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Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Europe & Asia

LGBTQ+ news stories from around the globe including Portugal, Spain, Greece, Hungary, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Thailand

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PORTUGAL

Lisbon Pride 2023 (Photo Credit: Horta do RosƔrio for Arraial Lisboa Pride)

LISBON, Portugal – The Portuguese Parliament passed the final draft of a bill this past week which was first introduced last May by the Bloco de Esquerda, the populist-democratic socialist political party, that outlaws “any practice aimed at the forced conversion of sexual orientation, identity or gender expression.”

Joined in a coalition with the Livre and PAN parties, the new law incorporates into the country’s penal code that “whoever subjects another person to this type of treatment, including the performance or promotion of medical-surgical procedures, practices with pharmacological, psychotherapeutic or other psychological or behavioral resources, will be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine.”

During the parliamentary debate in the parliamentary committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, the College of Physicians issued a statement in which it criticized this type of therapy for “not having proven its effectiveness nor respecting the ethical and deontological standards of medical practice.” The organization highlighted that “diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity represents normal expressions, which cannot be considered diseases.”

The law now heads to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Republic of Portugal for his signature.

Passage of the law by parliament brings Portugal into alignment with other European Union nations. Malta was the first European country to ban the practice followed by Germany, Greece, Albania, France and Belgium.  

SPAIN

Carla Antonelli (center with red scarf) and Spanish actor Eduardo Casanova attending the second positive Pride march against the stigma of HIV and AIDS in Madrid on Oct. 21, 2023.
(Photo Credit: Carla Antonelli)

MADRID, Spain – The Assembly of Madrid, the unicameral autonomous legislature which governs the region around Spain’s capital city voted this past week to rollback protections for transgender people. The measure was passed by the conservative People’s Party (PP).

The measure also contained a proviso that guidelines preventing harassment of LGBTQ+ students in schools is eliminated, all content aimed at showing the LGBTQ+ community and the training of teachers in this matter are removed from the study plans.

The bill amended a regional trans rights law and an LGBTQ+ rights law, both of which were passed in 2016. The decision makes Madrid the first Spanish region to roll back such legislation. The anti-trans bill stripped the previous law of its fundamental pillar: the concept of “gender self-determination” or “freely expressed gender identification.”

The PP’s new law replaced the terms “trans people” and “gender identity” with “transsexuals” and “transsexuality,” terms which activists say are demeaning. 

British news outlet The Standard reported the move by the PP party sparked outcry from the opposition in Madrid and LGBTQ+ activists.

Carla Antonelli, an assembly member for the left-wing Mas Madrid party who is trans, wore red gloves symbolizing bloodied hands during the raucous debate preceding the vote. She called the bill an “abomination” and compared it to the actions of Nazi SS doctor Josef Mengele, who “also spoke of science to exterminate Jews and LGTBQ people”.

“When you press that button to vote for this infamy…you will all have blood on your hands,” Antonelli said adding: ā€œThis is terrorism towards trans people. You won’t be able to wash your dirty conscience because we will remind you of it every day.”

The Standard also noted that in December 2022, Spain passed a nationwide bill allowing transgender people aged 14 and over to change their legal gender without the need for psychological or other medical evaluation, though those aged 14 to 16 would still need parental or guardians’ agreement.

Fourteen other Spanish regions out of the country’s 17 have laws for the protection of trans rights, LGBTQ rights, or both on the books.

GREECE

Greeceā€™s Left-wing opposition leader, Stefanos Kasselakis, speaking at a press conference in November. He married his longtime male partner in New York in October 2023, several weeks after winning a party leadership election. (Photo Credit: Stefanos Kasselakis)

ATHENS, Greece – The spokesperson for Greece’s center-right government announced Thursday that legislation legalizing same-sex marriage will be brought to the Hellenic Parliament before its current term expires in 2027.

Pavlos Marinakis noted this action would take place despite facing staunch opposition from the countryā€™s influential Orthodox Church, which the Churchā€™s governing Holy Synod had submitted late on Wednesday, expressing strong opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Greek City Times reported that the Churchā€™s stance drew significant attention from the Greek news media, sparking a lively debate within the country. Opinion polls indicate that Greeks are evenly divided on the issue of same-sex marriage but generally oppose granting full parental rights to gay couples.

ā€œThe position of the Church of Greece remains that children have an innate need and therefore a right to grow up with a male father and a female mother. No amount of social modernization and no amount of political correctness can bypass (this),ā€ the Church document said.

ā€œChildren are not companion pets for those who wish to feel like a guardian, and are not ā€˜accessoriesā€™ to formalize or make same-sex cohabitation socially acceptable,ā€ it added.

The Associated Press noted that Greece’s left-wing opposition leader, Stefanos Kasselakis, married his male partner in New York in October, several weeks after winning a party leadership election.

Greece legalized same-sex civil partnerships in 2015.

HUNGARY

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor MihĆ”ly OrbĆ”n, (Left) speaking at the 32nd annual BĆ”lvĆ”nyos Summer Free University and Student Camp in Băile Tușnad, Transylvania, Romania, on July 22, 2023. (Photo Credit: Office of Prime Minister Viktor OrbĆ”n/Facebook)

BUDAPEST, Hungary – In a press conference Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbĆ”n accused the European Commission of blackmailing his country over its anti-LGBTQ laws and other rule-of-law concerns.

ā€œIn our view, Hungary fulfils all the qualities of the rule of law, and when the European Commission has specific needs, we implement everything from them, and we are also cooperative,ā€ OrbĆ”n told reporters. ā€œYou cannot blame me for doing everything I can to promote Hungaryā€™s interests in such a blackmailed situation.ā€

OrbĆ”n has been embroiled in a long-standing dispute with the governing body of the EU, the European Commission, which has frozen billions of funds intended for Hungary over concerns about human rights and the rule of law in the country.

The government of the conservative ruling party of the prime minister has been feuding with the EU since passage of Hungaryā€™s anti-LGBTQ education law in June of 2021.

OrbĆ”n, who has publicly proclaimed that he is a ā€œdefender of traditional family Catholic values,ā€ has been criticised by international human rights groups as discriminating against LGBTQ+ people with this law which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called a ā€œdisgrace.ā€

The European Commission, the ruling body of the EU, referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU over the anti-LGBT law in mid-2022. The commission has said it considers that the law violates the EUā€™s internal market rules, the fundamental rights of individuals and EU values.

UNITED KINGDOM

Two teenagers were found guilty of Brianna Ghey’s murder at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday December 20. The pair, a boy and a girl both 16 will be sentenced February 2, 2024. (Photo Credit: Family of Brianna Ghey)

MANCHESTER, UK – A Manchester Crown jury found a pair of teenagers guilty in the murder of Brianna Ghey, a 16 year old transgender girl and TikTok creator who was brutally stabbed to death in a park in Culcheth, Warrington, in February 2023. 

The jury unanimously ruled the teens, known only as Girl X and Boy Y, guilty after deliberating for over four hours. The judge said she would have to impose a life sentence, with the official sentencing to take place next year. 

Ghey, who lived in Birchwood, Cheshire, and was a year 11 student at Birchwood Community High School had been bullied for her transgender identity according to comments left on social media posts by friends and fellow students.

Her friends alleged she had been bullied and gang beaten at Birchwood Community High School for several years over the ā€œsimple reason of being trans.ā€

The gruesome details came out during the trial in Manchester, where the jury heard testimony that the pair, a male and a female, both 16 had a ā€œthirst for killingā€ and were fascinated by torture.

PinkNewsUK reported a ā€œmurder planā€ was later discovered in the female’s bedroom, and investigators discovered that they had put together a ā€œkill listā€ made up of five children before they settled on making Ghey their first target. The jury also heard that male had referred to Ghey as ā€œitā€ rather than ā€œsheā€, which he said was a ā€œjokeā€ between himself and his female accomplice.

