SLOVENIA

The Constitutional Court has issued a ruling that laws barring same-sex couples and single women from accessing assisted reproduction are unconstitutional discrimination. 

The court has left the laws in place while giving parliament one year to bring the laws governing assisted reproduction into compliance with the constitution. 

The Slovenian LGBTQ+ advocacy group LEGEBITRA celebrated the ruling in a post on its web site.

“The decision of the Constitutional Court is a victory for all those who wanted to start a family in Slovenia and were unfairly deprived of this opportunity in the past. Rainbow (and single-parent) families are part of our society, and their children are part of the community in the country in which they live and grow up. It is only fitting that their story begins here,” the post says.

The Treatment of Infertility and in Vitro Fertilization Procedures Act has had its restrictions on single women and same-sex couples from fertility treatment targeted by progressive legislators since it was introduced in 2000. 

Amendments that would have allowed single women to access in vitro fertilization were passed in 2001 but were immediately put to a citizen-initiated referendum, which voted them down. 

Since then, the former Yugoslav republic has undergone a number of progressive changes, including joining the European Union in 2004 and gradually expanding LGBTQ+ rights.

In 2020, a group of legislators from the Left party asked the Constitutional Court to review the law, and the following year, their request was joined by the state’s Advocate for the Principal of Equality. 

The court spent more than four years deliberating the appeal, during which time it also struck down laws banning same-sex marriage in 2022. Parliament later amended the law so that same-sex couples enjoy all rights of marriage, including adoption, but left the ban on assisted reproduction in place.

The Slovenia Times reports that the ruling was welcomed by the governing coalition, which includes the Left party. The government has pledged to move quickly to implement the ruling.

“This corrects one of the gravest injustices done to women by right-wing politics and the Catholic Church in Slovenia, who denied women the right to become mothers,” the Left said.

The case was brought by a group of left-leaning MPs four years ago — but perhaps the delay is related to the fact that in that time, the court also struck down the ban on same-sex marriage in 2022. 

RUSSIA

Russian authorities raided three nightclubs in Moscow over the weekend as part of the state’s deepening crackdown on LGBTQ+ people and expression, Radio Free Europe reports.

The raids took place late Saturday night and early Sunday morning at the Mono, Arma, and Simach nightclubs in the capital. All three clubs have been known to host themed events for LGBTQ+ clientele. 

According to Russian state-owned media outlet TASS and several Telegram channels, patrons, and employees of the clubs were forced to lie on the floor with their hands behind their heads before they were carted away in police wagons. Patrons and workers had their phones, laptops, and cameras seized and documents inspected

It’s not yet known what prompted the raids, although Russian authorities frequently claim to be inspecting for illegal substances and drug users.

Russian authorities have carried out several raids on LGBTQ+ establishments since the passage of a law banning positive portrayals or information about queer people in 2022. Last year, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that the “international LGBT movement” is an “extremist organization” and granted a request from the Ministry of Justice to ban it from the country. 

Russia’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights has inspired copycat legislation among its neighbors, notably in Georgia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.

CANADA

A small town in Northern Ontario has been fined C$10,700 (approximately $10,000) for its refusal to issue a Pride Month declaration or raise the rainbow flag.

The town of Emo population 1,300, which sits on the border with Minnesota about 200 miles northwest of Duluth, had been requested to issue the Pride declaration by Borderlands Pride in 2020 and raise the flag for one week, but the town council refused in a 3-2 vote, prompting a years-long legal battle. 

Last week, that came to an end as the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal found the town and its mayor guilty of discrimination and ordered the town to pay Borderlands Pride C$10,000 in compensation, and the mayor to pay an additional C$5,000 ($3,559.92).

“We didn’t pursue this because of the money. We pursued this because we were treated in a discriminatory fashion by a municipal government, and municipalities have obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code not to discriminate in the provision of a service,” Doug Judson, a lawyer and board member of Borderlands Pride, told CBC News.

The tribunal also ordered the mayor to take a Human Rights 101 training course offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission within 30 days. 

Mayor Harold McQuaker has not commented publicly on the ruling.

CHINA

Calls for Hong Kong government’s to officially recognize same-sex unions have intensified after the city’s Court of Final Appeal issued rulings last week that affirmed lower court rulings that found same-sex couples have equal rights to inheritance and social housing as heterosexual couples.

The ruling was in line with a similar ruling issued last year by the city’s top court, in which the city was ordered to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples by September 2025. 

The new ruling with facilitate same-sex couples’ access to public housing, a vital need in one of the world’s most housing-crunched cities. The ruling also affirms that same-sex spouses can inherit public housing from a deceased spouse. 

In both cases, the ruling only applies to spouses who have legally married overseas, because Hong Kong does not yet have a way for same-sex couples to legally register their relationships.

The nearest places where same-sex Hong Kong citizens can marry are Australia and the U.S. territory of Guam, with Thailand becoming available in the new year. Although same-sex marriage is legal in nearby Taiwan, residency requirements may block access there.

Although legislators have been slow to act on demands for civil unions or same-sex marriage, Hong Kongese same-sex couples have gradually gained access to more rights through court actions. 

