JAPAN

The Tokyo High Court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, upholding a lower court ruling. This is the second High Court ruling favoring same-sex marriage after the Sapporo High Court came to a similar conclusion earlier this year, and more High Court rulings are expected over the next few months. 

The court found that laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples “are not based on reasonable grounds” and lead to “discriminatory treatment (of people) based on their sexual orientation,” according to the ruling.

The rulings don’t immediately create a right to same-sex marriage in Japan, but they add pressure on the government to address the unconstitutionality. These cases will likely find their way to the Supreme Court next year.

Same-sex marriage is not currently legal anywhere in Japan, and the government has long asserted that Section 24 of the post-war constitution rules out same-sex marriage. Section 24 states “marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.”

However, equal marriage supporters point out that Section 24 was not intended to deal with same-sex marriage, but rather to assert the right of individuals to marry the person of their choice, rather than traditional arranged marriages. 

A series of recent court victories have gradually opened up recognition of equal rights for same-sex couples in Japan. Five lower courts have found that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitution, while only one lower court has upheld the ban as constitutional. 

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court found that same-sex couples are entitled to survivors’ benefits for victims of crime. 

Additionally, 450 municipalities and 30 of Japan’s 47 prefectures have instituted partnership registries for same-sex couples. Although these registries have little legal force, they have helped couples access local services and demonstrate growing recognition of same-sex couples’ rights.

This week’s High Court ruling comes at a time of flux in Japanese politics. During last week’s parliamentary election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its governing majority, while the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, which supports same-sex marriage, made huge gains.

Anglo Nippon Politics reports that a very narrow majority of newly elected legislators have expressed support for same-sex marriage, but that the dynamics of the new parliament may make it difficult for the LDP, which hopes to hold onto power with support for smaller conservative parties, to advance controversial issues.

CANADA 

The Alberta government under United Conservative Party Premier Danielle Smith introduced four pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender legislation last week, prompting protests in the capital Edmonton and in the province’s largest city Calgary.

Smith had initially announced the legislation in February, amid a general hysteria about transgender youth and school inclusion policies that had swept through conservative parties across Canada. 

The four bills ban gender care for trans youth, require parental notification and consent if a trans student wishes to use a different name or pronoun in school, bars trans women from competing in sports in schools and colleges, and requires parental notification and “opt-in” if sexual orientation, gender identity, or human sexuality will be discussed in classrooms.

Opponents criticized Smith for the legislation, which critics said was timed to help Smith in a leadership review held this weekend. Smith’s leadership was upheld with more than 91 percent of the vote at the UCP convention in Red Deer on Saturday.

More than 1,000 people showed up at Calgary City Hall to demonstrate against the bills on Saturday, as well as against the UCP’s priorities for Alberta, while hundreds more turned up in front of the provincial legislature in Edmonton.

Rowan Morris, an organizer with Trans Rights YEG, told the Edmonton Journal that the bills had galvanized opposition from across the political spectrum, recalling a conversion he had with a conservative supporter.

“[She said], ‘My whole family is here, we’re all conservatives, we will all be conservatives for the rest of our lives, but we recognize that bodily autonomy is a freedom we need to uphold for all Albertans. Whether we agree on how you live your life or not, the government does not have a place in your private medical decisions with your doctor,’” Morris said.

Because of the UCP’s majority in the provincial legislature, there is little chance the bills won’t pass. Voters next go to the polls in Alberta in October 2027.

Voters in Canada have had a chance to weigh in on anti-trans policies this year, and the results have been mixed. In Manitoba and New Brunswick, voters turfed conservative parties from government after they introduced or announced anti-trans policies, while in British Columbia, voters kept the governing New Democrats in office after the opposition Conservatives had announced several similar anti-trans policies.

Last month, voters in Saskatchewan returned its conservative government to power after it introduced a parental notification and consent policy in violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and pledged to introduce a ban on trans students accessing change rooms and bathrooms in schools if reelected.

GERMANY

The Gender Self-Determination Act came into force on Friday, marking a historic advancement for trans rights in Germany. 

Under the new law, anyone will be able to change their legal name and gender by making a simple application at their local registry office. 

The new law replaces the Transsexuals Act, which dates from the early 1980s, and required anyone wishing to change their legal gender to get permission from a judge after submitting two psychological assessments. 

The law allows name and gender changes for minors. Children under 14 can have the process done by their parents, while those over 14 can do so with parental permission. Youth will also have to submit a declaration that they have sought advice from a psychologist or from a youth welfare specialist.

Also included in the law is a new protection that makes it a criminal offense to out a trans person without their consent.

Gender self-determination is increasingly the norm in Western European countries. Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark have all introduced similar legislation in recent years. Additionally, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, India, Pakistan, as well as several provinces and states of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico allow gender self-determination.

SWITZERLAND 

The Swiss canton of Vaud became the latest place in Europe to ban so-called conversion therapy, as legislation to ban the discredited practice of attempting to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity nationwide has stalled in the federal parliament.

Vaud is the third of Switzerland’s 26 cantons to ban conversion therapy, following Neuchatel last December and Valais earlier this year. Vaud is Switzerland’s third-largest canton, home to more than 800,000 people. 

In 2022, the lower house of the Swiss parliament passed a motion calling on the government to introduce a conversion therapy ban, but the motion was rejected by the upper house earlier this year.  Legislators at the time said they wanted to wait for more information from the Federal Council, which was due to report on conversion therapy over the summer. 

In the meantime, several other Swiss cantons have begun debating local bans on conversion therapy, including Geneva, Bern, and Zurich. 

Doctors and therapists are already prohibited from practicing conversion therapy in Switzerland by their professional associations, but much conversion therapy is carried out by unlicensed individuals.

Conversion therapy has already been banned across much of Western Europe, including France, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, and Iceland. It has also been banned in Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, and in many U.S. and Australian states.

A Kenyan court has awarded two gay men charged with “unnatural sex” for engaging in consensual sexual relations a total of Sh4 million ($31,000) in compensation.

This is after the Magistrates Court in the coastal city of Mombasa ruled the authorities violated the men’s rights in obtaining evidence.

During the arrest, the two men were forcefully subjected to genital examination and HIV tests against their constitutional rights to privacy and the rights of an arrested person, including being allowed to speak with a lawyer.

Section 162 of Kenya’s penal code criminalizes consensual same-sex relations with a 14-year jail term. Prosecutors wanted the court to find the two gay men, who were arrested in 2021, guilty of the offense.

In a ruling issued on Oct. 24, the court, while awarding each of the men Sh2 million ($15,600) in compensation, faulted prosecutors’ unlawful extraction of evidence.

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, a local LGBTQ+ rights organization, last year petitioned the court not to admit the evidence for having been obtained unlawfully, to stop the hearing, and for the accused to be compensated.   

In the petition, CMRSL cited infringement on the gay men’s right to human dignity: A ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, the rights to privacy and a fair trial, rights of an arrested person, and violation of their freedom and security as the constitution and international law mandates.