The Judge, Dame Amanda Louise Yip, noted that she would have to impose a life sentence for both defendants. She explained that she will now have to decide what the ā€œminimum amount of time you will be required to serve before you might be considered for releaseā€ should be.

Yip, after the jury’s verdict was delivered, announced there was a public interest in lifting restrictions on reporting the teenagersā€™ names, which because of their ages had not been disclosed. However she said the welfare of the defendants could be put at risk if supports were not put in place, BBC News reported.

The judge acknowledged that naming Gheyā€™s murderers would ā€œcause distress to their familiesā€, and she noted that they had already faced threats and harassment due to their childrenā€™s actions.

ā€œI believe the appropriate balance can be achieved by directing that the order may be lifted but placing a [delay] upon it until the date of sentencing,ā€ she said.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak & Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. (Photo Credit: UK Government)

LONDON, UK – The Tory government’s Department for Education released a set ofĀ much-feared school policiesĀ and guidance concerning transgender students on Monday. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups responded, describing the governmentā€™s draft guidance for trans schoolchildren proposals as ā€œchillingā€ and ā€œactively dangerous.ā€

PinkNewsUK reported the long-delayed guidance on how to support trans and non-binary pupils at school lays out steps to approach a range of issues, from social transition, to changing names and pronouns, to access to single-sex spaces. 

The non-statutory guidance explicitly states that primary school-aged children ā€œshould not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about themā€, and that if a child wishes to socially transition, parents should be engaged. 

The plan further outlined policies that would forcibly out trans youth to their parents, ban pronouns for all primary school trans youth, prevent trans youth from using restrooms that align with their gender identity, and could even lead to forced haircuts and clothing choices.

Journalist Erin Reed noted: The policies even allow schools to enforce uniform policies based on a studentā€™s assigned sex at birth, explicitly stating that transgender students should follow the ā€œhairstyle rulesā€ of their assigned sex at birth. This would lead to trans girls being forced, for instance, to cut their hair short. You can see the policies here:

Social transition bans are, of course, seen and being promoted in other countries as well. New Zealandā€™s ā€œResist Gender Educationā€ calls for the government to ban all social transition in schools, ā€œeven with parental consent.ā€ In a statement to PinkNewsUK, Trans youth charity Mermaids added that the governmentā€™s guidance is ā€œout-of-touchā€ and ā€œabsurdā€. 

ā€œIt is difficult to understand how aspects of this draft guidance, including automatically excluding trans pupils from facilities, sport bans or allowing students to be misgendered are compatible with existing equalities law,ā€ the charity said. 

ā€œThe overwhelming majority of teachers and parents believe trans pupils should be safe at school and will disregard these discriminatory guidelines, which will be non-compulsory.ā€

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand’s Olympic Trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard. (Screenshot/YouTube TVNZ)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A new government policy will yank millions of dollars of public funding from New Zealand sports organizations as the government of newly elected Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sets out its agenda to ā€œensure publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender.ā€

 Andy Foster, a spokesperson for the populist and nationalist political New Zealand First party says it is ā€œabout fairness and safety in sport for women,ā€ the NZ Herald reported.

Transgender athlete and two-time national champion mountain biker Kate Weatherly told the Herald she fears it will lead to athletes being forced into menā€™s competitions or sidelined completely. Given the minimal number of trans women competing in amateur sports, Weatherly fears it could lead to their exclusion from the grassroots arena, she added.

Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop was uncomfortable discussing the coalition agreement. ā€œNew Zealand First are very keen to make sure we have an inclusive environment and atmosphere for everybody ā€“ and that rules relating to gender donā€™t get in the way of that,ā€ Bishop told the Herald.

ā€œIt is a tricky one, a thorny issue. Thereā€™s strong views on both sides of the debate. Iā€™ll work through that with the relevant sporting bodies. Ultimately itā€™s got to go over to sporting bodies to make sure that we have fair competition.ā€

THAILAND

Thai parliamentarians debate same-sex marriage bill. (Screenshot/YouTube)

BANGKOK, Thailand ā€“ On Thursday, Dec. 21, the House of Representatives of Thailand passed four draft bills regarding legalizing same-sex marriages in this Southeast Asia nation which has one of the more open cultures in that part of the world in acceptance of LGBTQ+ people.

Amnesty International Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong noted in a statement:

ā€œBy potentially becoming the third place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, Thailand has the opportunity to set a bold example for LGBTI peopleā€™s rights in this region. These bills and the debates in Parliament over them represent a moment of hope for LGBTI peopleā€™s rights in Asia, even though there is still much to be done for their full protection.  

ā€œThe final version of this draft legislation must not water down calls for the full spectrum of the right to family life, including access to adoption and inheritance for LGBTI couples, as well as the legal recognition of same-sex couples as ā€˜spousesā€™ on an equal footing with different-sex couples. 

ā€œAs LGBTI activists have systematically demonstrated, efforts to broaden rights for LGBTI people donā€™t go nearly far enough to ensure equal rights guaranteed under international law. These bills set Thailand on a new path that could right those wrongs.

ā€œIf legislation passes on first reading, Thailandā€™s Parliament should build on the momentum and prioritize the immediate adoption of this law, taking note of the celebratory reaction as a sign that the country is hungry for equality. Lawmakers in Parliament should continue to demonstrate to Thailandā€™s LGBTI community that they are listening and valuing their voices, wishes and perspectives. 

ā€œGuaranteeing full marriage equality in law not only sends a message to the rest of the region but to the rest of the world, at a time when countries all over the globe are changing outdated laws and building more inclusive societies.ā€ 

Reuters reported that Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsuthin told parliament, referring to the government’s draft bill.

“In principle, this draft law is for the amendment of some provisions in the civic codes to open the way for lovers, regardless of their gender, to engage and get married. This will provide rights, responsibilities and family status as equal to the marriage between a man and a woman presently in all aspects,” he said.

Somsak said a government survey conducted between Oct. 31 and Nov. 14 showed 96.6% public support for the draft bill.

Additional reporting from Esquerda News Lisbon, The Standard UK, Greek City Times, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, 24.HU News, PinkNewsUK, The BBC, Erin Reed, The New Zealand Herald and Reuters.

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World

Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Asia, Europe, and Canada

Japanese prime minister backs marriage equality without legislative commitment

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

JAPAN

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament that he believed legalizing same-sex marriage would make the country happier, although he has no plan to bring forward legislation to make that happen. 

The remarks, which were echoed days later by Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki, have buoyed the spirits of equal marriage campaigners in the country, despite the governmentā€™s lack of commitment to progress on the issue.

ā€œCompared to other prime ministers, there is a big difference in Ishibaā€™s tone, his direction and his outlook and we are clearly getting to the stage for Japan to take the next step in the right direction,ā€ marriage equality activist Alexander Dmitrenko told This Week in Asia.

Equal marriage advocates have been waging a long battle through both the courts and the political process to win same-sex marriage rights.

Earlier this month, a third appellate court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the Japanese constitution, finding for the first time that the ban violates the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness. Five out of six lower courts that have heard cases seeking equal marriage have also ruled for equality. 

Elections in October yielded a parliament that has a majority in favor of equal marriage, but is still dominated by the largely conservative Liberal Democratic Party, which has formed a minority government. 

While Ishiba says he will not bring forward same-sex marriage legislation and is instead following the progress of cases through the courts for now, it is possible that other parties may try to force the issue by introducing their own bills. 

ā€œThe Fukuoka court has clearly said that the Diet must legally permit same-sex marriages in the same way that marriages between people of opposite sexes are recognized,ā€ Takeharu Kato, one of the lawyers in the equal marriage case that was heard in Sapporo.Ā 

ā€œWe intend to continue to put strong pressure on the government to realize these changes because we are confident that we are nearly there.ā€

PHILIPPINES

Government workers in the Philippines now have the right to dress according to their gender identity, under a new official dress code issued by the Civil Service Commission issued this month.