The Court of Final Appeal has previously ordered the government to have foreign marriages recognized for immigration purposes, to allow same-sex couples to file their taxes jointly, and to stepchild adoption. 

A Ugandan court on Nov. 22 awarded more than $40,000 (Shs 150 million) to 20 men who police tortured after their 2020 arrest for alleged homosexuality.

The High Court of Uganda’s Civil Division ruling notes “police and other state authorities” arrested the men in Nkokonjeru, a town in central Uganda, on March 29, 2020, and “allegedly tortured.”

“They assert that on the morning of the said date their residence was invaded by a mob, among which were the respondents, that subjected them to all manner of torture because they were practicing homosexuality,” reads the ruling. “The alleged actions of torture include beating, hitting, burning using a hot piece of firewood, undressing, tying, biding, conducting an anal examination, and inflicting other forms of physical, mental, and psychological violence based on the suspicion that they are homosexuals, an allegation they deny.”

The arrests took place shortly after the Ugandan government imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Based on the same suspicion (of homosexuality), the applicants were then arrested, taken to Nkokonjeru B police station, and charged with doing a negligent act likely to spread infection by disease,” reads the ruling.

The ruling notes the men “were charged” on March 31, 2020, and sent to prison, “where they were again allegedly beaten, examined, harassed, and subjected to discrimination.”

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Uganda.

President Yoweri Museveni in 2023 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” LGBTQ+ activists continue to challenge the law.

Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha on X described the Nov. 22 ruling as a “significant victory for the LGBTQ+ community.”

RUSSIA

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into a law a bill banning adoption of Russian children into countries where gender transition is legal, citing the supposed danger that adopted children might be given gender care. The Russian parliament had passed the law earlier in the week. 

The adoption ban applies to at least 15 countries in Europe, Canada, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. American citizens have already been banned from adopting Russian children since 2012.

The new adoption ban is an escalation of a previous law passed in 2014 that banned adoption by same-sex couples or by single people in countries where same-sex marriage is legal. 

The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, who also co-authored the bill, defended the bill’s aims in a Telegram post this summer.

“It is extremely important to eliminate possible dangers in the form of gender reassignment that adopted children may face in these countries,” Volodin wrote.

The bill is part of an escalating crackdown on LGBTQ people in Russia. 

In 2022, Russia extended a law banning distribution of “LGBTQ propaganda” to minors so that it now bans all information about LGBTQ+ people or issues to anyone. Last year, Russia banned all gender transition procedures and the supreme court declared the “international LGBTQ+ movement” to be an extremist organization.

The crackdown has led many LGBTQ+ organizations and businesses to close or go underground amid threats and raids by authorities.

PERU

The congressional justice committee voted 12-9 with four abstentions to advance a bill to legalize civil unions for both same-sex and opposite sex couples, which would for the first time give same-sex couples legal rights in the South American nation. The bill now heads to the full congress for approval.

Efforts to gain legal recognition for same-sex unions in Peru had been stalled for more than a decade, as lawmakers had generally been hostile to the idea. In that time, most Latin American countries have legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, including all of Peru’s neighbors, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile. Peru is the largest country in Latin America that does not recognize same-sex unions.

The civil union bill may be an effort to forestall a rival bill seeking to legalize same-sex marriage proposed by lesbian lawmaker Susel Paredes. 

“My fight is for full equality of rights, for our partners, our children, and our families. I am convinced that it is necessary to achieve equal marriage, and it is for this institution that I will continue to fight,” Paredes wrote on her X account.

But other LGBTQ activists think the bill would still be a major advancement for queer Peruvians.

“Civil union is not ideal, but it is a step in the right direction to achieve equal rights for all Peruvians,” former congressman Carlos Bruce wrote on his X account. Bruce married his partner in Madrid in August, and currently serves as the mayor of the Surco neighborhood of Lima.

The bill gives couples in a civil union many of the rights afforded to married couples, including property rights, alimony, medical decisions, conjugal visits, inheritance rights, death benefits, tax rights, and pensions. However, it does not allow couples the right to adopt or to be recognized as parents of each other’s children. Couples in civil unions will not be recognized as families.

SPAIN

Four men were convicted over the weekend for a homophobic murder that sparked nationwide protests in 2021.

Samuel Luiz was a 24-year-old nursing assistant who was assaulted by a group of people outside a nightclub in A Coruña in Galicia on July 3, 2021. He later died in the hospital of his injuries.

After five days of deliberations, a jury found Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire, and Kaio Amaral guilty of aggravated murder, and Alejandro Míguez of being an accomplice. The prosecution has asked for sentences of between 22 and 27 years.

The initial investigation had uncovered that up to 12 people were involved in the beating of Luiz. The attack took place over more than 15 minutes and covered more than an eighth of a mile as Luiz attempted to escape. Two Senegalese hawkers attempted to intervene to halt the attack and were attacked themselves. Witnesses said they heard the attackers accuse Luiz of being gay and used homophobic slurs during and after the attack. 

The barbaric murder sparked demonstrations across Spain and made headlines around the world.

In Spain, many pundits and activists drew a link between the murder and the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric of the far-right Vox Party, which is part of the government in several Spanish regions.