“This provision (Section 162 of the penal code) has historically been used by the State to target and harass LGBTQ+ persons based on their gender identity and sexual orientation,” CMRSL Legal Manager Michael Kioko told the Washington Blade.

The High Court in 2019 declined to decriminalize sections of the penal code that ban homosexuality in response to queer rights organizations’ petition that argued the State cannot criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults. The constitutionality of laws that criminalize homosexuality is still contested in the appeals court, based on the argument they infringe on the rights to privacy and human dignity.

CMRSL termed the latest ruling “a crucial step toward dignity and human rights for all” while noting that the case was critical in its legal representation efforts to protect the fundamental rights of queer people in Kenya. 

The Oct. 24 decision affirms the Mombasa appeals court’s 2018 ruling that struck down the use of forced anal testing in homosexuality cases by terming it as unlawful. Kenya’s National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission brought the case.

The appeals court verdict stemmed from a 2015 case where police in Mombasa obtained a court order to force two gay men to undergo anal examinations and HIV testing at a local clinic after authorities arrested them and charged them with unnatural sex.

NGLHRC, in challenging the court order, argued forced anal examinations are cruel, inhuman, degrading, and breached local and international medical ethics and human rights. 

The latest ruling exonerating the two gay men from prosecution is among numerous cases in which CMRSL has represented queer people in court to defend and protect LGBTQ+ rights in the country.

The case against a gay man in Mombasa charged with an unnatural act (a same-sex affair) and represented by CMRSL in court saw the matter dropped last September. The court last June acquitted transgender women in Lamu charged with committing gross indecent acts between males against provisions of the penal code.

CMRSL represented the trans women.

The group has deployed community paralegals and field monitors to monitor, document, and report queer rights violations. 

“They (field monitors) work closely with LGBTQ+ community paralegals to link survivors to justice by providing legal support and connecting those to pro bono lawyers and legal aid services,” Kioko said. “On average, our monitors handle around 10 cases each month, ensuring that violations are addressed and survivors receive the necessary legal pathways to seek justice.”  

CMRSL in partnership with several queer lobby groups, is also challenging the Kenya Films Classification Board in court for banning a movie titled “I Am Samuel” on the pretext it contained gay scenes that violate Kenyan law.

The Kenya Films Classification Board in 2018 also banned the “Rafiki” because it contains lesbian-specific content. Petitioners who challenged the ban in court argue the decision violates freedom of expression and other constitutional provisions.

ILGA World has suspended an Israeli advocacy group after it withdrew its bid to host its conference in Tel Aviv.

The Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, had bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. The ILGA World board of directors was to have voted on the proposal at the 2024 ILGA World Conference 2024 that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from Nov. 11-15.

ILGA World on Tuesday announced “the bid to host our next World Conference in Tel Aviv will not go forward, and will not be put to a vote at the upcoming World Conference.” The announcement notes the ILGA World Board “held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from the Aguda from consideration, and it has also decided to suspend the organization from our membership.”

The announcement further says the Aguda’s bid “was found in violation of ILGA World’s aims and objectives set out in our constitution (3.1 and 3.2.)”

“The ILGA World board is also reviewing the Aguda’s compliance with our constitution and has decided to suspend the organization from our membership to allow for that to happen,” said ILGA World in its announcement.

The decision to suspend the Aguda comes against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas militants last Oct. 7 killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel. The Israeli government says the militants also kidnapped more than 200 people.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 41,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7.

A case that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice in the Hague late last year accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court, which is also in the Hague, in May announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. 

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel. (A suspected Israeli airstrike on July 31 killed Haniyah while he was in the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Israeli soldiers on Oct. 16 killed Sinwar in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt.)

“We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities,” said ILGA World in its statement. “Our apology goes to our members, to our host organizations, and our global communities — and especially to those in South Africa, who will soon host the global movement for our upcoming World Conference.”

“We recognize the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: Even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people,” it adds.

ILGA World also said it supports calls for “stronger governance practices in vetting the proposals we receive.”

“We heard our communities, and we must do better in the future: A situation like this must not repeat,” it said.

The Aguda in a statement said it is “deeply disappointment that ILGA has chosen to boycott those who work for LGBTQ+ rights and strive towards a more just society.”

“For 50 years, the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, has worked to support the LGBTQ+ community and uphold human rights for all, including supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in the Arab community, and Palestinian asylum seekers persecuted for their sexual and gender identities,” reads the statement. “The Israeli LGBTQ+ identity embraces both service and contribution to the state as citizens, while continuing to fight for the values of democracy and human rights in the society in which we live.”

The Aguda added Israel’s LGBTQ+ community “should not bear responsibility for government policy, and we expect the international community to support liberal voices rather than boycott them.”

“We are proud to be LGBTQ+ and Israeli, and we will continue to fight for a more equal and safer society,” said the Aguda.

ILGA World Executive Director Julia Ehrt on Wednesday told the Washington Blade in an emailed statement the organization “has communicated in writing with the Aguda.”

“So far, we have not heard from them other than on social media, but of course they have a right to defend their membership status according to our governance procedures,” said Ehrt.

Groups ‘complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled’

Charbel Maydaa, the founder and general director of MOSAIC, a Lebanon-based advocacy group that works throughout the Middle East and North Africa, is also the co-chair of ILGA Asia. He is among the activists who welcomed ILGA World’s decision to withdraw the Aguda’s bid.

A thread in response to a post on Maydaa’s LinkedIn page notes ILGA World in 1987 expelled the Gay Association of South Africa after it “refused to condemn apartheid” in the country “or to get involved in political struggles.”

“GASA’s stance led to its dissolution, and the formation of new and more progressive LGBT rights groups in South Africa,” said Gabriel Hoosain Khan, a London-based activist. “Organizations that are complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled.”

The International Planned Parenthood Federation also welcomed ILGA World’s decision. A Wider Bridge, a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism, and other forms of hatred,” described it as “outrageous and unacceptable.”

ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) supposedly stands for respect for human rights, equality and freedom regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics,” said A Wider Bridge in a statement. “But by singling out Israel and Israeli LGBTQ people for opprobrium, ILGA violates its fundamental principles.”

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The 2022 ILGA World Conference took place in Long Beach, Calif.

“I am appalled and disgusted that ILGA World would ostracize and expel the leading organization in Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people there,” said California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, who is the former executive director of Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, on X. “This is appalling and blatant anti-Semitism and an abandonment of LGBTQ+ Israelis.”

Shame on @ILGAWORLD. As the former leader of @eqca, CA’s LGBTQ civil rights org, I am appalled and disgusted that @ilgaworld would ostracize and expel the leading org in #Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ ppl there. This is appalling and blatant antisemitism and… https://t.co/6zrU1WQQ7J

— Rick Chavez Zbur (@RickChavezZbur) October 30, 2024

Ehrt in her statement to the Blade acknowledged criticisms over ILGA World’s decision. She also dismissed suggestions that anti-Semitism prompted it.

