Georgia ruling party introduces bill restricting LGBTQ+ rights ahead of elections

The governing Georgian Dream party announced a controversial bill on Monday aimed at curbing LGBTQ+ rights in the Transcaucasian country. The bill aims to combat what the party has called “LGBT propaganda” and proposes significant changes to the constitution. It seeks to prohibit sex changes, adoption by same-sex couples and gatherings promoting same-sex relationships. Observers note that the anti-LGBTQ+ agenda could serve as a strategy to rally conservative voters in the upcoming October 2024 national elections and divert attention from pressing economic challenges.

Georgia, which is predominantly Orthodox Christian, has long grappled with conservative social norms, exemplified by the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage implemented in 2018. The Georgian Dream’s executive chair, Mamuka Mdinaradze, stated that only marriage should be allowed between a “male and a single genetic female.” Furthermore, he emphasized the bill’s focus on safeguarding “family values and our future generations” against what he labeled “pseudo-liberal values.”

The proposed legislation comes amid a backdrop of political maneuvering, with the ruling party facing a decline in public support since its narrow victory in the 2020 parliamentary elections. In contrast, Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, condemned the bill as “homophobic” in a statement on Facebook, reflecting the polarized perspectives within Georgian society. Tbilisi Pride has previously criticized the government for the “segregation of LGBTI people” in November 2023 for removing SOGI-related issues from the Human Rights National Strategy (2022-2030) and the Human Rights Action Plan (2024-2026).

EU officials tasked with evaluating Georgia’s progress toward membership candidacy face a dilemma. Granting candidate status could be interpreted as a political decision, especially amidst concerns about the government’s perceived alignment with Russia and its crackdown on civil liberties and human rights. The EU is closely watching, and in its 2023 Report, it noted that “several key issues remain … notably discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Georgia in December 2021, in a case concerning an attack on LGBT protestors in the capital city of Tbilisi.

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Russia watchdog labels ‘LGBT public movement’ as terrorist organization

A Russian state financial watchdog labelled the “LGBT public movement” as a terrorist organization on Friday, as reported by Russian state media outlet TASS. This development comes three months after the Supreme Court of Russia ordered the LGBT+ movement to be declared as extremist.

The Federal Service for Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) added the LGBT+ movement to its official list of terrorist and extremist organizations published on its website, TASS reported. Rosfinmonitoring is a federal organization responsible for combatting international money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as assessing national security threats. Other organizations on their list include Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

In late 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing the LGBT+ movement of inciting social and religious discord. The Supreme Court of Russia ruled in the Ministry’s favor and declared that the LGBT+ movement was an extremist organization. This recognition effectively banned all LGBT+ activities as well as the use of the rainbow pride flag, and the court ordered that their ruling of the movement as extremist should be implemented immediately.

The ruling received widespread criticism, with Human Rights Watch describing the decision as “perverse persecution of LGBT people.” Since the ruling, multiple individuals in Russia have been prosecuted for extremist activities for their association or involvement with the LGBT+ movement. In January, a man was prosecuted for posting a rainbow flag on social media, while another was placed in detention for five days for wearing rainbow patterned earrings. 

The LGBT+ community has faced many hardships in Russia, with the Russian Constitution undergoing amendments to Article 1 of its Family Code in 2020 to state that marriage could only exist between a man and a woman. Furthermore, gender affirming care for transgender individuals in Russia was banned in July 2023.

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US embassies to be banned from flying Pride flags

A US government funding package includes a provision that bans the country’s embassies from flying Pride flags on their buildings.

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/25/pride-flag-ban-us-embassies-joe-biden/

Repost from The New York Times: ‘Wear It or We Will Beat You to Death’ – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen horrifying persecution of L.G.B.T.Q. people

The world should recognize it as a crime against humanity.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/opinion/ukraine-russia-putin-crimes.html?smid=em-share

Two arrested in Russia’s first LGBTQ+ extremism case

Two employees of an LGBTQ+ club in the Russian city of Orenburg have been arrested on suspicion of being members of an “extremist organisation”.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68615477

The persecution of trans people by the Nazis was devastating – and it still echoes down the ages

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/03/14/trans-history-wwii-nazi-germany-nazis-transgender-magnus-hirschfeld/

USA: Book ban attempts in US libraries and schools hit record high in 2023: focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color

The American Library Association (ALA) announced on Thursday that censorship demands and book ban attempts in public libraries and schools hit a record high in 2023. The ALA documented 1,247 demands to ban 4,240 different books. This is a 65 percent increase from 2022, when 2,571 books faced censorship demands. In 17 states, book ban attempts targeted more than 100 titles. The ALA said this is “the highest levels ever documented” by the group.

Public libraries saw a particular increase in censorship demands, with a 92 percent increase from 2022. This made up 46 percent of all book challenges in 2023. Censorship demands in school libraries, which were previously the main focus of book ban attempts, increased by 11 percent.

ALA President Emily Drabinksi criticized the increase in censorship demands and defended the libraries and library professionals that work to promote intellectual freedom, saying:

Every challenge to a library book is an attack on our freedom to read. The books being targeted again focus on LGBTQ+ and people of color. Our communities and our country are stronger because of diversity. Libraries that reflect their communities’ diversity promote learning and empathy that some people want to hide or eliminate. Libraries are vital institutions to each and every community in this country, and library professionals, who have dedicated their lives to protecting our right to read, are facing threats to their employment and well-being.

