by Rex Wockner
Council of Europe member states should do more to stop transphobia and discrimination against transgender people, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said July 29 in an "expert issue paper" released at the World Outgames 2nd International Conference on LGBT Human Rights in Copenhagen.
"The situation of transgender persons has long been ignored and neglected, although the problems they face are very real and often specific to this group alone," the report said. "They experience a high degree of discrimination and intolerance in all fields of life, as well as outright violence."
Among other things, the document asserts that transgender people should not have to undergo sterilization or other medical treatment before their revised gender identity is recognized.