AZERBAIJAN

The U.N. COP29 Climate Change Conference ended without a planned update to the Gender and Climate Change Work Program after concerted opposition from the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Egypt, who feared that references to “gender” might be interpreted to include trans people and queer women.

The UN Climate Change Conference first adopted its Gender Work Program in Lima, Peru, in 2014, acknowledging that the impacts of climate change are borne disproportionately by women and girls, due to their frequently more precarious economic and social positions relative to men.

The Lima Program is due to expire this year, and in talks to renew it, a coalition of European, African, and Latin American countries had wanted COP29 to add a line recognizing that the impact of climate change on women can vary depending on their “gender, sex, age, and race.” 

But the group of countries opposed to the new language argue that it legitimizes transgender people and may be code for promoting sexual expression and homosexuality.

Without unanimous support for a new program, the Lima Program would expire with no replacement.

Ultimately, the gender opponents got their way, and the new language was stripped from the COP29 communique. The countries participating agreed to extend the Lima Program unamended for another decade, while also developing a new gender action plan for adoption at COP30, scheduled to be held next November in Belem, Brazil. 

UNITED KINGDOM

The U.S.-based training group SAGECare, which provides LGBTQ+ aging cultural competency training for health care workers, is teaming up with the UK’s LGBT Foundation to bring enhanced training for care facilities in the UK. 

In a press release announcing the partnership, LGBT Foundation CEO Paul Martin says SAGECare will help fill a gap in elder care for LGBTQ+ Britons while also enhancing care businesses’ ability to compete for LGBTQ+ market.

“LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing are at the heart of everything we do,” Martin says. “We look forward to using our combined expertise to build a more equitable society.”

SAGE has advocated for LGBTQ elders in the U.S. since 1978, and according to its website, it has trained more than 270,000 workers in LGBTQ+ cultural competency.

Transgender activists in India and Pakistan are celebrating two legal advances in their respective countries.

Akkai Padmashali, an Indian trans activist, made history on Nov. 12 by obtaining a passport for her 5-year-old child, Avin, without including a father’s name. As a trans woman and single mother, she set a precedent not only for the trans community but for all women in the country raising children on their own.

Padmashali, who is one of India’s most prominent trans activists, in 2019 became the first trans woman in the country to officially adopt a child. A year earlier, she made history in Karnataka by becoming the first trans woman in the state to register her marriage with her husband, Vasudev V.

Padmashali expressed her joy to the media when she adopted Avin, stating she had always dreamed of becoming a mother.

“It has been my dream and desire,” said Padmashali in 2019. “Our families have accepted the baby. It’s heart-warming to see the little one playing on my mother’s lap. I just hope that he does not face any kind of discrimination and social stigma when he grows up.”

In 2019, the same year Avin was born, parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act.

The law seeks to safeguard the rights of trans people and promote their welfare. It includes provisions for issuing identity certificates, protecting against discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, and other sectors, and establishing welfare programs. The law also addressed physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and economic abuse through protections and rehabilitation programs, introduced complaint officers to handle grievances, and outlined penalties for offenses against trans people.

The Narendra Modi-led government on Dec. 23, 2016, amended the passport policy to accommodate single parents and others who may not wish to include a father’s name in the application. This move was part of broader efforts to streamline and liberalize the passport process in India. One significant change was the modification of the application form, allowing applicants to list either the mother’s name, father’s name, or legal guardian’s name, instead of requiring both parents’ names. The change sought to benefit single mothers, orphans, and children raised by legal guardians.

Padmashali during an interview with the Washington Blade emphasized this issue extends beyond the trans community. 

“This is not a question of the community—maybe a single mother, a single parent, most of the women across the world,” she said.

“People are struggling with the identity crisis,” Padmashali added. “In a system of majoritarian, there are so many people who are in the process of questioning the notion of marriage, questions the notion of civil relationship or partnership. Especially in my case, born a male, transformed into a female, and challenged the notion of patriarchal institutions in that way. I claim myself as a woman and also adopting a child, getting the child every document from the government is a big challenge. Especially in the state of Karnataka, I did not find it challenging — very supportive officers, a very supportive government, and a very supportive environment.”

Padmashali told the Blade she was very happy with the process of obtaining a passport for her child, describing it as completely hassle-free.

“I think the passport authority of this country is very sensitive. The passport gives a certain amount of recognition, especially for the transgender community,” said Padmashali. “Many transgender women have also adopted children, but [are] struggling with lots of identity crises.”

“In my case, it was a completely different scenario, I got my passport as a female, and Avin’s also getting the passport without naming the father, I think it’s a national issue,” she added. “From the transgender person’s point of view, I am happy that my Supreme Court has recognized the community and the parliament has recognized the Transgender Protection Act. India is in process of progressing, I would say.”

Pakistan’s Sindh province could implement first-ever Transgender Education Policy

Authorities in in Pakistan’s Sindh province — the country’s third-largest by land and its second most populous — on Nov. 13 approved the first-ever Transgender Education Policy.

The policy includes a separate category for trans children on school and college admission forms, alongside existing male and female options.

Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah chaired the meeting during which the Transgender Education Policy was approved. A press release says it will now go before the provincial Cabinet for final approval.

The press release notes the proposed policy seeks to eliminate discrimination by providing education for trans children, and introducing job quotas for trans people in the recruitment of teachers.

The Sindh government says trans activists and advocates helped develop the policy.

Shah highlighted the significant challenges faced by the trans community in accessing education, including prejudice, mistreatment, and exclusion. He noted that financial constraints and limited employment opportunities often make education unaffordable, while the fear of harassment in educational institutions further deters transgender individuals from pursuing it. Shah also emphasized that the policy aims to safeguard the identity, safety, and educational needs of trans people.

The press release notes the policy also includes training for teachers to understand the psychological and educational challenges that trans children face. It also aims to develop skills among trans people, and foster a harassment-free environment within educational institutions. The policy seeks to raise public awareness about the need to promote equal opportunities and rights for trans people.

Anusha Tahir Butt, chair of the Transgender Empowerment Organization, said the Transgender Education Policy’s initial approval as a significant step towards greater inclusion and equality for trans people.

“This policy acknowledges the challenges faced by transgender individuals in accessing education and employment, offering them a dedicated space in schools, colleges, and government jobs,” said Butt. “It’s a much-needed step in breaking down the societal barriers of discrimination, harassment, and exclusion that transgender people often face.”

“By including separate categories for transgender children on admission forms and reserving job quotas, Sindh is helping to create a more supportive and equitable environment,” she added. “The policy also focuses on teacher training, anti-harassment measures, and skill development programs, all of which contribute to empowering transgender individuals to lead independent, fulfilling lives. This is a powerful example of how policy can drive social change and encourage a more inclusive society in Pakistan. “

Butt noted societal stigma and prejudice against the LGBTQ+ community remain deeply entrenched in Pakistan, particularly in conservative areas.

“Discrimination and harassment in educational institutions could deter transgender and LGBTQ students from pursuing their education, despite the policy’s provisions for anti-harassment measures,” she said. “Furthermore, effective implementation could be challenged by limited resources, infrastructure, and political will, particularly in rural areas. Bureaucratic delays and gaps in broader legal protections for LGBTQ rights may also impede the progress of these initiatives.”

Four young men have been beaten and chased out of a Nigerian city after they were found engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activity.

An angry mob paraded the four men, who were only wearing boxing shorts, down Nomayo Street in Benin City, the capital of Edo state, on Nov. 17. One of them had a visible deep cut on his forehead as a result of the beating.

The mob threatened to kill them if they were to return to the city. It also questioned why they were “into” homosexuality when there were many women in the area.

Samson Mikel, a Nigerian LGBTQ+ activist, said the attack was misdirected anger.

“Benin City is one of the backward places in Nigeria and a dorm for scammers and other crimes, the people are proud of their roughness, they are never concerned about these other crimes or how the government is impoverishing them, but will light gay men on fire the moment they think,” said Mikel. “All they want is to live and experience love. They are not the cause of the economic meltdown in the country, neither are they the reason why there are no jobs in the streets of Nigeria.”

Attacks like the one that happened in Benin City have been happening across Nigeria — the latest took place in Port Harcourt in Rivers state last month.

Section 214 of the Criminal Code Act on Unnatural Offenses says any person who has “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature, or has carnal knowledge of an animal, or permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature, is guilty of a felony” and could face up to 14 years in prison.

Several LGBTQ+ people and activists have been arrested under Section 214.

In some cases they are murdered with law enforcement officials showing little to no interest in investigating, such as the case of Area Mama, a popular cross-dresser whose body was found along the Katampe-Mabushi Expressway in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, in August.

The Initiative for Equal Rights, a Nigerian advocacy group, said the federal government should take concrete steps to protect the rights of all Nigerians.

“For many, especially LGBTQIA+ individuals, women, and those within the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity, Expression and Sexual Characteristics (SOGIESC), community, freedom remains a distant goal. Discrimination, violence and human rights violations are daily realities,” said TIERs Nigeria. “Despite the progress we have made, the journey towards justice is long, but our voices remain unwavering.”

TIERs Nigeria also called upon the federal government to repeal the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2014, to respond to the African Commission’s recommendation to review laws that criminalize rights of assembly and association, and to enact laws and policies that discourage hate speech and other actions that incite discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Many Nigerians vehemently oppose public discussions about LGBTQ+-specific issues because of religious and cultural beliefs.

A number of local and international human rights organizations have advised the federal government to prioritize the rights of everyone in Nigeria, including those who identify as LGBTQ+. There is, however, little hope that Nigerian officials will do this anytime soon.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death in states with Sharia law. Those who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in these areas could also face a similar fate.

A Kenyan queer rights organization has launched a social support initiative to fight endemic homophobic stigma and discrimination in the country.

The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, which has been training judicial officers on LGBTQ+ rights, is using sports and other social activities to educate the public against anti-queer discrimination.

The Mombasa-based INEND, through its “Advocacy Mtaani” or “Advocacy at the Grassroots” campaign, last month donated soccer jerseys, balls, goalpost nets, and other sporting items to local teams. It also used the platform to educate beneficiaries and the community-at-large on queer rights issues.

