The Government has once again pointed to the Popular Party this Thursday for its decision to abstain in Congress on the PSOE's bill that seeks to punish LGTBIQ+ conversion practices with the Penal Code, reproaching it that with that stance it is "voting against progress".
The Lower House gave the green light on June 25 to the initiative promoted by the socialists with 178 favorable votes (PSOE and its allies), 138 abstentions (PP) and 32 votes against (Vox), so the text now continues its processing in the Senate.
In the parliamentary session "Nothing to cure, much to celebrate", dedicated to analyzing the scope of this proposal, the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, has underlined the relevance of incorporating into the Penal Code therapies "that seek to transform who we are".
Redondo has insisted that "what happens on social networks generally then extrapolates to reality" and has pointed to an increase "in hate crimes by about 30% in the last five years". Therefore, she has defended that "this law is also important to tell people that we are proud that they are who they are".
In this context, she has lashed out at the PP for opting for abstention, which for her is equivalent to a rejection. "They are voting against progress," the minister has maintained, recalling that the 'popular' already "voted against same-sex marriage, of which we have celebrated 20 years," as well as against laws such as the 'trans law' or the Law on Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination.
"They have also been constant and coherent in voting against all advances in women's rights. So, of course, they cannot fool us, no matter how much they shout 'I am gay and from the PP'," she added, alluding to the intervention of the PP deputy, Jaime de los Santos, during last week's parliamentary debate.
The head of Equality has also claimed that the Executive is "the bastion of defense" against the "ultra-right-wing wave," citing as an example the unconstitutionality appeals filed against the reform of the LGTBI and Trans laws in the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community.
In her opinion, the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, "does not need Vox to be more radical than anyone," while in the Valencian Community "the PP and Vox govern at that time." "In both cases, they have sought to limit rights and freedoms," she concluded.
Bolaños warns that setbacks will not be tolerated
The Minister of Justice, the Presidency and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, has underlined that the future regulation not only prohibits conversion therapies, but also "public funding for any body, association, organization that could try to carry them out". "We are not going to allow any cut in the rights of LGTBIQ+ people," he emphasized.
Like Redondo, he defended that in the processing of an organic law, such as a reform of the Penal Code, "abstaining is voting no", since "only the yes votes count, and 176 yes votes must be added". "You can paint it green, yellow or blue, but you are just as LGTB-phobic as if you had voted no," he stated.
Despite this, he highlighted that the agreement reached to modify the Penal Code shows that "there is a majority for the advancement of rights in Spain".
"There are other matters with more complexity where there are more antagonistic positions, where it is more difficult to reach an agreement between one and another, but in the advancement of civil rights, in advances such as this modification of the Penal Code to include conversion therapies as a punishable offense, that majority exists and I believe that this majority faithfully represents what our country is," he pointed out.
Spain, an international benchmark in LGTBIQ+ rights
In the final stretch of the event, Redondo claimed that Spain is "the best country for any LGTBI person to develop their life project with dignity and with respect for their human rights and freedoms", according to the 'Rainbow Map' by ILGA-Europe.
"That is why it is so important that we continue to advance, because at this moment in terms of equality, especially in terms of rights and defense of the rights of LGTBIQ+ people, we are an international benchmark," he concluded.