Countdown to Greek same-sex marriage begins
A Republican wants to make it illegal to view porn or sext
Greece: The timeline for the same-sex marriage bill has become clearer after it was approved by Cabinet yesterday. The bill has been published for public consultation until Jan 31, and Parliament is expected to vote on it Feb 12. Opa!
You can access the government’s consultation and read the bill here. The bill saws it will take effect upon publication, and will give Greek couples who have entered into a civil union one year to have the union retroactively declared a marriage from the date it was formed. It will also allow Greeks married abroad before the law comes into effect to have their marriage recognized from the date they were married.
Nigeria: Police have announced they intend to crack down on LGBTQ people who participated in a viral TikTok trend in which users record themselves saying “Of course we’re…” and filling in the blank with their sexual or gender identity. A police spokesperson labelled all LGBTQ people as criminals, and the federal police have said they intend to prosecute those who self-identified in the videos.
Czechia: The Senate fell two votes short of passing the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence yesterday, ending the ratification process, at least until after the next election, expected by Oct 2025. Anti-LGBT bigots had campaigned against the convention on charges that it supports LGBT rights.
Malaysia: The Federal Court will rule on Feb 9 in a constitutional challenge to various Shariah laws passed by Kelantan state, including its sodomy law. The challenge alleges that the state does not have the right to legislate on the matter as the federal government already has. If the law is struck down, the federal sodomy law will still stand, but federal officials have been less prone to making arrests under it.
Argentina: Feminists are warning that the new far-right president’s threats to the country’s abortion law also imply a threat to gender identity and same-sex marriage laws.
Mexico: A reader helped explain to me what was going on with the trans rights bill I told you about yesterday. A federal legislator is proposing a constitutional amendment for trans rights, because some of the things that trans people need are exclusively state-level competencies, creating a patchwork of rights across the nation. The amendment, which would require approval from 17 states, seeks to allow the federal government to create a national standard requiring all states to, for example, allow legal gender change, ban discrimination, or criminalize anti-trans hate crimes.
Meanwhile, in the States….
A survey has found that 28% of Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ.
Colorado: Queer and trans activists are gearing up for a legislative session in which they want to make it easier for trans people to change their legal names, and are aiming to put a state constitutional amendment to repeal the defunct same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot.
Ohio: Republican legislators overrode Republican Governor DeWine’s veto of a bill to ban medical treatment for trans youth and restrict their participation in school sports.
Florida: In an about-face, Republican lawmakers are working to amend their own book-banning bill, by imposing fees on anyone seeking to have more than 5 books removed from a school district where they don’t have children attending. The fee is set at $100/book. Even this reform faces an uncertain path, however.
Texas: Four LGBTQ advocacy groups petitioned the UN to review seven anti-LGBTQ laws passed by the state last year, in light of possible violations of international human rights treaties.
Oklahoma: A Republican state senator has introduced a bill that would ban the viewing, creating, sharing, or promoting of pornography within the state, including sexting between unmarried adults. Violators would face a $1000 fine or one-year prison sentence. I’d say this is unlikely to pass, but you never know with Republican supermajorities. It’s unlikely to survive any constitutional challenge if it does.