The Philippinesā€™ civil service is known for its strict dress code for government workers. Workers are required to wear specific locally inspired outfits on Mondays and have been required to wear gender-conforming smart casual office attire on other workdays.

Under the revised dress code, workers are freer to dress according to their gender identity, and female workers are freer to wear either skirts or pants. The new code also relaxes standards relating to tattoos, facial piercings, and hairstyles, as long as they donā€™t interfere with the employeeā€™s work or with safety standards.

Gender-inclusive dress codes have become a much-debated topic in the Philippines in recent years, particularly in schools and universities, where uniforms and dress codes are often strongly enforced. A growing number of institutions have adopted gender-neutral dress codes and uniforms, while the national government says it is studying creating a standard for gender-inclusive dress codes to promote equality.

In another positive development for LGBTQ+ Filipinos, Globe Telecom, one of the countryā€™s largest mobile providers, has announced it will provide spousal benefits to same-sex partners of its employees.Ā 

Same-sex couples have no legal recognition in the Philippines. A civil union bill has been proposed several times in Congress, but has never advanced.

LITHUANIA

Lithuaniaā€™s constitutional court struck down an ā€œLGBT Propagandaā€ law this week, in a ruling that ought to bring relief to queer activists, publishers, and media outlets.

The ā€œLaw on the Protection of Minors,ā€ which was passed in 2009, banned the promotion of sexual relations or non-traditional conceptions of marriage or family, and drew sharp criticism from queer and civil liberties groups across Europe. It has been used in attempts to ban Vilnius Pride and led broadcasters to restrict advertisements for queer events and causes. 

In one landmark case, government censors used the law to restrict distribution of books of childrenā€™s stories due to its depiction of two same-sex couples. That decision was eventually appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which found last year that the law violated the European Conventionā€™s guarantee of free expression.

Following the ruling, the previous government tried to repeal the law, but after its bill was voted down by parliament, the government filed this legal challenge to the constitutional court.

“Finally, we are normalizing the portrayal and life of our community, and I believe that LGBT youth will live a freer life,” Vladimiras Simonko, head of the Lithuanian Gay League, told LRT.

The court ruled that the lawā€™s anti-LGBTQ+ sections were unconstitutional restrictions on free expression, and were also too vague, as they did not define what kinds of information disparage family values.Ā Ā Ā 

The court also found that the implications of the law also unfairly narrow the definition of family found in the constitution.

Same-sex couples are not legally recognized in Lithuania. A bill to recognize civil unions was introduced by the previous government but awaits a final vote before it can be brought into law. The current government has not made passing the bill a priority.

CANADA

The province of New Brunswick has finally repealed regulations that required schools to notify parents and receive their consent if a student wishes to use a different name or pronoun in class, following a change in government in October.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which had brought a legal challenge against the original policy, hailed the changes.

“We will discuss with our legal counsel and affected community groups, but expect that these changes will resolve legal issues in our constitutional challenge,” CCLA Director of Equality Programs Harini Sivalingam told CBC

The controversial regulation, known as Policy 713, was brought forward by the provinceā€™s previous Progressive Conservative Party government under former Premier Blaine Higgs. The regulation, which was introduced with limited consultation, led several of Higgsā€™ Cabinet ministers to resign in protest, and led the charge for provincial conservatives to campaign on anti-trans policies across Canada.

That strategy tended not to work for conservatives. In October, Higgsā€™s government was voted out in favor of the New Brunswick Liberals under Susan Holt, who had pledged to rescind the policy and ensure schools are welcoming for all LGBTQ+ students.

Similarly, Manitobaā€™s PC government was voted out in May after pledging to introduce a similar policy, and the British Columbia Conservatives lost their bid to replace the provinceā€™s NDP government in elections in October.

Still, Saskatchewanā€™s conservative government won reelection in October after introducing a similar policy earlier in the year, and Albertaā€™s conservative government just passed some of the most sweeping anti-transgender legislation Canada has seen in quite some time, including bans on classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and participation in gender-appropriate sports.

Albertaā€™s anti-trans laws have already been challenged in court, but Saskatchewanā€™s government used a constitutional provision to prevent any legal challenges to its anti-trans laws for five years after an initial loss in court. 

But conservative governments in Ontario and Quebec, which had initially announced plans to introduce parent notification and consent rules for trans students, have yet to bring forward such policies or regulations.

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India

Harish Iyer continues his fight for LGBTQ+ rights in India

Long-time activist challenged sodomy law, continues marriage equality fight

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Harish Iyer (Photo courtesy of Harish Iyer)

The Indian LGBTQ+ community has long grappled with systemic neglect and societal prejudices, but significant victories like the striking down of Section 377 in 2018 and progressive Supreme Court verdicts have sparked hope. The fight for equality nevertheless remains arduous.

Amid this struggle, Harish Iyer has stood out as a beacon of courage, leading the movement with unwavering commitment and inspiring others to unapologetically embrace their identities.

Iyer, with a slight smile, noted to the Washington Blade during a recent interview that he was born into privilege. As the first male child in a patriarchal society, he explained this status came with inherent advantages.

Despite being born into privilege, Iyerā€™s early life was marked by profound challenges.

At just 7-years-old, he endured and survived a traumatic experience of rape, an event that deeply impacted his childhood. Iyer said he was gang raped at 11, four years after a relative sexually assaulted him. Iyer told the Blade these assaults impacted his confidence.

ā€œChildren go through sexual assault but they do not understand what is happening with them,” said Iyer. “Because they are children, they do not know its language. We do not call a penis a penis, we do not call a vagina, a vagina. I am 45 years of age, and I am talking about 1987 or 1988. People had very little understanding. When you do not have language to say what it is, you don’t say about it.”

Iyer said it is easier for girls to talk about sexual assault compared to boys, and as a result it was harder for him to speak out. He also struggled living in two worlds: One of morals and fairy tales, and another filled with hardships that he tried to mask.

“I opened up about my abuse at 18, after 11 years of continuous trauma,” said Iyer. “That was a different battle altogether. It was 1998-1999, a time with little awareness about child sexual abuse. When I told my parents, my mother understood that a child could be abused. My father, however, was not supportive and didnā€™t understand what was happening.”

Iyer shared how these events shaped his thoughts, values, and empathy for others facing similar challenges.

At 22, he began to understand his sexuality and came out to his parents as gay. At 40, he realized his gender could be fluid and has identified as gender-fluid since then.

Iyer shared his struggles in finding a job as an openly gay man in Indiaā€™s conservative society. He now works at Axis Bank, one of Indiaā€™s largest private banks. Iyer said joining the bank was a unique journey ā€” he did not have any other job opportunities at the time.

“I applied for every job on LinkedIn,” said Iyer. “Axis Bank responded. I thought Iā€™d be unhappy there, but I needed the money, so I applied. The process took a long time, but after several interviews, I was selected. During the interviews, I realized I could be myself. People saw me for who I truly am, and that worked wonders.”

“A week after joining, I started pushing boundaries,ā€ he added. ā€œThe chief human resources officer called me to her office. After our conversation, she held me close and said, ā€˜You should not have to fit in ā€” be who you are.ā€™ Within six months, we created a charter with policies for the LGBTQ community. It’s called ‘Come As You Are.'”

Iyer told the Blade that Chief Human Resources Officer Rajkamal Vempati was upset with him.

She felt he was free to express himself at the company, but wasnā€™t doing so. Iyer said Axis Bank has a dress code policy for employees ā€” one for men, one for women, and one for LGBTQ+ employees that allows them to choose the gender in which they want to present themselves.

He said he never expected to see such inclusion in a private sector bank in India before joining Axis Bank.

