Did a Mexican state just end same-sex marriage?
What does the rise of Austria's far right mean for LGBT people?
My “Out in the World” column is up at the Los Angeles Blade, with stories from Thailand, Ireland, Australia, and Poland.
Austria: The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) took first place in national elections Sunday, with about 29% of the vote. The other parties have so far said they would refuse to form a coalition with FPO, and the most likely outcome is some kind of “grand coalition” party of the moderate right and the socialists, with the upshot that further progress on LGBT issues (like banning conversion therapy) will continue to be stalled.
Mexico: Homosensual is reporting that the executive order that allowed same-sex couples to marry in Guanajuato state has expired as of last Thursday, meaning couples can no longer marry in the state without pursuing a court injunction. I’m not entirely sure what to make of this. Homosensual isn’t always the most reliable source of news, and no other Mexican outlets have reported this that I’m aware of.
Homosensual reports that the newly installed governor has not yet indicated if she will renew the order, nor has the legislature taken up actually amending the state code to allow it. Two other states also have not updated their civil codes to allow same-sex marriage, and could become trouble too: Aguascalientes and Chihuahua. Chiapas has also not updated its code, but same-sex marriage is legal there by judicial decree, which is not subject to change in government.
Meanwhile, in the States
Wisconsin: A record 10 out LGBTQ candidates – all Democrats – are running for state assembly in November. Redistricting this year gave Democrats a real shot at winning the assembly, although the Senate looks to be a bigger reach, given only half its seats are up this term. But these candidates could set a new high-water mark from LGBTQ representation in the state legislature.
California: Governor Newsom has signed into law a bill requiring insurers to cover LGBTQ couples for fertility treatments.
Both Chiapas and Aguascalientes have had marriage equality due to separate Supreme Court rulings, the first being issued on 11 July 2017, the latter on 2 April 2019. Neither court ruling is subject to reversal. Chihuahua has had marriage equality since 11 June 2015 due to the issuance of a gubernatorial decree that has been retroactively deemed to have indefinite, open-ended validity.
According to "Homosensual," Guanajuato has had marriage equality since the signing of a gubernatorial decree to this effect on 20 December 2021, but supposedly, only for the remaining duration of Governor Diego Sinhue's term in office. His term ended on 26 September 2024. His replacement as governor, Libia Dennise García Muñoz, has not yet indicated whether she will extend said decree to cover her 6-year term in office, despite the fact that as Government Secretary of Guanajuato state during the Sinhue administration, she was the first person to place her signature on the marriage equality decree. Governor Sinhue also subsequently signed it in January 2022.