Czech parliament rejects equal marriage
And more bad news from El Salvador, Ghana, Indonesia, Qatar, and USA
I have a story up on the Los Angeles Blade today explaining what just happened in Czechia, where the lower house of parliament just rejected marriage equality in favor of enhanced civil partnerships that allow stepchild adoption. This isn’t the end of the road – at least one senator has vowed to try to amend the bill back to full equality when it comes to the senate, but that does seem like a long shot.
El Salvador: The minister of education has claimed that the government has eliminated all forms of “gender ideology” from schools, shortly after President Bukele delivered a similar message while speaking at the US Conservative Political Action Conference last week.
Qatar: A British-Mexican national was arrested after Qatari police lured him through Grindr and allegedly planted drugs on him. Qatar is one of 66 countries where gay sex is illegal.
Indonesia: Lawmakers have proposed a bill that would require LGBTQ people to go to conversion therapy, and require their family members to report them to the government. Indonesia has been gradually restricting LGBTQ rights for the last several years, although there is no official sodomy law on the books.
Ghana: Human rights groups are urging parliament not to pass an anti-LGBT bill that is due for a vote any day now, pointing out that it violates many human rights tenets cherished by Ghanians, including the rights to free speech, expression, association, dignity, equality, academic freedom, and nondiscrimination.
EDIT: Parliament has now passed the bill. It awaits the President’s signature, but parliament has threatened to override any presidential veto. I’ll have more on this tomorrow.
Meanwhile in the States…
Georgia: The legislature is debating a bill that would ban trans people from using gender-appropriate bathrooms, and another “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” that could enable religious-based anti-LGBT discrimination. There was a rally at the capitol against the bills today.
California: Equality CA has introduced its slate of 11 pro-LGBTQ bills that it is supporting during the current session of the legislature, which are focused on improving access to trans health care and equitable family benefits for same-sex families.
Indiana: The 7th Circuit Court has allowed the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth to go back into effect. A case seeking to overturn the ban is still underway.
Missouri: An openly gay Republican state rep tore apart his colleague’s bill to ban discussion of “sexual orientation” in schools, pointing out that logically that would prevent discussion of heterosexuality too.