Canberra Statement on the access to safety and justice for LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers, refugees and other forcibly displaced persons (November 2019) http://tinadixson.com.au/canberra-statement/
Japan backs transgender people using the bathroom that matches their gender in landmark court case
Gabon becomes 70th country to make gay sex illegal
Intersex Olympic hopeful from Uganda suing World Athletics after having damaging and irreversible surgery in order to compete
UK: Sark becomes the last place in the British Isles to legalise same-sex marriage
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/12/19/sark-british-isles-legalise-same-sex-marriage-channel-islands/
The highs, the lows and the backlash: Looking back on the last decade of the fight for trans rights in the UK
Interesting Article: The problem of “sport sex” – Michele Krech— 9 January, 2020
Female track athletes with certain differences of sex development (DSD) are now barred from the women’s category of international competition – that is, unless they undergo procedures to “normalise” the atypically high amount of testosterone produced by their bodies. These regulations establish an exception to the general rule that the women’s category is open to all athletes – just as they are – who have been legally recognised from birth as female (a separate exception applies to transgender athletes). They also override domestic law by creating the concept of “sport sex”, which doesn’t necessarily correspond with legal sex assigned at, and ever since, birth. …
The problem of “sport sex”
Judgment 221/2019: prohibition to apply ART techniques to a lesbian couple is not unconstitutional, as the Italian Legislator may pursue the ideal of a family model reproducing “nature” (in Latin, familiae ad instar naturae). These are two joint cases. Mine was different, in that one woman produces eggs, but a pregnancy would be life-threatning, and her partner cannot produce eggs, but may carry a pregnancy to term. I’ll used this situation for leverage, as there is a reproductive pathology affecting both women (see arguments against raised in Gas et Dubois, mentioned by the Court), Moreover, I argued that only a relationship with a woman grants the first woman the possibility to become a genetic mother (being married to a man would not help, given the ban on surrogacy). So being lesbian in her case is a blessing! The Court said that, well, yes, there is actually a pathology, but then what! We allow this couple access, but deny it straightforward to other lesbian couples? This would lead to unfair treatment, so it’s best to denied them all access… A first case of what I would call “deprivative equality”!
A second case dealt with an Italian-US couple and the formation of a birth certificate by Italian authorities for a child born as a US citizen, whose lex personae identifies the Italian same-gender spouse of the biological mother as a mother as well, based on consent.
The Court preferred to dodge the question and dismissed the case on procedural grounds. An obiter dictum, though, states that Italian law prima facie does not allow same-gender parenthood based on mere consent to reproductive techniques.
It’s a case of mine started in 2016, for which I already made some communications to this listserve.
Courtesy of Alexander Schuster
Belgium: Constitutional Court upholds 12 months chastity for MSM who want to donate blood
Recently (26/9), the Belgian Constitutional Court issued a decision concerning blood donation by MSM. In Belgium, MSM can give blood after a period of 12 months without intercourse. The French-speaking LGBT movement in Belgium has challenged this before the Constitutional Court. See:
https://www.const-court.be/public/n/2019/2019-122n.pdf (in Dutch)
https://www.const-court.be/public/f/2019/2019-122f.pdf (in French)
It’s a long and well-argued judgement. The Constitutional Court states that the 12-month period must be maintained. However, the law must be revised every two years, so that medical developments can be looked at (and the 12-months period can be shortened or abolished). This is in line with the case law of the EU Court of Justice.
Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court has annulled a small part of the law on blood donation : it should be possible for MSM to donate plasma placed in quarantine without a waiting period. The Court has requested that the law be amended in this respect.
Courtesy of Paul Borghs
Interesting new article on sexual violence against men and boys in armed conflict and the role of international criminal courts:
Alexander Schwarz, Sexualisierte Kriegsgewalt an Männern und Jungen und deren Verfolgung durch internationale Strafgerichtshöfe, in: Humanitäres Völkerrecht (nos. 3–4, 2019)
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 