Russian Courts convict two on "LGBT Extremism"
Alberta, Canada, continues to cater to anti-LGBT extremists
I wrote for the Los Angeles Blade about the new anti-trans policies announced by the Premier of Alberta, Canada over the past two days. These will be the most restrictive policies around health care and education for trans and queer kids in Canada, and activists are already gearing up for a legal battle.
Russia: Courts have issued the first convictions for LGBT extremism following the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the “international LGBT movement” last year. A man was convicted for including a rainbow in an Instagram post, and a woman was sentenced to five days in jail for wearing earrings that had rainbow on them.
Armenia: The state has accepted a refugee claim from a gay Chechen man fleeing Russia. This continues a trend of Armenia slipping out of Russia’s orbit.
Greece: Update on the same-sex marriage bill schedule:
· Feb 5-7: Committee Hearings
· Feb 12: Second Reading
· Feb 14-15: Final votes in plenary session.
UK: A bill to ban conversion therapy will have a second reading in the House of Lords on Feb 9. The chances of this bill becoming law are slim, but possible. Opposition leader Kier Stamer has promised to introduce a ban if Labor forms the government after elections expected this year.
Poland: New PM Tusk is ending a court challenge to the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence filed by his predecessor, who wanted to take the country out of the treaty over bullshit concerns it expanded LGBT rights.
Meanwhile, various EU states are struggling to come up with a union-wide definition of rape. Most states want an expansive “only yes means yes” definition, that doesn’t require women to prove that force, threats, or coercion was used. Some states are blocking that definition over a legal squabble over whether the EU even has the right to legislate in criminal law matters.
Malaysia: An Islamist Party is calling for the state to ban an upcoming Ed Sheeran concert over fears that he will promote LGBT rights on stage.
Meanwhile in the States…
Iowa: Legislators killed a bill that would have stripped “gender identity” protections from civil rights law.
Idaho: Republicans advanced a bill out of committee that would end all legal recognition of trans people’s gender in the state.