Pride Biz Austria: Time for leveling up

Better protection for the LGBTIQ+ community from discrimination is required

Vienna (OTS) – In 2022, the Ministry of Justice announced the “All are equal before the law?” project to address legal discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people(1) People an.(2) Even today there is still no protection against discrimination in access to and provision of goods and services when it comes to aspects of sexual orientation. Pride Biz Austria calls on politicians to change this as quickly as possible – as part of “levelling-up”.

Protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation is provided in Austria by the Equal Treatment Act (GlBG) in employment and profession. The situation is different outside of the world of work, because here Austrian law only protects against discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or disability. A current study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights from 2023 shows that this has real effects, according to which 60% of respondents in Austria had been harassed at least once because of their LGBTIQ identity within the 12 months before the survey – the second highest value in the EU.(3)

Protection against discrimination must be expanded

Calls for a “levelling-up”, i.e. the expansion of protection against discrimination for members of the LGBTIQ+ community to all areas of the GlBG, were voiced by the Equal Treatment Attorney, among others.4 Pride Biz Austria, the Austrian platform for the topic of “LGBTIQ+ in the world of business and work”, has also been calling for such equality for several years.

„The current legal situation results in absurd situations, for example when hotel operators are allowed to refuse entry to a same-sex couple, but at the same time their employees are protected by law from insults based on their sexual orientation. An opening is also still pending in the health sector. What is finally needed is ‘levelling up’ and a clear legal framework with severe administrative penalties“, says Lukas Burian, President of Pride Biz Austria.

„Equality in Austria now means much more than hoisting the rainbow flag in June – that’s what the numbers show us. However, there are still legal inequalities and it is important to highlight them clearly and to adapt the political framework accordingly. Fortunately, we are already seeing some progress in working with our supporters, but there is still a lot to do. This is exactly what Pride Biz Austria needsBurian continued.

(1) The English abbreviation “LGBTIQ+” stands for “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexual, Queer”. Translated: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people.

(2) https://www.bmj.gv.at/ministerium/aktuelle-meldungen/BMJ-Projekt–%E2%80%9EVor-dem-Gesetz-sind-alle-gleich-%E2%80%9C.html

(3) https://go.ots.at/Jf9jNIBi

(4) https://go.ots.at/gt73IIbr