Russia bans foreign adoptions to trans-friendly countries

US Democrats try to shore up same-sex marriage in more states after Trump win, but...

Poland: Public consultations on the government’s contentious civil partnership bill are wrapping up this week, with the government expecting to begin debate in parliament next week. Meanwhile, a rival bill from the governing coalition’s most right-wing party waters it down further to a “bill on the status of closest person.”

The lead governing party, Civic Coalition will have a primary for next year’s presidential election at the end of this month, and the leading contenders both say they’ll sign a civil partnership bill if it makes it to them, but that’s still a big asterisk given this parliament.

Japan: The Osaka High Court hearing on the same-sex marriage appeal concluded yesterday, and the ruling will be delivered March 25, 2025.

Guatemala: A legislator has introduced a bill that would stiffen penalties on abortion or on “promoting” abortion, and which would also reaffirm the existing ban on same-sex marriage and de facto unions (ie, common-law marriages). It would also ban the teaching of “gender ideology” in schools. Not clear yet how much support there is for this bill, but it’s disturbing that a Western Hemisphere lawmaker seems to be taking cues from the anti-LGBT laws and propaganda coming out of the countries in Russia’s orbit.

Iraq: Parliament is close to passing a law that would lower the legal marriage age for girls to nine years old – in other worlds, legalizing child rape.

Russia: Parliament’s lower house has passed a bill to ban foreign adoption into countries where gender transition is legal. This roughly mirrors similar legislation passed in 2014 that bans adoption into countries where same-sex marriage is legal. The new bill heads to the upper house for approval.

Meanwhile, in the States

More Democrats, LGBT people, and US states are seeking to shore up LGBT rights in preparation for Donald Trump’s second term as president. Though he’s likely to appoint two more Supreme Court Justices, that’s unlikely to shake the ideological makeup of the court in the short term, since he’s most likely to replace the two most conservative, anti-LGBT members, Thomas and Alito. But that will cement that majority in place for decades, as he’ll have appointed five rather young justices to lifetime appointments. The only way out of this will be for Democrats to expand the court once they get back into power, somehow.

But it’s not immediately apparent what states could remove old, defunct statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage next.

Virginia state house Democrats are considering in committee today a slate of proposed amendments that would repeal the marriage ban, protect abortion rights, and restore voting rights to ex-cons who’ve served their sentences. The proposals will be debated in the legislature in the January session, and if passed, will have to be passed again after next fall’s state elections to be put on the ballot in 2026.

Virginia also has to hold special elections in January to replace two state senators who were elected to congress, and while they’re unlikely to change the balance of power, it is possible that Democrats’ one-seat majority could slip to a tie. Hilariously, a Democratic state delegate is considering running for the vacant senate seat, which could have the same effect in the state house.

Oregon Democrats attempted to put same-sex marriage on the ballot this year but were stymied by a Republican filibuster/boycott. They may attempt to get it through the legislature again this year for 2026, emboldened by new legal consequences for members that boycott the legislature.

Pennsylvania Democrats may try once again to use their state house majority to repeal the state’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage, but will likely find that blocked in the Republican Senate. But who knows? Republicans may try to shore up the moderate vote by letting such a bill pass ahead of 2026.

While Alaska Democrats wield significant power, “moderate” Republicans they’re in coalition with, along with the far-right governor, have both promised to block any progressive legislation.

Michigan Democrats have lost their majority in the state house, and Republicans do not seem eager to do any favors for LGBT people in the state. Democrats made serious unforced errors in the previous term by not repealing the statutory ban on same-sex marriage before the end of the session, preferring to tie it to a stunt bill that would have put a constitutional amendment on the ballot first. Since that required Republican support for a supermajority to pass, it was dead in the water. Dems also failed to repeal the state’s sodomy law, and efforts at that are probably dead, too. For that matter, Massachusetts’ sodomy decriminalization bill is probably dead, again, but maybe Lucy can hold the football out for Charlie Brown again next year.

Finally, Colorado, which just repealed its constitutional ban on same-sex marriage last week, still has a statutory ban on the books. State Democrats will have to pass a bill to repeal the law in the new session. Incidentally, the referendum was a straight repeal of the ban, it didn’t create a positive right to marriage. That’s because a repeal needed only a simple majority, while adding a right required a 60% supermajority, which state lawmakers were afraid they wouldn’t get. The ballot question passed with 65% of the vote.

And those are the only states with dead bans on the books where Democrats have any power at all right now. Thirty states and the US Virgin Islands (where Democrats control the local council) have statutory bans on same-sex marriage; twenty-seven have constitutional bans.