The donations followed another one to “boda boda” or “public motorbike riders” on Oct. 29. The Mombasa group received umbrellas to shield drivers and passengers alike from the sun and rain.

“We distributed umbrellas in various ‘boda boda’ stages to equip not only the operators but also to spread the message of inclusion and violence prevention in our endeavor to have the operators become human rights champions in the society,” INEND, headed by Executive Director Essy Adhiambo, stated.     

INEND has also launched a comic strip, “Davii and Oti,” which tells a story about Pride and allyship.

The comic strip series has heterosexual, nonbinary, gay, and lesbian characters to help explore myriad socio-cultural and economic problems that include discrimination and violence that queer people experience in their families, workplaces, social gatherings, and other settings.

“This awesome queer comic focuses on what is often misused as an argument against the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya; family values, African culture, and traditions,” INEND stated.   

The comic strip, which advocates for inclusivity and nondiscrimination based on one’s sex orientation and gender identity, also educates queer people about self-acceptance, resilience, and thriving through economic empowerment.  

INEND has also come up with regional human rights advocacy trainings that focus on misinformation, disinformation, and digital rights. These workshops target women, queer people, and other marginalized groups.

The organization, for example, last month trained groups of women leaders and queer people in the coastal counties of Mombasa and Kilifi. Another one took place in the western county of Busia, which borders Uganda.

“These trainings come in a critical moment when we have witnessed an uptick in online gender-based violence especially towards LGBTQ+ folks,” INEND noted. 

The trainings aimed at creating safe digital spaces for “structurally silenced women and queer persons” are conducted through a partnership between INEND and two global organizations: Access Now, which defends the digital rights of people and communities at risk, and the Association for Progressive Communications, which supports the use of internet and information and communication technology for social justice and sustainable development.   

INEND, after unveiling a judicial guidebook last October to help judges better protect queer people’s rights, has intensified regional training for judicial officers across the country. The organization this month, through its “Access to Justice” initiative, trained judicial officers in Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city, and in the North Rift region and Kilifi. 

The two-day training that began on Nov. 5 focused on making judicial officers more sensitive to queer people and showing empathy towards sexual and gender minority groups in order to realize a “fairer and more inclusive legal system” that upholds the dignity of all. 

The training followed INEND’s launch of a new report in July titled “Transforming Perceptions” that accesses the impact of their sensitization engagements with 53 judges and magistrates in 2022 on queer rights protection. 

“The results offered a glimpse of hope for a more inclusive justice system,” the report states. “Over 70 percent of judicial officers surveyed after the training acknowledged that existing laws, like Sections 162, 163, and 165 of the penal code which criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy negatively influence societal views of LGBTQ+ Individuals.” 

The report also notes that 80 percent of the judicial officers trained on queer rights issues indicated they would either be comfortable or indifferent living next to a queer person

Pema Kenya is another local advocacy group that is working to make judicial officers more sensitive to queer people when they handle their cases.

The group in September held a two-day training on gender and sexuality issues for members of the Judicial Service Commission, a top governing body of Kenya’s judiciary.

“This initiative aims to equip key stakeholders within the judicial framework with vital knowledge and skills to handle cases related to gender and sexuality with empathy, understanding, and professionalism,” Pema Kenya stated. 

Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in the U.S. presidential election has elicited mixed reactions among LGBTQ+ activists in India.

A notable portion of Indians expressed support for now President-elect Donald Trump over Harris, even though her maternal lineage traces back to India. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born into a Brahmin family in Chennai in 1938, and her grandfather, PV Gopalan, hailed from the village of Thulasendrapuram in Tamil Nadu.

Harris’s loss prompted mixed reactions within the LGBTQ+ community.

While some individuals expressed disappointment, others backed Trump.

The Washington Blade in August reported that Harris’s grandfather moved to New Delhi to serve as a civil servant in British-ruled India. This move eventually facilitated Gopalan’s journey to the U.S., where she pursued biomedical science at the University of California, Berkeley a step that played a foundational role in shaping Harris’s future political aspirations.

The Washington Blade since Election Day has spoken with several LGBTQ+ activists and influencers in India.

Harish Iyer, a plaintiff in one of India’s marriage equality cases, in response to Trump’s election said the “path for queer liberation has never been straight.”

“The presidential election was filled with rhetoric from the Republican side against transgender persons,” said Iyer. “There has been a complete denial of the existence of transgender people and also widespread ignominy and ostracism. This, adding to the overturn of Roe vs. Wade, has aggravated tensions for everyone from gender variant persons to birthing parents of all genders.”

He further noted there is a strong change of more transphobic legislation and rhetoric in the U.S. with Trump in the White House, Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, and a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.

“In a largely connected world, where many Indians and India-born people are in America, the effect of this will be palpable in India too,” said Iyer.

Indrani Chakraborty is a prominent social activist and advocate for transgender rights, particularly in northeast India. She has been outspoken about the challenges faced by her trans daughter.

