Same-sex partnership registries expand in Japan
Plus: Czechia, Poland, Greece, Mexico, Scotland, Latvia, Michigan and California
Welp, a long update today. But before we get to it, I’d like to take a moment to thank all the subscribers, especially the paid subscribers, who really help me keep this thing going. If you’d like to support my work, you can always choose a paid subscription, or consider supporting one of my other endeavors.
In my non-journalism life, I’m an artist who specializes in graphite and ink portraits of nude men, and I’m currently having a huge sale on my original work in my online shop. Take advantage of the huge 25% off sale before it ends on Saturday! (Don’t worry, I’m not planning to add any nsfw art to this newsletter).
On to the news!
One more prefecture of Japan has announced that it will begin registering same-sex partnerships –Yamanashi, starting Nov 1. Additionally, Wikipedia editors seem to have found that Kagawa prefecture has allowed same-sex partnerships since 2020. Along with three other prefectures whose systems will come into effect in the next few months, 19/47 prefectures representing well over half of Japan’s population will have same-sex partnerships.
Poland’s opposition leader Donald Tusk said at a campaign rally last week that his party has two draft bills ready to be introduced if it wins power, which would simply the gender recognition process for trans people, and introduce same-sex civil unions. The three main opposition parties that are likeliest to team up after an election are in a statistical dead heat with the government and its farther-right ally ahead of elections on Oct 15. Tusk’s potential coalition would likely include a center-right party that doesn’t particularly care for LGBT people, and The Left party, which has put out a platform that calls for full equal marriage, comprehensive anti-discrimination laws, and a ban on conversion therapy. So, Tusk’s position for now is that they’ll have to find some way to compromise, though he does sound personally supportive of equal marriage.
Greece’s new left-wing opposition leader (pictured at top) is an openly gay Greek-American businessman who’s openly campaigned for gay rights, including same-sex marriage. Of course, the current right-wing government plans to beat them to it – it’s possible the new opposition leader pushes up the current PM’s schedule a means of defusing this as an issue.
The ratification process for the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence hit a snag in Czechia, where one Senate committee has refused to give it a hearing. Latvia’s new government is hoping to hold a ratification vote soon.
A gay couple in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state became the first to register a baby born via surrogacy. Although there is no law in place regulating surrogacy, the couple’s lawyer believes that this creates a precedent for other gay couples in the state. The registry also confirms that they have been registering children born to lesbian couples since 2014, but this is the first born to a gay couple. Nuevo Leon also allows same-sex couples to adopt (9 states still do not).
Meanwhile, the LGBT community in Mexico’s Guanajuato state is still fighting for basic rights, but the conservative congress led by the PAN party is not even considering a slew of bills to codify equal marriage, penalize hate crimes, allow gender identity change, and ban conversion therapy. The next state elections are in Sept 2024.
A court in Scotland is hearing a challenge by that country seeking to undo the UK government’s veto of its gender identity recognition law, which its parliament passed in December. The court isn’t ruling on the bill itself, but rather on whether the UK was allowed to veto it under that country’s devolution agreement with Scotland.
Voice of America has a report on a growing normalization of hate speech and anti-LGBT propaganda from the government of Turkey. Turkey at least nominally aspires to join the EU, but this sort of behavior will likely keep it well out of the club.
The Michigan Senate committee on Health Policy held a hearing on several bills to ban anti-LGBT discrimination by insurance providers on Sept 13, but did not hold a vote to advance it. It has already cleared the Michigan House. (Earlier this year, Michigan banned anti-LGBT discrimination generally; I’m not sure why a separate bill is required, other than to clarify existing legislation). During this legislative session, we’re also waiting on the Senate to pass a comprehensive hate crime bill, and for both houses to pass bills repealing the sodomy law and banning the gay panic defense.
California governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would require judges consider a parent’s acceptance of a child’s gender identity in custody hearings. Progressive Democrats likely have the votes to override the veto, but the legislature hasn’t overridden a governor’s veto in decades. Newsom also signed a number of pro-LGBT bills relating to foster care, gender-neutral bathrooms in schools, and cultural competency training for teachers in schools.