Conservative victory in Polish election spells end for LGBT rights progress
Texas kicks off Pride Month by banning school clubs for LGBT students
Happy Pride Month, everyone! Just a quick update today.
Poland: In a stunning upset, the conservative won yesterday’s presidential election 51-49. This development likely scuppers all the remaining promise of Prime Minister Tusk’s reform agenda, including repairing the judiciary from a decade of cronyism under the Law & Justice party, and legalizing abortion, civil unions, and banning hate speech.
Mauritius: The UK-Mauritius treaty governing the handover of the British Indian Ocean Territory has been published, and it does read to me as if civil jurisdiction will belong to Mauritius, with an asterisk that allows the UK to be sovereign over the base area of Diego Garcia. So it sounds to me like it will function like Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus – a functional mini-state within a state. But at the same time, the UK government says it will also bring forward legislation to officially wind down the BIOT as a legal entity. So I guess this strange dot on the equal marriage map will disappear.
Mexico: A vote to decriminalize abortion in Guanajuato state ended in an 18-18 tie, meaning debate will continue with an expected re-vote tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in the States
Texas: Legislators rushed to pass a bill banning clubs for LGBTQ students and any classroom instruction or acknowledgment of LGBTQ people or identities before the end of the legislative session today. A bill to decriminalize sodomy looks like it will not get a vote in the senate before the end of the session.
Yeah… I don’t think Poland is getting civil unions for the foreseeable future. The far right party will likely win the next parliamentary elections because of Donald Tusk not being able to perform on his promises, which isn’t really his fault because of presidential vetos, but voters don’t care about that.