Chakraborty said the effects will be felt around the world if Trump continues his transphobic rhetoric and the U.S. government does not support the LGBTQ+ community. Anwesh Kumar Sahoo, an Indian artist, writer, model, and the youngest winner of Mr. Gay World 2016, told the Blade that Trump’s policies are a setback in the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights and visibility.

“It’s a strong reminder of how interconnected our struggles are globally,” said Sahoo. “It highlights the importance of standing up for equality everywhere.”

Abhijit Iyer Mitra, an LGBTQ+ activist and senior fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, in response to Harris’s loss said her Indian roots “really do not matter.”

“America expects assimilation and not just integration,” said Mitra. “She has no real connect to India in any sense or knowledge of India in any sense. So, being from here absolutely means nothing. She is American through and through, she has demonstrated no knowledge of India, no nothing, so it is what it is.”

“I am not really worried, certainly not from an Indian point of view because her particular political supporters are all viciously anti-India, but not Biden,” added Mitra. “Biden is pro-India. But Kamala, especially her supporters, belongs to the same woke circuit which would be… ‘Oh India … genocide happening’ etc. So just being Indian means nothing.”

While responding to the Trump campaign’s rhetoric on trans issues, Mitra said “the issue is not the transgender community, but the forcing of gender ideology on everyone, where you put kids on puberty blockers and have irreversible surgery done, and kids taken away from their parents.”

“I thought I was a girl when I was a kid,” said Mitra. “When I grew up, I realized that I was a man. I am very comfortable being who I am and thank God none of this happened. Had this happened now, I would have been taken away from my parents, asked to undergo surgery, and would not have been able to lead the life I am leading.”

“What is being propagated as this ‘trans ideology’ or ‘gender ideology’ is essentially homophobia, where you are told a man cannot be attracted to a man. A woman cannot be attracted to a woman. They are instead pushed to undergo irreversible sex changes and become something else,” added Mitra. “This is exactly what Iran does — they punish homosexuality with death, but if you have a sex change, it is considered acceptable.”

“There is nothing pro-LGBTQ about the Democrats — far from it. It is an LGBTQ genocide. It is erasing the viability of the LGBTQ community. It is a huge disservice to gender dysmorphic individuals, who are the ones who might genuinely need surgery. But why do they need surgery? It is because they are shunned by society and forced to undergo something that no one should have to endure,” said Mitra. “They need to be accepted and loved for who they are, not turned into something society demands them to be.”

Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, on Election Day became the first openly trans person elected to Congress. Biden, former President Barack Obama, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker are among those who specifically mentioned marriage equality and other LGBTQ+ rights during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“Kamala’s defeat is a huge setback for our friends from the LGBTQ community in the U.S.,” Kalki Subramaniam, an activist, queer artist, and actor who is a member of India’s National Transgender Council, told the Blade.

“As a Tamil woman from Kamala’s mother’s state, I am disappointed that Kamala was not elected,” added Subramaniam. “As Kamala said, never give up and burn bright. For all my LGBTQ families around the world, let us support more leaders like Kamala Harris and strengthen them. Let us step forward and take leadership to win back all our rights.”

SWITZERLAND

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Switzerland cannot deport a gay Iranian refugee claimant, finding that the state’s argument that he’d be safe as long as he’s discreet is not reasonable. 

The decision, which was delivered Nov. 12, applies to all 46 members of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The Swiss government acknowledged that the refugee claimant, known in the case as M.I., was a gay man and that gay men face persecution from state and non-state actors in his country of origin, Iran. But Switzerland had denied M.I.’s asylum claim, arguing that he could avoid persecution by using discretion and restraint in expressing his sexuality and that it was unlikely his sexual orientation would become known to Iranian authorities otherwise.

The court found this reasoning wrong, noting that M.I.’s sexual orientation could be discovered if he were deported to Iran, and the state had not addressed whether Iranian authorities would provide him with protection against ill-treatment. The court ordered Switzerland to reconsider M.I.’s claim in light of the lack of this protection. 

Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, with penalties including beatings and death. The court ruling notes that given criminalization of homosexuality, it is unreasonable to assume that an LGBTQ+ person can seek protection from authorities in Iran. 

Jacqueline McKenzie, a lawyer who represented Stonewall UK and African Rainbow Family in their intervention in the case, calls the decision a “watershed” that would help ensure protection for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers across Europe.

“I am delighted for not just my clients, Stonewall and African Rainbow Family, but for all gay people who continue to face the threat of removal to several countries where gay sex is prohibited by law and penal codes, and where in some instances, punishable by death, on the basis that they can be discreet about their sexuality,” McKenzie says in a statement.

“This is a watershed ruling that puts an end to the reasoning that it is safe to return gay men who are discreet about their sexuality to countries where they would be in danger if their sexuality were to be discovered.” 

ROMANIA

An LGBTQ+ activist is making history as the first openly queer person to run for parliament in upcoming elections set for Dec. 1.

Florin Buhuceanu is running for the liberal Renewing Romania’s European Project Party (REPER), a minor party that splintered from the Save Romania Union two years ago and currently holds 10 seats in the 330-seat lower house.

He says he’s running to advance LGBTQ+ rights, including the recognition of same-sex unions, which all political parties in Romania have refused to do so far.

