First things first, I have a few stories up at the Los Angeles Blade today.
🌏 First, check out Out in the World, where I take a deeper dive on last week’s big news from Japan, Thailand, Philippines, and, ugh, JK Rowling.
🎭 Then, I have a preview of Rogue Machine Theatre’s Monsters of the American Cinema, and a chat with author Mark S King, who’s presenting readings from his memoir in LA tonight.
🏝️ And back on news, I wrote about the upcoming vote to remove a potential ban on same-sex marriage from the Hawaii Constitution. The state senate is expected to hold a final vote tomorrow.
And now, the world…
🇺🇬 Uganda: Fresh off the Constitutional Court upholding the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the Court of Appeal has upheld the registrar’s decision to deny Sexual Minorities Uganda from registering as a company, because the name is “undesirable” in light of the law. SMUG is the nation’s leading LGBTIQ advocacy organization.
🇮🇳 India: The opposition Congress Party has promised to introduce a law on civil unions for LGBTQ couples if it wins parliamentary elections scheduled for between April 19-June 1 (it’s a very big country; the election is done in phases).
🇸🇰 Slovakia: Over the weekend, Slovaks elected Peter Pellegrini as their new President. Pellegrini is an ally of the current prime minister, and both are seen as being more pro-Russia and anti-Western. They’re also generally anti-LGBT. The president is a largely ceremonial role, but previous president Caputova was a popular bulwark against some of the worst policies of the government.
A reader also informed me of a constitutional case that was filed last May in Slovakia seeking to force parliament to pass a law to recognize same-sex couples, in line with European Convention requirements.
🇷🇸 Serbia: The legalization of same-sex marriage in Greece is giving LGBTQ+ people in Serbia hopes that other Orthodox Christian countries can do it too.
🇦🇺 Australia: LGBTQ+ advocates in South Australia are calling on the government to ban conversion therapy. SA is the only state that has not yet committed to introducing a ban, although the current Premier did commit to ensuring the practice doesn’t happen in the state when he was elected in 2022.
🏳️⚧️🇪🇸 Spain: Hey what’s going on with all the rabid anti-LGBT right-wing parties running Spain’s local governments? Well, the state Ombudsman is taking the Madrid regional government to the Constitutional Court, saying its anti-trans law violates the rights of trans youth. You may remember than Madrid passed a sweeping new law that repealed the conversion therapy ban, repealed anti-discrimination laws, and barred legal gender recognition (although many of these were mitigated by national laws that still protect LGBT people).
Meanwhile, trans people in the Balearic Islands are ‘confident’ that the regional government won’t do the same thing Madrid did, although they’ve already said they will. Fingers crossed, then!
And a pro-trans law in Catalonia that would provide benefits for trans people who’ve face violence at home is now in jeopardy due to an early election call.
🇲🇽 Mexico: LGBT activists are hoping to work with legislators to re-pass the same-sex couple adoption law that was vetoed by the Baja California Sur governor last month.
Meanwhile in the States….
🗳️Minnesota: State Democrats (and DFL) are divided over a proposal to put an equal rights amendment before voters. Last year, the senate passed an ERA that includes LGBT protections, but it stalled in the house, where Democrats wanted to add more explicit protections for abortion rights. Leadership is trying to see which side of the house will blink first, and if the house will accept putting abortion rights on a separate question. Leadership also seems to prefer waiting until 2026 to put the question to voters, which seems risky to me – there’s no guarantee Democrats will maintain control of the legislature after November. Plus, an abortion question could help Democratic turnout in a presidential election in a swingy state.
🗳️Arizona and Nevada: Activists say they’ve surpassed the required number of signatures to put an abortion-rights amendment on the November ballot in both states. They’re also waiting for a ruling from the Nevada supreme court on whether they can press ahead with collecting signatures for a broader reproductive freedoms amendment. Democrats are hoping that abortion being on the ballot will help Biden win both states, and help Democrats win pivotal Senate and congressional races in both states. It could even help Democrats win control of Arizona’s closely divided legislature.
Signature collection is ongoing in nine other states for abortion amendments, and if they get on the ballot they could boost Democrat chances in Montana’s Senate seat and in marginal Colorado congressional seats.
😡New Hampshire: Republicans advanced a trio of anti-trans bills in the senate on Friday, including a duty for teachers to out students to parents, a sports ban, and a right to discriminate bill. The bills still must pass the house. Again, the narrowly divided NH legislature ought to be a top Democratic target in November.