“ILGA World has a long and proven record of fighting for equality for all,” said Ehrt. “We have repeatedly called for peace in the region, and continue to work every day to counter racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, and anti-Semitism — alongside LGBTI-phobia. Our daily work speaks much louder than the baseless accusations we are receiving.” 

Chile’s municipal and regional elections that took place on Oct. 27 have brought with them a renewed focus on LGBTQ+ rights and diversity.

In a context where the center right has managed to stand out against the Republicans, political parties have incorporated into their platforms a commitment towards the inclusion of queer people. Some Chilean political scientists say the elections have shown a country inclined to vote for the opposition Chile Vamos coalition, even though the left governs Chile.

The ruling party, grouped in Contigo Chile Mejor, had a setback similar to what happened in the 2021 municipal and regional elections — it lost 39 communes that include Santiago, San Miguel, Ñuñoa, and Independencia.

Voters in Maipú, the country’s second most populous commune, re-elected Tomás Vodanovic from President Gabriel Boric’s Frente Amplio.

Frente Amplio also won in Viña del Mar, and other communes, and saw victory in others that include Valparaíso, where the Chilean Congress is located.

Openly LGBTQ+ candidates have emerged since 2012, and some of them have made history. These include Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, a Frente Amplio member who is transgender.

Several LGBTQ+ candidates have resonated with voters within the framework of these elections; not only highlighting their identity, but their commitment to the struggle for equal social rights. 

Gloria Hutt, president of Evolución Política (Evópoli), a party that is part of the Chile Vamos coalition, stressed the importance of diversity in its agenda.

“Part of Evópoli’s agenda is inclusion and diversity, including the diversity of communities of different sexual identities. And in this election we had a dozen candidates who belong to sexual diversities, some of them won, others did not, but it is part of the agenda with which we are permanently working,” Hutt told the Washington Blade.

“We believe that it is also part of the freedom of people to deploy their life project without anything else interfering but their own identity and without prejudice preventing them from deploying that identity,” she added. 

The reelection of figures, such as Viña del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti, and Vodanovic’s success in Maipú reflect significant support for the progressive agenda.

“First of all I would like to emphasize that we saw an impeccable process where citizens were able to express their preferences,” Frente Amplio Secretary-General Andrés Couble told the Blade. “We believe that the results allow us to look to the future with optimism.”

Couble highlighted the importance of LGBTQ+ candidacies in decision-making spaces. 

“We think it is important to promote them and that they reach elected positions, because they allow us to bring the struggles for equal rights and respect and promotion of diversity to institutional spaces,” he said. 

Couble at the same time highlighted the victory of Bladymir Muñoz, the Chilean councilman who received the most votes, as an example of the advance towards a more inclusive representation. 

Muñoz is a Frente Amplio member. He received 41,669 votes in Maipú.

Activists around the world with whom the Washington Blade spoke this week say a Kamala Harris presidency will ensure U.S. foreign policy will continue to champion LGBTQ+ and intersex rights.

“A Kamala win would ensure the continuation of U.S. protection and support of global LGBTQ+ human rights,” said Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha. “I worry about a Trump win and Project 2025 in particular, as it not only undermines LGBTQ human rights but also rolls back the gains we have made so far.”

Uganda is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.

The Biden-Harris administration in 2023 imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act. 

“I directed the administration to promote human rights for LGBTQ [people] everywhere, particularly, for example, Uganda — they want help from us; they’ve got to change their policy, in terms of the discrimination,” President Joe Biden told the Washington Blade during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office on Sept. 12.

South African MP Steve Letsike, a lesbian woman who founded Access Chapter 2, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, told the Blade the U.S. government during the Biden-Harris administration “has been instrumental in extending its policy agenda for its own citizens and lending a hand and support to queer communities in hard criminalized settings such as Uganda and many other countries.”

“Kamala Harris will continue to champion the rights-based approach that raises intersectional issues,” she said. “She is the hope we seek for this world.”

Esteban Paulón, a long-time LGBTQ+ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, agreed.

“The support for the agenda of promoting LGBTIQ rights more globally by the United States government without a doubt depends centrally on Kamala Harris’s victory,” he told the Blade.

Decriminalization was White House LGBTQ+ foreign policy priority

Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ+ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy. The White House in the same year named Jessica Stern, who was previously the executive director of Outright International, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ+ and intersex rights abroad.

Then-State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a 2021 interview with the Blade noted the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations was one of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ+ and intersex rights abroad. Stern in 2022 told the Blade that support of marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process is “among a wider set of priorities.”

Former President Donald Trump tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.

“We hope for continued support for the defense of Ukraine, which is critical to the survival of LGBTQI people in Ukraine,” Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, an LGBTQ rights group in Ukraine, told the Blade. “With Trump it’s definitely a backlash on the rights of LGBTI and women.”

Mugisha also expressed concern about a Trump victory — and Project 2025 “in particular.”

“It not only undermines LGBTQ human rights but also rolls back the gains we have made so far,” he said.

“What worries me is that Trump has proven his hate, his anti-policies and laws that consistently denies LGBTI people their fundamental rights,” Letsike told the Blade. “American LGBTI people’s rights must be guaranteed, respected and protected and not be threatened by any president that assumes office.”

Dindi Tan, national president of LGBT Pilipinas in the Philippines, agreed.

“The proposed policies of (Vice President) Harris align with our advocacy and policy direction on LGBTQIA+ rights in the Philippines and beyond,” Tan told the Blade. “Considering also that there are many LGBTQIA+ Filipinos living in the U.S., I believe that Harris winning the Presidency would advance our ongoing fight for equality.”

“On the other hand, a Trump victory promises to undo the hard-fought victories we have had over the years,” added Tan.

War in Gaza overshadows US election 

The presidential election will take place against the backdrop of widespread global criticism of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the Biden-Harris administration’s continued support of Israel.

Hasan Kilani, a Jordanian Palestinian queer activist, told the Blade he supports Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

“We do not want the queer rights movement associated with a government that has supported the atrocities witnessed in Gaza,” said Kilani. 

He added he rejects “a binary view that frames the choice solely between Trump and Harris.” 

“I believe that real progress lies in moving towards voting Green,” said Kilani. “If Trump were to win, it could prompt the Democratic Party to reassess its policies and return to the core of progressive values, a space where the queer community once found alignment. Right now, however, I see little practical difference between Kamala Harris and Trump when it comes to the impact on queer people in the Middle East.”

Outright International is among the LGBTQ+ rights groups that has called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Maria Sjödin, the group’s executive director, in a statement to the Blade did not specifically mention the war. Sjödin, however, defended the U.N. and other “multilateral systems” that “play a vital role for LGBTIQ communities — especially when domestic governments fail to protect their rights.” (The Israeli Knesset on Monday approved a bill that will ban the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, from conducting “any activity” in the country. UNRWA is the largest aid provider in Gaza.)

“Any retreat by the U.S. from these international institutions would weaken essential platforms where marginalized voices are heard,” said Sjödin. “Additionally, funding for global human rights initiatives is a lifeline for many organizations working in countries where LGBTIQ people face severe oppression.”

