The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people are protected under the European Union's (EU) treaties and law.

In turn, Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union includes an anti-discrimination provision that states that "any discrimination based on any ground such as [...] sexual orientation shall be prohibited.

However, the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) provides some protection by interpreting discrimination on the basis of 'sex' to also refer to people who have had 'gender reassignment'.

[2] However, the literature criticised this approach, and there are calls to protect transgender people against discrimination based on their gender identity instead of sex.

The resolution called European Union member states to legislate better policies that protected intersex individuals, especially from unnecessary surgery and discrimination.

[12] In 2009, the European Commission has acted to tone down a law in Lithuania that included homophobic language and also aimed to support the gay pride parade in the country and others under threat of banning.

[2] In June 2010, the Council of the European Union adopted a non-binding toolkit to promote LGBT people's human rights.

[22][23] Same-sex marriage has been legalised in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Same-sex civil unions have been legalised in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, and Spain.

The Court established this principle in 2008 in the case of Tadao Maruko v. Versorgungsanstalt der deutschen Bühnen with regards to a German registered life partnership.

In December 2013, the Court confirmed this in the case of Frédéric Hay v. Crédit agricole mutuel (C-267/12) with regards to a French civil solidarity pact, which is significantly inferior to marriage than a German registered life partnership.

[35] The case was finally decided on 14 December 2021, with the CJEU accepting the position of the European Parliament Committee on Petitions, and finding Bulgaria in breach of EU law for not issuing documents to the child of the lesbian couple.

[39][40][41] A report released by the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights after the measure was passed stated that "Currently, only Malta and some regions in Spain have explicitly banned LGBTI conversion therapies.