This is a blog is related to my academic work in the International Academic Forum on SOGIESC Law but meant to serve anyone who wants to contribute to improve the protection of human rights worldwide. It is intended to keep interested readers informed about legal developments relating to sexual orientation, gender expression and identity and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Hopefully, it will make it easier to find correct legal information about the developments in all regions of the world and, in particular, with regard to international law.
Interesting Article: MP Bator-Brył, Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: Analysis of CJEU and ECtHR Case Law Concerning Human Rights
Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: Analysis of CJEU and ECtHR Case Law Concerning Human Rights
MP Bator-Bryła – Review of European and Comparative Law, 2024
This article analyses the importance of the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation in light of the primary and secondary legislation of the European Union, as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the …
USA: Trump announces intent to restrict transgender rights
In his first major rally since his win at the 2024 election, Donald Trump declared his intention to restrict transgender rights when he returns to office, proclaiming that he would “stop men from participating in women’s sports”.
Trump launched numerous attacks on trans rights throughout his first term, including banning transgender individuals from serving in the military and eliminating Department of Education provisions that maintained teachers should treat students in accordance with their gender identity, among others. Trump’s staunch denial of trans rights signifies a deepening conservative backlash against trans rights prevalent in the United States.
An example of this growing backlash is the Ohio Senate’s recent approval of a bill restricting trans students access to bathrooms. There has been additional litigation in the US regarding trans participation in sports, with two transgender girls obtaining permission from US Ninth District Court of Appeals to participate in sports following the state of Arizona passing legislation that prohibits them from doing so.
With the US Supreme Court to rule on the legality of providing transgender youth with gender affirming care this upcoming year, trans rights in America, especially for youth, are particularly unstable. Many trans people have reported preparing for Trump’s second term in office under the expectation of sweeping and pointed attacks on their rights. According to a report published in 2022, only 1.6 million people in the US over the age of 13 identify as trans, which is well under 1% of the population.
This did not stop Donald Trump from spending millions on advertisements focusing on anti-trans propaganda throughout the US election. Trans rights appear to be in urgent danger of being restricted as Trump prepares to take office.
An Uncloseted Media investigation has found that at least six Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate groups hold what’s known as Economic and Social Council consultative status
Lithuania court finds law restricting same-sex content for minors unconstitutional
The Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that a provision of a law that prohibits the spread of information about same-sex content relationships to minors is unconstitutional.
The court stated that the nation’s constitution deems the concept of family as gender-neutral, and therefore the law violated constitutional values and rights such as freedom of expression and the concept of family. Constitutional Court President Gintaras Goda announced: “No legal regulation may be introduced which implies that information on any family models and relationships between individuals is in itself inappropriate for minors.” Goda further stated that children’s development shall be based on human rights, dignity, equality, and tolerance.
Clause 16 regards information as “detrimental for minors” if it “expresses contempt for family values, encourages the concept of entry into a marriage and creation of a family other than stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania.”
In February 2024, the former Justice Ministry asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the law. The request followed a failed proposal for amendments in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) in November 2023.
Human rights issues regarding the law first appeared before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case Macatė v Lithuania, which concerned a ban on the publication of a series of Macatė’s books. Two of Macatė’s recent publications depicted members of various marginalized groups, including same-sex couples. In this case, Lithuania argued the texts violated the Law on the Protection of Minors by depicting a different concept of marriage and family. The ECtHR deemed this a violation of the freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ruling then played a part in the Lithuanian government’s decision to initiate the process of changing the law.
As confirmed in February by former Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska, the ruling of the provision’s unconstitutionality makes it null and void. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda had opposed amendments to this law in November 2023. He argued repealing the law would be a “green light to denigrate the family.”
Other countries, such as Bulgaria, have recently introduced bans on same-sex “propaganda,” which has sparked discontent among LGBTQ+ activists and human rights organizations.
Ghana’s Supreme Court dismisses challenges to anti-LGBT bill
Ghana’s Supreme Court has unanimously decided to dismiss two legal challenges to new anti-LGBT legislation that has been criticised by rights groups.
Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a bill imposing three years in prison for people identifying as LGBT and five years for forming or funding LGBT groups.
The Supreme Court of Ghana on Wednesday dismissed constitutional challenges launched against a bill that criminalizes LGBTQ+ expression and advocacy.
In a televised ruling, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson spoke for a unanimous court and cited the constitutional separation of powers between the judiciary, president and legislature as the primary reason for dismissal. She provided that the bill has not yet formally become law, and thus the challenges made against it do “not properly invoke the exclusive jurisdiction of the court.” She stated: “It is premature for this court to exercise its interpretive and enforcement jurisdiction to intervene.” The court concluded by stating that written reasons for the decision will be provided by the end of Friday.
