Israel: The High Court of Justice ruled that the government must allow same-sex parents to be listed on their child’s birth certificate, ending a long legal battle (the HCJ is the Supreme Court for administrative matters).
Jersey (UK): The Jersey parliament passed a new law that will automatically recognize parenthood for same-sex couples and couples using surrogacy. The law will come into effect by the end of the year. Jersey is a UK Crown Dependency in the English Channel.
Australia: In a marathon, overnight session, the New South Wales parliament passed a law banning conversion therapy, making it the fourth Australia jurisdiction to do so. The law comes into effect in 12 months. Bans have also been proposed in Western Australia and Tasmania.
Mexico: Deputies from the majority left-leaning parties are calling on their colleagues to pass the conversion therapy ban bill in its final debate today.
Meanwhile, in the States…
US House Republicans advanced a bill to ban trans girls from sports to the floor of the House. Even if it passes the narrow Republican majority there, it likely dies in the Senate.
And some House Republicans are protesting the VA’s decision to allow IVF for unmarried women and same-sex couples, calling the procedure “morally dubious.”
However, Democrats managed to prevent Republicans from adding more than 40 anti-LGBTQ riders to the must-pass spending bill that funds the government until September (when they could all come back). The only anti-LGBT rider that passed was a policy barring embassies from flying Pride flags, which embassies can still easily circumvent.
Michigan: The state senate passed two bills that would expand the state’s hate crimes law to cover sexual orientation and gender identity – the bills now go to the house for approval. This is confusing to me, because the house passed similar bills last year, and you’d think the Senate would have just worked from the house bills? Anyway, I suppose the next step in this system will be some kind of conference committee to harmonize the minor differences between the two bills? Anyone more familiar with Michigan wanna explain this to me? (A small wrinkle is that Democrats do not have a functioning majority in the House at least until special elections are held in late April, so don’t expect a bill to pass until then).
Maine: Legislators advanced a bill out of committee making it a sanctuary state for trans people seeking care. It now heads to the full house.
Georgia: State Republicans are hijacking unrelated bills on mental health and drug addiction to add clauses banning trans people from using restrooms or playing on sports teams appropriate to their gender, requiring parents to be notified of every book their child takes out of a library, and banning access to gender care for trans youth.
Alabama: Remember that bill to expand the “Don’t Say Gay” law to cover K-12 schools? A proposed amendment to have it cover Space Camp was killed in committee, although the bill as a whole was passed to full house for approval.