Iyer challenged sodomy law, continues to fight for marriage equality

On the third anniversary of the Supreme Courtā€™s 2018 ruling that struck down Section 377, the provision of the countryā€™s penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations, Axis Bank in 2021 introduced policies and a charter for the LGBTQ+ community. Iyer, a long-time LGBTQ+ activist, continues to fight for equal rights.

He said Axis Bank became the first private bank in India to specifically welcome customers from the LGBTQ+ community.

“I was invited by the Social Justice Ministry for a consultation on LGBTQ+ rights,” noted Iyer. “During the discussion, it was proposed that all banks in India should open their doors to the LGBTQ+ community.”

Iyer was one of those who challenging Section 377.

The Supreme Court struck down the colonial-era law on Sept. 6, 2018. Iyer was also a plaintiff in Supriyo v. Union of India, which sought legal recognition of same-sex marriages in India. The Supreme court heard this case in 2023.

“Culture is an evolving phenomenon,” said Iyer. ā€œIt is not static. As culture evolves, we as people need to evolve. I would like to believe that my organization is always evolving and we will get better.”

Iyer told the Blade he doesnā€™t have a specific game plan for the future. As one of Axis Bankā€™s prominent figures, however, he feels LGBTQ+ people are equal citizens in India.

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Nepal

Two transgender women make history in Nepal

Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan ran in local elections last month

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From left: Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan (Photo courtesy of Honey Maharjan)

November 22 was a milestone for Nepal’s LGBTQ+ community.

Two transgender candidates, Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan, members of the Peopleā€™s Socialist Party-Nepal, ran in local elections. It marked the first time that trans people ran for office in the country.

Honey Maharjan ran for mayor in Kirtipur, a municipality outside Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. Mouni Maharjan ran to become a ward chair in the same municipality. Although both candidates lost the election; experts, and activists consider their participation a significant milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in Nepalese politics.

Honey Maharjan, 44, is a former tour guide who faced discrimination because she is a trans woman. Maharjan nevertheless became a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

Mouni Maharjan, 29, advocates for local infrastructure and LGBTQ+-inclusive education. Her campaign focused on introducing an LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum in schools and creating employment opportunities for marginalized groups.

The Supreme Court in 2007 ruled the government must legally recognize a third gender. Six years later, in 2013, Nepal hosted its first-ever Pride parade, signaling growing visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. The countryā€™s new constitution, which ensures equal rights for LGBTQ+ people and all other Nepalese citizens, took effect in 2015.

The Supreme Court in 2018 issued a ruling that expanded protections for LGBTQ+ people in marriage, inheritance, social recognition, and other areas.

Sunil Babu Pant, founder of the Blue Diamond Society, a Nepalese LGBTQ+ rights group, in 2017 became the first openly gay person elected to parliament. Nepal since 2020 has allowed trans people to legally change their gender in official documents without surgery.

A study that UN Women and the Blue Diamond Society published in June 2023 found 81 percent of LGBTQ+ people in Nepal have faced physical violence, discrimination, and verbal abuse. Traditional societal norms and a lack of awareness make this situation worse.

Nepal is seen as a leader in LGBTQ+ rights in South Asia in terms of legal protections and a debate over marriage rights for same-sex couples. A large gap remains between policies and their implementation.

Political representation of LGBTQ+ people remains low.

Pant left office in 2023. There are currently no openly LGBTQ+ people in parliament or in the countryā€™s policy-making policies.

During their campaign in Kirtipur, Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan outlined key promises. They pledged to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion, especially in politics, and vowed to fight discrimination in education, healthcare, and employment.

Their campaigns also focused on ensuring equal rights and opportunities for marginalized groups. Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan promised to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues to reduce stigma and discrimination in society.

Honey Maharjan told the Washington Blade said she was happy about running for office, and noted her family and friends supported her.

“Since Kirtipur has a large LGBTQ community still they did not come out to support me,” she said. “Nepal has other political parties like Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and many others, we did not had budget like theirs, so it was also our struggle. It is also challenging for us as people are not supporting us for what we are trying to do. They are supporting only prominent political parties in Nepal. So, these are our challenges as a transgender political candidate in Nepal.”

Honey Maharjan told the Blade she would have worked to provide education, health care, and better roads if she were elected.

“I did not win, so I am a little sad this time,” she said. “But I am happy that the media has covered my campaign, so I am grateful to all journalists.”

“Every community member needs to be inspired because we are not alone and we need to think that we have a large number of community members,ā€ added Honey Maharjan. ā€œIf we do not come out, there will be difficulty, it’s our right.ā€

She also dismissed the idea that many trans people are sex workers.

ā€œMany people are working in different sectors. I would request everyone to come out and support the transgender candidate in the next election,ā€ said Honey Maharjan. ā€œElections are important because it creates awareness about the candidate otherwise everyone would think that transgender community is engaged in sex work only that is not true.”

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Ghana

Ghanaian Supreme Court dismisses challenges to anti-LGBTQ+ bill

Measure would further criminalize homosexuality, penalize allyship

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Ghanaian flag (Public domain photo by Jorono from Pixabay)

The Ghanaian Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed challenges to a bill that would further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and penalize allyship.

Lawmakers on Feb. 28 approved the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. Two lawyers, Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, challenged it.

Outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo had previously said he would not sign the bill into law until the Supreme Court issued its ruling. His successor, President-elect John Dramani Mahama, will take office on Jan. 7.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Dec. 10 honored Ebenezer Peegah, executive director of Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ+ advocacy group, and six other human rights activists from around the world during a ceremony at the State Department.

Blinken noted the pending Supreme Court ruling ā€” and discrimination and violence that LGBTQ+ Ghanaians continue to face ā€” before he presented Peegah with the Secretary of Stateā€™s Human Rights Defender Award.

“In Ghana, vigilante groups use social media platforms to organize mobs to attack LGBTQI+ people, as well as to entrap, to blackmail, to harass them,ā€ said Blinken. ā€œAs these attacks increase, Ghanaā€™s Supreme Court is considering legislation that would criminalize people for identifying as LGBTQI+, as well as threaten Ghanaiansā€™ constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, press, and assembly.”  

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Kenya

Man convicted of killing Kenyan activist, sentenced to 50 years in prison

Edwin Chilobaā€™s partner murdered him in Eldoret on New Yearā€™s Day in 2023

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Edwin Chiloba (Photos courtesy of Edwin Chiloba's Instagram page)

Kenyan queer rights organizations have welcomed the sentencing of a freelance photographer to 50 years in prison for murdering prominent LGBTQ+ activist and fashion designer Edwin Chiloba nearly two years ago

Justice Reuben Nyakundi on Monday sentenced Jacktone Odhiambo, 25, Chilobaā€™s partner, after the Eldoret High Court in western Kenya two weeks ago found him guilty of murder.

The 2-year trial, which comprised evidence from 23 witnesses and DNA tests the prosecution presented that placed him at the scene of the crime on New Yearā€™s Day in 2023. Chiloba had disappeared and his body was found stuffed in a metal box that had been dumped along the side of a road. 

The court was told that Chiloba and Odhiambo were last seen together at Tamasha Club in Eldoret on the night of Dec. 31, 2022, only for the deceasedā€™s decomposing body to be discovered three days later. His brutal murder sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ+ community in Kenya and attracted both local and international condemnation and calls for the conviction of perpetrators.

Nyakundi in his sentencing ruling noted the prosecution provided evidence beyond a reasonable doubt and described the brutal murder of Chiloba, 25, as ā€œpremeditated, malicious, and aggravated homicide.ā€

ā€œThe footprints of the murder are all traceable to the accused (Odhiambo),ā€ Nyakundi said.

The judge noted Odhiambo showed no respect for the sanctity of life and Chilobaā€™s brutal killing left a void that cannot be filled.

Odhiambo became the prime suspect after three other accused people were freed due to a lack of evidence linking them to the murder.    