Buhuceanu has a history of advocacy on same-sex couples’ rights. In 2019, he and his partner of 10 years joined 20 other couples in suing the government at the European Court of Human Rights over Romania’s refusal to recognize same-sex couples. Last year, they won their case, and Romania was ordered to recognize same-sex couples in a decision that set an important precedent continent-wide. 

But more than a year later, nothing has changed in Romania, because politicians have lacked the will to implement civil unions in the deeply conservative country. Buhuceanu says the lack of progress threatens democracy and rule of law.

“It’s sad that Romanian politicians are so lacking in courage to look around them and open up their eyes to the realities that are under their nose,” Buhuceanu told the news outlet Context. “This issue cannot be separated from what’s going on with the democracy status of Romania. It’s inconceivable to have final judgments that are not respected immediately.”

Buhuceanu also helped organize Romania’s first gay pride festival and led Accept, the country’s leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group. Buhuceanu and his partner also curate an LGBTQ+ history museum in their home in Bucharest, which is open to the public on weekends.

He says he’s running for parliament to drive change for the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s the only community I’m aware of with zero political representation and this has to change,” Buhuceanu says. “We cannot wait, we should mobilize our people to occupy as many positions as possible. Otherwise, the anti-gender movement, these extreme political parties, will try to occupy the vacuum we have produced.”

JAPAN

A man is suing the Japanese government after a judge barred him from wearing rainbow-colored socks to a court hearing on same-sex marriage last year.

Ken Suzuki was wearing the rainbow-patterned socks when he attempted to observe the same-sex marriage trial in Fukuoka District Court in June 2023. He says he was told by court officials to hide the rainbow pattern ahead of the trial, and was only admitted after he folded the pattern inward, obscuring it.

He’s now joined two other individuals who were ordered to change or hide clothing with various expressions before attending other unrelated cases in a case before the Tokyo District Court seeking 3.3 million yen (approximately $21,000) in damages. 

Suzuki claims that the court overstepped its authority to maintain order by requiring that he remove the socks, as they did not disrupt the court proceedings. He also says the order was inconsistent, as he was able to wear the socks without issue while attending a different same-sex marriage trial at the Tokyo District Court. 

Several courts across Japan are weighing the rights of same-sex couples. Five of six lower courts that have heard same-sex marriage cases have ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitution, as have two superior courts that have heard challenges. Further court hearings are expected in superior courts, and eventually at the Supreme Court. 

VANUATU

Vanuatu’s parliament has amended its marriage laws to explicitly ban same-sex marriage, amid a new crackdown on LGBTQ+ people in the South Pacific island nation. 

Prior to passage of the marriage law amendment, Vanuatu’s Marriage Act neither explicitly forbade nor permitted same-sex marriage. The new law now states that same-sex marriages may not be registered in Vanuatu.

Interior Minister Andrew Napuat told Radio New Zealand the law expresses the government’s opposition to LGBTQ+ couples. He also threatened anyone who attempts to conduct a same-sex marriage with revocation of their license.

“When the law was passed (Nov. 14), it made clear the government’s full intention, along with our leaders, that every pastor who performs marriage ceremonies must understand that they cannot conduct a ceremony that is against the law and expect it to be registered,” Napuat says.

“If anyone conducts a marriage that does not follow the spirit of the law passed today and seeks our registration, his or her license will be revoked to prevent further marriages. This applies to religious, civil, or traditional ceremonies.” 

Earlier this month, the Justice and Community Services Ministry announced it was forming a committee to draft a national policy banning LGBTQ+ advocacy in Vanuatu. 

The proposed crackdown comes after the president of Vanuatu’s Council of Traditional Chiefs said the activities of the country’s LGBTQ+ advocacy group VPride threaten traditional values and Christian beliefs.

While Vanuatu is a deeply conservative country, same-sex activity has never been illegal since independence from Britain and France in 1980.

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced he will nominate U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement that announced the nomination.

Stefanik, 40, has represented New York’s 21st Congressional District since 2015. She has chaired the House Republican Conference since 2021.

Stefanik in 2019 voted for the Equality Act, but she opposed it in 2021. Stefanik in 2022 is among the dozens of Republicans who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act that President Joe Biden signed.

Stefanik, among other things, has also been outspoken against anti-Semitism on college campuses. She would succeed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield if the U.S. Senate confirms her.

JAPAN

A coalition of 19 prefectures and more than 150 municipalities has created a Partnership System Municipal Cooperation Network, in which all member governments agree to recognize each other’s same-sex partnership registries. The new system should help same-sex couples ensure their partnerships remain valid if they move or maintain multiple residences.

Because same-sex marriage is not currently legal in Japan, 30 of Japan’s 47 prefectures and more than 400 municipalities have established “partnership oath systems,” in which same-sex couple can register their relationships to help them access local services that are restricted to couples, such as housing, insurance, and medical decision-making. However, these registries are not legally binding and confer no direct rights on the couples. 

Prior to the establishment of the PSMCN, couples who had registered in one municipality or prefecture could face difficulty having their relationship recognized in a different location. About one quarter of Japan lives in a place that does not recognize same-sex couples of any kind. 

