Cambodia LGBTs push for equal marriage

Conversion therapy bans advance in Norway, Mexico, and UK

Hey hey! New feature alert! Going forward, I’m turning on the comments on posts for all readers. Let me know what you think, if you have questions, or tips on LGBT news around the world!

Cambodia: LGBT activists are working with the government to secure legal same-sex marriage, and have proposed forming a working group and consultations on the issue. The government appears supportive, but acknowledges that this will be a long process.

South Africa: Parliament gave final approval to a bill that criminalizes hate speech and increases penalties for hate-based offences. The bill goes to the President, who is expected to sign it.

Norway: Parliament appears set to pass a bill to ban conversion therapy tomorrow.

Mexico: The federal congress is set to hold its final debates/votes on the conversion therapy bill this week too, but I haven’t found any indication as to when that’s scheduled.

UK: A bill to ban conversion therapy will be proposed by a Labour MP tomorrow in Parliament, and it already has support from members of all parties, including some senior Conservatives. It’ll be up for debate in the spring, although private members’ bills rarely become law — and in this case, it likely won’t have time before an election is called next year anyway.

Philippines: The President of the Senate has reaffirmed support for a comprehensive SOGIE anti-discrimination bill, but has continually delayed it, saying that the issues are complex and need more discussion. The bill has been in the Senate in some form or another for twenty years.

Jordan: Human Rights Watch has a report on security forces targeting LGBT people.

Curacao: The Council of Advice has warned MPs that amending the constitution to ban same-sex marriage would be pointless, because the ongoing Supreme Court judgement on the issue would render any amendment moot. Either the court finds no right to marriage, in which it’s unnecessary, or the court finds there is, and the amendment would be null. The Council also warned the government that regardless, the island is required to created some kind of recognized status for same-sex couples under the European Convention on Human Rights. The Supreme Court ruling is expected in the spring.

Ireland: The government has scheduled referendums for March 8 to remove antiquated references from the constitution about a woman’s life being in the home.