Slovenia court gives lesbians access to IVF

Belgian sex workers get new labor rights; Mexican abortion rights advance

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Ok, first up, my “Out in the World” column is also up at the Los Angeles Blade with stories from Russia, Slovenia, Canada, and Hong Kong. Here are the bullet points:

Slovenia: The Constitutional Court has ruled laws barring same-sex couples from assisted reproduction (as well as single women) are unconstitutional discrimination. The Court has left the laws in place while giving parliament one year to repeal them.

Hong Kong: LGBT activists are urging the government to speed up work on introducing a legal mechanism to recognize same-sex couples, following a series of court victories establishing their right to legal equality. The government last said it was studying the issue in May.

Canada: The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal fined the town of Emo (pop. 1300) $15,000 for refusing to issue a Pride Month declaration and refusing to fly the Pride flag.

Russia: Authorities raided a trio of gay bars in Moscow over the weekend, part of a deepening crackdown on LGBT people.

Other News

Lithuania: The far-right Nemunas party that is the junior member of the proposed new governing coalition says it will not consider allowing the old draft civil partnership bill to be part of the coalition’s governing program. So, yeah, it’s likely dead for now, unless the Social Democrats find some other party to partner with.

Poland: UN Experts have urged the government to protect LGBT people from violence and discrimination. Meanwhile, a new poll shows 50% support for the draft civil partnership law, and only 39% opposed.

Spain: The Supreme Court ruled that it is legal for cities and governments to hang the Pride flag from public buildings, following complaints against Valladolid and Zaragosa. The right-wing PP and Vox parties had begun denying requests to fly the flag, citing their belief it is illegal.

Belgium: Over the weekend, Parliament passed a law giving sex workers formal employment rights, including access to pensions, insurance, parental leave, family benefits, and vacation time. This is believed to be first-in-the-world legislation.

Georgia: The EU Parliament has condemned the Georgian government’s actions leading up to an since the October elections, which it says were not free and fair and do not reflect the will of the people. Georgia’s President has also refused to inaugurate the new Parliament, but that hasn’t stopped the government – which had previously passed one of Europe’s worst anti-LGBT laws, which came into effect yesterday – from starting parliament anyway, in clear defiance of the law, sparking ongoing protests. The government also responded by formally suspending EU accession talks through 2028 – also rejecting any EU funds – as it turns increasingly toward Russia.

Peru: The civil union bill appears to be dividing parties on both the left and the right in congress. No date yet on when the bill will be debated. The mayor of Lima is organizing a march against the bill on Saturday, and the bill’s sponsor was harassed at a museum event.

Mexico: Chiapas state passed a bill decriminalizing abortion up to 12 weeks last week, bringing the total to 19/32 states that have decriminalize abortion. A law decriminalizing abortion in Zacatecas came into effect Sunday. Courts have ordered Morelos state to decriminalize it by Dec 15.

Namibia: The opposition are calling shenanigans over elections that took place last week, refusing to accept the results as marred with inexcusable administrative irregularities and errors. They’re calling for a revote.

Trinidad and Tobago: The Court of Appeal missed its scheduled date to deliver its ruling in the government’s appeal of a lower court decision that decriminalized sodomy, plaintiff Jason Jones announced on Instagram over the weekend. It’s already deliberated on the case for over a year, and the original decision dates from 2018. Lord only knows what the hold up is, but in general, Caribbean Courts seem to move on island time.

Meanwhile, in the States

The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Tennessee law banning young people from accessing gender care treatments on Wednesday. A decision likely won’t come until June, and will have nationwide consequences as dozens of Republican-controlled states passed gender care bans over the last few years.

Michigan: Time is running out for Senate Democrats to pass a hate crime bill. The agenda for the next meeting of the Justice Committee sees them prioritizing a bill to decriminalize adultery. Maybe they think they can get a quick noncontroversial win? In that case, I’d still think the sodomy bill would be a higher priority – after all, if this is so noncontroversial, surely it’d still be passable after the Republicans retake the house in a few weeks. But this hasn’t even been brought to the state house yet, so what on earth are they thinking?

Other Reporting

For the Los Angeles Blade, I profiled gay comedian Adam Sank, who’s performing in LA on Friday.