Good news for LGBT rights in southern Africa
Could a ruling on abortion rights in Wyoming protect trans rights, too?
South Africa: The government’s proposed harmonized marriage bill is drawing criticism from different quarters, including religious leaders who want same-sex marriage taken out of the bill, liberals who want other forms of relationship like domestic partnerships recognized, and people who worry that it won’t accommodate traditional and Muslim marriages like current laws do.
Lesotho: MPs are considering an amendment to the Children’s Protection and Welfare Bill that would guarantee trans and intersex minors access to gender affirming care and the right to change their legal gender.
Nigeria: Religious leaders are urging the government to go after publicly known LGBTQ people in the country in a bid to prevent same-sex marriages, which are already illegal.
Poland: Work on the civil partnership bill appears to be progressing, with the various government coalition partners indicating their willingness to compromise to get a bill passed. The state ombudsman and Amnesty International have both reviewed the bills mostly positively. The draft law also treats foreigners in civil partnerships equal to married spouses.
Romania: Presidential candidates debated ahead of two-round elections scheduled for later this month. All who appeared disagreed with same-sex marriage, but most backed civil partnerships, except for the far-right candidate. Still, polls suggest none of these candidates will win, as the most popular candidates skipped the debate – and if history is anything to go by, both oppose partnerships.
Ireland: The usual groups are fretting about upcoming updates to the sex ed curriculum to make it more inclusive.
Greece: Former Prime Minister Samaras has been ousted from his party over ethics concerns, primarily criticism of the current government’s actions around foreign issues and legalization of same-sex marriage.
Japan: The government has blocked debate on a proposal to repeal the death penalty.
Meanwhile, in the States
Certain congressional Republicans are wetting themselves over the prospect that an elected trans Congresswoman may use the bathroom and are begging the Speaker to ban her from the can. Republican leadership has not given a clear answer on what they intend to do.
Ohio: The state legislature held a committee hearing on a nondiscrimination bill, but the Republican-led legislature is not expected to do anything more with the bill.
A bipartisan effort to repeal the state’s death penalty also appears to have stalled.
This comes as neighboring Indiana has begun scheduling executions again after acquiring murder drugs, and as Donald Trump is likely to restart federal executions upon retaking office.
Texas: State Democrats have filed bills to repeal the state’s defunct sodomy law and a law requiring schools to teach that “homosexual conduct is not an acceptable lifestyle.” Democrats have attempted to pass this bill for decades, and it’s unlikely to advance during this term either, though last year it did get some bipartisan support in the state house.
North Carolina: Democrats appear to have avoided a mini-disaster, clinging to a state supreme court seat by just over 600 votes. The election is going to a recount, and if the lead holds, Dems will still be at a 5-2 disadvantage, but will be positioned to win back the court in 2028.
Wyoming: A state court struck down laws banning abortion thanks to a state constitution provision added during the Obama administration that protects individuals’ medical choices. It was meant to spite Obamacare, but here we are now. One has to speculate that the same constitutional provision must also protect choices around gender care.
The governor has called for the legislature to place a constitutional ban on abortion on the ballot.
Colorado: The state has agreed to pay $1.5 million in legal fees related to the bullshit case brought by a fake website designer that got the Supreme Court to weaken the state’s anti-discrimination law to create a right to discriminate for creative professionals.
Meanwhile, a trans state legislator says that the recently passed constitutional amendment repealing the defunct same-sex marriage ban only got Republican support in the state senate after she removed her name from the bill, despite having worked on it for years.