Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 3/11/2025; Author: Nerma Šehović
The new European Union Strategy for LGBTIQ+ Equality has stirred up “moral guardians” who saw in it plans to force parents to unconditionally accept that their children would be able to change their sex and gender whenever they wished. This is not part of the Strategy.
On 14 October, 2025, the portal Epoha published an article under the following headline:
According to the new insane policy of the European Union, even babies will be able to “choose their sex”
The article states the following:
Brussels is promoting a radical agenda – sex change on demand, without age limits and without medical supervision.
The European Union has presented a new, deeply controversial strategy that foresees that children of any age, including babies, can choose their “gender identity” – with legal force, without any age or medical restrictions.
The new policy, called the “EU Strategy for LGBT+ Equality 2026 – 2030,” was published on Wednesday by the European Commission, which consists of unelected bureaucrats.
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In addition to removing age limits, the strategy also includes a ban on so-called “talk therapy” – counselling for children who struggle with gender issues. In other words, help in searching for answers and opportunities will not be allowed.
The Commission goes one step further – threatening regional and national authorities that do not adhere to the “new gender paradigm” with the withdrawal of EU funding.
Critics warn that this represents the imposition of gender ideology and the undermining of the sovereignty of member states.
Claims that children will be able to arbitrarily choose their gender under the new EU strategy, and that parents who try to dissuade their children from doing so will be criminally prosecuted and sanctioned in member states, have also been shared on several Facebook pages and profiles (1, 2).
These claims in our language area were originally published by Croatian Member of the European Parliament Mislav Kolakušić on 10 October, 2025.
Moral panic based on fabrications
Claims that children of any age in the EU will legally be able to change their gender without medical supervision were also addressed by the fact-checking portal AFP Hrvatska in an analysis published on 23 October, 2025. The reason for the spread of these claims is the EU Strategy for LGBTIQ+ Equality 2026 – 2030, which was published on 8 October, 2025. This is a document that reports on the European Union’s plans to combat discrimination and violence directed against the LGBTIQ+ community. As explained in AFP’s analysis, this is not a binding law, but a non-binding policy proposal that has no power to change existing laws or impose new ones in individual member states.
However, nowhere in this document does it state that “babies” or “children” will be able to legally change their gender without medical supervision or parental consent. This claim is based on the following sentence from the document:
Requirements for legal gender recognition vary significantly across different Member States. While a number of Member States have adopted self-determination models, others impose medical procedures, which the European Court of Human Rights has found may violate human rights (41). The Commission will facilitate the exchange of best practices among Member States to support the development of legal gender recognition procedures based on self-determination that are free from age restrictions.
At a press conference held on 10 October, 2025, European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrnčířová briefly addressed this part of the Strategy, emphasizing that EU member states themselves create their laws, while the EU helps establish dialogue among them about what works best. The aim of the LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy, she said, is to ensure that all people in Europe are treated equally, without discrimination. She also added that this strategy is a continuation of the strategy of the same name for the period 2020 – 2025.
For the purposes of writing the analysis, AFP Hrvatska contacted the European Commission representation in Bucharest, which clarified that the part referring to “procedures for gender recognition free from age restrictions” does not apply to children and minors at all. Namely, the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights cited in this part of the Strategy (1, 2, 3) concern adults, some of whom were over 60 years old, and the Court found that forcing these individuals to undergo sterilization or surgery for the purpose of legal sex change constituted a violation of the right to private life.
Therefore, the European Union neither legally imposes these rules on member states, nor does the Strategy state that children and babies will be able to change their sex on demand.
Will parents be prohibited from talking to their children about changing sex?
When it comes to the “ban on talk therapy”, it is possible that the author of these claims simply did not read carefully what is written in the EU document. The document does not mention any kind of “talk therapy”, but rather conversion therapy – not conversation.
This is a scientifically discredited and dangerous practice aimed at changing a young person’s sexual orientation, that is, at “turning” them into a heterosexual person. As part of this practice, hypnosis was used to impose stereotypically masculine or feminine behavior patterns on individuals, shock therapy, various medications and steroids, and in extreme cases even physical torture and starvation.
The LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy states the following about conversion therapy:
Conversion practices “are deeply harmful interventions based on the medically false idea that LGBT[IQ+] people are sick, inflict severe pain and suffering, and result in long-term psychological and physical damage” (9).
According to the third FRA LGBTIQ survey, 24% of LGBTIQ people experienced conversion practices, including physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and humiliation. This figure almost doubles to 47% for trans women and 48% for trans men.
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To help Member States ban conversion practices (12), the Commission will publish a study analysing the nature, prevalence, and impact of these practices on LGBTIQ+ people. To facilitate coordinated action, the Commission will also promote structured dialogue on this topic, in particular through the expert group on LGBTIQ+ equality under the High-Level Group on Non-Discrimination, Equality and Diversity. Based on the findings of the study, the Commission will take appropriate action to combat conversion practices, with a particular focus on supporting Member States that play a key role in this area.
Therefore, the EU plans to oppose the practice of conversion therapy, not to legally prohibit parents from talking to their children about sexual orientation and gender identity, as stated in Facebook posts and the Epoha article. The claim that, under this strategy, parents who try to dissuade their child from changing sex will be criminally prosecuted and punished, is simply fabricated.According to the facts, we rate the original post claiming that in the European Union children, including babies, will be able to legally change their sex on demand, without medical supervision, as fake news and conspiracy theory. We give the same assessment to the claim that the EU will ban “talk therapy” and that parents who try to dissuade a child from changing sex will be criminally prosecuted. We rate other posts as spreading fake news.
