Read: https://mannschaft.com/mindestens-20-us-bundesstaaten-wollen-trans-rechte-beschneiden/
Council of Europe: New reports show increasing discrimination and attacks on LGBTI people in Poland and Europe as a whole
A report on a fact-finding mission to Poland in November last year draws attention to increasing attacks and discrimination against LGBTI people in the country, focusing on cities, provinces and regions that are adopting family charters and resolutions against so-called “LGBT ideology”. Another, more general report on “The role and responsibilities of local and regional authorities in the protection of LGBTI persons” denounces the “backsliding” observed in Council of Europe member states with regard to the rights of LGBTI persons.
Lesbian mother of stateless baby takes citizenship fight to top EU court
A baby left without a nationality after she was born in Spain to a same-sex couple from Bulgaria and Gibraltar is at the centre of a test case to be heard by the European Union’s top court on Tuesday (9 February).
Lawyers say Bulgaria has put one-year-old “Baby S” at risk of prolonged statelessness after refusing to provide a birth certificate and citizenship because of discrimination towards her parents’ sexual orientation.
The hearing at the Luxembourg-based court is being seen as an important test case for many other so-called “rainbow families” in Europe who face similar dilemmas.
Experts on statelessness say if “Baby S” cannot acquire citizenship she may not be able to go to school, access healthcare and state benefits, or get jobs later in life.
Her parents, who live near Barcelona, have not yet been able to introduce their daughter to their families abroad because they cannot get her a passport.
After she was born in December 2019, “Baby S” received a birth certificate in Spain listing both her mothers.
However when her Bulgarian mother, who uses the pseudonym Kalina, requested a Bulgarian birth certificate for her daughter so she could apply for citizenship, she said officials told her a baby could not have two mothers.
Bulgaria’s constitution defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
“It’s caused us a lot of upset. This discrimination feels very personal and has shocked us,” Kalina told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“I want to tell (the court) I’m her mother no matter which country I’m in. It’s very unfortunate that I can be her mother in Spain…but I can’t be her mother in my own home country.”
The couple cannot obtain Spanish citizenship for their daughter as neither of them is a Spanish national.
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located on Spain’s southern tip but British laws mean Kalina’s wife cannot pass on her British citizenship as she acquired it by descent.
Kalina’s lawyer will urge the Court of Justice of the European Union to request Bulgaria provide “Baby S” with a birth certificate and nationality.
The Luxembourg-based court, which ensures EU countries comply with the bloc’s laws, is also considering a similar case where Poland refused to issue a birth certificate for a child born in Spain to Polish and Irish mothers.
“This ruling will be important for many people,” said Kalina’s lawyer Denitsa Lyubenova.
“There are a lot of same-sex couples in Europe in the same position, whose children are at risk of statelessness because EU member states in central and eastern Europe do not recognise their family status.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she will push for mutual recognition of family relations in the European Union under a new strategy to strengthen LGBT+ rights.
“If you are (a) parent in one country, you are (a) parent in every country,” she told the European Parliament last year.
Czech Constitutional Court: No Recognition of Foreign Adoption by Same-Sex Couples
Barbara Havelková & Terezie Boková – 29th January 2021 Children’s Rights | Equality and Non-Discrimination | Relationship Rights | Right to Privacy
The recent decision of the Czech Constitutional Court (‘CCC’), Pl. ÚS 6/20, against allowing recognition of foreign adoption decisions in Czechia is harmful in outcome and evasive and formalistic in its reasoning.
Angola law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation takes effect
Angola’s revised penal code went into effect Wednesday, not only decriminalizing same-sex relationships, but also banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The penal code was approved by the Angolan parliament in 2019, but was not signed by the president into law until November 2020, to take effect in February of this year. It was the first revision of the penal code since Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975. The original penal code contained holdovers from the colonial era, including banning “vices against nature,” widely understood to mean homosexuality. That provision has been removed in the revised code.
The new code lists sexual orientation as a protected class. Angolans cannot be fired because of their sexual orientation, nor can they be refused goods, services, or any other economic activity because of their sexual orientation. Violators of the prohibition could be subject to up to two years in prison. The code also adds penalties for those who defame or otherwise insult the honor of a person because of their sexual orientation.
