On Thursday the European External Action Service (the European Union's diplomatic service) issued a statement (
full text) criticizing laws recently enacted in several U.S. states dealing with religious objections to same-sex relationships and with transgender restroom concerns. The EU's statement reads in part:
The recently adopted laws including in the states of Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in the United States contravene the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the US is a State party, and which states that the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection.
As a consequence, cultural, traditional or religious values cannot be invoked to justify any form of discrimination, including discrimination against LGBTI persons. These laws should be reconsidered as soon as possible.