The bill was first introduced in 2021 as a response to the opening of an LGBTQ+ advocacy resource center in Ghana. It was unanimously passed by the Parliament of Ghana in February of this year at its third reading. In Ghana, a bill must pass three readings and receive presidential assent to become law. President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo stated in March that he would not assent to the bill until the court ruled on its constitutionality.
Senior Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development Abena Takyiwaa Manuh criticized the court’s outcome, stating: “I think that just this pronouncement, this kind of formalism, actually puts at risk, the lives and health of members of the (LGBTQ+) community and some of us who are human rights defenders.”
These comments build on the domestic and international criticism against the bill. The legislation criminalizes being LGBTQ+ and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, with prison terms of up to three and 10 years, respectively. Domestically, human rights groups have called for an adjudication by the Supreme Court of Ghana for potential infringements of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the right to privacy, the freedom of association, the freedom of speech, and the right to equality under the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Internationally, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported an increase in violence and human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ people in Ghana. HRW has urged President Akufo-Addo to reject assenting the bill.
With the legal challenges now dismissed, the bill awaits presidential assent to become law. It is unclear whether the outgoing president will give assent before his term ends. Ghana held parliamentary elections this month, with president-elect John Mahama to be sworn in early January 2025.
This article analyses LGBTQIA+ rights and death penalty litigation in the Caribbean and East Africa before and after the establishment of new regional international courts. LGBTQIA+ rights and the death penalty are both difficult and contested issues where global movements and litigation strategies easily clash with local sentiments. For litigation to have an impact in such issue areas, the article finds that three elements must align. First, there is a need for new institutional opportunities such as new judicial venues or laws. Second, there is a need for coordinated legal strategies that can utilize the available legal venues. Third, there is a need for a societal momentum for the cause, or at least the absence of strong political contestation against the cause. In our study, the establishment of new regional courts provided institutional opportunities that could be seized by transnational litigation networks. And as international courts operate at a distance from local politics, they have created a more neutral international legal opportunity structure. In the two regions and across the two issue areas studied, these three elements were most clearly aligned regarding death penalty litigation in the Caribbean and the least aligned regarding LGBTQIA+ litigation in East Africa.
In March, the NHS restricted the prescription of puberty blockers to minors. In May, the UK government placed an emergency ban on access to puberty blockers by minors through private prescriptions, which was extended three times. The ban was based on the advice provided in Dr. Hilary Cass’ recommendations. A claim was soon brought to the UK High Court by transgender activist group TransActual, who alleged that the ban was unlawful. However, the claim failed on all grounds and the ban continued.
The targeted consultation by the independent Commission on Human Medicines built upon the findings of the Cass Review, and made the following conclusion:
This review found puberty blockers to have no statistically significant impact on gender incongruence and/or gender dysphoria, mental health, body image and psychosocial functioning in children and adolescents. [The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] found the quality of evidence for all these outcomes to be low and noted that GnRH analogues may reduce the expected increase in lumbar or femoral bone density during puberty.
The consultation also noted the Cass Review findings in April 2024, which found that:
…the use of puberty blockers in these circumstances blocks the normal rise in hormones that should occur into teenage years, and which is essential for psychosexual and other physical developmental processes such as brain and cognitive development and bone health. It also has implications for fertility, and the use of puberty blockers may also reduce psychological functioning.
The report clarified that young people who are already taking puberty-blocking medications or were prescribed those medications six months prior to June 2024 can continue to do so once their prescriber is UK-registered. Dr. Cass recommends that if puberty blockers are prescribed, they are only done “following a multi-disciplinary assessment within a research protocol”.
In terms of providing care to the LGBTQIA+ community, the government outlined a holistic approach to supporting patients affected by this ban, with eight regional mental health centers being established.
TransActual criticized Dr. Cass’s findings in October 2024, expressing concern that trans people were “specifically excluded from the review process”, and that Dr. Cass was not “as neutral as previously claimed.” The group requested transparency from the government as to how the Cass Review was commissioned, that the ban be suspended and that it instead support the British Medical Association’s “ongoing review of the [Cass] Review’s methodology and conclusions.”
The new legislation is set to be reviewed in 2027, and NHS England will be commencing further research trials into puberty blockers next year.
Japan court urges government to recognize legality of same-sex marriage
The Fukuoka High Court ruled that Japan’s current policy against same-sex marriage is discriminatory and unconstitutional on Friday. This marks the third time a High Court in the country has declared the ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, and this ruling specifically calls on the government to undertake necessary legal reforms.
