Moscow police raid LGBT clubs
Lithuania civil union bill faces stiff opposition
I had three stories up on the Los Angeles Blade this weekend. First, I got to put on my nerd hat and report that Marvel Comics just revealed that a classic X-Men character is also nonbinary, making her the most prominent trans character in comics. Who is it? Read and find out!
I also covered the annual tree-lighting ceremony at the world famous Abbey bar in West Hollywood, which raised more than $10,000 for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
And I have a profile up of the “CEO of Everything Gay” Tristan Schukraft, who just purchased The Abbey. Check out what the mogul behind Mistr has planned for the world-famous WeHo bar and club.
Now around the world:
Latvia: Parliament gave final approval to ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence. Ratification leaves only a handful of European states outside the treaty: Turkiye, which withdrew from the convention this year; Azerbaijan, which never signed it; Lithuania, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Belarus and Russia are not eligible to sign as non-members of the Council of Europe.
The Convention is causing a political row in the pseudo-state Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, where the central government removed it from a violence against women protocol that is signed annually between the municipal government of Turkish Nicosia (the capital), the state police, and various ministries. The mayor of Turkish Nicosia wants the convention restored to the protocol. (TRNC is not considered a signatory to the Convention, because it is not a member of the CoE, and is only recognized by one of its members).
Lithuania: Next door, it looks like the civil union bill may not be passed this year, with enough members of the governing coalition withholding their support that it would be in danger of failing if brought forward. The junior coalition partner Freedom Party, which is pushing the bill, is threatening to play hardball with the partners, intimating that it could withhold support for their priorities if they don’t pass the bill. For now, the Freedom Party says it won’t bring forward the bill for a final vote until it’s certain to pass. The current session of Parliament ends Dec 23 unless it’s extended.
Russia: Police raided a bunch of Moscow gay bars just a couple days after the Supreme Court okayed declaring the “international LGBT movement” an “extremist” group. Harassment of Russia’s gays is only going to continue getting worse from here.
Greece: Officials now say the same-sex marriage and adoption bill will be introduced in early 2024, a safe distance from European elections. The bill has split the governing conservative party, so it may face further delays.
Mexico: Congress is set to debate its conversion therapy ban bill ahead of a final vote this week, and anti-LGBT bigots are making a final push to get deputies to vote it down. I think the bill ought to pass by a comfortable margin, but it’s concerning that it’s taken over a year to get to this point in the Chamber of Deputies. More than half the states already ban conversion therapy.
Nigeria: The weird hysteria over the Samoa Accord between the EU and dozens of African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries has spread to Nigeria now, where Muslim clerics are trying to persuade the President to block it, on the (incorrect) theory that it imposes LGBT rights on partner countries. The agreement does not include any language around LGBT or sexual orientation or gender identity at all.
India: The report on the new draft penal code under consideration by Parliament includes a recommendation that the government recriminalize adultery in gender-neutral terms, five years after the Supreme Court struck down adultery laws on various grounds including discrimination.
Hong Kong: Voice of America has a report on recent legal victories and growing acceptance of the LGBTQ community.
UK: Former Prime Minister Liz Truss will introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament to ban trans women from single-sex spaces and ban medical treatment of trans minors. For now, the bill stands less chance of passing than Truss does at becoming PM again.
Canada: The town of Westlock, Alberta is going to have a referendum next February on banning pride flags because a group of residents had a hissy fit over the proposed installation of a Pride flag crosswalk.