“A U.S. administration that deprioritizes international solidarity and human rights funding would deeply harm efforts to ensure dignity, freedom, and equality for LGBTIQ people worldwide,” added Sjödin.

Sjödin also expressed concern about the election’s impact on LGBTQ+ Americans.

“No matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, there is a significant risk if an ‘America First’ ideology — focused on isolationism — prevails,” said Sjödin. “Such a posture undermines the role the U.S. has played in promoting human rights globally. We have witnessed devastating attacks on the rights of trans people at the state level, and the spread of this rhetoric to the federal level would not only hurt the LGBTQ community in the U.S. but also severely damage the U.S.’ credibility as a leader in promoting equality and dignity for LGBTIQ people around the world.”

Caleb Orozco, a prominent activist in Belize, told the Blade the global LGBTQ+ rights movement will continue, regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election.

“While freedoms and rights demand vigilance that remains fragile in the US and around the world, voters will determine if they want allyship or exclusion,” said Orozco. “Either way LGBTQ resilience continues.”

CANADA

Voters in New Brunswick booted the Progressive Conservative Party from government on Oct. 21 after a tumultuous year that saw the province’s premier lead a trend of Canada’s conservative parties launching policies targeting transgender students in schools. 

The New Brunswick Liberals led by Susan Holt won 31 seats to the Progressive Conservatives’ 16 and the Green Party’s 2. Holt will become the province’s first woman premier.

Outgoing Premier Blaine Higgs, who had personally spearheaded the province’s controversial policy requiring parental notification and consent if a student wants to use a different name or pronoun in school, lost his own seat in the election. 

Higgs had announced the policy earlier in the year, which led to two of his own cabinet ministers resigning in protest. While the Progressive Conservatives insisted the policy was popular and campaigned hard on maintaining it, voters ultimately rejected it.

Holt has pledged to withdraw the policy and put safeguards in place for LGBTQ+ students.

New Brunswick is the third Canadian province this year where voters rejected conservative parties that had implemented or proposed anti-trans policies in schools, after Manitoba and British Columbia.

Voters in Saskatchewan on Monday will decide the fate of the right-leaning Saskatchewan Party government, which recently passed a law overriding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to implement its parental notification and consent policy for trans students. The party has also pledged further crackdowns on trans people in schools. 

Polls indicate the race is tight, with some predictions suggesting the New Democrats, who have pledged to repeal the policy, look set to unseat the Saskatchewan Party for the first time in 17 years.

The Progressive Conservative government of Nova Scotia also called snap elections for Nov. 26, and polls indicate that the PCs will cruise to a victory. The Nova Scotia government bucked the anti-trans trend among Canada’s conservative parties and has announced plans to update education policies to make schools more LGBTQ+-inclusive. 

IRELAND

Ireland’s parliament passed a sweeping hate crimes law addressing a sharp uptick in violence against LGBTQ+ people both on the Emerald Isle and across Europe.

The Criminal Justice (Hate Offenses) Act was passed by a vote of 78-52 on Oct. 23. The bill adds stiffer penalties to crimes if they are found to be motivated by hatred based on race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, disability, gender (including trans and nonbinary identities), sex characteristics, and sexual orientation.

The government said Ireland had been an international outlier due to its lack of hate crime legislation. The lack of hate crime laws had been flagged in the annual Rainbow Index report on Ireland by ILGA-Europe.

Still, the government faced opposition to its initial hate crimes bill, which also included provisions expanding the country’s laws banning hate speech to include hate speech based on gender identity. To get the bill passed, the government stripped those provisions from the bill. Hate speech based on sexual orientation has been illegal in Ireland since 1989.

“Making the decision to remove the incitement to violence or hatred provisions was a difficult one; but it was necessary to move forward to put the hate crime provisions into law. The message this sends is clear — hatred and violence towards others because of who they are will not be tolerated, and now the law will reflect this,” says Justice Minister Helen McEntee in a statement.

“I have been very clear that I believe we need to update the 1989 Act to adequately deal with incitement to hatred offenses, particularly in the context of modern online communications. I absolutely believe this needs to be next on our agenda and amendments to the 1989 Act will be progressed at the earliest opportunity.”

LGBTQ+ activists had mixed feelings about the bill’s passage, acknowledging the value of getting the bill passed but pledging to continue fighting for hate speech protections for trans people. 

“LGBT+ and other communities deserve protection and we welcome the imminent passage into law of this long overdue legislation. There must be consequences for targeting people for who they are,” said Ireland’s National LGBT Federation (NXF) in a statement on X.

“The NXF and our civil society colleagues remain firmly committed to seeing the incitement provisions of (the) bill revisited and enacted. Ensuring the legislation is fit-for-purpose is crucial. The safety of our communities is more important than ‘culture wars’ or political populism.”

SOUTH KOREA

Hundreds of thousands of people attended a demonstration against LGBTQ+ rights in the South Korean capital on Oct. 27, organized by Christian groups.

Police estimated that around 230,000 people attended the demonstration, while organizers claimed that attendance was over one million, Reuters reports. 

The protesters were demonstrating against a recent Supreme Court ruling that found that the National Health Insurance Service was obligated to provide spousal benefits to same-sex couples. While the ruling is binding, reports have emerged that the NHIS is still not providing benefits to same-sex couples, as there remains no legal recognition of same-sex couples in South Korea.

Recently, 11 same-sex couples filed lawsuits seeking to establish same-sex marriage rights in the country. 

Attendees at the protest carried signs that decried LGBTQ+ rights generally, including opposing a proposed anti-discrimination law, and urging “protect our children from gender pollution, gender confusion, and gender division destruction.”

Not all Christian groups agree with the protesters’ anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments. 

“This rally claims to be a ‘joint worship service,’ but it is nothing but a sinful event in which participants base their claims on outdated conspiracies to push homophobic discrimination,” read a statement signed by 53 LGBTQ+ organizations and LGBTQ+-friendly Christian groups.

“This directly contradicts the values of generosity, diversity, and respect for human rights that our society has worked so hard to instill. They are oppressing the rights of minorities under the name of the ‘majority,’” the statement read. 

RUSSIA

The Russian government has escalated its crackdown on LGBTQ+ people, with raids on four gay bars across the country leading to at least 50 people being detained, Novaya Gazeta reports.

The raids took place on Oct. 12, coinciding with the bars’ events celebrating National Coming Out Day. Two popular queer bars, Central Station and Three Monkeys, were raided in Moscow, while two other queer bars were reportedly raided in Yekaterinburg in central Russia. 

Videos of the crackdowns released on Russian propaganda Telegram channels show detainees being forced to lie on the ground or stand with their hands against the wall while police violently frisk them. 

The channels variously allege that the purpose of the raids was to crack down on drug trafficking or respond to civilian complaints of impropriety. One channel alleges that the clubs were “discrediting the Russian army” as drag performers at Central Station mocked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Russia has intensified a crackdown on LGBTQ+ people over the past decade, first banning “LGBTQ propaganda” in 2013. Last year, the Supreme Court declared “the international LGBT movement” an “extremist organization,” causing several queer organizations and venues to close or go underground. 

