Taiwan same-sex couples still not equal
Kazakhstan moves to ban gay adoption
I wrote a preview for the Los Angeles Blade of the upcoming play Arrowhead, a farce exploring queerness, feminism and identity from IAMA Theatre Company in LA.
Taiwan: An American-Filipino same-sex couple is suing to have their US marriage recognized. Although Taiwan has legalized same-sex marriage, it only recognizes foreign marriages if both partners are from countries that recognize same-sex marriages.
Thailand: A member of the committee reviewing the same-sex marriage bills says they expect the draft bill to return to parliament for second reading by the end of the month, and expects passage sometime after Pride weekend in June.
Czechia: The same-sex marriage bill and the proposed ‘all-but-marriage’ amendments went through second reading on Wednesday. They head back to committee for analysis before returning for a third reading at some point.
Finland: Finns will vote in the presidential runoff election on Sunday, and one of the remaining candidates is openly gay. Pekka Haavisto is currently polling about 8 points back, but would be the country’s first openly gay President, and only the third openly gay modern-era head of state.
Japan: The first trans person has been able to change their legal gender without undergoing sterilization surgery since the Supreme Court ruled that requirement was unconstitutional.
Another couple has announced it is filing a court challenge seeking a right to same-sex marriage in Sendai.
India: The Supreme Court has tossed an old case seeking to have the 2013 case that recriminalized sodomy reconsidered, because the Court already overturned that ruling in 2018.
Meanwhile, the state of Uttarakhand is attempting to be the first to impose a Uniform Civil Code that will harmonize the various religion-based personal/family laws, but the practice has drawn sharp criticism for regressing on women’s rights, leaving out same-sex marriage and LGBT rights, and trampling on the rights of religious minorities.
Kazakhstan: The Senate approved a bill that would ban LGBT people from becoming “mentors” or adopting orphans. Under the bill, prospective mentors would be given a psychiatric test to determine if they’re LGBT. It goes to the president for approval.
Mexico: A bill to ban conversion therapy in Nayarit state has advanced out of committee and awaits a vote in the state Congress. It would be the 19th of 32 states to do so. A bill to ban it nationally awaits a final vote in the federal Chamber of Deputies.
Ghana: Parliament’s majority leader says he believes they’ll be done with clause-by-clause consideration of the latest Anti-LGBT bill by Friday. Parliament just added a 6-month prison sentence for aiding, encouraging, facilitating, or promoting LGBT activities to the bill today, and the minority leader has said that parliament will override a possible presidential veto.
Zimbabwe: Cabinet has formally approved a private members’ bill that seeks to abolish the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment. Should the bill pass as expected this year, Zimbabwe will join a growing global consensus against the death penalty, particularly in Africa, where six countries have abolished capital punishment in the last two years.
UK: The House of Lords is going to debate a conversion therapy ban bill today.
Meanwhile, in the States
California: The Yes campaign for the November referendum to repeal Prop 8, the defunct ban on same-sex marriage, has launched.
Utah: The state house passed a bill that would ensure interracial couples maintain the right to marry in the state and may not be denied a marriage license by a state official, but the bill maintains the state’s defunct ban on same-sex marriage. It heads to the state senate.