Caribbean court upholds sodomy law
North Carolina Republican tells trans people to go potty outside
St. Vincent and the Grenadines: A court rejected two cases seeking to challenge the Caribbean nation’s colonial-era sodomy law, bucking a trend in the eastern Caribbean, where courts have struck down sodomy laws in Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago in the last four years. I’ll have more on this in the coming days.
Cyprus: In the wake of Greece approving same-sex marriage last week, a government spokesperson says the government is not ready to bring it to the island, partly because it only has a minority in Parliament. Last year while campaigning, President Christodoulides said he supported same-sex marriage but that adoption rights would have to be up for discussion. Cyprus has tended to follow Greece on LGBT rights issues, so I would expect this to come up again over the next couple of years.
Canada: A court in Saskatchewan is allowing a case to proceed against the government’s new law requiring schools to out trans students to their parents, despite the fact the province invoked the constitution’s “notwithstanding” clause, which is meant to shield laws from Charter of Rights scrutiny. The case will be heard in April/May.
Over in British Columbia, the provincial prosecutor’s office issued new hate crime guidelines that include hate propaganda, calling for genocide, and advocating for conversion therapy. This generated some headlines in Canada, but it’s not really news – these are already offences under the criminal code. (In Canada, the federal government writes criminal law, but the provinces are charged with enforcing it).
New Zealand: Prime Minister Luxon was chased out of Auckland’s Big Gay Out by protesters who objected to his government’s plan to withdraw the inclusive sex education curriculum.
Mexico: The president of the Nayarit state congress has pledged to bring a conversion therapy ban bill to a vote next week, and to do something about the epidemic of murders of trans women. A federal conversion therapy ban is still pending a final vote in the national congress.
Meanwhile, in the States:
USA Today has as report on how red states are moving the goal posts from ‘don’t say gay’ laws to ban all sex education, which many predict will lead to worse outcomes on teen health and pregnancy.
Virginia: The state legislature passed a bill to ban officials from denying marriage licenses on the basis of the sex or race of the spouses, and it’s now with the Republican governor. Virginia has already updated its marriage statutes to make them gender neutral, but earlier this month Democratic leadership delayed until next year consideration of a state constitutional amendment to remove the state’s defunct ban on same-sex marriage.
Muscogee Nation: This is the only news outlet I’ve found reporting on the Oklahoma tribal jurisdiction’s vote to kill a same-sex marriage bill last week. The bill’s sponsor says she won’t attempt to put the bill forward again, but will support it if someone else does.
North Carolina: Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson said he supports arresting trans women who use women’s bathrooms, and suggested they “find a corner outside” if they need to go. Now, there are some obvious absurdities about this dehumanizing suggestion. It’s weird that a governor would want people to leave piss and shit in public spaces in his state. It’s, um, also a municipal offense to urinate or defecate in public in most of North Carolina, and felony indecent exposure if someone sees them. And, you know, if your goal is to prevent women and girls from being exposed to a trans person’s genitals, it seems counterproductive to have them disrobe out in public rather than in a private stall indoors.
Ohio: The state department of health has backed off from proposed regulations that would have restricted gender care for most trans adults. The new regulations will only apply to minors.
Wyoming: A trio of bills targeting trans people have advanced during the current budget session. If passed, they would extend medical liability for doctors who provide gender care for minors (essentially making this practice uninsurable in the state), prohibit gender confirming surgeries on minors, and allow state employees to intentionally misgender people.