In SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 11th June (EUROPA PRESS) –
Representatives of over a dozen entities from the Canary Islands, belonging to the LGTBIQ+ Coordinator, gathered on Tuesday afternoon in Tenerife. They met with the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the Minister of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Childhood and Families, Candelaria Delgado. Their main appeal to the Executive was to make diversity policies a priority in the face of the prevalent animosity towards the LGTBIQA+ community.
During the meeting, emphasis was placed on the necessity to push for the establishment of an advisory committee for social equality and non-discrimination based on gender identity, as stipulated in the Trans and Intersex Law. This committee would serve as a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of this law that was unanimously approved in 2021.
Additionally, the LGTBIQ+ Coordinator has urged the Government of the Canary Islands to champion the implementation of a national pact against hate speech. This pact would propose specific measures to counter the attacks experienced by LGTBIQA+ individuals, as well as oversee the review and proper enforcement of existing protocols in healthcare, education, and the job sector, among other crucial areas under regional jurisdiction.
The Coordinator expressed gratitude to the Government for granting them a meeting as a dialogue partner in this important issue. They are hopeful that the Executive will give due consideration to the set of sectoral proposals put forth in their legislative and political agenda to address the requirements of LGTBIQA+ individuals in the region.
It is anticipated that this meeting will pave the way for ongoing collaboration at the regional level through dedicated working groups comprising Canarian entities and various governmental departments responsible for executing sectoral diversity policies. The objective is to ensure that safeguarding LGTBIQA+ individuals becomes a primary cross-cutting focus of the regional administration.
In a statement, the associations also highlighted the historical commitment of the Canary Islands as a pioneering autonomous community in implementing groundbreaking measures for the effective protection of LGTBIQA+ individuals. They trust that the new government will further solidify social and political consensus through public policies in the archipelago, meeting the demands of entities actively working towards “combatting” all forms of hostility by securing specific rights for the community.