Johansen Oduor, the government pathologist who conducted Chiloba’s autopsy, told the court during the trial that the victim had been smothered to death using six pairs of socks stuffed into his mouth and his face was wrapped with a piece of denim.    

Despite overwhelming evidence linking Odhiambo to the murder, the court noted the accused did not show any remorse for his actions during the trial and described him as a ā€œvengeful person.ā€ This lack of remorse influenced the severity of his 50-year sentence, even though he fell and wailed after the judge sentenced him.

ā€œThe accused deserves the death penalty, which is not implemented in Kenya,ā€ Nyakundi ruled.

Kenyaā€™s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions acknowledged the judgeā€™s verdict, noting the death sentence ā€œwould have been unnecessaryā€ because the country has not executed anyone on death row since 1987. The death penalty, however, has not been abolished from Kenyan criminal laws for offenses like murder, robbery with violence, treason, mutiny, and other crimes. 

There have been calls by human rights groups, such as the International Commission for Jurists-Kenya, for Kenya to abolish the death penalty. A bill in parliament would repeal the death penalty.

Additionally, Nyakundi could not sentence Odhiambo to life in prison, which the ODPP also noted as ā€œundesirableā€ because of the uncertainty surrounding offences that constitute a death sentence.  

The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in response to Odhiambo’s sentencing said it marks a significant step toward justice for Chiloba, his family, and all LGBTQ+ people in Kenya, Africa, and around the world.

ā€œThis verdict marks a long-awaited moment of accountability, offering a glimmer of justice for Edwin and a reminder that no act of violence against any LGBTQ+ resident of Kenya will go unchallenged or unchecked,ā€ NGLHRC stated.

NGLHRC also remembered Chiloba as a fondly celebrated, vibrant young queer activist, and budding fashion model whose promising future was robbed from him. NGLHRC added his murder also sent a chilling message of fear and injustice to marginalized queer Kenyans.  

ā€œWe continue to call on the Kenyan government, law enforcement agencies, and the judiciary to strengthen their commitment to addressing violence against LGBTQ+ residents of Kenya as espoused and guided by Resolution 275 of the African Charter on Human and People Rights,ā€ NGLHRC stated.

The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, a local queer rights group, acknowledged the courtā€™s 50-year sentence for Odhiambo ā€œdeemed appropriate for the gravity of the offense.ā€ INEND also applauded NGLHRC and other queer organizations for ā€œpursuing justice for our sibling Chilobaā€ in the corridors of justice without relenting.

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The Vatican

LGBTQ+ pilgrimage to take place during Catholic Churchā€™s 2025 Jubilee

Event not ā€˜sponsored or organized byā€™ the Vatican

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Pope Francis. A group of LGBTQ Christians in Italy has said the Vatican has approved its request to make a pilgrimage during the Catholic Churchā€™s 2025 Jubilee. (Photo by palinchak via Bigstock)

A group of LGBTQ+ Christians in Italy has said the Vatican has approved its request to make a pilgrimage during the Catholic Churchā€™s 2025 Jubilee.

The National Catholic Register on Dec. 11 reported La Tenda di Gionata (Jonathanā€™s Tent) ā€” an Italian Christian group that helps ā€œLGBT people and their families feel welcome in their churchā€ ā€” asked members to ā€œsave the dateā€ of Sept. 6, 2025, and invited ā€œall associations and groups dedicated to supporting LGBT+ individuals and their families to join us as we officially cross the Holy Door of the Jubilee at St. Peterā€™s Basilicaā€ at 3 p.m.

The National Catholic Register notes the pilgrims have also been invited to a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the GesĆ¹ that Msgr. Francesco Savino, vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, will celebrate.

Church Jubilees take place every 25 years.

Jubilee 2025 officially begins on Christmas Eve.

Jubilee spokesperson Agnese Palmucci confirmed to the National Catholic Register that La Tenda di Gionataā€™s proposed pilgrimage has been ā€œincluded in the general calendar as a pilgrimage, along with all the other pilgrimages that other dioceses will make,ā€ but noted it is ā€œnot a Jubilee event sponsored or organized by us.ā€ 

ā€œIt is a pilgrimage organized by this association which, like the other dioceses, bodies and associations, will make the pilgrimage as they wish,ā€ said Palmucci.

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ+ Catholic organization, on Dec. 10 noted he traveled to Rome in 2000, the last Jubilee year, and spoke at the first WorldPride that took place that summer.

ā€œOne of the things I remember most about that time was the anger expressed by the Vatican and the pope himself that World Pride was taking place in Rome during the Jubilee year,ā€ wrote DeBernardo on New Ways Ministryā€™s website. ā€œPerhaps particularly galling to John Paul II was that the pride event was taking place in the first week of July, which was the same week that pilgrims from the popeā€™s native Poland were scheduled to flood the city. And indeed, everywhere you looked you saw people with bright red neckerchiefs, a symbol of Polish heritage.ā€

DeBenardo noted the ā€œmood inā€ Rome ā€œwas incredibly tense.ā€

ā€œVatican anti-gay rhetoric had fueled anti-gay sentiment beyond the Catholic Church, and many right-wing Italian political groups were denouncing World Pride, which was to culminate in a march from the Porta San Paolo to the Colosseum,ā€ he wrote. ā€œAnti-gay messages were plastered all over the city buildings. One message in particular remains strong in my memory: ā€˜Gay al Colosseo? SƬ, con i leoni.ā€™ (Translation: ā€˜Gays at the Colosseum? Yes, with lions.ā€™)ā€

DeBenardo wrote the inclusion of an LGBTQ+ pilgrimage during the 2025 Jubilee ā€œtouched my heart.ā€

ā€œWhile 2025ā€™s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the Vatican reacted to the presence of gay people in Rome during 2000, we can see what a sea change has taken place in terms of responding to LGBTQ+ people,ā€ he said.

The Vaticanā€™s tone towards LGBTQ+ and intersex issues has softened since Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013.

Francis publicly backs civil unions for same-sex couples, and has described laws that criminalize homosexuality as ā€œunjust.ā€ 

He met with two African LGBTQ activists ā€” Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda and Rightify Ghana Director Ebenezer Peegah ā€” at the Vatican on Aug. 14. Sister Jeannine Gramick, one of the co-founders of New Ways Ministry, organized a meeting between Francis and a group of transgender and intersex Catholics and LGBTQ+ allies that took place at the pontiffā€™s official residence on Oct. 12.

Francis during a 2023 interview with an Argentine newspaper described gender ideology as ā€œone of the most dangerous ideological colonizationsā€ in the world because ā€œit blurs differences and the value of men and women.ā€ A declaration the Vaticanā€™s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith released in March with Francisā€™s approval condemned gender-affirming surgeries and ā€œgender theory.ā€

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World

Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Canada, Asia, and Europe

Another Japanese court has ruled the countryā€™s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

CANADA

The mayor of Emo, Ontario, had his bank account garnished after he announced he would refuse to pay court-ordered damages of $5,000 to a local Pride organization. 

The drama started in 2020 when the small town of 5,000 people about 1,000 miles northwest of Toronto on the border with Minnesota refused a request by Borderlands Pride to issue a proclamation declaring June Pride Month in the town and fly a rainbow flag for a week. 

The town council voted down the request in an acrimonious debate in which now 76-year-old Mayor Harold McQuaker argued that flying the Pride flag was unfair because thereā€™s no flag for ā€œthe other side.ā€ Borderlands Pride then presented a petition asking the council to reconsider their request, but the council was unmoved. 

Four years later, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal finally issued a ruling in the case, ordering the town to pay Borderlands Pride C$10,000 (approximately $7,000) and McQuaker to pay C$5,000 (approximately $3,500) and take the provinceā€™s ā€œHuman Rights 101ā€ one-day course. 

