Hong Kong proposes limited rights for same-sex couples
UK Court upholds Cayman Islands' civil partnership law
Hong Kong: The city’s government has proposed a system for registering same-sex couples, but the proposal lacks true equality. The system is only open to those couples who have already formed partnerships overseas – there is no domestic option to create a union – though in practice, I assume many couples will just get online married through Utah, the way many Israeli couples do. Once registered, the couples will have limited access to health care rights only: medical visits and decision-making, and post-death arrangements. Activists have been critical that this system does not meet the substantive equality called for in a 2023 Court of Final Appeal ruling.
Meanwhile, authorities in mainland China have arrested 30 people, mostly women, on pornography charges for writing and publishing gay erotica online.
Cayman Islands: The Privy Council upheld the island’s civil partnership law, which was put in place by the governor in 2020, bringing this legal saga to a close. The decision ought to pave the way for the UK to impose civil partnerships on its other holdout territories in the Caribbean – as they are required to do under the European Convention on Human Rights – but the UK government has not made any statements on the issue. The other affected territories would be Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, Montserrat, and the Virgin Islands.
Cuba: Transgender Cubans are looking forward to proposed legislation that would simplify the process of updating legal name and gender. The bill is expected to pass this month.
Japan: More than 90% of the population now lives in an area that allows same-sex couples to register their relationships, with 530 municipalities offering registries as of last month.
Cambodia: The UN Commissioner for Human Rights has an interesting report on the history of Phnom Penh Pride, which took place over the weekend.
Philippines: The municipality of Carmen, Cebu, is the latest to pass an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance.
Mexico: A Guanajuato legislator says she believes the codification of same-sex marriage bill and the conversion therapy ban will be approved by October at the latest.
The United Nations: The Human Rights Council is expected to vote next week on whether it will renew the mandate of the independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Meanwhile in the States
Virginia: A state court has permanently blocked part of the state’s 2020 law banning conversion therapy. While the most abusive forms, like electroshock, are still banned, the state can no longer enforce a ban on so-called “talk therapy.”
Florida: An appeals court has halted an injunction against a law that barred teachers from using their own preferred pronouns/titles in classrooms. The case is still proceeding on the merits.
Ohio: Republican governor Mike DeWine vetoed three anti-LGBTQ provisions in the state budget – a ban on flying the Pride flag on state property, a ban on funding youth shelters that welcome trans kids, and a ban on LGBTQ materials in public libraries. But he also let stand several other anti-LGBTQ provisions: defining trans people out of the law, prohibiting mental health funding for trans people through Medicaid, and banning menstrual products in men’s bathrooms. And Republicans have veto-proof majorities in the legislature, so they’re able to overturn his vetoes any time before the end of the year.