Despite formal legal equality – which varies considerably between EU member states – lesbian* women experience differences in treatment. Co-motherhood is not (yet) sufficiently defined in law. Rainbow families, married lesbian* couples or their children face restrictions to their freedom of movement within the EU more often than heterosexual married couples. Other types of discrimination (disabilities, specific religious views within their immediate environment, migration background, age, social status) can exacerbate their situation further. The conference will draw attention to the lived intersectional realities of lesbian* women, i.e. overlapping and mutually reinforcing aspects of discrimination, and the needs of the rainbow family as a special family form, and will discuss the significance of these topics as areas of political action within the framework of equality and anti-discrimination policy.
Organiser: Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth