Peru, Poland advance civil union bills
Michigan might pass a hate crime bill before Dems lose power
Peru: Congress’ justice committee approved a bill to legalize civil unions – it now heads to the full congress for approval. The long-stalled bill gives couples rights over inheritance, medical decisions, conjugal visits, and pensions, but does not seem to include adoption or equal parenting. The bill also proposes recognition of civil unions and same-sex marriages performed abroad, though the legislators are debating what that actually means. Peru is the largest country in Latin America without any recognition of same-sex couples.
Poland: Legislators managed to revive a bill to legalize abortion, after the bill seemingly died in the summer. The bill is now in committee study. The story notes that one of the government MPs who changed his mind on abortion now also supports the civil partnership bill.
Mexico: A legislator in Durango state has proposed a bill to ban conversion therapy in local law; it’s already banned federally as of this year.
And the city of Pachuca in Hidalgo state repealed a law that required marriage applicants to submit a medical report that they don’t have a communicable disease, an HIV-phobic law that had already been rescinded at the state level.
Namibia: Two openly queer candidates are standing for election to Parliament on Nov 27, which is a first according to Equal Namibia.
Ghana: The Supreme Court is set to rule Dec 18 on a challenge to the constitutionality of the Anti-LGBTQ bill that Parliament passed last year that is awaiting signature from the president.
Argentina: The far-right Milei government is trying to repeal the law that allows trans minors to change their legal gender and access gender care.
Canada: Openly gay federal cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault stepped down from cabinet amid allegations that he lied about having Indigenous ancestry and that he may still be working to benefit his former company while in cabinet, which would be a violation of ethics laws. He had previously been PM Trudeau’s advisor on 2SLGBTQIA issues.
At the United Nations
The Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and Egypt are teaming up to block a proposed statement at the COP 29 Climate Conference in Azerbaijan on the impact of climate change on women, fearing that the language could be interpreted to support LGBTQ rights. Heavy sigh.
Meanwhile, in the States…
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced that he is barring trans people from the sex-segregated facilities on the house side of congress that match their gender identity. Newly elected trans legislator Sarah McBride has announced she will comply, earning criticism from some trans activists. My take: McBride is probably exercising smart politics by not picking this fight right away and not giving Republicans more fuel to distract from the looming governance issues. It makes the trans person look like the grown up by comparison.
Meanwhile, Rep Nancy Mace, who once called herself an ally of the LGBT community, is now pushing a bill to ban trans people from bathrooms nationwide. It’s unlikely to go anywhere, given it won’t get past Senate Democrats.
And Trump’s replacement pick for Attorney General, former Florida AG Pam Bondi has a history of anti-LGBT stances, because of course she does. She also shut down investigations in Trump University after he made a donation to her, because of course she did.
Michigan: In a rush to get stuff done before they lose their state house majority in January, Democrats passed an LGBT-inclusive hate crime bill through the house last week. The bill awaits hearings in the senate, but there are only a handful of sessions left to get it passed.
Earlier in the session, Democrats failed to get this passed because they couldn’t agree on penalties for hate crimes. Oddly, the bill as passed creates lesser penalties for someone guilty of an anti-trans hate crime on a first offense, as compared to any other victim, and I would LOVE to hear lawmakers’ explain that.
Democrats have also introduced bills that would prevent public libraries from banning or removing LGBTQ books.
Indiana: A report has called for the state to end its outdated HIV criminalization laws – the deep red state is unlikely to act on it.