Report, commissioned by Daniel Freund of the Greens/EFA group with the backing of MEPs from other groups in the European parliament demands to trigger rule-of-law provision and withhold money from Budapest

The report by three professors, commissioned by a group of MEPs, outlines the grounds for the European Commission to activate its new rule-of-law conditionality, which allows payments of EU funds to be suspended in certain circumstances.

Read: https://www.ft.com/content/4d79583c-f5a1-40be-93dc-cae27e6c713f

Europe Court of Human Rights rules Russia violated trans mother’s rights to contact with children

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Wednesday that the domestic courts of Russia had violated a transgender mother’s parental rights by depriving her of any contact with her children due to her gender identity.

The applicant A.M., whose gender was registered as “male” at birth, dissolved her seven-year marriage with Ms N in June 2015. The spouses agreed that the children would stay with Ms N with the applicant paying a monthly allowance to the children. Later, the applicant’s legal transition from the male to the female gender was officially recognized by the Lyublinskiy District Court of Moscow. The applicant visited the children regularly until December 2016, and, during these visits, she presented herself as male and wore male clothes, because Ms N would have objected to her visits otherwise.

From December 2016 onwards, Ms N started refusing the applicant’s visits, and, in January 2017, she also initiated proceedings to restrict the applicant’s parental rights on grounds that the applicant’s transition from male to female gender had caused “irreparable harm” to the children’s mental health. The district and appeals courts in Russia upheld the same and ruled that the restriction was reasonable for preventing a “negative impact on [the children’s] mental health and psychological development.”

The ECHR ruled that the domestic court’s decisions violated the applicant’s right to respect for her family life and right against discrimination under Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The domestic courts applied the “most restrictive measure possible” which contradict international law materials such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that require children to be kept together with their parents and in case of separation, to maintain direct contact between them on a regular basis.

The ECHR also held that the applicant’s gender identity impacted the assessment of her claim and was decisive in the decisions restricting her contact with her children. The applicant was thus treated differently from other parents seeking contact with estranged children, but whose gender identity matches the sex assigned at birth.

The ECHR however refused to consider the applicant’s claims brought on behalf of her children’s right to family life on grounds that only the custodial parent can bring such claims. It has awarded A.M. 9,800 euros in damages and expenses.

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USA: Supreme Court rejects appeal from Christian florist who refused to do same-sex wedding flowers

https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/07/02/supreme-court-florist-stutzman-case/

U.S. State Department to add gender marker for nonbinary and intersex persons

The State Department on Wednesday issued a statement that it is working to add a gender marker for nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals to U.S. passports.

The statement by Secretary Antony Blinken affirmed the department’s commitment “to promoting the freedom, dignity, and equality of all people.” Starting immediately, passport applicants will be able to self-select their gender as either “M” or “F” and will not require medical certification if their selected gender does not match the gender listed on other identity documents such as a birth certificate. The Secretary noted that the process for adding a third gender marker is “technologically complex and will take time for extensive systems updates.”

Currently, twenty U.S. states and the District of Columbia allow citizens to enter either M, F, or X to mark their gender on their driver’s licenses, with New York and Illinois having passed laws that would make gender-neutral markers available in the coming years. Today’s statement fulfills one of Joe Biden’s campaign promises, that transgender and nonbinary persons should have the option to change their gender marker to F, M, or X on their government-issued documentation.

The statement comes more than a year after the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the State Department to reconsider its denial of an accurate passport to U.S. Navy veteran Dana Zzyym. Zzyym is intersex and nonbinary, and filed a lawsuit that spanned three different presidential administrations before the Tenth Circuit issued its decision. Zzyym said in a statement through Lambda Legal that they are “optimistic” that they “will soon receive an accurate passport. One that reflects who [they] truly [are].”

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French parliament votes to extend IVF rights to lesbians and single women

Under current law only heterosexal couples can access medically assisted reproduction methods

Read: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/french-parliament-votes-to-extend-ivf-rights-to-lesbians-and-single-women

UN denounces Hungary legislation restricting youth exposure to LGBTQ identities

On Friday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) decried a new law proposed by Hungary that would “deny trans and gender diverse people the right to legal recognition and self-determination.”

The legislation, which was passed by parliament on a 157 to one vote earlier this month, prohibits gay individuals from being featured in educational materials for children. The legislation also prohibits companies from producing advertisements that support the LGBTQ community, if the advertisements are considered to be targeting youth. Those who violate the law “could be fined or have their broadcasting suspended.”

Critics of the bill, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, maintain that the law is discriminatory. Leaders of the European Union issued a joint letter in support of the LGBTQ community just prior to a scheduled conference in Brussels last week, emphasizing that “[EU members] are diverse and tolerant societies, committed to the unhindered development of the personality of each one of our citizens, including their sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Supporters of the legislation, including Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling party, Fidesz, maintain that the law has been drafted to support children’s moral development as “there are contents which children under a certain age can misunderstand and which may have a detrimental effect on their development.”