Of the challenged titles, almost half (47 percent) were books written by LGBTQ+, Black or other marginalized authors, or books that told stories related to those communities. This follows the national trend of conservative groups and legislators targeting diversity initiatives in schools, which has led students to stage walkouts in protest and organize banned book groups.

The ALA said that the surge in censorship demands came from groups and individuals that targeted multiple books at the same time. One of the major groups advocating for books bans, Moms for Liberty, has been designated a far-right extremist anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national civil rights organization. In addition to organized book ban campaigns, Moms for Liberty’s book rating system and a review site from a former member drive individuals to make censorship demands.

The new data report comes amid a pushback against censorship efforts. Organized attempts to ban books have prompted a number of groups to start anti-censorship efforts, with many people citing opposition to Moms for Liberty in particular. A federal judge blocked portions of Iowa’s book ban law in December and an appeals court ruled in January that a Texas law targeting “sexually explicit” material likely violates the Constitution.

Despite this, ALA officials warn that censorship demands will continue, with Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, saying, “The reports from librarians and educators in the field make it clear that the organized campaigns to ban books aren’t over, and that we must all stand together to preserve our right to choose what we read.”

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USA: Mississippi House of Representatives passes bill seeking to define sex in binary terms

The Mississippi House of Representatives passed on Wednesday a bill that seeks to define sex in strictly binary terms, impacting the recognition of transgender individuals’ identities within the state. The Mississippi Women’s Bill of Rights reflects a broader trend among Republican-controlled legislatures in the US to address and restrict the legal acknowledgement of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals through limited definitions of sex and gender.

Specifically, the bill explicitly defines the terms “woman,” “man,” “mother,” “father,” “female,” “male,” and “sex.” Each of these definitions are grounded in biological distinctions observable or clinically verifiable at birth. Notably, the bill asserts that “sex” is an objective and immutable characteristic, defined strictly as either male or female based on reproductive biology. It explicitly separates the concept of “sex” from “gender identity,” stating that the latter, along with similar subjective terms, cannot be used interchangeably with or as substitutes for “sex” in legal statutes.

Supporters of the bill, including the Independent Women’s Voice, advocated for the bill as a means to provide clarity and uniformity in the legal treatment of sex-based terms. The group claimed that the law will help “to preserve single-sex spaces that are important for privacy, safety, and equal opportunity.” Independent Women’s Voice pointed to recent efforts in other states “to eliminate women as a distinct legal category.”

The ACLU of Mississippi, however, condemned the bill’s effort to narrowly define sex-based terms. The ACLU said, “This bill is part of a calculated attack on trans people and their rights playing out in state legislatures across the country—it seeks to fix problems that do not exist in our state and places trans Mississippians in harm’s way.”

Other state-led efforts to define similar terms recently advanced through Alabama, Nebraska and Oklahoma—with the latter two efforts having passed into law. The efforts are a part of a growing trend that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) declared amounted to a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the US in 2023 due to the steep increase in laws and harassment targeting the LGBTQ+ community. At the time of HRC’s 2023 report, over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ laws had been introduced in the US.

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New Report by Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner on “Human rights and gender identity and expression”

Read: https://www.coe.int/uk/web/commissioner/-/human-rights-of-trans-people-increased-visibility-and-legal-recognition-contrast-with-lived-experience-of-discrimination-violence

Japan: Sapporo High Court holds same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Japan’s Sapporo High Court affirmed on Thursday that the country’s current ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

This ruling from the High Court upholds the Sapporo Lower Court 2021 decision that held the ban unconstitutional. However, Thursday’s rulings are the first time a High Court in the country has gone as far as to declare the ban explicitly unconstitutional.

The ban on same-sex marriage was deemed unconstitutional by the High Court because it was in violation of both Article 14 and Article 24 of Japan’s Constitution. Article 14 relates to the right to equality without discrimination. Regarding Article 24, the High Court held that marriage can be read to include same-sex marriage, as the article defines marriage as being based only on the consent of both parties. The court concluded by saying that “living in accordance with one’s gender identity and sexual orientation is an inalienable right rooted in important person interests.” The High Court, consistent with similar rulings in the country on the matter, did not award damages to the plaintiffs for emotional distress caused by the ban.

The High Court decision follows two legislative moves in Japan addressing LGBTQIA+ rights. In 2022, Tokyo’s metro government began to acknowledge same-sex partnerships, and in 2023, the federal government passed a law to better protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. 

This ruling comes after a lengthy back and forth within the Japanese courts. In 2019, Thirteen same-sex couples filed lawsuits across four districts in Japan alleging that the country’s denial of same-sex marriage is a violation of the Constitution. Then, the Sapporo District Court found that the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it violates the right to equality. However, in 2022, the Osaka District Court held that the country’s ban is not unconstitutional. Then, in 2023, the Nagoya District Court held that the ban is unconstitutional. The Fukuoka District Court also found the ban unconstitutional. 

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