Mexican state repeals law barring people with HIV from marriage

Jamaica and US in diplomatic tit-for-tat over diplomat's same-sex spouse

Apologies for missing yesterday’s newsletter — I’ve been battling a cold and was working on a tight deadline.

In Mexico, the Puebla state congress has repealed laws barring people living with HIV from getting married – the new law requires the partners to sign a statement swearing that they are aware of the other’s serostatus. Puebla also repealed a section barring men who suffer from permanent impotence from getting married. Many Mexican states have long had these laws in their civil codes, and they weren’t just archaic, inactive laws. Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled these laws to be unconstitutional in October 2021, but in Mexico, unconstitutional laws remain active until they’re formally repealed or individually struck down by a court action.

Earlier this year, the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) called on the ten states that still had these antiquated laws on the books to repeal them. The nine remaining states are: Chiapas, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Quintana Roo and Sinaloa. Of them, Querétaro legislators have said they accept the recommendation and will repeal, the Guanajuato state civil registry says it’s working on reforms, and activists are pushing for Sinaloa legislators to do the same. Note that of these, Guanajuato and Chiapas have also not codified same-sex marriage into law, although it is legal in those states by court order.

Meanwhile, Jamaica and the United States are in the midst of a diplomatic spat over Jamaica’s refusal to grant accreditation to the same-sex spouse of a US diplomat. The US has retaliated by refusing to extend visas for three Jamaican diplomats already stationed in the US.

It should go without saying that I think Jamaica is in the wrong here — simply as a matter of diplomatic protocol and courtesy, governments are meant to extend family visas to the spouses of diplomats, even if they aren’t granted any further family rights in the country. That comes from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, of which Jamaica is a member, article 37: “The members of the family of a diplomatic agent forming part of his household shall, if they are not nationals of the receiving State, enjoy the privileges and immunities” accorded to diplomats.

Sadly denial of diplomatic visas to same-sex spouses happens often enough that the State Department devotes a paragraph to it in its web page about Foreign Service Life.

A congresswoman in Peru has introduced a new bill to allow civil unions for same-sex couples. The unions would be equivalent to common-law marriages in most respects but would not allow the adoption of children. An equal marriage bill introduced by a minor party was shelved by committees earlier this year.

A leading opposition presidential candidate in next year’s elections in Panama has said he’s in favor of civil unions but not equal marriage for same-sex couples. Panama is still beholden to the IACHR ruling for equal marriage, though its Supreme Court has said otherwise.

Thailand’s reformist parties are not giving up on taking power after their candidate for prime minister was voted down by the military-installed Senate last week. A new vote is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and in the meantime, the reformers are proposing to amend the constitution to remove Senators’ power over the process — calling the bluffs of the Senators who claimed their abstention reflected a desire to remove themselves from the process, and not an obstruction of democracy. The reformists have pledged to legalize same-sex marriage if brought to power.

MPs in Namibia are continuing to squabble over the definitions of “marriage” and “spouse” in law, as the upper house of Parliament gives final passage to a bill that defines both heterosexually. The fact the proposed definitions are not in synch with definitions being used in other laws has rankled MPs, some of whom are calling for a constitutionality test of the bill. The definition of marriage bill heads to the president for signature and publication (both just formalities at this stage) before it takes effect, although it is extremely likely that the bill will be taken to court very soon.

A new advisor to the Minister of Justice of Morocco is advocating for repeal of the laws that criminalize consensual extramarital sex. No word yet on if the sodomy provisions are also being considered for repeal, although activists have been pushing for them to go too.

A Senator in the Philippines is calling on her colleagues to lift all delays on progressing the “SOGIE Bill” that bans discrimination against LGBTI people, particularly after the community has offered a dozen amendments that would address conservatives’ fears. The bill has been under debate for more than 20 years.

The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from a state judge who refuses to marry same-sex couples, citing the SCOTUS decision in 303 Creative. Honestly, I don’t see even the current SCOTUS accepting this line of argument, but I could see the Texas Supreme Court agreeing and throwing the state justice system into chaos.

Poland’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice has ordered the early release of a 21-year-old member of a neo-Nazi group who had been sentenced to three years in prison for her role in an attack on a Pride Parade participant, in what activists are calling a disturbing show of support for neo-fascists and anti-LGBT hate in Poland.

MPs in Kenya and Ghana are working to repeal the death penalty, while Lesotho has told the UN it plans to hold a referendum on repealing it.