African country criminalizes gay sex
Japanese cities expand same-sex couple recognition
More US Election News
It appears I jumped the gun last night when I reported that Tammy Baldwin had lost her Wisconsin Senate seat. In fact, she was confirmed elected, so there remains one LGBTQ person in the US Senate.
Also in Wisconsin, while Democrats failed to win the state assembly, major gains in the legislature have broken the Republicans’ supermajorities in both houses, which finally restores Governor Evers’ veto.
I may have also jumped the gun on predicting that Democrats have flipped the House of Representatives. We still don’t have final results, but by my count Democrats are only leading or elected in 211 districts, four short of the majority. But there are many other districts that are still in play, so it’s anyone’s game. Obviously, a Republican sweep of Congress would be a huge disaster, giving Trump full control of all levers of power in the federal government.
Japan: 19 Prefectures and more than 200 municipalities have joined a “Partnership System Municipal Cooperation Network,” in which they all agree to recognize each other’s same-sex partnership registries. This should significantly help same-sex couples who move cities or maintain multiple residences ensure that their relationships are recognized and strengthens the movement for official legal recognition of same-sex couples nationwide.
Mexico: A state deputy in Hidalgo has proposed a bill that would allow minors to change their legal gender – currently that is limited to people 18 and over.
Spain: The governing socialist PSOE has announced it wants to amend the constitution to protect same-sex marriage and abortion rights, among a number of other generally progressive changes. PSOE and its allies don’t have anywhere near the required 2/3 majority in both houses of parliament to pass the reforms, so it’s unclear if there’s an actual path to get this done.
UK: The new leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, is no ally to the LGBT community, and is particularly hostile to trans people.
🚨Mali: Mali’s military junta, which has ruled the country for the past three years, announced that it has approved a new penal code that criminalizes homosexuality. As the code has not yet been published, it’s not clear exactly what has been criminalized and what the penalties will be. I’ll wait until the laws are officially published before I add it to the tally of criminalizing states. As a former French colony, Mali has never before criminalized gay sex.
Currently, adults 18 years of age and older, can change their legal gender (auto percibido) in 23 of Mexico's 32 jurisdictions without the need of their resorting to an amparo. In addition, only one state, Jalisco, also allows minors to do the same.
Thus, if passed, the proposal in Hidalgo state would make Hidalgo the second Mexican state to allow minors to change their legal gender. Furthermore, as is typical, a legal gender change rendered in one Mexican state must be recognized as valid in all other Mexican jurisdictions., whether accomplished through state law or by judicial amparo.