Kenya blocks LGBT refugees from leaving
New Hampshire Republicans prepping new ways to go after trans people
My “Out in the World” column at the Los Angeles Blade is up now, with updates on the anti-LGBT legislation in Alberta, Canada; a court recognizing same-sex parents for the first time in Lithuania; the constitutional court annulling Romania’s presidential elections, giving a momentary reprieve from a possible far-right upset; and a Hong Kong lawmaker asking Beijing to intervene to thwart LGBT rights progress in the city.
On that last story, Hong Kong’s government is pushing back, saying that the relevant legal disputes should be handled locally.
Kenya: The Canadian government is saying that Kenya is blocking LGBTQ refugees from accessing the exit interview that is a key step before a refugee application is accepted for relocation to Canada.
Ghana: The winner of this weekend’s presidential election says he will “scutinize” the anti-LGBT bill that is currently before the supreme court before deciding to sign it, which is about as clear as mud. John Mahama previously served as president from 2012-2017, and he wasn’t any ally then, either.
Africa-wide: LGBT activists from francophone countries are urging Western governments to provide them with more funding, as well as better translation services at international forums, where English and Spanish tend to dominate.
Samoa: A study by the Bureau of Statistics found that the majority of the country’s faafafine population is 15-19 years old. Faafafine is an indigenous non-binary gender identity that is generally tolerated, despite widespread homophobia and the criminalization of gay sex.
Syria: Five decades of brutal dictatorial rule by the Assad family has come to an end, as rebels took control of the capital and much of the country over the weekend. The rebels were previously associated with ISIS, but appear to have moderated somewhat since the fall of that organization. Time will tell what the new rulers mean for Syria, the nascent Kurdish statelet in the country’s northeast, the wider Middle-East conflict, and queer people in the country.
Meanwhile, in the States
Congress is not including expanded access to IVF for soldiers in its National Defense Authorization Act this year, contrary to some plans that IVF access would be expanded to single women and lesbians.
SCOTUS declined to hear a case challenging a Wisconsin school board policy that directs teachers not to out trans students to their parents, saying the parents lacked standing as the law didn’t affect them.
New Hampshire: Republicans have indicated plans to pass more anti-trans legislation in the new session, with their expanded state house majority and a new governor who doesn’t seem interested in vetoing it. Already proposed: a new bathroom ban, a ban on gender care for trans minors, a ban on school personnel encouraging youth to believe they are trans, and possibly repealing the state’s ban on gender identity discrimination and a ban on recognizing genders other than male or female on state documents (currently, X is allowed for non-binary people).
Michigan: State senate Democrats appear to have decided to rush through a new bill to decriminalize having sex while HIV-positive; it’ll have a hearing in the senate justice committee today, and will still need to be passed by the senate and house. Again, while this is a laudable goal, there are only 5 days left in this session; it’s surprising to see Democrats pushing new ideas rather than bills that have already made some other progress through the term (like the hate crime bill, still awaiting a hearing in the same justice committee, or the decriminalization of sodomy bill).