The news of the penal code taking effect was met with celebrations online. French politician and noted LGBTQ activist Jean-Luc Romero-Michel called it a “great step forward for human rights which should inspire others.”
The post Angola law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation takes effect appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.
Join us online: « LGBT at work : quelques résultats d’une recherche sur les parcours professionnels de personnes LGBT dans le monde du travail », JEUDI 4 MARS | 12h15 – 13h45 | en ligne (ZOOM)
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« LGBT at work : quelques résultats d’une recherche sur les parcours professionnels de personnes LGBT dans le monde du travail »
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USA: New Biden executive action bolsters support for LGBTQI+ rights around the world
| Yesterday, President Biden issued a memorandum proclaiming the administration’s support for LGBTQI+ people and rights globally. LGBT people continue to face violence, stigma, and discrimination in many parts of the world despite advances in some countries and regions. A 2019 Williams Institute study that measured changes in acceptance of LGBT people over time across 174 countries found the average level of acceptance has increased since 1981, but progress has been polarized. Other research found a strong association between social acceptance of LGBT people and the existence of laws that recognize and protect the rights of LGBT people. In addition, countries that offer more rights to LGB people enjoy significantly higher per capita GDP than those who do not. |
France: Pourquoi a-t-il fallu un #MeTooGay pour qu’émerge vraiment la parole des hommes homosexuels victimes de viol ?
La stigmatisation de l’homosexualité et la difficulté de faire souvent partie de la même communauté que son agresseur peuvent expliquer que ce #MeTooGay éclate plus tardivement, analyse le sociologue Sébastien Chauvin. Article rédigé par
Propos recueillis par – Louis Boy France Télévisions Publié le 22/01/2021 19:06 Mis à jour le 22/01/2021 19:10 Temps de lecture : 4 min.
Les récits, glaçants, se multiplient. Le mot clé #MeTooGay s’est installé, depuis la nuit du jeudi 21 au vendredi 22 janvier, parmi les plus utilisés en France sur Twitter, porté par des centaines d’hommes homosexuels témoignant des viols et des agressions sexuelles dont ils ont été victimes.
Le hashtag est né en réaction aux messages d’un utilisateur accusant Maxime Cochard, élu PCF au Conseil de Paris, et son conjoint de viol et d’agression sexuelle. Une vague de témoignages inédite au sein de la communauté gay, même au plus fort du mouvement #MeToo en 2017. Sébastien Chauvin, professeur associé à l’Institut de sciences sociales de l’université de Lausanne (Suisse) et notamment coauteur de Sociologie de l’homosexualité, analyse pour franceinfo le sens de son émergence.
Franceinfo : Y avait-il besoin d’un hashtag spécifique pour que la parole des victimes gay de violences sexuelles se libère et soit entendue comme elle l’est depuis jeudi soir ?
Sébastien Chauvin : Oui, on vient d’en faire l’expérience : il a suffi que le hashtag apparaisse et les témoignages ont afflué. Ça montre qu’il y avait un besoin. Dès le début de #MeToo, il y a eu des témoignages d’hommes, mais ils ont été dilués dans ce mouvement plus général. Récemment, des témoignages ont aussi émergé sur #MeTooInceste, ce qui correspondait d’ailleurs à une spécificité des violences sexuelles commises sur des hommes : selon les travaux de l’Ined, la majorité d’entre elles ont été subies avant 18 ans. Ce contexte peut expliquer que la question ait mis un certain temps à prendre une forme autonome.
Au moment de #MeToo, la question du consentement a aussi pu être reçue comme une question hétérosexuelle. Implicitement, souvent, on maintenait une asymétrie de genre, on parlait des hommes qui devaient demander le consentement à des femmes. Cela a pu empêcher de problématiser cette question entre les hommes.
Cependant, le #MeTooGay a en commun avec #MeToo de parler de violences qui ont un lien avec le patriarcat. Et les témoignages des femmes ont aussi appris aux hommes à voir les violences dont ils étaient victimes comme patriarcales. L’immense majorité des hommes victimes de violences sexuelles sont victimes d’autres hommes.
Est-ce que ce mouvement au sein de la communauté gay reflète aussi des spécificités de violences sexuelles dont ils sont victimes ?
