The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched the first ever online EU-wide survey to establish a picture of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (18 years or older). The European Agency has launched this survey because of lack of data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect of discrimination.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched an EU-wide LGBT survey, with a questionnaire that is available online and awaits the opinions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people over the age of 18 living in the European Union or Croatia. The questionnaire asks a range of questions about LGBT people’s experiences including personal circumstances, public perceptions and responses to homophobia and/or transphobia, discrimination, rights awareness, safe environment, violence and harassment, and the social context of being an LGBT person.

FRA launched this survey because there is very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect of discrimination, besides occasional news reports about the discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people as the one published by FRA in 2010. The Agency also highlighted that this is the first EU-wide effort to collect LGBT experiences in the framework of the ever largest survey made in this field.

In order to give weight to the results, the European LGBT Survey counts on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country. Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers as well as non-governmental or civil society organisations will be able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support the LGBT community to live and express themselves freely without discrimination.