In this case, three couples living in Fukuoka and Kumamoto whose same-sex marriage registrations were rejected, sought compensation from the government. The six appellants claimed that the Civil Code of Japan and the Family Registration Act, which ban same-sex marriage, violates the Japanese constitution. This appeal followed the Fukuoka District Court’s ruling that the government was not required to take immediate legislative action, despite being in a “state of unconstitutionality.”
Presiding Judge Okada Takeshi highlighted the importance of legal recognition for same-sex couples, in light of the constitutional principles of individual dignity and gender equality. The court referenced Article 13 of the Constitution for the first time, stating that the absence of a legal framework for same-sex marriage denies individuals in same-sex relationships a means to pursue happiness.
He emphasized that sexual orientation is determined before birth or early in life and is not a choice that can be changed by will or psychiatric methods. Thus, the desire to pursue happiness through the establishment of a family is the same for both heterosexual and same-sex couples.
The government argued on definition of marriage under Article 24 of the Constitution, citing the terms “both sexes” and “husband and wife.” In response, the court clarified that the legislative intention of Article 24 was not to prohibit same-sex marriage but to eliminate the historical subordination of wives in the family system. “There is no longer any reason to not legally recognize marriage between same-sex couples,” Judge Okeshi concluded.
After the ruling, four plaintiffs hailed the decision outside the court. They held a sign , questioning why Japan’s parliament has not yet legalized same-sex marriage.
This ruling aligns with two prior High Court decision in Sapporo and Tokyo, which similarly deemed the government’s stance on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
LGBTI rights are human rights (10.12.2024 – Human Rights Day) – Statement by ILGA
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On Human Rights Day we reflect on struggles and milestones for the European and Central Asian LGBTI movement in 2024.
Human Rights Day reminds us of the universality of human rights: freedoms that belong to all people, no matter their identity. This principle is at the heart of the LGBTI movement, as LGBTI rights are human rights. In 2024, these rights were both challenged and celebrated, often reflecting broader societal shifts.
Across Europe and beyond, anti-LGBTI measures highlighted the fragility of hard-won freedoms. Georgia adopted both a “foreign agent” law and an “anti-LGBTI propaganda” law, echoing a troubling global trend of restricting civil society and stifling dissent. On December 2nd, the restrictive law came into force, banning legal gender recognition and equating same-sex relationships with incest, further institutionalising discrimination against LGBTI communities. The law also declared May 17 a holiday opposing the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, amplifying the state’s anti-LGBTI stance. Bulgaria introduced laws targeting the discussion of LGBTI issues in schools, marking another attack on both education and freedom of expression. In Russia, the international LGBTI movement was branded as “extremist” in late 2023, but 2024 saw the first convictions under this extremist label, intensifying the risks for activists and organisations. Kyrgyzstan followed suit by enacting a Russian-style “foreign agents” law in April, subjecting non-profits to extensive state oversight and jeopardising the work of press freedom groups and civil society, including LGBTI organisations.
These developments show how attacks on LGBTI rights often signal deeper human rights violations. In Turkey, trans rights faced severe setbacks with new regulations restricting access to essential hormones, disproportionately affecting trans masculine people and those in poverty. Police repression of LGBTI demonstrations further highlighted the shrinking space for activism and public dissent. The suppression of freedom of speech, association, and democratic principles often accompanies discrimination against LGBTI communities. As such, defending LGBTI rights is part of defending the foundations of democracy and equality for all.
Progress, despite setbacks
Despite these setbacks, 2024 was also a year of hope and progress. Germany’s adoption of a self-determination law marked a major step forward for trans and non-binary people, simplifying legal gender recognition. Greece joined the growing list of European countries recognising equal marriage, while Malta’s introduction of non-binary markers on official documents underscored its commitment to inclusivity.
Beyond Europe, global human rights institutions also made strides for LGBTI people. The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution affirming the rights of intersex people, a relevant step in recognising and addressing the unique challenges they face. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Poland must provide legal recognition for same-sex couples, and the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that Romania must respect gender recognition granted in other countries.
Ensuring no one is left behind
These moments of progress illustrate that advancing LGBTI rights benefits societies as a whole. Laws that affirm equality and dignity strengthen the social fabric, ensuring that no one is left behind. This year’s developments—both the setbacks and the victories—show that progress is possible, but it requires vigilance, solidarity, and collective action.
In February 2025, ILGA-Europe will publish its Annual Review, documenting these and other critical moments from the past year. Stay tuned!
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 