La stigmatisation de l’homosexualité peut jouer un rôle dans la difficulté à faire émerger la parole des victimes. Pour beaucoup de gens qui sont dans le “placard” à cause de cette stigmatisation, porter plainte, c’est aussi faire son coming out. Et le faire auprès d’une police qui peut, parfois, ne pas prendre au sérieux une agression commise à l’intérieur d’un milieu “altérisé”.
C’est aussi un milieu qui a pu se construire autour du droit à la sexualité, de sa valorisation, et de l’idée qu’elle pouvait être une forme de résistance. Cela a pu induire une forme de culpabilité chez certaines victimes. De même que le fait que, contrairement au #MeToo des femmes, dans le #MeTooGay, la communauté gay n’est pas seulement le groupe des victimes. Il est évidemment très difficile pour les femmes de porter plainte, pour de multiples raisons. Mais pour les hommes gay, une spécificité est qu’il n’y avait pas de groupe clairement désigné auprès duquel trouver un appui.
Pourquoi ce hashtag émerge-t-il maintenant, en réaction à cette affaire [l’accusation de viol portée contre l’élu parisien Maxime Cochard et son compagnon] ?
Il y a toujours une part de hasard, mais le fait que ça naisse d’une affaire concernant un responsable politique de gauche n’est pas anodin. Non pas parce que ça se passerait davantage à gauche, mais parce qu’on y trouve l’écosystème nécessaire pour entraîner ces réactions. Comme pour #MeToo [#BalanceTonPorc en France] : rappelons-nous que cela avait été précédé, chez nous, par l’affaire Denis Baupin [du nom d’un responsable d’EELV accusé en 2016 de harcèlement et d’agressions sexuelles par huit élues ou collaboratrices du parti]. Si c’était arrivé en dehors de ce réseau militant, si les accusations avaient visé quelqu’un du show business ou un youtubeur, comme c’est d’ailleurs déjà arrivé, cela n’aurait peut-être pas entraîné un tel mouvement.
Bien sûr, il est né entre des gens jeunes, qui sont sur Twitter, beaucoup aussi de journalistes. Mais cela peut s’élargir, #MeToo aussi avait commencé comme ça. La presse internationale est déjà en train de faire des articles sur ce phénomène français, et mon intuition est que dans 48 heures, il sera mondial.
Qu’est-ce que cette vague de témoignages peut contribuer à changer, pour les victimes et dans les mentalités des agresseurs ?
Je pense que, comme dans le #MeToo hétéro, beaucoup de gens qui savent qu’ils ont subi des choses violentes, mais qui n’avaient pas mis de termes précis dessus, peuvent avoir cette prise de conscience. Et un #MeTooGay peut changer la perception sociale de la parole des homosexuels victimes. Cela permettrait d’éviter, par exemple, la désinvolture avec laquelle on a récemment mis en doute le témoignage de l’écrivain Edouard Louis, dont ce qui frappe, au miroir des témoignages qu’on lit depuis jeudi soir, est la terrible banalité [l’homme accusé par le romancier a été relaxé en décembre 2020, le parquet a fait appel].
Je crois aussi que les mentalités peuvent changer, mais je ne sais pas si ce sera le cas. Il est quand même assez clair qu’il existe une différence générationnelle, que l’on a aussi vu lors de #MeToo. On parle de faits qu’une partie des générations antérieures avaient peut-être trop classés dans une “zone grise”, et que les plus jeunes ne voient pas de la même façon. Cela va faire réfléchir, mais il est possible que ce clivage persiste.
USA: New York governor signs legislation repealing state anti-loitering law that impacted trans women
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Tuesday that repeals a section of the New York penal law that led to arbitrary and discriminatory policing of transgender women and cisgender women of color.
Section 240.37 of the New York penal law, sometimes known as the “walking while trans” ban, prohibited loitering “for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offense.” The law was originally passed in 1976. While the purpose was to prohibit loitering for the purpose of prostitution, it has largely been used to target law-abiding transgender and cisgender women of color.
According to the lead sponsor of the bill, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, data from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services showed that 91 percent of people arrested under the statute were Black and Latinx. Of those, 80 percent identified as women.
Senate Bill 1351, signed Tuesday, repealed section 240.37. It also amended section 230.01, which deals with affirmative defenses for prostitution.