Meanwhile, several cases seeking to establish a right to same-sex marriage continue to wind their way through the courts. 

Five out of six lower courts that heard equal marriage cases have issued rulings that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, as have both upper courts that have heard cases. This week, the Osaka High Court is set to hear an appeal of the lower court’s decision that the ban is constitutional. The Fukuoka High Court will hear an equal marriage case in December. All of these cases will likely eventually be heard by the Supreme Court. 

Most of the leading figures in Japan’s long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party have been deeply conservative on sexuality issues, which has stalled hope for progress on same-sex marriage at the legislative level. But last month’s snap elections returned a minority parliament in which a bare majority of legislatures have expressed support for same-sex marriage.

SPAIN

The governing Socialist Party announced it wants to amend the constitution to protect same-sex marriage and abortion rights, amid the rise of far right parties that have stated their goal of rolling back LGBTQ+ rights in Spain and across Europe.

The proposal is laid out in the party’s plan for the current national congress which was distributed to its provincial counterparts for debate this month. The document aims to include “the social achievements of the last decade” into the constitution, an effort which the document itself acknowledges may be “impossible,” but which the party wants to achieve.

Among other proposals are protections for social housing and setting a floor for the minimum wage at 60 percent of the average wage.

Spain has seen its far-right Vox Party grow rapidly over the last decade winning seats in parliament and local and regional councils. In regional governments where Vox has formed coalition governments with the more mainstream conservative People’s Party, it has already rolled back LGBTQ+ rights progress. 

In the Madrid region, where PP and Vox govern together, they rolled back laws banning anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and so-called conversion therapy, and ending recognition of transgender people, though the law was later stopped by the Constitutional Court.

It’s unlikely that the PSOE will be able to amend the constitution as that would require a three-fifths majority of both houses of parliament to pass, and PSOE only holds a minority of seats in both houses.

UNITED KINGDOM

The Conservative Party has elected as its new leader Kemi Badenoch, a legislator with a long history of espousing anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ viewpoints. Badenoch also makes history as the first Black woman to lead a major political party in the UK.

Badenoch was first elected to parliament in 2017 and previously served as the Minister for Women and Equalities in the Rishi Sunak government. She was confirmed as Conservative Party leader on Nov. 2, following an election among party members in which she won 56.5 percent of the vote. 

In office, she frequently railed against trans rights and met with the anti-trans group LGB Alliance. She called for the abolition of gender-neutral toilets and was caught on a leaked recording referring to trans women as “men.” 

This year, she supported her party’s platform of amending the Equalities Act to ensure that the ban on “sex” discrimination only applied to biological sex, thus allowing discrimination against trans people. 

She successfully killed a planned ban on conversion therapy by pushing the government to study it further and consider not banning conversion therapy aimed at trans people. 

She also used her office to push the Financial Conduct Authority to remove trans-inclusive workplace policies, and railed against “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives that she claimed “divide, rather than unify.”

In 2019, she abstained on the bill that extended same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland — then the only part of the UK where it wasn’t yet legal.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The World Surf League has named Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates as a stop of its 2025 Championship Tour and Longboard Tour, drawing protests from surfers and surf organizations over the potential for harm to LGBTQ+ athletes who attend a competition in a country where homosexuality is illegal. 

The World Surf League is the governing body for professional surfers, and it sanctions competitions and events around the world. The 2025 Tour features 12 stops, including events in Brazil, Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa, El Salvador, Australia, and the U.S. 

It’s the second stop, at Surf Abu Dhabi, UAE from Feb. 14-16 that’s raised eyebrows among surf athletes and fans.

Homosexuality and cross-dressing are illegal under both the Federal Crime and Punishment Law of UAE and the Abu Dhabi Penal Code, with a minimum sentence of six months and up to 14 years in prison.

Yvette Curtis, who runs the UK-based inclusive surf club Wave Wahines, has started a petition on Change.org calling on the World Surf League to drop the Abu Dhabi dates from the tour.

“The WSL have chosen to support a government that criminalizes LGBTQIA+ people and discriminates against women, and in doing so are choosing to place their athletes, support teams, and spectators at risk,” the petition states.

“By removing Abu Dhabi from its event calendar, the World Surf League would make a powerful statement: Human rights and the safety of its athletes and employees are paramount. Ignoring this issue would tacitly endorse discriminatory practices and betray the inclusive values at the heart of Olympic sports. Only through decisive action can we ensure that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, has an equal opportunity to compete in professional surfing.”

Curtis says the issue is personal to her, as the mother of a trans surfer.

“As a mother of three, the safety of my children is my utmost priority. My eldest child, who has bravely embraced their true self, is transgender. They also have a passion for surfing, but existing regulations in certain regions rob them of this joy and access to the waves. Abu Dhabi, named as a stop in World Surf League’s event calendar, presents a stark reality. My child, due to their identity, would be breaking laws by merely existing in such an environment,” she says. 

The petition, which has already drawn more than 1,600 signatures, has been endorsed by surf clubs all over the world, 

The controversy around the Abu Dhabi tour stop mirrors similar controversy over hosting the 2022 World Cup in Doha, Qatar, and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, both countries with dismal records on LGBTQ+ rights.