly:
4.5.1. in line with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, ensure that all rights regarding parental authority, adoption by single parents and simple or second-parent adoption are granted without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity;
4.5.4. where single women are granted access to medically assisted procreation, ensure that such access is granted without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity;
4.6. in addition to the recommendations already adopted by the Assembly in Resolution 2048 (2015) and Resolution 2191 (2017) regarding the effects of legal gender recognition of transgender and intersex people on their access to or the continuity of their civil partnership or marriage and of rights of spouses and children, provide for transgender parents’ gender identity to be correctly recorded on their children’s birth certificates, and ensure that persons who use legal gender markers other than male or female are able to have their partnerships and their relationships with their children recognised without discrimination; “

In the direction of all of the above, and due to the ever-increasing intolerant, transphobic, racist speech emanating from public and even political figures, we call:

i. All the democratic parties to publicly condemn inside and outside the Parliament the extreme abusive, racist, transphobic statements of the president of “Greek Solution”, Kyriakos Velopoulos.
ii. The State to immediately amend the anti-racist legislation, so that not only the public incitement of violence or hatred is criminalized, but in general any form of hate speech, and that additional measures are taken when it emanates from public figures.
iii. The inclusion of trans/gender-diverse persons in the draft law for marriage equality. The full recognition of trans parenthood with all the necessary regulations and amendments to the provisions of Law 4491/2017 on the legal recognition of gender identity, as well as the more general extension of the right to marriage, joint custody, adopting, assisted reproduction and surrogacy , for all couples regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity and sex characteristics.

The above statements of the president of the “Greek Solution” parliamentary party cannot leave indifferent every democratic citizen who does not consider tolerable the abusive intolerant speech that reproduces prejudices and stereotypes and promotes discrimination, exclusion, racism and violence.
The Greek Transgender Support Association unequivocally condemns the highly transphobic, racist speech of Mr. Veloupoulos and stands against any transphobic form that poisons and threatens the public debate.

THE BOARD OF MEMBERS

GREEK TRANSGENDER SUPPORT ASSOCIATION

Trans Day Reception & Empowerment Center: Evangelistrias 6, Kallithea Athens, 17671
Tel. 210.9210 697 & 698 753 9741
Office hours for the public: Tuesday & Thursday – 12.00-20.00

http://tgender.gr – http://www.transgender-association.gr/

syd.secretary@gmail.com – transgender.support.association@gmail.com