A new law allows trans Cubans to update their identification cards by request without providing proof of genital surgery.
More: https://www.them.us/story/cuba-gender-recognition-surgical-requirement
Company that assesses risks for leisure and business travellers is also publishing the LGBTQ+ Risk Map 2025
More: https://www.global-monitoring.com/en/tourism/lgbtqplusriskmap/
The European Commission has reversed its decision to withdraw the proposed Equal Treatment Directive
The European Commission has reversed its decision to withdraw the proposed Equal Treatment Directive, just days after ILGA-Europe and partners delivered a petition signed by more than 33,000 people to President Ursula von der Leyen.
First proposed in 2008, the directive would extend anti-discrimination protections beyond employment into everyday life, covering age, disability, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.
This reversal comes after months of pressure from civil society, EU Member States, and the European Parliament. The directive is now back on the table, but unanimity in the Council of Europe is still required.
Comprehensive EU anti-discrimination legislation is long overdue. It’s time for all Member States to step up.
Read the full story at http://ilga-europe.org/…/eu-commission-reverses-course…/
Canada: Judge halts non-binary person’s deportation to the U.S. as Trump dismantles trans rights
Advocates say ruling could set an ‘important precedent’ for 2SLGBTQ+ immigrants and refugees
More: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/non-binary-deportation-ruling-1.7588820
Hong Kong court rules sex-segregated public conveniences breach equality and privacy rights
A Hong Kong court ruled Wednesday that the segregation of the sexes in public conveniences is unconstitutional for its disproportionate interference with transgender individuals’ right to privacy and equality. Judge Russell Coleman directed the government to review its regulations on the gender recognition scheme relating to access to public conveniences within 12 months.
The government conceded that the segregation by biological sex at birth is unconstitutional after the city’s top court ruling on another gender marker case. The only dispute that remained standing was whether the court could adopt a proper remedial construction to the statute.
Senior Counsel Tim Parker for the applicant argued that the law should recognize the real-life experience of a transgender individual and allow them, whose real-life experience is certified by a psychiatrist through a gender identity letter, to use washrooms conforming to their identified gender. Judge Coleman rejected this proposition, ruling that the government and the legislature, rather than the court, are in a better position to draw the line between male and female at law.
Judge Coleman also rejected the government’s proposal to recognize the gender marker on the individual’s HKID card for the purpose of accessing a public convenience. He reasoned that the proposal risks conflating the government’s policy with the law. He further reiterated that the gender marker on the HKID card is not conclusive on the legal recognition of a person’s gender and the associated rights under the law.
The judicial review concerns a criminal offense under the Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation, which prohibits any individuals from using opposite-sex public washrooms. In January 2023, the applicant challenged that the segregation based on biological sex at birth infringed on transgender individuals’ rights to equality and privacy.
Local transgender advocacy group Quarks welcomed the ruling. In a statement, the group urges the government to abolish the discriminatory statute and legislate for gender recognition.
In February 2023, the city’s top court ruled in another case that the requirement for full sex re-assignment surgery to alter gender marker on HKID card is unconstitutional. The court held that requiring transgender individuals to undergo the most invasive surgical intervention was disproportionate because it may not be medically necessary in the range of treatments for gender dysphoria.
In April 2024, the government revised its policy to allow pre-operative transgender individuals to change their sex entry. Nonetheless, the policy still requires the applicants to have received hormonal treatment for two years and submit blood test reports when required to have their identified gender reflected on their HKID card.
The post Hong Kong court rules sex-segregated public conveniences breach equality and privacy rights appeared first on JURIST – News.
The committee refers to President Trump’s executive order in its policy change.
How LGBTQIA+ NGOs use the International System to Influence Domestic Policymaking
by Authors:
Uses case studies of three countries and gives policy recommendations for the future
Offers insight into influencing domestic policy in countries with strong LGBTQIA+ opposition
Reveals how LGBTQIA+ NGOS facilitate access to international channels for domestic NGOs
More: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-94740-7
Constitutional Court of Italy: Intended mothers have right to paternity leave
(ANSA) – ROME, JUL 21 – Italy’s Constitutional Court on Monday ruled that the both members of a lesbian couple have the right to time off after the birth of a child, not just the biological mother.
The ruling regarded an issue raised by the Brescia Court of Appeal on the refusal of paternity leave – 10 days off work at full pay – to the so-called ‘intended mother’ in a sex-same couple.
The Constitutional Court ruled that it was illegitimate not to grant paternity leave to a female worker who was a non-biological intended parent.
Paternity leave had been denied because both women had been registered as mothers in the civil register. (ANSA).
See also: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/6358-italy-extension-of-compulsory-leave-to-two-women-couples
UN expert wants to make women’s rights about biology. Campaigners warn it’s anti-gender rhetoric
A special rapporteur’s claim that biological sex is to blame for violence faced by women and girls sparked pushback from states and advocates at the Human Rights Council who warn it risks rolling back hard-won protections for women and LGBTQI people.
Special rapporteurs are typically known for pushing human rights boundaries forward. But Reem Alsalem, the current UN expert on violence against women and girls, appears to be pulling in the opposite direction. Her outspoken opposition to gender self-identification laws and trans women’s participation in women’s sports, along with her calls to abolish sex work, have long drawn outcry from civil society and stirred unease within the UN system itself.
EU Parliament: No EU Membership for Georgia until Changing Authoritarian Course
The recommendations include repealing laws targeting civil society and LGBT rights, strengthening anti-corruption efforts, and safeguarding fundamental freedoms.
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 