Top EU Court says states must recognize gender changes
Colombia legislators reintroduce conversion therapy ban bill
My latest “Out in the World” column is up at the Los Angeles Blade, with deeper looks at developments in Cambodia, China, the EU, Georgia, and Canada.
Hong Kong: The top court heard the final appeal in case where same-sex couples are seeking equal access to social housing. The justices apparently seemed pretty hostile to the government’s attempt to uphold discrimination – and denying the appeal would be in line with the court’s decision last year to require the city to provide legal recognition to same-sex couples.
Moldova: Anti-EU forces are spreading the usual falsehoods about LGBT people ahead of next week’s referendum on pursuing joining the European Union (or, implicitly, seeking a closer alignment with Russia).
Romania: The European Court of Justice ruled that Romania must recognize a legal gender change obtained in another EU member state, setting a precedent across the EU. The ruling stems from the EU’s residency rights, similar to previous rulings requiring member states to recognize same-sex partnerships from other countries (which, frankly, Romania has been ignoring, so…). This ruling is more straightforward, however, and I imagine it will go into force fairly easily.
Colombia: Representatives have reintroduced a bill to ban conversion therapy. This is their third attempt, after a previous bills have stalled out.
India: The government is opposing a case seeking to strike down a colonial-era law that says a man can’t be charged for raping his wife.
Meanwhile, in the States
Colorado: A judge has smacked down a parent’s request to have a straight pride flag hung in his child’s classroom.
Errata
An embarrassing typo in Friday’s newsletter. California did NOT ban LGBTQ books from public libraries. It prohibited banning LGBTQ books from public libraries. Woops.
Also, in my list of territories that once had same-sex marriage but no longer do, I neglected to mention that the Cayman Islands had same-sex marriage for 13 days in in 2019, but no one was actually married in that time.