Issuance of the First U.S. Passport with an X Gender Marker

The Department of State continues the process of updating its policies regarding gender markers on U.S. passports and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBAs) to better serve all U.S. citizens, regardless of their gender identity.  As the Secretary announced in June, the Department is moving towards adding an X gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming persons applying for a U.S. passport or CRBA.

The Department has issued the first U.S. passport with an X gender marker.  We look forward to offering this option to all routine passport applicants once we complete the required system and form updates in early 2022.  We will provide updates and information on our website: travel.state.gov/gender.

The Department also continues to work closely with other U.S. government agencies to ensure as smooth a travel experience as possible for all passport holders, regardless of their gender identity.

I want to reiterate, on the occasion of this passport issuance, the Department of State’s commitment to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people – including LGBTQI+ persons.

Press Statement

Ned Price, Department Spokesperson

October 27, 2021

‘Disgraceful’: Italy’s senate votes down anti-homophobic violence bill

Bill would have made violence against LGBT people and disabled people, as well as misogyny, a hate crime

Read: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/27/italy-senate-votes-down-anti-homophobic-violence-bill

USA: San Francisco passes ordinance to collect gender and sexual orientation data from city employees

San Francisco passed an ordinance on Tuesday to allow the city government to request information regarding the gender identity and sexual orientation of employees and candidates for job openings.

The city government’s human resources department can request the information through anonymous surveys from job applicants and current employees through surveys that collect data on a range of demographics within the city government workforce. Information will be provided on a voluntary basis and the data will be kept confidential.

The ordinance repealed Chapter 12E of the City Employee’s Sexual Privacy Ordinance. Under that ordinance, information about employees of the city government’s gender identity and sexual orientation could not be collected. Chapter 12E did not apply to job applicants whose data could be collected anonymously. Chapter 12E was considered necessary when it was enacted in the 1980s to protect LGBTQIA+ city employees from discrimination and harassment during the HIV epidemic.

The ordinance explained two reasons for repealing chapter 12E. First, discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation are prohibited under federal and state law and internal policies, which were not in force when chapter 12E came into force. Secondly, San Francisco can only improve equity issues within its workforce by having access to the information.

Due to chapter 12E, the city government has long operated without a clear picture of its employees’ key demographics. Passing the ordinance allows San Francisco access to a large volume of data. The city government employs approximately 37,000 staff, all of whose data can be collected with the consent of individual employees.

The move follows efforts by the city government over the past four years to monitor its progress towards achieving equity in its services by reporting anonymized data on key demographics.

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Italy Senate blocks law punishing violence against LGBTQ+ members

The Italian Senate on Wednesday blocked a proposed amendment that sought to punish violent acts against members of the LGBTQ+ community through a secret vote, according to the Italian newspaper The Local.

The law, informally known as “DDL Zan” (disegno di legge Zan), named after the member of parliament that proposed it, was brought to debate in 2018 in response to what Alessandro Zan saw as an exponential increase in violence against gay, lesbian, and transgender people.

The law sought to expand the Mancino Law, which sanctions phrases, gestures, actions and slogans aimed at inciting hatred, violence, and discrimination for “racial, ethnic, religious or national reasons,” to include homosexual, transsexual, women and the physically disabled. Those that engaged in violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community, or otherwise engaged in gender-based violence, could be imprisoned for up to four years under the expanded language.

Right-leaning parties Fratelli D’Italia and Lega Nord introduced the motion to block the bill. The vote was held through secret ballot, meaning senate members could vote freely, across party lines if they wished. The motion passed 154-131. Zan expressed disdain with the result, saying in a tweet that a “political pact” meant to move Italy towards “civilization” was broken.

After DDL Zan had passed the lower house, the Vatican took the unprecedented step of sending a formal complaint to the Italian government fearing judicial repercussions against members of the Catholic Church for expressing views that are counter to LGBTQ+ equality. The Vatican believed that the law risked violating two provisions of the Concordat with Italy, freedom of expression and the educational programs of private Catholic schools.

Former Italian Prime Minister and center-left Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta regretted the decision but remarked that opponents of the law “wanted to stop the future. They wanted to bring Italy back. Yes, today and their mess won in the Senate. But the country is somewhere else. And soon they will see.”

