đMexico: The Chamber of Deputies voted 267-104 to pass the bill banning conversion therapy on Friday, but because they made some changes to it, it returns to the senate for a final vote. The Senate approved the bill in 2022 by a vote of 69-16, so hopefully this is a simple matter. Eighteen Mexican states have already banned conversion therapy in local laws.
đĄUganda: An MP has introduced a bill to bar same-sex couples and single people from accessing surrogacy or IVF.
Serbia: Ana Brnabic has stepped down as prime minister, to take on the role of speaker of parliament instead, in response to opposition parties boycotting parliament after last yearâs disputed elections. Brnabic was the first woman, first openly gay person, and longest-serving person to hold the office, but you canât say she accomplished much for Serbiaâs LGBT community, or that her prominence has done much to lower anti-LGBT sentiment in the country.
Meanwhile in the States
đMichigan: The state senate gave final approval last week to a package of bills that reforms laws around surrogacy and parenting to facilitate same-sex couples accessing services and having parentage recognized without a long legal process.
đMaryland: Last week the house passed a comprehensive bill that closes significant gaps in anti-discrimination laws, by ensuring that all protected classes are listed in all statutes. This became necessary because last year the stateâs Supreme Court ruled that where classes arenât specifically listed, theyâre not included, and several laws omitted sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or religion. The bill is now in the state senate. A separate bill has also advanced to the senate which only deals with sexual orientation employment discrimination.
(For those of you wondering, itâs common in US states to have different laws barring discrimination in things like employment, housing, banking, health care, public services, accommodations, schools, etc. I donât know why youâd write laws that way, but there it is.)
đNew York: The state house passed a bill to repeal the crime of adultery; itâs awaiting a hearing in the senate. New York is one of several states that still have adultery statutes on the books, despite their wild impracticality and infrequent use.
South Carolina: The city of Myrtle Beach will vote on a hate crimes ordinance on Tuesday. South Carolina is one of only three states without any kind of statewide hate crime legislation.
đĄTennessee: The senate passed a bill barring the Department of Childrenâs Services from excluding prospective foster or adoptive parents because they hold anti-LGBTQ views. The bill goes to the House for a final vote.
The legislature is also advancing a bill that would remove specific classes of students from anti-discrimination protections in the teachersâ Code of Ethics. The new legislation would say that teachers cannot treat âanyâ student unfairly, rather than specifying that the they cannot treat students differently because of race, sexual orientation, etc. It also deletes the definition of âgender identityâ from the Code. The bill passed a house education subcommittee last week, and is expected to be debated by the committee on Wednesday; it has already passed the senate committee stage and is expected for a vote today.
đĄIdaho: The legislature passed a bill barring the use of public funds for gender-affirming care â that would include Medicaid and state employee health plans. It goes to the governor for signature.