GEORGIA

Georgia’s opposition leaders are crying foul after what they’re saying was a rigged election that let the ruling Georgian Dream party hold onto power. Georgian Dream has led a crackdown on LGBTQ+ people while leading an increasingly authoritarian, anti-democratic, and pro-Russia government at odds with the country’s largely pro-Western and pro-democracy population.

The opposition parties claim that multiple exit polls showed them winning a combined majority of votes on election day Oct. 26, before official results reported that Georgian Dream had won 53 percent of the vote. Opposition parties claim that the official results come from voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, fraud, and other irregularities seen and reported at polling stations across the country, especially in rural areas where Georgian Dream dominated.

President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official results, which she claimed were caused by Russian interference. The opposition parties also announced on Monday that they would boycott parliament. They have collectively called for protests against disputed election. 

The European Union called for an investigation into the election. Georgia officially seeks to join the EU but has had its membership application suspended due to democratic backsliding under Georgian Dream.

The U.S. government has also previously applied sanctions on Georgian Dream leadership and has said it is observing the situation closely. 

Climate change is real, impacting everyone around the world, and India remains at the forefront of its effects.

Changing weather patterns cause food insecurity, hitting vulnerable communities the hardest. The transgender community in particular suffers disproportionately, as their already limited access to resources worsens in times of crisis. 

As India battles climate change, the struggle for survival and dignity intensifies for those most marginalized.

In India, LGBTQ people, particularly the trans community, frequently face family conflict that leads to forced displacement that is often accompanied by violence or the threat of violence. Many trans people, as a result, become homeless, frequently finding themselves in low-lying areas that are prone to frequent flooding, further exacerbating their vulnerability.

Many trans Indians are involved in sex work or rely on begging in public spaces that include streets, or on trains and busses. Their means of survival are disproportionately affected, often more severely than other communities, during floods, heatwaves, and other climate change-induced events.

Trans Indians involved in begging are particularly vulnerable, often working in the heat or heavy rain without access to basic facilities. They often have no choice but to continue working to survive, despite the toll on their mental and physical health.

The Council on Energy, Environment, and Water, a policy research institute in India, has identified Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Bihar states as highly vulnerable to extreme climate crises. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh also have relatively high populations of trans people.

Many of them, particularly those with HIV or are undergoing hormonal treatments, face additional health risks. Extreme temperatures, which India experiences annually, can negatively affect their treatments and overall well-being.

The U.N. says climate change disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable, worsening existing inequalities. 

Efforts to improve the trans community’s well-being include the World Health Organization’s development of guidelines aimed at enhancing trans health, providing evidence-based recommendations, and implementation guidance for health sector interventions.

Marginalized communities, including trans people, faced heightened challenges during the 2015 Chennai floods due to limited access to relief and rehabilitation efforts. Many were forced into unsafe shelters and lacked access to food, medical supplies, and other essential services. The informal economy on which many trans people rely for survival was also severely disrupted during the crisis.

Trans people were also among the hardest hit during the 2018 Kerala floods.

They faced discrimination in relief camps where some were denied access to shelter and sanitary facilities. NGOs and activists highlighted the lack of sensitivity in disaster management policies toward the trans community, prompting increased discussions about addressing trans-specific needs in disaster response frameworks.

The climate change-induced floods in Assam in 2020 also placed trans individuals in vulnerable situations. Many of them struggled to access government relief measures because of societal stigma, and, in many cases, a lack of legal recognition. 

The floods displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and trans people were often overlooked in the distribution of relief aid.

Although there is no specific data available for India’s trans community, heat waves this year caused more than 700 deaths nationwide, significantly higher than the official government count of 360 facilities.

Activists in India have raised concerns about the challenges faced by the trans community during climate change-induced disasters.

The Indo-Global Social Service Society, an NGO focused on eliminating social inequality, said the trans community during disasters experiences disruptions in their normal coping mechanisms. Trans people often become displaced or are relocated to areas where they lose connection with their existing support networks, forcing them to cope with the disaster’s aftermath in isolation.

The IGSSS report also highlights the low priority given to trans people during rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts. 

It notes disaster assessment forms typically categorize gender as only male or female, which fails to capture the specific needs and experiences of trans people. This exclusion hampers effective planning and delivery of relief efforts. Trans people who have undergone gender-conformation surgery may also face aggravated health problems during disasters: More infections, urinary tract issues, and other medical complications. 

The report also indicates shelters are often not conducive for trans people, who frequently face discrimination and a lack of acceptance. These facilities typically have separate toilets for men and women but lack gender-neutral facilities, leading to verbal abuse and threats when trans people attempt to use any restroom.

Governments should ‘create more tailored’ disaster relief policies

Nepal’s trans community also faces the same challenges from climate change that their Indian counterparts.

Devastating floods that swept across Nepal on Sept. 26 left approximately 219 people dead. Flooding and landslides displaced 12,000 families. 

While there is no specific data on how many trans people this disaster directly impacted, the Nepali trans community’s experiences mirror those their Indian peers have faced during similar crises. The lack of targeted support and recognition of their unique needs in disaster response underscores the ongoing vulnerabilities both communities endure in the face of climate change.

The Washington Blade reached out to the Queer Youth Group, an LGBTQ organization in Nepal. 

Nanboong, the group’s communication officer, said that while climate change affects the LGBTQ community in Nepal as it does other groups, its impact is particularly pronounced among trans people.

“The government should create more tailored policies addressing the specific needs of LGBTQIA people in relation to climate change, and they need to do more to ensure these communities are adequately supported during climate-related disasters,” said Nanboong.

The Blade also reached out to Kalki Subramaniam, a trans activist, queer artist, and actor who is a member of India’s National Transgender Council. 

She explained that many LGBTQ people face rejection from their families, making them vulnerable to being forced out of their homes. This lack of familial support, coupled with limited access to housing and employment, leads to significant mental and physical health challenges. 

Subramaniam noted queer people often struggle with acceptance in both the job market and housing. She added trans people, particularly those who drop out of school, are frequently pushed into Chennai’s slums. 

“Many of my friends from the transgender community live in low-lying areas near the sea and highly polluted rivers,” said Subramaniam. “In these areas, they are somewhat accepted because others living there are also marginalized. However, during floods and heavy rains, their livelihoods get washed away.”

“Their homes are also destroyed,” she added. “I have a friend named Kartika, who used to beg on trains and in market areas. She wanted to start a business and opened a small idli (a traditional South Indian breakfast cake made from fermented rice and lentil batter) shop near the slum. Unfortunately, after just two months, her shop was completely washed away during the rains, with garbage piling up because of the flooding.”

Subramaniam told the Blade that Kartika, after losing her idli shop to the floods, was unable to recover from the setback and returned to begging. She lacked the necessary infrastructure and motivation to restart her business.

