Honduras ends gay blood ban
US Courts tackle trans rights, conversion therapy
Honduras: A reader wrote in to tip me off that the government has ended the ban on gay men donating blood. The government’s decree specifically invokes the constitution’s ban on sex discrimination in its reasoning for the change, in accordance with President Xiomara Castro’s general progressive attitude on LGBTQ rights.
Canada: The Trudeau government has split its “Online Harms Act” into two bills, in hopes that the sections that increase penalties for harms against children and revenge porn would pass more easily that the second bill, which expands policing of hate speech on the internet. Parliament has been frozen due to an arcane dispute for two months, so neither bill is likely to pass soon.
I neglected to mention yesterday that Alberta’s suite of anti-trans legislation also bars any classroom discussion of sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex ed without prior parental consent for each discussion, which is a horribly chilling law. Alberta’s Premier refuses to say whether she’ll use the Constitution’s get-out-of-the-constitution-free card to override any court ruling striking the laws down.
Also, since I was discussing towns in Alberta and Ontario banning Pride flags yesterday, it was brought to my attention that the township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, Ontario adopted a similar “three flags only” policy in September. The township is home to ~5,000 people, 200 miles west of Toronto on Lake Huron.
Hungary: The EU’s Court of Justice has begun a historic hearing on the country’s “LGBT+ Propaganda” law, which 16 member states allege violates the Union’s fundamental freedoms of speech and non-discrimination.
UK: A Northern Ireland legislator has introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy in the province, with consultations now ongoing through March 2025. There’s been little movement on a ban since legislators called for one years ago. Similarly, we’re waiting on the new UK Labor government to introduce one for England and Wales (and Scotland?).
Ireland: Over the border, new national elections have delivered mixed results for LGBT people. The leading parties, which are currently in coalition negotiations to figure out who will form the government, made differing promises on LGBT rights, although all generally pledged to improve the situation. In the balance are a conversion therapy ban, hate speech legislation, and improved health services for trans people.
Peru: The country’s leading LGBT advocacy group “Yes, I Accept” has rejected the proposed civil union bill because it doesn’t provide for equal marriage (or even a union equivalent to marriage, given adoption/parental rights are not included).
Hong Kong: A lawmaker is calling on the city to ignore the Court of Final Appeal ruling ordering the government to recognize same-sex unions. He’s also calling on the city to appeal to mainland China to force it to ignore the ruling, which seems like a terrible slippery slope for all Hong Kongers.
Mexico: A Chihuahua state legislator has proposed a bill to finally codify same-sex marriage into state law; it’s been legal since 2015 by executive order only. A Baja California lawmaker is calling on the state to pass a law regulating surrogacy. And the president of the Veracruz congress pledges to legislate on key LGBT issues, including a gender identity law and banning conversion therapy (which is already banned federally); activists also want a strengthened hate crime law.
Ghana: People who live by Ghana’s indigenous traditions fear that the impending Anti-LGBT Bill could drastically impact them, too.
Namibia: Disputed election notwithstanding, Namibia’s newly elected President Nandi-Ndaitwah was, in her previous role as Vice President, on of the loudest voices pushing for the anti-LGBT and anti-same-sex-marriage bill that parliament passed last year. As president, it’s now up to her to sign it. The law will likely go straight to constitutional challenges, given that it flies in the face of the court’s recent rulings decriminalizing sodomy and recognizing foreign same-sex marriages.
Meanwhile, in the states
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears set to let Tennessee’s laws banning gender care for trans youth to stand, as they seemed skeptical the ban constitutes sex discrimination. If that’s the case, expect to see Republican states start barring gender care for all people including adults, as well as other gender recognition policies. It would also start to poke holes in the Bostock ruling that banned employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Axios has an explainer on the case’s history, while Law Dork summarizes what happened at the court.
Trans activists performed a sit-in at the Capitol to protest the House’s ban on trans people using the bathrooms in the building that accords with their gender identity.
Walmart and other companies are stopping sharing data with Human Rights Campaign for the LGBTQ equality index, in broader move away from corporate DEI initiatives. And a federal judge in Florida has ruled that Target must face a lawsuit filed by shareholders over customer backlash to its Pride merchandise.
New York: A Syracuse judge refused to perform a same-sex marriage. The DA wants her removed from criminal cases.
Michigan: As Democrats race to pass bills by the end of the session, the senate advanced a bill to make it easier to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, by eliminating a requirement that no more than 15% of all signatures collected be from a single congressional district. It looks set for a final reading on Tuesday. Maybe that will make it easier to get a future repeal of the defunct same-sex marriage ban on the ballot.
Some other highlights this week: The senate also passed a bill to decriminalize adultery and sent it to the house. Oddly, the adultery decriminalization doesn’t also strike a law that bans unmarried people from cohabiting. The senate advanced a bill out of committee to require Medicaid coverage of contraception. The senate passed a bill on reproductive health data privacy and sent it to the house. And there might still be time to repeal the sodomy law, but there are only five session days remaining, and it doesn’t look promising.
Wisconsin: The state Supreme Court will hear arguments in January over whether the Republicans on a legislature committee overstepped their power when they blocked the Democratic governor’s regulations that banned conversion therapy from coming into effect. The court now has a Democratic majority, so it may get a more hospitable hearing.
Georgia: The city of Athens declared itself a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ individuals, and criticized anti-trans laws proposed in the state legislature.