In the Congress of Deputies we have just taken into consideration the Zerolo Law, a regulation that aims to eradicate discrimination and move towards real equality. The Zerolo Law, or Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, aims to consolidate equality legislatively and establish new guarantees for its enjoyment in our country.
This initiative reflects the legacy of the remembered Pedro Zerolo, a committed socialist and prominent LGTBI activist who always proclaimed that "discrimination should not be free." Sadly deceased from cancer in 2015, Pedro Zerolo fought until his last days of life the absence of a law of equal treatment, opportunities and non-discrimination.
The legislative proposal presented by the PSOE pursues a double objective. On the one hand, to prevent and eradicate any form of discrimination, and, on the other, to protect the victims, trying to combine the preventive approach with the restorative one. It foresees measures aimed at preventing, eliminating and correcting all forms of discrimination, direct or indirect, both in the public and private sectors.
Therefore, when this law completes its parliamentary process and enters into force, in our country no one may be discriminated against on the grounds of birth, racial or ethnic origin, sex, religion, belief or opinion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender expression, illness, socioeconomic status or any other personal or social condition or circumstance.
In our proposal, infractions in matters of equal treatment and non-discrimination are classified as minor, serious or very serious. However, we do not propose a criminal law, but rather the protection and reparation of victims of all types of discrimination through the establishment of administrative sanctions in employment, education, health or access to housing.
The Zerolo Law seeks to create an instrument against discrimination that can be suffered by any person and that addresses all areas from which it can occur: political, economic, social and/or cultural life. With this law we honor the memory of an unforgettable colleague because it brings us closer to a more inclusive and fairer Spain, as was his wish.
Ariagona González, national deputy of the PSOE and Minister of Industry and Energy of the Cabildo de Lanzarote.