“The government should create policies that are more sustainable for the transgender community,” said Subramaniam. “Due to the lack of support and employment opportunities, transgender individuals are also victimized by climate change.” 

“On one hand, the government should focus on providing economic benefits, while at the same time, it should consider our community when framing climate change policies,” she added. “This should include how transgender people are treated during disasters.”

Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered many stories for Washington and Los Angeles Blades from Iran, India, and Singapore. He recently reported for the Daily Beast. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is on Twitter at @mohitkopinion. 

Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers was on assignment in Israel from Oct. 4-14.

JERUSALEM — LGBTQ Israelis and the groups that advocate for their rights continue to struggle with the aftermath of Oct. 7.

Hadas Kerem Bloemendal is the chair of Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, a group that organizes the city’s annual Pride parade. The therapist and former Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer who is raising twins with her wife spoke with the Washington Blade on Oct. 8 at Jerusalem Open House’s offices that are located near the city’s Zion Square.

Bloemendal said she and her colleagues in the days after Oct. 7 realized a lot of LGBTQ Israelis would not ask for help “from regular hotlines because they are afraid that the people that will answer will not be gay-friendly enough or will not understand the complexity of what they are going through.”

She told the Blade a closeted man in a message he posted to an online bulletin board said he is “really afraid because his boyfriend was kidnapped, and he can’t tell anyone because he’s gay and he’s not out, and if anyone would find out, what would they do to him.” 

The man’s boyfriend is one of 251 people who Hamas militants kidnapped on Oct. 7. It remains unclear whether all of the 101 hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip are still alive.

“You can’t imagine such a thing,” said Bloemendal.

A group of gay-friendly therapists after Oct. 7 volunteered to hold virtual sessions for Jerusalem Open House. The group also created a Google spreadsheet to streamline referrals.

Bloemendal said Jerusalem Open House received more than 80 calls in the two weeks after Oct. 7.

The Jewish Federations of North America gave Jerusalem Open House funding to continue the program. Jerusalem Open House subsequently created a network of LGBTQ-friendly therapists and social workers throughout Israel who work with the transgender community, Orthodox men and women, Arab Israelis, and other groups.

“People who lost family members, people who are evacuated from their homes are getting therapy through the project,” said Bloemendal.

She added Jerusalem Open House also works with IDF reservists, “people who were hurt during this war,” and “people who were already in a very fragile state before the war started.”

“When you are a fragile population, war only makes it worse,” said Bloemendal.

Yam Bahar is a spokesperson for Pride House of Be’er Sheva in Be’er Sheva, which is southern Israel’s largest city. The freelance photographer and editor who also manages a local bar spoke with the Blade on Oct. 9.

A Bedouin man three days earlier killed an Israel Border Police officer and injured 10 others when he attacked Be’er Sheva’s main bus station. It is less than a mile from Pride House of Be’er Sheva.

Pride House of Be’er Sheva, like Jerusalem Open House, offered psychological support to the local community after Oct. 7. Pride House of Be’er Sheva also started a “hamal” or “war room” in Hebrew that coordinated donations of food and children’s toys to displaced families.

“It was important for the community here to do this,” Bahar told the Blade.

Pride House of Be’er Sheva also distributes food on holidays.

“We’re trying to make this a place that can address real problems of people who are here,” said Bahar.

The Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, after Oct. 7 worked with other advocacy groups to host displaced people. The Aguda also made care packages for IDF soldiers, and offered mental health services.

“We did our best,” Aguda CEO Yael Sinai Biblash told the Blade on Oct. 8. “LGBTQ people in Israel are vulnerable, and once we’re at war they are more vulnerable.”

“They need more help,” she added.

Hamas militants on Oct. 8, 2023, killed IDF Maj. Sagi Golan in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the Israel-Gaza border. His fiancé, Omer Ohana, with the support of the Aguda and other advocacy groups, successfully lobbied Israeli lawmakers to amend the country’s Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen servicemembers.

Biblash is among the hundreds of people who attended Golan’s memorial service that took place at a community in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya on Oct. 8. Biblash spoke with the Blade after it ended.

“It was a big effort and a big success,” she said, referring to the campaign to change the Bereaved Families Law.

Oct. 7 has left LGBTQ Palestinians even more vulnerable, isolated

The activists with whom the Blade spoke readily acknowledged Oct. 7 and its aftermath have particularly harmed LGBTQ Palestinians.

Bloemendal noted Jerusalem Open House works with people from the West Bank, Israeli settlements, and Arab cities throughout the region.

“It’s about whether you can come here,” she said. “Once you come here, we don’t care where you come from.”

The Tel Aviv Court for Administrative Affairs in February ruled LGBTQ Palestinians can request asylum in Israel based on persecution they suffer in their homeland because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Bloemendal noted the additional restrictions on travel from the West Bank that Israel implemented after Oct. 7 has left LGBTQ Palestinians even more vulnerable and isolated.

“Some of them could come and go before, but … everything is more closed now because they (Israeli authorities) are afraid of suicide bombs and things like that,” she said. “It’s much harder to leave home, so you don’t even have your one time a week getting out to Jerusalem and having your LGBTQ experience.”

Neesha Gagement of the Israeli Transgender Association, a group that works with Palestinian trans sex workers in Jaffa, spoke with the Blade on Oct. 13 at her office in Tel Aviv’s Neve Sha’anan neighborhood.

She said many of the sex workers with whom she and her colleagues work faced discrimination, harassment, and other challenges before Oct. 7 — and some chose “a very Israeli name” and did not “speak out” as a result. Gagement told the Blade that many of them are now afraid of leaving their homes, have stopped using social media, and even planning to leave Israel.

“[They are] terrified of expressing their opinion,” she said.

The Israeli Transgender Association since Oct. 7 has offered virtual psychological services. Therapists in some cases will also meet clients at coffee shops close to where they live.

The Israeli government says Hamas militants on Oct. 7 killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival near Re’im, a kibbutz that is a few miles southwest of Be’eri. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 42,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7.

The International Criminal Court in May announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. 

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel. (A suspected Israeli airstrike on July 31 killed Haniyah while he was in the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. IDF soldiers on Oct. 16 killed Sinwar in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt.)

Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for an Oct. 1 attack at a light rail station in Jaffa that left seven people dead and more than a dozen others injured.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, since Oct. 8, 2023, has been regularly launching rockets and missiles from Lebanon to Israel. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry has said Israeli airstrikes in Beirut and elsewhere in the country in recent weeks have killed upwards of 2,500 people. 

An Israeli airstrike in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh on Sept. 27 killed long-time Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Iran on Oct. 1 launched upwards of 200 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation. 

Hamas on the anniversary of Oct. 7 launched rockets that triggered sirens in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas. The Houthi rebels in Yemen on the same day launched missiles and drones that prompted additional warnings in central Israel. Hezbollah missiles on the anniversary of Oct. 7 also targeted an IDF base north of Tel Aviv.   

Israel’s air defense system intercepted almost all of the rockets and missiles. 

Hamas militants kidnapped, murdered Yad Vashem historian

Oct. 7 and the war has directly impacted several of the activists with whom the Blade spoke.

