@HRW calls on sport governing bodies to halt ‘#SexTesting’ of women athletes ahead of #Olympics

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday called on sport governing bodies like World Athletics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency to stop “sex testing” women runners and athletes.

Sex testing is the practice of using unnecessary medical procedures and testing as conditions to compete in certain events. According to the report, sex testing has been in place for almost a century, but groups like World Athletics and the IOC made it mandatory for women competing in track and field and other running events in the 1960s.

HRW claimed in its report that under the guise of fair competition, sex testing continues to “violate[] a range of internationally protected fundamental rights including privacy, dignity, health, non-discrimination, freedom from ill-treatment, and employment rights.” In addition to violating athletes’ rights, the procedures required under this practice pose the risk of implicating the doctors, sporting bodies and governments required to conduct them in order for athletes to compete.

To find a way to stop these human rights violations, HRW conducted interviews with 13 women athletes of color, all from unnamed, historically exploited countries. The sex testing discussed most is the testing of blood for the “scientifically specious threshold for functional endogenous testosterone that they deemed confers a performance advantage.” 

While HRW’s report made accusations against World Athletics, it also specifically called on the IOC to stop sex testing athletes ahead of the 2021 Summer Olympics:

In advance of the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)—the supreme authority in international sports—said it was planning to “reflect further on new guidelines for athletes’ inclusion on the basis of sex characteristics and gender identity,” and make significant changes ahead of future Games. The postponement of the Tokyo Games to 2021 provides a valuable window for the IOC to develop guidelines in line with international human rights standards and medical ethics.

HRW laid out the discrimination, surveillance, coercion, and stigma women athletes face, then provided recommendations to specific and general sporting associations and governments to alleviate them. One such recommendation is for World Athletics to rescind the Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development) 2019.

HRW noted that “[r]egulating fair play is a valid undertaking for sport authorities; committing human rights violations in the process is not.”

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China official refuses to apologize after posting fake image depicting Australian war crimes

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao has refused to apologize for tweeting a fake image depicting Australian war crimes following an Australian Defence Force (ADF) report alleging Australian soldiers were involved in the murder of 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners between 2009 and 2013.

The fake image depicts an Australian soldier with a bloody knife next to a boy holding a lamb. The image references allegations that soldiers used knives to murder two 14-year-old Afghan boys. The ADF report does not support those allegations. The report did find “‘credible evidence’ of unlawful killings and a ‘warrior culture’ within elite units.”

Zhao’s tweet states, “Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts, & call for holding them accountable.” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated the tweet is “truly repugnant, deeply offensive, utterly outrageous.” Morrison noted that Australia is engaged in a transparent process to investigate the alleged war crimes.

The Chinese Embassy in Australia refused to apologize on Tuesday, stating, “The accusations made are simply to serve two purposes. One is to deflect public attention from the horrible atrocities by certain Australian soldiers. The other is to blame China for the worsening of bilateral ties. There may be another attempt to stoke domestic nationalism.”

Tensions between China and Australia have been escalating since Australia called for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. China followed by imposing tariffs and trade stoppages on Australia, including tariffs of up to 200 percent on Australian wine.

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England and #Wales court rules children under 16 likely cannot consent to #puberty-blocking drugs in #gender reassignment efforts

A high court of England and Wales ruled on Monday that children under the age of 16 are probably not capable of providing informed consent when being prescribed puberty-blocking drugs to address gender dysphoria. As such, the high court suspended such clinical treatment for children below 16 unless the parties are able to gain the authorization of the court to proceed with treatment.

The court applied the Gillick competency test to make its determination. This test comes from a 1984 case that requires an assessment of a child’s “maturity and understanding and the nature of the consent required” before concluding that the child has provided informed consent. The child must be told the advantages and disadvantages of a proposed treatment and they must be able to make a “reasonable assessment” of such factors first.

The court held that:

There will be enormous difficulties in a child under 16 understanding and weighing up this information and deciding whether to consent to the use of puberty blocking medication. It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers.

In contrast, the court stated that those 16 and over enjoy a presumption of their ability to provide consent to medical treatment. In making its decision, the court weighed legal competency standards, the testimonials of individuals who were glad they were able to transition, and the testimonials of those who were not.

While the court acknowledged the thorough efforts by prescribers to provide information to the children, parents and caregivers about any potential short- or long-term effects of puberty blockers, the court did not believe children were capable of understanding and weighing the significance of potential effects.