McQuaker later told reporters that he would refuse to pay the judgement against him. That gave Borderlands Pride the ability to get a court order for garnishment of his bank account for the fine. 

ā€œSure, sex is great, but have you ever garnished your mayorā€™s bank account after he publicly refused to comply with a Tribunalā€™s order to pay damages?ā€ Borderlands Pride posted on their Facebook account.

Emo Town Council has not yet announced if it will pay its portion of the judgment. 

The case has drawn attention from right-wing and far-right news outlets around the world, many of which are working overtime to paint McQuaker as a mild-mannered great-grandfather who is not at all homophobic.

But Borderlands Pride pushed back against that narrative with receipts. In another post on Facebook, the group shared letters McQuaker had published in newspapers going back nearly 20 years, when same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada. 

ā€œIsnā€™t it funny we have all kinds of money to spend on same-sex crap and gun control, both of which will hurt our great nation,ā€ McQuaker wrote in one letter.

ā€œIf a free vote had been allowed instead of party leaders forcing their MPs to their way, Mr. Harper would have defeated homosexual marriage legislation,ā€ he wrote in another.

Five separate fundraisers on GiveSendGo and GoFundMe have raised around $28,000 for McQuaker and Emoā€™s legal defense, although none of these fundraisers appear to be directly linked to either.

JAPAN

The Fukuoka High Court ruled that Japanā€™s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, in the latest court victory for couples seeking equal marriage rights in the country.

The ruling on Dec. 13 was the third appellate-level ruling to find the ban unconstitutional, following rulings earlier this year from the Tokyo and Sapporo High Courts. It was also the first ruling to find the ban violates the constitutionā€™s protection of the ā€œpursuit of happiness.ā€

ā€œ[The judge] understood our suffering, and I felt very reassured,ā€ one of the plaintiffs, Masahiro, told reporters.

Six lower courts have ruled on same-sex marriage since 2021, with all but one finding the ban to be unconstitutional. Many of these cases are still being heard at the appellate level, and the issue is likely to be taken up by the Japanese Supreme Court.

While the rulings do not have immediate effect in changing the law, they add pressure on legislators to address the issue. 

A report from Mainichi Shinbum suggests that there is now a majority in Parliament in favor same-sex marriage, following elections in October. Still, the Liberal Democratic Party, which leads the government, is largely opposed to equal marriage. 

POLAND

QueerMuzeum, the first museum dedicated to the history of Polandā€™s LGBTQ+ community, opened in Warsaw this month, the first such museum in a post-communist country in Europe.

The new museum is operated by the Lambda Warsaw Association, the oldest operating Polish LGBTQ+ organization, and it has more than 150 artefacts on display, including items dating back to the 16th century.

ā€œWe are on Marszałkowska Street, in the heart of Warsaw,ā€ said Miłosz PrzepiĆ³rkowski, Lambda’s president. ā€œThis sends a message to politicians: ā€˜Look, we are opening the fifth queer museum in the world in a country with the worst legal situation for queer people in the EU.ā€™ā€ā 

QueerMuzeum is also a way to bring Lambdaā€™s aid and advocacy work into the public eye, PrzepiĆ³rkowski says. 

The organization has more than 100,000 artifacts in its collection, including letters, photographs, and early activist materials. Preserving these materials has been challenging, as much of the records of Poland’s LGBTQ+ community have been private or discarded.Ā 

Key figures from Polandā€™s queer activist circles during the communist era in the 1980s were on hand for the opening ceremony, and had donated important personal materials to the museum. 

Ryszard Kisiel donated a decades-old safe-sex pamphlet, while Andrzej Selerowicz donated a photograph of himself with his partner that is 45 years old. 

LGBTQ+ rights remain a polarizing topic in Poland more than a year after a center-left coalition was elected to replace a far-right government. The new government has struggled to pass a long-promised civil union bill and update hate speech laws to protect LGBTQ+ people, amid conflicts among more conservative coalition partners.

UNITED KINGDOM

The UK government has announced that it is indefinitely prohibiting the prescription of puberty blockers for use with transgender children, Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Dec 11.

The ban applies across the UK and was put in place following consultations with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

It comes following the much-disputed Cass Review on gender treatment in the UK, which had recommended new restrictions on puberty blockers. Earlier this year, the previous Conservative government brought in emergency legislation to ban puberty blockers. Streetingā€™s announcement makes that ban indefinite, with the government saying it will review the legislation in 2027.

The ban applies to new patients only; patients already receiving puberty blockers as a form of care can continue to receive it.

Streeting says there is a plan to begin a clinical trial on puberty blockers next year, which would help ā€œestablish a clear evidence base for the use of this medicine.ā€

But trans activists rejected the governmentā€™s framing of the ban, as they have much of the findings of the Cass Review.

ā€œThe government is entirely disregarding the voices of trans youth, who made clear their deep opposition to the restriction of private prescriptions for puberty blockers during consultation,ā€ Laura Stoner, the chief executive of the trans rights group Mermaids, told the Guardian.

Trans rights have become a notably polarizing issue in the UK over the last several years, as ā€œHarry Potterā€ author JK Rowling has become one of the worldā€™s most vocal critics of trans people, and successive UK governments have sought to weaken protections for trans people and restrict access to gender care or to womenā€™s spaces, often in the name of womenā€™s rights.

Other British stars like Daniel Radcliffe and David Tennant have been notable allies for trans people.

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Ghana

Activists: Ghanaian presidential election results will not improve LGBTQ+ rights

Supreme Court on Dec. 18 to rule on anti-LGBTQ+ law

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Ghanaian President-elect John Dramani Mahama (Photo via John Dramani Mahama Official Instagram)

Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama from the opposition National Democratic Congress has won Saturday’s general elections, defeating current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party.

The NDC before the election had pledged its support for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which would further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and those who support them.

The bill, which MPs approved in February, has yet to be signed by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo because of a ruling the Supreme Court is expected to issue on Dec. 18. Richard Dela Sky, a journalist and private lawyer, challenged the law in March.

The NDC, NPP and other parties used recognition of LGBTQ+ rights to persuade Ghanaians to vote for them. Mahama during a BBC interview last week said LGBTQ+ rights are against African culture and religious doctrine.

Berinyuy Hans Burinyuy, LGBT+ Rights Ghana’s director for communications, said homophobic attacks and public demonstrations increased during the campaign.

“The passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill into law will institutionalize State-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, leaving little to no legal recourse for those affected,ā€ said Burinyuy. ā€œThe climate of fear and uncertainty that has gripped Ghanaā€™s LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated.”

ā€œWhile the political atmosphere remains hostile, there is still hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of human rights and constitutional protections,ā€ added Burinyuy. ā€œShould the court strike down the bill, it will be a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights and a blow to the growing wave of homophobia that has swept the country.”

Awo Dufie, an intersex person and cross-dresser, said the LGBTQ+ community is going to be at increased risk under the NDC-led government because it supports anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.

“Mahama supported the anti-LGBT bill as well as the arrest and prosecution of human rights defenders,ā€ noted Dufie. ā€œPoliticizing queer rights as a distraction actually started under Atta Mills (the-late president of Ghana) and the NDC government in 2011, and it was an NDC MP (Sam George) who furthered this in 2021 vocalizing support for the anti-LGBT bill.”

Dufie added Ghanaians ā€œvoted out a worse corrupt government who had no respect for human rights, and brought in a former corrupt president who has also promised to not respect human rights.”

Activism Ghana, another LGBTQ+ rights group, said the attacks against LGBTQ+ Ghanaians are a series of political ploys designed to win votes as opposed to accelerating development.

“Hate the gays, win the votes, and when they win and fail to deliver development and prosperity, they scapegoat the gays to take away attention from real problems,” said Activism Ghana.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday congratulated Mahamaā€™s election, and noted Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will become the countryā€™s first female vice president.

