International Court goes after Taliban for women's, LGBT rights
US Republicans continue targeting marriage equality
My “Out in the World” column is up at the Los Angeles Blade, with stories from Canada, UK, Australia, and Philippines.
This will be my last Out in the World column at the Blade, as they’ve decided to discontinue it in favor of more local content.
Afghanistan: The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leadership, alleging that the regime’s gender-based persecution of women and LGBTQ+ people constitutes a crime against humanity.
Singapore: The government is still defending its decision to exclude protections for LGBT people from its recently passed workplace nondiscrimination law.
Argentina: Far-right/libertarian President Milei has proposed repealing laws requiring the government to hire a quote of trans people, disabled people, and women, repealing the option to choose a non-binary gender marker on government ID, and repealing laws against femicide (hate-motivated murders of women).
Trinidad & Tobago: Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar took the opportunity of Trump’s inauguration last week to dump on Joe Biden and “woke” policies, making allusions to the evils of accommodations for trans youth. I’m told the feeling on the islands is that Persad-Bissessar is widely believed to have the edge in elections due by August after the Prime Minister stepped aside earlier this month. She also seems to have gained some measure of sympathy after the Energy Minister was caught on a hot mic in Parliament making foul jokes to a colleague about her being a lesbian and engaging in prostitution (neither of which appears to be true).
Canada: A Catholic school board in suburban Toronto has voted to uphold its policy banning pride flags from being displayed outside schools. The policy still allows the flag inside schools.
EU: An Irishman is collecting signatures for a petition to ban conversion therapy across the EU.
Meanwhile in the States
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered a freeze on all passport applications with an “X” marker. Existing passports will remain valid until they need to be replaced or renewed.
The administration is also banning flying anything other than the US flag at diplomatic outposts around the world – so no more Pride or BLM flags.
Trump’s executive order on not recognizing transgender people includes an order that trans people in federal custody are no longer to be given gender care treatment and that trans women must be held in men’s prisons. Trump is also calling for amendments to the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act to remove protections for trans people.
He’s also scrubbed references to LGBTQ people and HIV from the White House web site.
Indiana: State Republicans are working on a bill to ban DEI and this is all so exhaustingly stupid and racist.
Tennessee: State Republicans are once again working on a bill to create a different kind of marriage that LGBT people cannot get. “Covenant marriage” would be heterosexual only, and severely limit the ways that couples can divorce.
Idaho: LGBTQ activists rallied at the state capitol against a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage.
Minnesota: The state supreme court ruled against Republicans who sought a ruling that they had a quorum to appoint themselves the majority, despite voters returning a 67-67 split. No word yet on when Governor Walz is going to hold a byelection to replace a Minneapolis Democrat who was declared ineligible. Not sure why there’s no rush here. The House will likely remain dysfunctional until the byelection happens sometime in March.
North Carolina: The state supreme court has rejected an appeal from a Republican seeking to steal a seat on the court from a Democrat who won by a 700-vote margin in margin. The case was sent back to lower courts, which means that it will likely remain undetermined for months.
Colorado: A state senate committee will hear a bill to delete the defunct ban on same-sex marriage from state law on Thursday, following last year’s referendum to remove a ban from the constitution.