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Switzerland: #metoo: EPFL students denounce harassment, racism cases

Students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) have called out cases of unreported sexism, homophobia and racism at the institution. The EPFL says it has “zero tolerance” for such behaviour. Polyquity, a student association for gender equality at EPFL, has posted a video on social media of five testimonies from students pointing to latent discrimination, including sexist remarks, sexual harassment, threats and homophobia. It said it had decided to use these channels to make the EPFL aware of the issue. “Every woman has a story to tell and it’s a good moment for people to realise the extent of the problem,” Marijn Van Der Meer, the president of Polyquity, told Swiss public television RTS, which first revealed the story. “We have already collected around 20 testimonies… and since we published the video, a further 20 have arrived. I hope this is going to cause a shock,” she told RTS earlier this week. “The EPFL management must react and take measures…

Read: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/-metoo–epfl-students-denounce-harassment–racism-cases/46200760

Hungary/EU/Belgium: An anti-gay Hungarian Member of the European Parliament has resigned after being caught by the Brussels police fleeing a 25-man orgy through a window

An ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban resigned from the European Parliament after attending what was described as a 25-man orgy in Brussels. Jozsef Szajer quit as an MEP on Sunday and later said he was present at a “private party.” The police found Szajer and 24 other naked men at the gathering, including diplomats, local reports said. Szajer played a key role in the Orban government’s crackdown on LGBTQ rights in Hungary.

Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/hungarian-mep-resigns-breaking-covid-rules-gay-orgy-brussels-2020-12?r=US&IR=T

EU launches new webpage on anti-LGBT hate crimes

For those interested in (anti-LGBT) hate crimes and restorative justice.

Recently an interesting website was launched on this topic: https://safetobe.eu/

Podcast: Mariage pour tous : L’avenir des partenariats enregistrés en Europe et en Suisse Ce podcast porte sur l’avenir des partenariats enregistrés suite à l’introduction du mariage pour tous. Il est basé sur une récente étude de droit comparé effectuée sur le sujet dans 13 pays européens, consultable ici.  Quelles sont les formes alternatives d’union, autre […]

Podcast: Mariage pour tous : L’avenir des partenariats enregistrés en Europe et en Suisse — LGBTI Recht in der Schweiz – Droit LGBTI en Suisse – by Professor Andreas R Ziegler

UK: English School LGBT bullying projects axed by government

Government-backed projects tackling bullying of LGBT students in England’s schools have had their funding pulled, the BBC has learned.

The decision came despite an earlier pledge to continue investing in school programmes targeting homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Ministers admit that those identifying as LGBT face a higher risk of bullying which can cause long-term harm.

But they say the funding was always due to come to an end.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/education-54988187

USA: Federal appeals court rules adopted children not ‘legitimated’ for immigration purposes

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled Tuesday that an adoptive, nonbiological child is not a “legitimated” child under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Rejecting the plaintiff’s arguments, the court created a per se rule that nonbiological children cannot be “legitimated” under the INA and rejected the plaintiff’s claim of gender discrimination, which the plaintiff failed to raise with the Board of Immigration appeals:

Accordingly, we must now decide whether the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”)—that is, the federal agency charged with ultimately interpreting the Act—erred in ruling that, because it is implicit in the concept of legitimation that a parent may legitimate only his biological children, the Act need not and does not look to state law to see whether parents may legitimate someone other than their biological children. Like the district court, we determine that the BIA correctly interpreted the Act’s plain meaning and, thus, did not err in ruling that a parent’s non-biological child may not be his “legitimated” child within the meaning of the Act. We also hold that the district court did not violate the Supreme Court’s rule in Darby v. Cisneros … when it declined to entertain the gender-discrimination challenge of plaintiff-appellant Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Schreiber … to the BIA’s interpretation of the Act because he failed to exhaust this argument in his purportedly optional appeal to the BIA.

The case concerned the plaintiff, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Schreiber, who sought to obtain lawful residency for his 17-year-old adoptive daughter. The INA allows for an adoptive child to obtain lawful residency in the US if the child was adopted while under the age of 16. However, the INA allows residency for “legitimated” children under the age of 18. Because Schreiber’s daughter did not fit the adoptive child requirement, Schreiber sought instead to “legitimate” his adoptive daughter to allow her to obtain residency via the “legitimated” child exception.

Additionally, Schreiber claimed that the INA “legitimated” child exception discriminates against men, because the INA provides that “gestational mothers may legitimate their non-genetically-related children, to whom they gave birth after using assisted reproductive technology.” However, the court could not consider this argument, as Schreiber failed to raise the argument to the BIA.

Schreiber has yet to indicate whether he will appeal.

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European Union: MEPs address Czech government regarding registration of same-sex partnerships

More: https://lgbti-ep.eu/2020/11/20/meps-address-czech-government-regarding-registration-of-same-sex-partnerships/