ā€œThe United States commends the Electoral Commission, its hundreds of thousands of poll workers, civil society, and the countryā€™s security forces, who helped ensure a peaceful and transparent process,ā€ said Blinken in a statement. ā€œWe also applaud Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for his gracious acceptance of the results.ā€

Mahamaā€™s inauguration will take place on Jan. 7.

Advocacy groups continue to urge Akufo-Addo to veto the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill or amend sections that further criminalize LGBTQ+ people and allies.

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Colombia

Claudia LĆ³pez mum on whether she will run for president of Colombia

LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored former BogotĆ” mayor in D.C.

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Former BogotĆ” Mayor Claudia LĆ³pez, left, with Minneapolis City Councilwoman Andrea Jenkins at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. on Dec. 8, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Former BogotĆ” Mayor Claudia LĆ³pez did not specifically discuss the growing speculation over whether she will run for president of Colombia in 2026 when she spoke at Saturday’s LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s Annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C., or with the Washington Blade.

ā€œIn a week I am going to return to Colombia and Iā€™m coming back with a very, very punctual task,ā€ she said in a speech she gave after the Victory Institute inducted her into its LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at the JW Marriott. ā€œDemocracy in the world in general needs emotional reconnection.ā€

LĆ³pez, 54, was a student protest movement leader, journalist, and political scientist before she entered politics.

She returned to Colombia in 2013 after she earned her Ph.D in political science at Columbia University.

In her speech, LĆ³pez said Juan Francisco ā€œKikoā€ Gomez, a former governor of La GuajĆ­ra Department in northern Colombia, threatened to assassinate her because she wrote about his ties to criminal gangs. A BogotĆ” judge in 2017 convicted GĆ³mez of ordering members of a paramilitary group to kill former Barrancas Mayor Yandra Brito, her husband and bodyguard, sentencing him to 55 years in prison.

LĆ³pez in 2014 returned to Colombia and ran for the countryā€™s Senate as a member of the center-left Green Alliance party after she recovered from breast cancer. LĆ³pez won after a 10-week campaign that cost $80,000.

ā€œI was the only woman, the only LGBTQ member of my caucus,ā€ she said in her speech. ā€œOf course I had the honor, but also the responsibility to represent them particularly well, [and] of course all the citizens who trust me and all the citizens of Colombia.”

“Once you are elected, you are elected to represent equally and faithfully all of the people, not only your own people,ā€ added LĆ³pez.

In 2018, LĆ³pez was her partyā€™s candidate to succeed then-President Juan Manuel Santos when he left office. LĆ³pez in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of BogotĆ”, the Colombian capital and the countryā€™s largest city.

ā€œThis of course speaks incredibly well of my city,ā€ she said in her speech.

LĆ³pez took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. AngĆ©lica Lozano. (LĆ³pez was not out when she was elected to the Senate.) Lozano was with LĆ³pez at the Victory Institute conference.

LĆ³pezā€™s term ended on Dec. 31, 2023. She will return to Colombia once her Advanced Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University ends this month.

ā€œI ended my mayorship,ā€ LĆ³pez told the Blade. ā€œIt has been, of course, the honor of my life to be the first female mayor of my city. It was an absolutely beautiful job, but very challenging.ā€

ā€œI needed a year of rest, of relaxation, and I was fortunate to receive a Harvard scholarship this year,ā€ she added.

LĆ³pez during the interview called for an end to polarization and reiterated her support for democracy.

ā€œWe need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each otherā€™s skin,ā€ she said.

LĆ³pez said parties, candidates, and their political coalitions in Colombia and around the world need to ā€œlisten, reconnect, and organize with peopleā€ at the grassroots level. LĆ³pez also told the Blade there is a ā€œglobal crisis of democracy.ā€

ā€œEach country has its own contexts and challenges, but it seems to me that there is a common element there,ā€ she said.

ā€œSo, I return to Colombia rested, grateful after a year of reflection, with proposals in mind, but determined to dedicate time to what I consider the most important work for democracy at this time, which is to reconnect from the grassroots,” added LĆ³pez.

‘I know what love and education can do for any person’

LĆ³pez took office less than three months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

ā€œWe were full of hope, ready to go to offer a new social and environmental contract for BogotĆ” society for the 21st century,ā€ she said. ā€œBut a couple of (months) after being sworn into office, the pandemic of COVID-19 came.ā€

Unemployment and poverty rates soared in BogotĆ” during the pandemic, and the cityā€™s residents had less access to health care and other basic services.

LĆ³pez noted her administration in response to the pandemic offered scholarships to young people, supported businesses, and increased funding of the cityā€™s social services. LĆ³pez also said her administration implemented Latin Americaā€™s first city-based care system for female care givers, and build three more LGBTQ+ community centers in poor and working-class neighborhoods.

ā€œI know what love and education can do for any person,ā€ she said.

Members of Caribe Afirmativo, a Colombian LGBTQ+ rights group, participate in a Pride march in BogotĆ”, Colombia, in 2022. (Photo courtesy of Caribe Afirmativo)

The U.N. Refugee Agency says upwards of three million Venezuelans are now in Colombia.

Then-Colombian President IvĆ”n Duque in February 2021 announced Venezuelan migrants who register with the countryā€™s government will be legally recognized.

Former BogotĆ” Mayor Gustavo Petro, a former senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s, succeeded Duque as president on Aug. 7, 2022. Colombia and Venezuela restored diplomatic ties less than a month later.

Venezuelaā€™s National Electoral Council on July 28 declared President NicolĆ”s Maduro the winner of the countryā€™s disputed presidential election. Tamara AdriĆ”n, the countryā€™s first transgender congresswoman who ran in the presidential primary earlier this year, are among those who denounced voting irregularities.

WPLG, a South Florida television station on March 16, 2021, reported LĆ³pez sparked controversy after she told reporters there have been ā€œsome very violent acts from Venezuelans.ā€

ā€œFirst they murder, and then they steal,ā€ she said. ā€œWe need guarantees for Colombians.ā€

LĆ³pez made the comments after a Venezuelan migrant murdered a Colombian police officer in BogotĆ”.

ā€œThe problem is not migration from Venezuela,ā€ LĆ³pez told the Blade in response to a question about Venezuela. ā€œThe problem is authoritarianism in Venezuela and you have to keep the focus on it.ā€

ā€œThe problem is what it is: It is not the migrants, it is in Maduro, it is in the dictatorship, it is in authoritarianism.ā€

(washington blade video by michael k. lavers)

More than 200,000 people died in the war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that began in 1962.

Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Commander Rodrigo ā€œTimochenkoā€ LondoƱo on Sept 26, 2016, signed an LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement. Colombian voters a few days later narrowly rejected it a referendum that took place against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from religious and conservative groups.

Santos and LondoƱo less than two months later signed a second peace agreement, which also contains LGBTQ+-specific references.

LĆ³pez described herself as ā€œa person totally committed to the peace process.ā€ She added, however, she has ā€œa bit of a bad taste in my mouth now that I look back.ā€

ā€œThe peace process with the FARC, which was to demobilize the FARC, period, certainly tried to have and had a gender focus, of course a diversity focus, a focus on human rights for all victims, and certainly (the) many LGBT victims who had been victims of FARC recruitment, abuse, stigmatization, etc.,ā€ LĆ³pez told the Blade. ā€œSo, in some sense, or in many senses, having that gender and diversity perspective was a way of recognizing the victims of our community.”

She noted opponents lied about the LGBTQ+-specific provisions “to deceive and delegitimize the peace agreement.”

