This is a blog is related to my academic work in the International Academic Forum on SOGIESC Law but meant to serve anyone who wants to contribute to improve the protection of human rights worldwide. It is intended to keep interested readers informed about legal developments relating to sexual orientation, gender expression and identity and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Hopefully, it will make it easier to find correct legal information about the developments in all regions of the world and, in particular, with regard to international law.
USA: Minnesota appeals court rules students must be allowed to use locker rooms corresponding with gender identity
A Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that students must be allowed to use locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
The appeal stems from a case in which a transgender high school student, referred to as N.H., was threatened discipline should he continue to use the boys’ locker room. N.H. was born female but has socially transitioned to male. During his freshman year, N.H. joined the boys swim team and was initially allowed to use the boys’ locker room. Later, N.H.’s mother was informed that N.H. would be disciplined should he continue to use the main boys’ locker room.
In 2019, N.H.’s mother filed suit in Anoka County “alleging one count of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) … and one count of violating the equal-protection provisions of article I, sections 1 and 7 of the Minnesota Constitution, and withdrew the charge filed at the MDHR.” The district court denied the school district’s motion to dismiss the suit but applied a strict scrutiny standard to N.H.’s claims.
The appeals court ultimately concluded that N.H. presented a claim upon which relief could be granted. “We affirm the district court’s denial of the school district’s motion to dismiss, reverse on the application of strict scrutiny, conclude that intermediate scrutiny applies to N.H.’s equal-protection claim, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Open letter of the Ambassadors of Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela, as well as the General Representative of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region, the General Delegate of the French Community and the Walloon Region, the Representatives in Poland of the European Commission and of the UNHCR, the First Deputy Director/Director’s alternate of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Head of Office of the International Organization for Migration and the Secretary General of the Community of Democracies.
This letter has been coordinated by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium in Poland.
Although due to epidemiological circumstances the 2020 Warsaw Equality Parade could not take place at the foreseen date we express our support for the efforts to raise public awareness of issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community and other communities in Poland facing similar challenges.
We also acknowledge similar efforts in Białystok, Bielsko–Biała, Częstochowa, Gniezno, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Koszalin, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Nowy Sącz, Olsztyn, Opole, Płock, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Tarnów, Toruń, Trójmiasto, Włocławek, Wrocław and Zielona Góra.
We affirm the inherent dignity of each individual as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Respect for these fundamental rights, which are also enshrined in OSCE commitments and the obligations and standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union as communities of rights and values, obliges governments to protect all citizens from violence and discrimination and to ensure they enjoy equal opportunities.
To this end, and in particular to shield communities in need of protection from verbal and physical abuse and hate speech, we need to jointly work on an environment of non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual acceptance.
This includes in particular sectors such as education, health, social affairs, citizenship, public service and public documents.
We pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI and other communities in Poland and around the world, as well as the work of all those who seek to ensure human rights for LGBTI and other persons belonging to communities facing similar challenges, and to end discrimination in particular on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Human rights are universal and everyone, including LGBTI persons, are entitled to their full enjoyment.
This is something that everyone should support.
Signed,
H.E. Shpresa Kureta, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania
H.E. Ana María Ramírez, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic
H.E. Lloyd David Hargreave Brodrick, Ambassador of Australia
H.E. Werner Almhofer, Ambassador of Austria
H.E. Luc Jacobs, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium
H.E. Leslie Scanlon, Ambassador of Canada
H.E. Tomislav Vidošević, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia
H.E. Petros Kestoras, Ambassador of Republic of Cyprus
H.E. Ivan Jestřáb, Ambassador of the Czech Republic
H.E. Ole Toft, Royal Ambassador of Denmark
H.E. Aníbal de Castro, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic
H.E. Juha Ottman, Ambassador of Finland
H.E. Frédéric Billet, Ambassador of France
H.E. Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, Ambassador of Germany
H.E. Michael-Efstratios C. Daratzikis, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic
H.E. María Erla Marelsdóttir, Ambassador of Iceland
H.E. Tsewang Namgyal, Ambassador of India
H.E. Emer O’Connell, Ambassador of Ireland
H.E. Alexander Ben-Zvi, Ambassador of Israel
H.E. Aldo Amati, Ambassador of Italy
H.E. Tsukasa Kawada, Ambassador of Japan
