EU Survey Fails to Show Increased Violence Against Homosexuals

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | 2013

NEW YORK, July 12 (C-FAM) European lawmakers are facing a dilemma following a survey on discrimination and violence against homosexuals in Europe.

It is being touted as the “largest and most comprehensive study ever carried out” on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Nearly 93,000 responses purportedly came from individuals that identified as LGBT. Experts say the survey not only has significant methodological flaws but also does not show a problem of any magnitude.

Gallup conducted the survey on behalf of the European Union agency that collects and analyzes data on fundamental rights in Europe. It is being presented to lawmakers as evidence of widespread discrimination and violence against individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

Homosexual activists claim that violence and discrimination against homosexuals is an epidemic of immense proportions worldwide. These claims are often criticized because of lack of data. The EU survey is an attempt to fill that gap.

But the survey does not provide European lawmakers with a clear course of action.

Gallup completed the online survey in collaboration with the European branch of a controversial homosexual group funded by the European Union, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe). Individuals who identified as LGBT participated in the survey, and the average time for completing the survey was thirty minutes, meaning that only self-selected, committed individuals would respond.

The leading Austrian newspaper Die Presse noted the fatal flaws of posting a survey on the Internet and relying on activist groups to prompt responses. It is theoretically “possible that all questionnaires were filled out by one single activist with a well-written computer program,” the article explains.

Gallup’s report of the survey states, “It is not possible to confirm to what extent the sample obtained in the [Fundamental Rights Agency] survey corresponds to the true characteristics of the LGBT population.”

Aside from questions surrounding methodology and possible bias, the results of the survey do not paint a picture of rampant discrimination in Europe to urge urgent action from lawmakers.

One legal expert points out that, put in context, it does not appear that violence against LGBT persons is widespread, even assuming that those assaults took place in the past calendar year. One out of four respondents to the survey (23,000) reported being assaulted on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Looking at Germany’s portion of those reported assaults, J.C. von Krempach concludes that roughly only 3,680 of 570,000 reported violent crimes were motivated by bias against LGBT individuals.

The survey also does not help EU lawmakers because it does not identify a problem with a concrete solution. A wide majority of European countries have laws that afford special protections to individuals who identify as LGBT, and either recognize civil unions between persons of the same sex or allow them to marry.

In spite of those protections, the survey finds that many of the individuals who responded feel that they are being discriminated against, with over half of all the respondents saying they feared publically identifying as LGBT in school or at work.

The results of the survey were presented in The Hague on May 17, the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, at a conference hosted by the government of the Netherlands.

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