On signing the legislation, Cuomo stated:
COVID exposed low tide in America and the “walking while trans” policy is one example of the ugly undercurrents of injustices that transgender New Yorkers—especially those of color—face simply for walking down the street. For too long trans people have been unfairly targeted and disproportionately policed for innocent, lawful conduct based solely on their appearance. Repealing the archaic “walking while trans” ban is a critical step toward reforming our policing system and reducing the harassment and criminalization transgender people face simply for being themselves.
The post New York governor signs legislation repealing state anti-loitering law that impacted trans women appeared first on JURIST – News – Legal News & Commentary.
ILGA: “If You Are Parent in One Country, You Are Parent in Every Country”: But still today a child can be stateless in the EU just because it has two mothers
Born in the EU, Sara is the daughter of a Gibraltar-born mother and a Bulgarian mother. Under EU rules, baby Sara is a Bulgarian citizen. However, Bulgarian authorities do not believe that a child can have two mothers and have denied citizenship to Sara, putting her at risk of statelessness. The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg will hear Baby Sara’s case on February 9. It is a unique opportunity for the court to take a stand in support of rainbow families and their right to free movement.
“If you are parent in one country, you are parent in every country” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in her address of the State of the Union in September 2020. However, this is not the reality for many rainbow families, and it has certainly not been the case for baby Sara and her parents so far. Through this case, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has the chance to help make President von der Leyen’s words a reality for all families in the EU.
Kalina* and Jane* got married in 2018 in Gibraltar, Jane’s birthplace. Kalina is from Bulgaria, a member state of the EU. Because it is part of the United Kingdom, since January 1 of this year, Gibraltar has exited the EU.
Baby Sara was born in December 2019 in Spain. Like Bulgaria, Spain is a member state of the EU. Sara’s birth certificate lists Kalina and Jane as her mothers. However, under the national laws of Spain and the UK, Sara could not become a citizen in either country. Not in Spain, because neither of her mothers have Spanish citizenship, and not in the UK, as Jane, who was born of British parentage in Gibraltar, could not transfer British citizenship to Baby Sara, who was born outside the UK.
Therefore, Kalina requested Bulgarian citizenship for their child. Bulgarian authorities rejected the application, arguing that a baby cannot have two mothers, and refused to issue a birth certificate in which the parents are two persons of the same sex. In Bulgaria, same-sex marriages are not allowed. As a result, Sara has no personal identification documents and cannot leave Spain, where the family currently lives.
In the long run, Sara is at risk of statelessness. Without documents, she will not be able to attend school. Kalina lodged a claim against Bulgarian authorities before the Administrative Court of Sofia, which in turn referred four questions to the CJEU asking for clarification. The CJEU will hold a hearing in this case on February 9 by the Grand Chamber, composed of 15 judges.
“All EU citizens and their families have the right to enjoy freedom of movement,” says Arpi Avetisyan, Head of litigations at ILGA-Europe. “Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union states that all EU citizens and their family members have the right to move and reside freely within the EU. Through this case, the CJEU has the opportunity to clarify that parentage established in one member state must be recognised across the EU.
“In 2018, the CJEU delivered a judgement on the Coman case, saying that the definition of ‘spouse’ in EU law on freedom of movement includes same-sex couples. Therefore, “arguments on ‘constitutional identity’, namely that Bulgaria does not recognise rainbow families, cannot justify a violation of EU law.”
Unfortunately, Sara’s situation is not an isolated case. According to Arpi, it is representative of what many rainbow families experience across the EU. “Parents cease to exist when moving from one EU country to another, where birth certificates from another member state are not recognised. These situations create severe obstacles for children in exercising the rights to which they are entitled under European and international law. Among others, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is violated, restricting access to education, healthcare, and social security.”
The CJEU must clarify that if you are a parent in one EU country, you are a parent in every EU country. Help make this a reality by joining our #parentswithoutborders campaign!
Share this gif on your social media, with the message:
Authorities in #Bulgaria are not recognising the valid #EU birth cert of the child of a same sex couple. On Feb 9 the CJEU must clarify that if you are a parent in one EU country, you are a parent in every EU country #ParentsWithoutBorders
*Names have been changed Tags: rainbow familiesBulgariaUrsula von der LeyenEuropean Commission
