Elections in Germany, Canada could have consequences for trans rights
American trans people now suffering the consequences of the far right winning elections
Mexico: Legislators in Chihuahua state have tabled a bill to finally codify same-sex marriage into state law.
Costa Rica: The minister of education announced that schools will no longer recognize May 17 as the International Day Against Homophobia, and that the ministry is also deleting protocols around homophobic bullying in schools. Additionally, the government is eliminating sex education and the position of LGBTI Commissioner and pursuing tougher penalties against abortion.
Russia: The government is looking to create a list of LGBT+ citizens in the country. That’s not generally a good thing.
Israel: A Knesset committee has approved an update to the country’s sexual assault laws so that they include the possibility that men can be victims as well.
Germany: The Christian Democrats, currently leading polls ahead of Feb 23 elections, says it will reverse the gender self-determination law that came into effect last year (per TLDR). The CDU has also shown alarming willingness to work with the far-right AfD party, which had previously been a redline for all German mainstream parties.
Canada: Ontario is heading to an early election on Feb 27. The Ford conservatives have previously threatened required-outing legislation around trans students, but didn’t go forward with it after widespread opposition in other provinces that implemented it. That said, the Ford government is otherwise shockingly corrupt and incompetent and needs to go. Polls so far have conservatives as the most likely winners, but anything can happen in a month.
Meanwhile, rights groups have formally dropped their suit against New Brunswick after the province’s new government reversed those anti-trans policies passed by the previous conservative government.
Meanwhile, in the States
A pair of new Trump executive actions attack trans people again. One from the Office of Personnel Management forbids recognition of gender changes by federal workers and bans trans people from using gender-appropriate bathrooms in federally regulated facilities and offices. The other directs the DOJ to prosecute teachers if they use a trans child’s preferred name or gender and directs the DOE to cut funding to any school that accommodates trans students.
And the acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission has taken the opportunity with Trump having (illegally) dismissed two Democrats from the commission to announce that the EEOC will no longer protect trans people at work and will in fact encourage harassment of trans employees.
But a federal judge has blocked Trump’s order transferring trans women prisoners to men’s prisons for one prisoner, at least temporarily.
Still, some hospitals have preemptively halted gender care for those under 19 as they try to figure out Trump’s care ban EO.
Trump’s new Transportation Secretary has announced that going forward, infrastructure grants will prioritize cities with higher marriage and birth rates. Can’t wait for the bullet train from Salt Lake City to Provo.
Kentucky: Kim Davis is still in the news. She’s asking the sixth circuit to reverse an award she was ordered to pay to a gay couple that she refused to give a marriage license to way back in 2015.
Minnesota and Iowa: Democrats won a pair of state senate special elections, flipping a Republican-held seat in Iowa, marking an early first for this cycle, and restoring the Democratic majority in the MN senate. MN Gov Walz still hasn’t called the special election for MN house district 40B, however, which is the all-important race to restore the tie in that chamber.
Michigan: With US Senator Gary Peters announcing his retirement in 2026, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has announced his interest in pursuing the seat.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker who tried unsuccessfully to delete the state’s sodomy law last session doesn’t think the bill has a chance this session now that Republicans control the state house. No kidding. Still, per the same article, a lawmaker in Texas thinks this time he might actually convince the state’s Republicans to delete that state’s sodomy law. I don’t think that’s likely either.
Hawaii: Democrats have proposed a state constitutional amendment barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy outcomes, ethnicity, age, and disability.
Colorado: A bill to repeal the state’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage advanced out of a senate committee yesterday.