Brazil, Virginia move to codify same-sex marriage
New Singapore anti-discrimination law leaves out LGBTs
Brazil: A committee of congress approved a bill to codify same-sex marriage into the federal civil code. Brazil has had legal same-sex marriage since a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, but it hasn’t yet updated its laws to reflect that. The bill now goes to a second committee for detailed study.
Singapore: The government has introduced an employment nondiscrimination bill, but it doesn’t include protections against anti-LGBT discrimination.
Romania: The first openly gay person to run for Romania’s parliament is standing for election on Dec 1, and he hopes to help enact recognition of same-sex couples, as the state has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights.
Switzerland: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a gay Iranian man cannot be deported, finding that the state’s argument that he’d be safe as long as he’s discreet is not reasonable. The decision applies to all 46 EHCR members.
Canada: The new Liberal Premier of New Brunswick has sent mandate letters to her cabinet, including directions to have gender care included in the provincial health plan and to implement new guidelines on inclusion of LGBT students in schools, rolling back anti-trans policies of the previous government.
Japan: A man is suing the government after a judge ordered him to cover rainbow socks he wore to observe the same-sex marriage trial in Fukuoka last year, saying that was an abuse of power.
Meanwhile, in the States…
Virginia: The committee examining proposed amendments to the state constitution advanced all three proposals to protect abortion rights, restore voting rights to felons who’ve served their sentence, and repeal the ban on same-sex marriage. While the first two passed on party-line votes, four Republicans joined all twelve Democrats to advance the marriage amendment. It’ll be heard by the state house in January.
Michigan: State Democrats are using the lame duck session before they lose control of the state house to advance a bill that would reform and expand sex education. Would be great if Dems could also repeal the sodomy and gross indecency laws, too, but I don’t think it’s likely.
Iowa: The Board of Education is finalizing how the state’s ban on LGBT books in school libraries will work.
Texas: State legislators are already getting to work on filing anti-LGBT bills for the 2025 session. Mostly it’s the usual Republican slop: bans on LGBT topics in schools, bans on insurance for gender care, defining “male” and “female” in law and defining nonbinary identities out of existence, etc. A lot of this repeats bills that failed to advance during the current session, but perhaps state Republicans will need another way to show how anti-LGBT they are.
California: Openly gay Democrat Will Rollins has lost his bid for a seat in congress, losing to incumbent Republican Ken Calvert. Calvert has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights, but did vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, after redistricting put Palm Springs into his district.
Ohio: State Democrats would like the legislature to repeal defunct laws banning same-sex marriage, but Republicans are unlikely to allow bills to advance.
US Virgin Islands: The territorial government was debating a bill that would have created a pathway for legal gender change – albeit one that requires medical documentation – but lawmakers decided to hold it for further study, after apparent objections that it would lead to…sigh… men in women’s sports.