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Switzerland makes it easier to change one’s name and sex in the civil registry – for children under 16 parents must consent

Débureaucratisation de la procédure de changement de sexe à l’état civil dès le 1er janvier 2022

Berne, 27.10.2021 – Les personnes transgenres ou présentant une variation du développement sexuel pourront faire modifier les indications relatives à leur sexe et à leur prénom qui figurent au registre de l’état civil rapidement et simplement. Lors de sa […]

Switzerland makes it easier to change one’s name and sex in the civil registry – for children under 16 parents must consent — LGBTI Recht in der Schweiz – Droit LGBTI en Suisse – by Professor Andreas R Ziegler

USA: Texas governor signs bill restricting transgender student athletes

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed HB 25 into law, which prohibits transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that do not align with the sex that they were assigned at birth.

The law claims to “[redress] past discrimination against girls in athletics on the basis of sex and [promote] equality of athletic opportunity between the sexes under Title IX” by prohibiting transgender girls from competing in girls’ sports in public schools. According to the law, “[t]he purpose of this Act is to further the governmental interest of ensuring that sufficient interscholastic athletic opportunities remain available for girls to remedy past discrimination on the basis of sex.”

The law requires that a student participate in sports which align with the sex designated on their birth certificate, which is only “correctly” stated if it was “entered at or near the time of the student’s birth” or corrected shortly afterwards due to a “scrivener or clerical” error.

The White House has criticized the law as “hateful,” recognizing that it creates new opportunities for discrimination against transgender individuals. According to White House spokesperson Ike Hajinazarian: “This hateful bill in Texas is just the latest example of Republican state lawmakers using legislation to target transgender kids — whom the president believes are some of the bravest Americans — in order to score political points.” 

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ILGA World: The week in LGBTI news (15-21 October 2021)

LGBTI news of the world 15 – 21 October 2021 Written by Maddalena Tomassini Edited by Daniele Paletta This week, a historic report has been presented in Australia: the Human Rights Commission shone a light on the persistence of harmful surgeries on intersex children, calling for new legislative protections that prohibit medically unnecessary interventions on people born with variations of sex characteristics. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe highlighted the important role that Equality Bodies play in protecting LGBTI persons’ rights. In Peru, the National Board of Justice has recently opened an investigation into derogatory remarks made by a Supreme Court judge. Our rights and safety are still under attack in many parts of the world. A new report has highlighted the impact Covid-19 is having on rainbow communities in Eastern and Southern Africa. In Kuwait, a trans woman was arrested for expressing her identity, and some of her social media videos were allegedly used as evidence against her. Meanwhile, in the United States, both Houses of the Texas Legislature have approved a bill that will ultimately limit student athletes to teams that match their gender assigned at birth. Despite all the stigma and discrimination that our communities face every day, we continue to fight for a more equal and just world. As this week comes to an end, we prepare to celebrate our intersex and asexual siblings as Intersex Awareness Day and Ace Week are approaching.

More: https://ilga.org/lgbti-news-198-ilga-oct-2021

ILGA World: LGBTI news – 1 – 14 October 2021

Two weeks in LGBTI news
1 – 14 October 2021

Written by Maddalena Tomassini
Edited by Daniele Paletta

After a few months of hiatus, ILGA World’s bulletin is back: week after week, our members and readers will be given access to a collection of news affecting people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics in every part of the world – told with journalistic accuracy and yet firmly rooted in the voices of our communities.

During the past two weeks, our rainbow family carried on fighting for a more equal world. 53 States from all regions in the world have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to urgently protect intersex persons in their autonomy and right to health. We rejoiced with our communities in Turkey for the acquittal of the 19 people accused of “unlawful assembly” for taking part in a Pride march. We celebrated the memory of a South Korean trans soldier who was found dead earlier this year: she had fought against her dismissal, and has now been given a posthumous victory, as a Court recognised that her discharge was “undoubtedly illegal and should be cancelled”. In the State of Hidalgo, Mexico, two municipalities registered the birth of two babies, recognising them as children of lesbian mothers.

More challenges are ahead: our communities in Botswana will have to wait some more for a ruling on the State’s attempt to overturn the decriminalisation of same-sex intimacy between consenting adults. Meanwhile, in the United States, the state of Texas has removed resources for LGBT youths from the website of the Department of Family and Protective Services. In Australia, people are coming together for our trans and gender diverse siblings, calling for gender affirming surgeries to be covered by Medicare.

More: https://ilga.org/lgbti-news-197-ilga-oct-2021

ILGA News: September 2021

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 48th session Joint Statement on the Human Rights of Intersex Persons

Read: https://www.bmeia.gv.at/oev-genf/speeches/alle/2021/10/united-nations-human-rights-council-48th-session-joint-statement-on-the-human-rights-of-intersex-persons/