Peru Court orders recognition of foreign same-sex marriage
Botswana plans to erase its defunct sodomy laws
Peru’s Fourth Constitutional Court ordered the national civil registry to record a same-sex marriage that took place in Argentina between a Peruvian and Argentinian national. This is the first time any Peruvian court has recognized same-sex marriage, and contradicts a decision last year that found the state had no obligation to recognize same-sex marriage. It’s unclear if the decision sets a binding precedent, but it will likely be appealed.
Meanwhile, Bolivia’s civil registry service has announced that “free unions” (a type of civil union that is nearly equivalent to marriage) will now be identical for gay and straight couples. Gay couples have been able to access free unions since a 2020 court decision (although access could be spotty until courts formally ordered it in March 2023), but the regulations and requirements governing them have been slightly different until now.
Readers in Los Angeles may have spotted that I wrote the cover story on this week’s Los Angeles Blade, covering the ongoing strike by Hollywood writers and actors. If you’re still confused about what’s at stake in the strike and why the writers and actors are 100% right, I’ve got you covered.
Speaking of unions, Grindr employees are unionizing!
Human Rights Watch has a report on the persecution LGBT people face in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where a court case seeking to strike down the country’s sodomy laws is awaiting a verdict.
An anti-LGBT protest took to the streets of Botswana’s capital Gaborone, after the government introduced a bill that would formally strike the country’s defunct sodomy laws from the criminal code. The law was struck down by the courts in 2019, and the country lost its final appeal of the decision in 2021.
Malaysia banned UK rock band The 1975 from performing after lead singer Matty Healy kissed a male band mate on stage and gave a speech criticizing Malaysia’s anti-gay laws. The 1975 has since cancelled dates in Malaysia, Indonesia, and for some reason Taiwan.
Mexico’s Sinaloa state congress is expected to debate and possibly vote on a bill to ban “conversion therapy” today. If it does, it will be the 16th state to do so. A federal ban is pending a final vote in the Senate.
Spain’s national elections resulted in a hung Parliament that does not leave a clear path for right-wing anti-LGBT parties to get to power. We’re likely looking at a period of negotiations among parties, with smaller regional parties poised to play kingmaker, and potentially returning the left-wing parties that recently passed much pro-LGBT legislation (trans rights, nondiscrimination, conversion therapy ban, etc) to power.
Jurist has a dispatch from Kenya, where a new bill that includes stiffer penalties for LGBT activity than already exist is about to be introduced in Parliament.
And a report from Venezuela says that the ruling class has started courting the growing anti-LGBT Evangelical community ahead of next year’s elections. It wasn’t very long ago that the dictator Maduro was calling on congress to legalize same-sex marriage, but it seems the electoral math is turning. (Yes, Venezuela’s dictatorship isn’t absolute).