🇹🇭 Thailand: It’s official! Thailand’s king has given royal assent to the same-sex marriage bill that passed this summer. The law takes effect 120 days from yesterday, meaning the first same-sex marriages can take place from January 22, 2025. Congratulations, Thailand! Thailand will be the 39th country with legal same-sex marriage from that date.
Poland: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Poland’s refusal to recognize same-sex marriages conducted abroad in any way is a violation of the Convention right to private family life. The ECHR ruled last year that Poland’s lack of legal same-sex unions also violated the convention.
The government is hoping to pass its long-delayed civil union bill through parliament this fall, but it remains to be seen if they have the votes and if the bill will survive a potential presidential veto.
Lithuania: Next door, lawmakers tried and failed to remove the proposed civil union bill from the autumn schedule of Parliament. It seems some parties are trying a last-ditch attempt to pass the bill before October 13 elections – but this comes with the risk that if the bill fails, it will have to start the process again after elections, and perhaps without the political will to try. There appears to be some suggestion the bill may pass in the lame-duck session between elections and when the new lawmakers take office (about two weeks later). At least the president sounds supportive now.
Australia: South Australia’s conversion therapy ban bill passed through the legislature yesterday and awaits royal assent. The bill initially drew scathing reviews from LGBTQ activists, who said it’s full of loopholes and lacks a credible enforcement mechanism, but Equality Australia is still celebrating the win. Now, only Tasmania, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory remain without bans.
France: The new cabinet of ministers has a clear right-wing tilt, with several who have voted against LGBT rights legislation, including same-sex marriage and the conversion therapy ban.
Canada: A poll ahead of next month’s New Brunswick election shows a majority of respondents support the government’s parental notification and permission policy regarding trans students, even as the same poll shows the incumbent conservatives slightly behind in the polls. Because of a fragmented left and the province’s unique dynamics in francophone ridings, the Liberals generally need to pull several points ahead of the Progressive Conservatives to win outright.
Today in WTF
Albania: The government has announced plans to create a new microstate in its capital Tirana. The new state, about a quarter the size of The Vatican, would be a self-governing entity for a Sufi sect of Muslim clerics. The “Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order” is pledging to be socially liberal, but who knows what that means for LGBT rights? And the point may be moot, since it will limit citizenship to clerics, in the same way The Vatican does. It remains to be seen if the state will gain international recognition of its statehood, or if it will be more akin to the Mount Athos autonomous zone in Greece. Albanian PM Rama says the aim is to promote a tolerant version of Islam.
Meanwhile, in the States
The FBI reports a sharp uptick in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in 2023 compared to 2022.
Ohio: The state supreme court is going to weigh in on a complicated parenting case involving a lesbian couple that never married, whose relationship predated Obergefell.
New York: Your regular reminder that voters will be deciding on an equal rights amendment that will add anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people and for pregnancy outcomes (abortion) to the state constitution in November.