Ireland and Lithuania have much in common. Both are small, Catholic, Europhile, enjoy a tricky relationship with a larger neighbour and have cuisines heavy on potatoes. Both also left it late when it came to homosexual rights. Homosexual acts were decriminalised only in 1993 in both countries. But since then, things have diverged. Merely living without fear would be an improvement: 84% of LGBT people in Lithuania are not comfortable revealing their identity.
Where an iron curtain once split Europe, a rainbow curtain now divides the continent. In western Europe, homosexual people enjoy a quality of life better than anywhere on the planet. They are free to marry and adopt children, and are protected from discrimination in all walks of life. Things in eastern Europe are not so good. In seven EU countries, including Poland, Hungary and Romania, less than half the population agree that homosexual people should have the same rights as straight ones. civil partnerships are not offered in six EU countries, all in central and eastern Europe. Poland has introduced "LGBTz-free zones", a legally meaningless gimmick with the practical effect of declaring open season on gay people. Meanwhile, Hungary is working on a law that will ban gay couples from adopting. For gay people behind the Rainbow curtain—which covers about a quarter of the EU's population—life can be grim.
Since family law is mainly up to member states, there is little the EU can do if a member state wants to stop a lesbian marrying or a homosexual couple adopting. Where Brussels can muscle in is when the right to free movement collides with bigoted domestic law. What happens if a gay couple and their child move to a country where such relationships are not recognised? The European Commission wants to smooth out these bumps, ensuring that the link between children and their gay parents is not severed if they move to a country where gay adoption is banned. While few are affected directly, such a move has potent symbolic power. Definitions of online hate speech will be widened to include homophobic abuse, too. Towns that introduced LGBT-free zones in Poland had EU funds cut. But the main thing the EU can offer is a pulpit, hammering those leaders who refuse to treat citizens equally.
Such banging of the drum for gay rights by Brussels does come with a risk. It is a fight both sides want to have. Normally, populists rely on caricatures when taking aim at Brussels. In this case there is less need. Populist politicians will claim that the EU is doing all it can to force countries to treat gay people better. EU officials will happily plead guilty. A common complaint is that eastern Europe is expected to go through decades of social change in the space of a few years. Change can happen quickly, though. Ireland enjoyed a social revolution in less than a generation, and Malta passed a slew of legislation that helped it become the most gay-friendly country in the EU in just a few years. There are few complaints about the pace of transformation in central and eastern Europe when it comes to living standards.
With the EU cowering(退缩） beneath a second wave of covid-19 cases and in the middle of its biggest-ever recession（经济衰退）, a fight over gay rights could easily fall down the pecking order. It should not. The EU has made much of promoting "European values". Usually, these tend to mean a respect for the rule of law, which is hardly inherently European. When it comes to gay rights, however, Europe has genuinely been a pioneer. Until a gay person in Vilnius or Budapest has the same rights as one in Dublin or Madrid, European values are no such thing at all.