ā€œIt is not about making anything invisible, or even downplaying anything, but rather about being much more strategic in understanding that we do not want our flags and causes to be exposed in a way that ends up being a boomerang for our own community,ā€ LĆ³pez added. ā€œSo, I say that is why it is a disappointment, because I think it is a lesson. At least for me, it made me think and it makes me think, and I have said it openly since then, that we have to be much more careful and much more, above all, strategic, in how we raise our flags so that they really do not only have symbolic, but real advances and so that in no case do they become a boomerang against ourselves.ā€

‘I know how you feel’

LĆ³pez during the interview praised the recent elections of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Uruguayan Vice President Beatriz ArgimĆ³n, and other women in Latin America. She also expressed sympathy with LGBTQ+ Americans who are concerned about the incoming Trump-Vance administration.

ā€œI know how you feel,ā€ said LĆ³pez in her speech. ā€œIā€™ve been there when we lost the peace referendum in 2016. Iā€™ve been there when three candidates who represented independent, new alternatives in Colombia, and policies were killed by mafia groups in 1990. Iā€™ve been there when a mafia cartel was able to fund and elect a president for all of us. Iā€™ve been there when paramilitary groups were able to support and elect another president in Colombia.ā€

ā€œI know how obscure and difficult and challenging and painful democratic times are, but we cannot (back) democracy only when we win,ā€ she added. ā€œItā€™s precisely when things are challenging, when we suffer defeats that are painful, that we need to attach to our democratic and humanistic values and principles.ā€

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World

Out in the World: LGBTQ+ news from Canada, Europe, and Asia

Lawmaker urges Hong Kong to ignore relationship recognition court ruling

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

CANADA

Transgender activists in the province of Alberta have filed the first of an expected series of lawsuits against a trio of anti-LGBTQ+ bills passed by the provincial legislature last week

The provinceā€™s United Conservative Party government passed the long-promised legislation which bars trans youth under 16 from accessing gender care, bans trans women and girls from womenā€™s sports, requires parental notification and consent if a student under 16 wishes to use a different name or pronoun, and requires parental notification and consent ahead of any discussion of sexual orientation, gender identity or sexuality in classrooms.

On Friday, Canadaā€™s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group Egale filed a joint legal challenge with the Calgary-based trans support center Skipping Stone and five families against the medical care ban, as that bill came into effect immediately upon passage.

ā€œThe actions of the government of Alberta are unprecedented. Never before in Canada has a government prohibited access to gender affirming health care,ā€ says Kara Smyth, co-counsel in the case, in a press statement.

Egale says that the law violates the rights of trans people under Canadaā€™s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including the right to security of the person, freedom from cruel and unusual treatment, and equality. 

It also says the law violates Albertaā€™s recently amended Bill of Rights, including the right to not be subjected to, or coerced into receiving, medical care, medical treatment, or a medical procedure without consent. This was recently added into provincial law as a sop to far-right conspiracy theorists around vaccines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ā€œThis government has acted directly counter to expert guidance and evidence, as well as the voices of Albertan families, and introduced policies that use fear and disinformation to target a small and vulnerable part of the community: 2SLGBTQI young people. All Albertan families and youth deserve the ability to access health care and participate fully in their communities,ā€ says Amelia Newbert, co-founder and managing director of Skipping Stone.

Even if the plaintiffs succeed in court, they may still lose, because Canadaā€™s Charter of Rights includes a clause that allows provincial governments to override fundamental rights. Thatā€™s what happened when a court in neighboring Saskatchewan ruled against a law requiring schools to out trans students to their parents.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has so far refused to say whether sheā€™ll invoke the ā€œnotwithstandingā€ clause to override a court decision if the province loses.

And the temperature for LGBTQ+ rights in Alberta keeps getting worse. Also last week, the town of Barrhaven passed a citizen-initiated referendum that bans Pride flags ā€” and all flags other than the Canadian, Albertan, or town flag ā€” from being raised or painted on municipal property. Thatā€™s going to require that the city remove a recently installed rainbow crosswalk.

Itā€™s the second town in Alberta to ban the Pride flags this year, after Westlock held a similar referendum in February.

ROMANIA

A scheduled second-round presidential election was cancelled by the Constitutional Court amid allegations that Russia was interfering to aid far-right nationalist Călin Georgescu against progressive reformer Elena Lasconi.

The unprecedented move was condemned by both candidates, who accused Romaniaā€™s establishment parties of trying to usurp the democratic process. 

Declassified intelligence reports released by the government assert that Georgescuā€™s campaign was supported by a Russian influence operation, which was largely played out through a massive TikTok campaign that raised his profile from obscurity to winning the first-round election on Nov. 24. 

Fresh elections will be called by the new parliament that was elected separately on Dec 1. In those elections, establishment parties lost ground ā€” and their parliamentary majority ā€” as three far-right ultranationalist parties made major gains.

Georgescu and the three parties supporting him have long been hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. Lasconiā€™s record on LGBTQ+ rights is mixed. Sheā€™s previously expressed opposition to same-sex marriage, but during the campaign said she would support civil union legislation and eventually would be open to equal marriage.Ā 

Regardless of who wins the election, it is unlikely Romaniaā€™s parliament will bring forward much pro-LGBTQ+ rights legislation.

LITHUANIA

A court in Lithuania has for the first time recognized a same-sex partner as a childā€™s parent, in a groundbreaking ruling in a country where same-sex couples and families have few legal rights.

The Vilnius District Court ruling came into effect on Friday, recognizing both women as the childā€™s parent, LRT English reports.

The couple at the center of the case are Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson Birutė Sabatauskaitė and her partner JÅ«ratė JuÅ”kaitė, director of the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights. JuÅ”kaitė will now be able to have her name listed as a parent on all of her daughterā€™s documents, giving her all the rights of a mother.

ā€œFrom today, our family feels safer. The Vilnius District Courtā€™s ruling that recognises me as the mother of our little girl has come into effect,ā€ JuÅ”kaitė posted on Facebook.

While the case does not set a legal precedent, it shows that the Lithuanian courts are open to same-sex couples in the interest of protecting family rights and childrenā€™s rights. 

ā€œFamily cases are very individual, but yes, it could certainly inspire and give hope to families who donā€™t fit into the traditional definition of a family,ā€ says Donatas Murauskas, who represented JuÅ”kaitė in court.

Same-sex couples are not generally afforded legal recognition or any of the rights that married heterosexual couples have in Lithuania. A bill to recognize civil partnerships awaits a final vote in the Lithuanian parliament, but the newly elected government, a coalition of Social Democrats and nationalists, has not agreed to put the bill in their program. 

CHINA

A Hong Kong lawmaker is calling on the city to ignore last yearā€™s Court of Final Appeal ruling ordering the government to recognize same-sex unions, and is urging the city to instead appeal to mainland China to overrule the court.

Under the ā€œOne Country, Two Systemsā€ form of government that Hong Kong has had since the end of the British colonial period in 1997, the city enjoys limited autonomy from Beijing. But China has the power to intervene on matters with ā€œpermanent, serious consequences.ā€

Lawmaker Junius Ho says that a series of Court of Final Appeal rulings that require the city to recognize same-sex couples and grant them equal access to public housing and inheritance rights are serious enough to warrant intervention from Beijing.

He made the comments at a forum hosted by a group he founded to fight the rulings, International Probono Legal Services Association Limited.

ā€œThe Court of Final Appeal [made these rulings] on so-called same-sex marriages under just one notion, equal rights. What equal rights? Diversity, inclusiveness and equality,ā€ Ho said. ā€œ[These] universal values cannot override the constitution.ā€

Last year, the Court of Final Appeal gave the city two years to establish a legal mechanism to recognize same-sex couples, but LGBTQ+ activists have been frustrated by the lack of legislative progress on the issue.

Even as same-sex couples have continued to win victories in court, queer people have noticed that space for free expression has shrunk as the government has cut funding for LGBTQ+ service organizations and it has become more risky to accept funding from foreign sources amid a broader crackdown from the mainland on Hong Kongā€™s democratic institutions.

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