Canada's Conservatives double down on anti-trans rhetoric
US state elections tomorrow give Democrats a chance at some Ws
Over the weekend, I had a couple of stories go online at The Los Angeles Blade: First, I profiled a gay Florida youth activist who’s started up an incubator to help other progressive youth organize to fight back against the Republican machine that is destroying that state.
Then, I have a profile of gay drag race driver Travis Shumake, who may be the fastest homosexual on earth. I take a look at how the “Bud Light effect” is creating challenges for queer sports professionals who rely on corporate sponsorships to make a living.
On to the news!
Latvia: Parliament passed the draft civil union law week, and it is expected to have a final reading on Thursday. Some advocates say the bill doesn’t provide enough rights to same-sex couples especially around parental rights. Nevertheless, expect Latvia’s openly gay president to sign the bill if it passes.
Australia: LGBT activists are calling on the Western Australia government to fulfill its promise to update equal opportunity laws to remove several exemptions that allow anti-LGBT discrimination, following reports that the government wants to push the contentious issue to after the 2025 election.
Canada: The Alberta Conservatives held their annual policy conference this weekend, where members voted for non-binding anti-LGBT resolutions to bar trans women from women-only spaces and to require parental permission for students to be trans. The Premier says she doesn’t want to politicize the issue while she delivers speeches about how important the issue is. Expect Alberta to be the next province to introduce so-called “parents’ rights” legislation.
Hungary: The government fired the head of its National Museum because the recent World Press Photo exhibition included a picture of elderly LGBT people in the Philippines, which the government said ran afoul of its law prohibiting showing LGBT people to minors. This is the state of the worst country in Europe.
United Nations: The Human Rights Council began its latest Universal Periodic Review cycle today, which gives the body a chance to challenge UN members on their Human Rights Records – with admittedly mixed results. With no enforcement mechanism, the HRC basically resorts to shaming states into action. That tends to work best with smaller, incremental, and less controversial changes. Which is to say that the recommendation today that Turkmenistan decriminalize sodomy is not likely to lead to change in the short term.
Meanwhile, in the States:
California: The tapes from the Prop 8 trial have been released after 13 years. The Prop 8 trial struck down the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Tomorrow is election day! There are consequential elections in various states, including a referenda in Ohio on legalizing and enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution, and another on legalizing marijuana; gubernatorial elections in Mississippi and Kentucky, both of which could see Democratic winners; the state legislature is up for grabs in Virginia; and there’s a state supreme court election in Pennsylvania.