Lithuania court upholds LGBT rights in employment discrimination case

Extreme anti-LGBT laws advancing in Ghana, Iowa, and North Dakota

Mexico: A committee of the Chihuahua state congress will hold a hearing on a bill to codify same-sex marriage in state law today.

Meanwhile, Sinaloa state legislators are debating a bill that would allow the state to remove children from their parents’ authority if they do not accept their sexuality or gender identity. This sounds extreme, but I think it’s not much different from the emancipation process that is legal in the US and Canada, and simply codifies that this is abuse that would justify emancipation. Mexican readers, if I’m misunderstanding this, please let me know.

Poland: The government has basically confirmed that it is putting off the civil union bill under after the presidential elections in May, in hopes that the government’s candidate will win and will sign the bill. The new president won’t actually take office until August, however, so the bill likely won’t get passed until the fall. A proposed gender identity bill is also getting the same treatment.

Lithuania: A court ruled against an arts center which had banned an employee from wearing rainbow colors in support of the LGBT community, finding that this is a discriminatory violation of employees’ expression rights.

Russia: The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia violated LGBT peoples’ freedom of expression by restricting access to LGBT information web sites and violated privacy rights by collecting information on users’ sexual orientation from social media. Russia has withdrawn/was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022, but this case had been pending since before then.

Ghana: Rightify Ghana is reporting that an MP is planning to reintroduce the Anti-LGBT bill that was passed by last year’s parliament but died when the former president refused to sign it. This is a terrible bill, and we’ll have to keep an eye on it.

European Union enlargement watch

Ukraine: The president of Lithuania has proposed 2030 for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and the European Commission President responded that it could come even earlier. The EU is hoping to open negotiations on more accession chapters this spring and plans to accept Ukraine into the EU “roaming” area later this year. Meanwhile, Ukraine has apparently agreed to a framework mining deal with the US in exchange for ongoing support in its war against Russia.

Bulgaria: Having met inflation reduction targets, the government plans to ask the EU to allow it to adopt the euro currency beginning Jan 1, 2026.

Moldova: The country announced it will cease paying dues to the Commonwealth of Independent States this year, a post-Soviet organization, in an effort to continue cutting ties with Russia and align with the EU.

Georgia: Protests against the anti-LGBT, anti-EU, and pro-Russia government are continuing, months after it stole the October 2024 election.

Meanwhile, in the States

Some updates on same-sex marriage laws at the state level. NBC has a roundup of some of anti-equal-marriage bills in 9 states.

• North Carolina: A state Democrat has proposed a state constitutional amendment and civil code amendment to erase the defunct ban on same-sex marriage. This stands no chance of advancing, given the heavily gerrymandered state has Republican near-supermajorities despite a majority of voters voting for Democrats in 2024.

• Oklahoma: As reported by Gaylord News, slew of religious-bigotry-inspired bills failed at the committee stage; these would have called abortion murder, banned no-fault divorce, and established “covenant marriages.”

• South Dakota: A resolution asking the Supreme Court to overturn same-sex marriage was defeated at the committee stage. But…

• North Dakota: A similar resolution passed through the state house on a 52-40 and is on it’s way to the state senate. But one Republican has since said he voted for it in error. North Dakota’s house also passed a bill that officially allows social workers to provide conversion therapy, and it also heads to the senate.

• Michigan: A Republican state lawmaker intends to bring a similar resolution forward in Michigan, but it stands very little likelihood of passing, as Democrats still control the state senate.

• Oregon: Oddly, state Democrats did not introduce any measures related to repealing the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage ahead of the deadline to do so, which was yesterday.

Iowa: Two protestors were arrested as Republicans debated the extreme anti-trans bill I covered last week, which would remove trans people from discrimination law, ban legal gender changes, and ban discussion of gender in classrooms. The bill is on track to pass the state house by the end of the week.

Ohio: State Democrats have introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy, but it stands no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled legislature. Republican extremists have also proposed a bill that would put severe financial penalties on anyone who organizes a protest.

Virginia: Lawmakers passed a bill extending employment discrimination protections to those working in small businesses, which were previously exempt. The law awaits the Republican Governor’s signature.