According to the statement by UN human rights expert Victor Madrigal-Borloz:

Everyone has the right to recognition as a person before the law, including persons of diverse gender identities … [Hungary’s proposed] bill would negate the existence of trans and gender diverse people in [that country] and adversely impact them in almost every aspect of their daily life. A proposed change to the Hungarian Registry Act would replace the term “sex/gender” (nem) with “birth sex” (születési nem), defining it as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes,” and establishes that this “birth sex” cannot be changed once recorded. Also, the legislation might invalidate existing government documents issued to trans and gender diverse people … Hungary must not target trans and gender diverse people under the guise of protecting health and should strictly limit the use of emergency power to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation is linked to a bill that seeks to impose stricter penalties for pedophilia.

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USA: Supreme Court declines to review transgender rights case

The US Supreme Court declined Monday to review a decision that allowed a transgender student to use the bathroom that corresponded to his gender identity.

Gloucester County School Board v. Grimm was originally filed in 2015 after Gavin Grimm, who was born as female but identifies as male, was denied the use of the boys’ restroom at a local public high school. Grimm argued that the school’s policy violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit relied on Department of Education guidance in ordering the school board to allow Grimm to use the boys’ restroom.

In 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. However, it sent the case back to the appeals court without hearing oral arguments after the Trump administration rescinded the Department of Education guidance. In 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit again ruled that it was unlawful for a Virginia school district to ban students from using restrooms that aligned with their gender identities.

The school board then appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. In an order released Monday, the Supreme Court denied certiorari to the case. The order noted that Justices Thomas and Alito would have granted the petition.

This decision leaves the appeals court’s ruling in place, in what is considered a victory for the LGBTQ community.

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Turkish police fire tear gas to disperse Istanbul pride parade that had been banned since 2004

On Sunday, Turkish riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disrupt Istanbul’s annual pride parade after the Istanbul governor’s office refused to grant a permit for the parade. The police have also arrested dozens of marchers, including journalists who were covering the event.

The attack from the police force comes after a period of mounting hostilities against the nation’s LGBTIQ+ community. The pride parade has been held annually since 2003, despite being officially banned since 2014. Videos shared on social media show hundreds of people gathered on Istiklal Avenue, a popular tourist destination, chanting “rainbow is not a crime, discrimination is”.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who voiced support for the LGBTQ community prior to being elected, and senior members of his government have recently voiced strong anti-LGBTIQ+ sentiment in an effort to appeal to more conservative voters. In early 2021, President Erdogan was widely condemned for comments made in an address to members of his government where he claimed that “there was no such thing as LGBT” and labeled LGBT student protestors as “terrorists”.

While the government stands by the police action as a justified response in line with COVID-19 protocols, advocacy groups believe, in line with recent governmental behavior, it is another method of silencing the LGBTIQ+ community.

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USA: President Joe Biden signed a bill Friday honoring the victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting and designating the nightclub as the National Pulse Memorial.

In June 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 at the popular nightclub located in Orlando, Florida. The gunman used an AR-15-style rifle and a pistol. The mass shooting is one of the most lethal in the nation’s history. President Biden was vice president at the time of the shooting.

“A place of acceptance and joy became a place of unspeakable pain and loss,” Biden stated at the bill signing. Biden explained that the National Pulse Memorial represents “an absolute determination that that we’re going to deal with this every single solitary day and make sure that we’re not in a position to see this happen again.”

After signing the bill, Biden asserted that over half of states lack specific protections for LGBTQ+ people and their families. Biden urged Congress on Friday to pass laws protecting the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people.

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Canada House of Commons approves bill criminalizing conversion therapy

Canada’s House of Commons approved a bill on Tuesday that amends the Criminal Code to criminalize certain activities associated with LGBTQ+ conversion therapy in order to discourage and denounce it.

The lower house passed the bill by a vote of 263 to 63 and, it defines “conversion therapy” as “a practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual, to change a person’s gender identity or gender expression to cisgender or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour or non-cisgender gender expression.”

The bill prohibits anyone from forcing an adult to undergo conversion therapy without their consent. It also makes it illegal to force a child to undertake conversion therapy, as well as to remove a child from Canada to undergo conversion therapy elsewhere. Further, the bill criminalizes the administration of conversion therapy for receiving a material benefit. It also makes advertising conversion therapy services a criminal offense.

However, if no money or other material benefit is received in exchange for administering conversion therapy to a consenting adult, the bill does not make it illegal. Moreover, it does not prevent a consenting adult from seeking or receiving conversion therapy.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti said, “the bill is about protecting the dignity and equality of rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit individuals, by criminalizing conversion therapy-related conduct.”

The bill is now under consideration before the Senate.

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