H.E. Edgars Bondars, Ambassador of Latvia
H.E. Eduardas Borisovas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania
H.E. Paul Schmit, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
H.E. John Paul Grech, Ambassador of Malta
H.E. Alejandro Negrín, Ambassador of Mexico
H.E. Budimir Šegrt, Ambassador of Montenegro
H.E. Daphne Bergsma, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
H.E. Mary Thurston, Ambassador of New Zealand
H.E. Vasil Panovski, Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia
H.E. Anders Eide, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway
H.E. Luís Manuel Ribeiro Cabaço, Ambassador of Portugal
H.E. Dario Galassi, Ambassador of San Marino
H.E. Nikola Zurovac, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia
H.E. Božena Forštnarič Boroje, Ambassador of Slovenia
Daniel StemmerChargė D’ Affaires a.i., Embassy of South Africa
H.E. Francisco Javier Sanabria Valderrama, Ambassador of Spain
H.E. Stefan Gullgren, Ambassador of Sweden
H.E. Jürg Burri, Ambassador of Switzerland
H.E. Andrii Deshchytsia, Ambassador of Ukraine
H.E. Anna Clunes, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
H.E. Georgette Mosbacher, Ambassador of the United States of America
H.E. Luis Gómez Urdaneta, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Dries Willems, General Representative of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region
Anne Defourny, General Delegate of the French Community and the Walloon Region
Katarzyna Gardapkhadze, First Deputy Director/Director’s alternate of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights ODIHR
Marek Prawda, Head of Representation, European Commission in Poland
Christine Goyer, Representative, UNHCR Representation in Poland
Thomas E. Garrett, Secretary General of the Community of Democracies
Hanna Dobrzyńska, Director, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Opinion: As non-binary people, do we really want legal recognition, or should we be fighting to abolish gender categories entirely? (C Benedict)
C Benedict is the presenter of NB: My Non-binary Life on BBC Sounds, an audio presenter and producer. They make work about identity and the arts for radio, podcasts and online.
Germany: Claim to Lipofilling: Trans woman wins in court
Die Krankenkasse muss einer trans Frau die Eigenfett-Transplantation “bis zur Fertigstellung der Brust” genehmigen, urteilte das Landessozialgericht Rheinland-Pfalz. Das Verhalten der Kasse rügte es als “zynisch”.
USA: Trump order bans certain diversity training for federal contractors, grantees, military
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday that bans workplace diversity training with certain characteristics for federal contractors, grantees and military.
The executive order bans workplace diversity training with the following characteristics:
The contractor shall not use any workplace training that inculcates in its employees any form of race or sex stereotyping or any form of race or sex scapegoating, including the concepts that (a) one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex; (b) an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; (c) an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex; (d) members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex; (e) an individual’s moral character is necessarily determined by his or her race or sex; (f) an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex; (g) any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex; or (h) meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by a particular race to oppress another race. The term “race or sex stereotyping” means ascribing character traits, values, moral and ethical codes, privileges, status, or beliefs to a race or sex, or to an individual because of his or her race or sex, and the term “race or sex scapegoating” means assigning fault, blame, or bias to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex.
In reference to the order, Trump tweeted, “A few weeks ago, I BANNED efforts to indoctrinate government employees with divisive and harmful sex and race-based ideologies. Today, I’ve expanded that ban to people and companies that do business with our Country, the United States Military, Government Contractors, and Grantees. Americans should be taught to take PRIDE in our Great Country, and if you don’t, there’s nothing in it for you!”
This executive order follows after the president issued a memo earlier this month that banned the diversity training described in the recent executive order for federal executive agency employees.
Bolivia: civil unions are for everyone! (Sign the Petition)
In October 2018, David and Guido tried to register their relationship as a Free Union (which, according to Bolivian law, has the same effects as civil marriage, or a civil union). But when the time came for the Civic Registration Service to actually register their union… They just refused to do it.
That started a legal battle. In July 2020, they had great news: the Second Constitutional Chamber of La Paz, in the capital of Bolivia, issued a resolution that would allow the formal recognition of David and Guido’s relationship as a registered and certified Free Union!
All was looking very promising until it was time to go to the Civic Registration Service, and they – once more – refused to comply and register the Union.
The Service even requested that the Bolivian Constitutional Court suspend the resolution, so they could continue denying equal rights to David and Guido – and to all same-sex couples!
This decision is now in the hands of the country’s Constitutional Justice.
The Second Constitutional Chamber should order the Civic Registration Service to act in accordance with the resolution.
If they do so and recognize David and Guido’s union, it will create an important precedent for the equality of LGBT+ people in Bolivia!
Sign the petition and tell Bolivia: civil unions are for everyone!
