Latvia's LGBT opponents fail to stop civil union law

But the Greek drama rolls on...

Latvia: Signature collection has closed in the drive by LGBT opponents to force a referendum on the recently passed civil union law, and the initiative has failed by a huge margin. LGBT opponents were only able to grab 35,000 signatures, and they needed 154,000.

With the referendum threat out of the way, the President can now sign the law, which will take effect in July.

Greece: Leaders of both left-wing opposition parties will table competing same-sex marriage bills in Parliament, after the prime ministers appeared to pump the breaks on his commitment to introduce same-sex marriage during his term. The move will put pressure on the government to act.

Canada: New Brunswick’s premier was caught in a… well, I shouldn’t say lie, but he definitely had his facts wrong – when he incorrectly cited a study about youth seeking trans health care to justify his increasing attacks on trans youth in the province, which have been mimicked across the country. He’s also up for election by this fall.

Meanwhile, in the States

Ohio: A trans woman who wanted to run in the upcoming election was disqualified from the ballot because she failed to list her deadname on the petition collecting signatures for her candidacy, violating a little-known state law. 

Virginia: Democratic legislators have introduced a bill to repeal the state constitution’s defunct ban on same-sex marriage. The bill will need to pass in this session, and then again after the next election in 2025, to appear on the 2026 ballot. A previous attempt failed after Republicans won control of the state house in 2023 and blocked it. Democrats once again control both houses.

Tennessee: Equality Tennessee is tracking anti-LGBT bills that have been filed ahead of the legislative session that would ban the hanging of pride flags in schools, and allow parents to sue schools if they make LGBT content available to students.