Hamas militants kidnapped Alex Dancyg, a historian at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, from his home in Nir Oz, a kibbutz that is roughly two miles from Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza.

The militants later killed Dancyg, and the IDF on Aug. 20 recovered his body from a tunnel in Khan Younis. His wife and young twins spent upwards of 18 hours trapped in Nir Oz on Oct. 7 before the IDF rescued them.

Bloemendal became friends with Dancyg when she worked at Yad Vashem. She became emotional when she spoke about him.

“I learned a lot from him,” said Bloemendal. “We became friends.”

Bloemendal’s brother is an IDF reservist who fought Hamas militants in Gaza. His wife and their three young children left their home in Kiryat Gat, a city in southern Israel that is roughly 20 miles east of Gaza, and lived with Bloemendal’s parents and other relatives in Jerusalem for several months.

“We try to help as best as we can, but she has three kids under the age of five,” said Bloemendal. “No matter how much you help it’s not the same.”

Hezbollah rocket killed three of gay Druze man’s cousins

Ala Ibrahim, 30, is a gay Druze man who grew up Majdal Shams, a predominantly Druze community in the Golan Heights. He moved to Tel Aviv a decade ago, and works in the city’s high tech industry.

Ibrahim on July 27 was about to board a flight to Israel from Bangkok when his mother called him and told him a Hezbollah rocket had struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams.

He told the Blade on Oct. 14 during a telephone interview that he knew the rocket had killed nine children when the flight took off. Ibrahim landed at Ben-Gurion Airport 10 hours later, and heard a reporter read the names of the 12 victims on the radio while he was in a taxi.

Three of them — Johnny Wadeea Ibrahim, Guevara Ibrahim Ibrahim, and Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din — were his cousins.

“That’s how I knew,” said Ibrahim.

He quickly returned to Majdal Shams with his cousin.

Ibrahim said the victims’ caskets were not open at their funerals “because all of them were not in a state where they could be shown.” He told the Blade that children were crying because they could no longer play with their friends.

“It was a heartbreaking day to be there,” said Ibrahim.

The Nova Music Festival was less than 30 miles from Be’er Sheba.

Former Pride House of Be’er Sheva Chair Ariella Menaker told the Blade less than a week after Oct. 7 that she received an invitation to attend one of the festival’s parties. She said she knew at least five people who had been killed.

“It’s a close-knit group,” said Menaker. “Even people you don’t know by name; you’ve partied with them; you know them. You’ve known them for years from the dance floor.”

“I keep thinking about them, trying to escape,” she added.

Bahar said “everyone knows someone” who was killed on Oct. 7.

“We can’t see the end right now,” Biblash told the Blade after Golan’s memorial service.

She lives outside of Tel Aviv with her 1-year-old child.

Biblash described the Iranian missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1 as “terrifying.” She also said her child sleeps in her home’s safe room.

“That’s crazy,” said Biblash. “That should not happen.”

The queer community in Kenya has condemned the government’s policy of discriminating against LGBTQ asylum seekers, and has launched a petition that challenges it.

The community, through an All Out petition drive, accuses Kenya’s Department of Refugee Services of putting queer asylum seekers at more risk of “persecution, violence, and exploitation” by not recognizing them as afflicted refugees.

The action is in response to Refugee Affairs Commissioner John Burugu’s comments in an interview last month where he said Kenya would not consider persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity as a direct pass to asylum.

Burugu during a telephone interview said “we are not interested in anyone’s sexual identity,” and his department will not be convinced that persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity is sufficient grounds for admission as an asylum seeker or refugee.

The Kenya 2021 Refugees Act, which governs Burugu’s department in the admission of refugees and asylum seekers in the country, does not explicitly recognize queer people among vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution. The law only recognizes refugees or asylum seekers as people who are persecuted based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a social group. 

Opposition MP George Kaluma’s proposed anti-homosexuality law also seeks the expulsion of LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers from Kenya.   

“Decision-makers like the Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya are failing to uphold international human rights standards while the media and major NGOs remain silent,” reads the petition.

It notes the exclusion of LGBTQ refugees has left the majority of them vulnerable to more trauma and isolation.

They can wait up to a decade for the department to issue a decision on their asylum applications. It typically takes 12 months to process asylum applications in Kenya.

The petitioners note this delay has also increased violence, discrimination, and persecution of queer asylum seekers by the public and government authorities without any legal protection.   

“Historically, Kenya provided refuge for LGBTQ+ people fleeing danger, but the situation has worsened dramatically since 2017,” reads the petition. “From 2017, the government refused to process LGBTQ+ asylum claims, forcing over 400 people to flee to South Sudan in search of safety.”

This change is due to the U.N. Refugee Agency’s handing over the processing of asylum applications in Kenya to the government under the Department of Refugee Services in 2016. 

UNHCR has admitted to slowing the processing of queer asylum seekers’ applications since surrendering the duty to the Kenyan government. It has asked the Department of Refugee Services to resolve the problem.

More than 200 people have signed the petition, which organizers hope to present to Kenyan and international human rights bodies that include UNHCR Kenya, the Department of Refugee Service, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya. Other groups include the UNHCR High Commissioner in Geneva, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, Amnesty International, the International Organization for Migration, and the Church World Service.     

The petitioners want the bodies to “take immediate action” to protect LGBTQ asylum seekers in Kenya against discrimination and exclusion, noting it not only violates queer peoples’ basic human rights, but disregards Nairobi’s obligations under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention.  

“As key decision-makers, you have the power to reverse this exclusion and ensure that the LGBTQ+ asylum seekers are protected from harm and granted the rights they are due,” reads the petition.

There are more than an estimated 1,000 LGBTQ refugees in Kenya. Many queer people — especially from Uganda — continue to flee to Kenya in the wake of the enactment of the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act in 2023.

The petitioners want queer asylum seekers recognized for admission and their applications expedited like other refugees and their concerns over discrimination and violence addressed.

“The Department of Refugee Services should officially retract the discriminatory statement made by the DRS commissioner, which excluded LGBTQ+ individuals from protection under the refugee mandate,” reads the petition.

The petitioners also want queer people represented in the Global Refugee Forum and the Refugee Working Groups to have their voices heard and needs addressed in global decision-making processes.

The Center for Minority Rights and Strategic Litigation, a Kenyan LGBTQ rights group, described Burugu’s sentiments as “deeply concerning, regrettable, and against the law.”   

CMRSL Legal Manager Michael Kioko told the Washington Blade the organization has received many complaints from queer refugees and asylum seekers about homophobic discrimination and other violations in the country. The Department of Refugee Services and UNHCR Kenya, he said, took no action to address them.

“The DRS commissioner is obligated under Section 21 of the Refugees Act to ensure measures are taken to protect asylum seekers who have been traumatized or require special protection. This includes LGBTIQ+ refugees in Kenya,” Kioko said.

He noted this directive is also in line with the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees to which Kenya is a signatory, and applicable under Article 2(6) of the constitution.

“It is imperative that the Department of Refugee Services adheres to its obligations under the Refugees Act and the Constitution to protect LGBTIQ+ refugees,” Kioko said. “Their safety must be prioritized, especially in light of the increasing violence and discrimination that LGBTIQ+ persons in Kenya are facing.”

Kioko added Kenyan courts have ruled queer people are members of a social group the Refugees Act recognizes for admission as refugees in cases of persecution, and LGBTQ asylum seekers cannot be excluded.

ITALY

The Italian Senate gave final passage to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s bill to ban criminalize the use of surrogacy overseas, in what LGBTQ activists are saying is a direct attack on same-sex parents.

Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy. The new law cracks down on parents who travel out of the country to obtain surrogacy services where it is legal, like the U.S. or Canada. Under the new law, such parents could be subject to fines of up to €1 million (approximately $1.1 million) or imprisonment for up to two years.

While the vast majority of Italians who engage in overseas surrogacy are heterosexual couples, activists fear the law will be used specifically to target male same-sex couples, who cannot simply pretend not to have used a surrogate.

That would fit with a pattern of attacking same-sex parents since Meloni took office in 2022. Last year, her government issued an order directing municipalities to delete non-biological same-sex parents from birth certificates that had already been issued to children. That decision was condemned by the European Parliament and other world leaders.

Protesters demonstrated in front of the Italian Senate during the debate, carrying signs that read “We are families, not crimes.”

Meloni has long argued for banning surrogacy as a women’s rights issue, claiming that surrogacy commodifies women’s bodies. 

She called the law “a common-sense rule against the commodification of the female body and children. Human life has no price and is not a commodity,” in a post on X.

“The alleged defense of women, the vaunted interest in children, are just fig leaves behind which the homophobic obsession of this majority is hidden,” says Laura Boldrini, an opposition lawmaker.

In many places where surrogacy is legal, it is only legal for altruistic, rather than commercial reasons. Surrogates can be reimbursed for legitimate expenses but cannot be otherwise compensated. That’s how surrogacy works in Canada and Australia.

POLAND

The Polish government introduced its long-awaiting civil union legislation last week, revealing that the government has dropped plans to allow couples in civil unions to adopt children in a compromise meant to get the bills through parliament.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk had pledged to introduce same-sex civil unions within his first 100 days of taking office last year, but that pledge faced numerous roadblocks as the outgoing government initially refused to cede power, and then more conservative parts of his three-party coalition balked at expanding LGBTQ rights.

The bills would allow same-sex and opposite-sex couples to register their partnerships, giving partners rights to inheritance and medical decision-making. 

But couples in civil unions would not be allowed to jointly adopt, nor would one partner be allowed to adopt the other’s biological children.

That was a key demand of the junior coalition partner, the Poland Peasants’ Party (PSL). The bills are unlikely to gain any support from the opposition Law and Justice Party or Confederation Party, both of which strongly oppose LGBTQ rights.

The bills may still face opposition from President Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice who has opposed LGBTQ rights in the past. He has not publicly commented on the bills. 

Duda’s term expires next year, and all parties are attempting to position themselves in the election for his replacement, expected in May 2025.

CANADA

Provincial elections in British Columbia remained too close to call a day after polls closed on Oct 19, with the incumbent New Democratic Party leading or elected in 46 seats, while the rival BC Conservatives, who had campaigned on scrapping an anti-bullying program that promoted awareness of LGBTQ people in schools, were leading or elected in 45 seats. The BC Greens were elected in two seats. 

Elections BC says it could be a week before results are finalized, due to a number of very close races and the number of mail-in and out-of-district ballots yet to be counted. 

If the BC Conservatives lose, it would be the second loss of a provincial election in 2024 for a conservative party that had run on a platform of restricting sex education, discussion of LGBTQ issues, and inclusion of trans kids in schools, after the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives were booted from office in June. 

Two more Canadian provinces are heading to the polls in the next week, and in both races, incumbent conservative parties are defending newly introduced policies that require schools to out trans students to their parents and require parental consent if a child wishes to use a different name or pronoun in school. 

In New Brunswick, voters head to the polls today, and the incumbent Progressive Conservatives are facing a strong challenge from the New Brunswick Liberals. Liberal leader Susan Holt has promised to scrap the parental-notification policy and put safeguards in place for LGBTQ students if elected.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has promised to double-down on anti-transgender policies if re-elected Oct 28. This week, he said his first order of business would be passing a policy restricting school change rooms based on sex assigned at birth. 

Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck slammed the proposal.

“People see this for what it is,” Beck told a press conference. “It’s the ugliest gutter politics. I think people are tired of it.”

Canadian conservatives have been turning hard against trans people over the past couple of years, reflecting similar culture war divisions in the U.S. and the UK, despite a general consensus on equal rights for trans people that had developed over the previous decade. In fact, Scott Moe was a Cabinet minister in the Saskatchewan Party government that passed that province’s ban on gender identity discrimination. 

Meanwhile, in neighboring Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith has proposed a package of legislation that would require parental notification and opt-in for any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms, as well as severely restricting access to gender care for trans youth. The bills are expected to be debated in the upcoming fall session of the legislature.

AUSTRALIA

The New South Wales state legislature passed a bill meant to promote LGBTQ equality on Thursday, but only after it had been watered down in order to gain support from the governing Labor Party. 

Independent lawmaker Alex Greenwich had originally proposed a comprehensive bill that would have addressed multiple areas of law that discriminate against queer people. 

A key provision would have repealed a loophole in state anti-discrimination law that allows religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students and teachers. That provision was dropped. 

Greenwich’s original bill also would have established an affirmative right to gender-affirming care and would have decriminalized sex work. Both provisions were also dropped. 

Greenwich says his bill faced concerted opposition from religious organizations and he removed the provisions in order to get the bulk of the bill’s reforms passed.

“It’s heartbreaking that I’m in a position where I’m having to remove a reform that I have fought for my entire political career,” Greenwich told ABC News Australia. “There has been a concerted campaign, particularly by some religious organizations, and I’m not wanting to hold up some urgent reforms while we’re still working this through.”

The parts of the bill that have been salvaged are still important reforms for LGBTQ rights.

The bill will update domestic violence laws to apply to same-sex couples and recognize parenting rights for children born through surrogacy overseas. It will also allow trans people to update their legal gender on birth certificates without undergoing surgery — an important reform that is already the norm in the rest of Australia. Nonbinary or non-specified will also be options.

The bill also repeals offenses related to living off the earnings of a sex worker, makes it a criminal offense to threaten to out a person, and adds hate crime protections for trans people. 

This year, New South Wales’s Labor government earned plaudits from LGBTQ activists for passing a bill banning conversion therapy, and issuing a historic apology to people persecuted under old anti-LGBTQ laws. 

Earlier this year, Australia’s governing Labor Party dropped its promised reform to federal anti-discrimination laws to repeal a loophole allowing anti-LGBTQ discrimination in schools, following backlash from religious groups.