Holocaust Memorial Day: How the Nazi pink triangle became a defiant symbol of LGBTQ+ rights
Read: https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/01/27/auschwitz-anniversary-pink-triangle-lgbtq/
USA: Rubio instructs staff to freeze passport applications with ‘X’ sex markers
Secretary of state tells staff ‘sex is not changeable’ in email following Trump executive order on gender
More: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/trump-rubio-x-gender-passport
USA: Marco Rubio bans rainbow flags at embassies
More: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/01/marco-rubio-bans-rainbow-flags-at-embassies/
USA: Trump bans DEI initiatives in federal government
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an order prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across federal agencies and directing the government to combat such practices in the private sector.
The sweeping order revokes several executive orders (EO) passed by the Democratic administrations in recent decades, including that of Lyndon B. Johnson, who served from 1963 to 1969, during a critical juncture of America’s civil rights movement. In the 1960s, Black Americans faced systemic discrimination that traced back to slavery and its aftermath. Though slavery had ended in 1865, Southern states had in its wake established racial-segregation laws and economic practices that deliberately kept Black Americans from accessing good jobs, education, and wealth-building opportunities. This persistent inequality sparked mass protests and civil rights marches across America, often met with violence, which ultimately pressured the federal government to enact reforms. Washington responded to the unrest with various policies aimed at dismantling such repressive practices, including the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and EO 11246, a 1965 order requiring government contractors to take concrete action to increase the representation of minorities and women in their workforce.
Trump’s new order revokes EO 11246, along with — among other such policies — a 1994 EO passed by Bill Clinton (1993-2001) requiring the federal government to address environmental disparities impacting minority and low-income populations, and a 2011 order passed by Barack Obama (2009-2017) pushing for diversity within the federal workforce, among other directives.
In addition, the new policy requires federal agencies to identify “the most egregious and discriminatory DEI practitioners” across key sectors and develop enforcement plans targeting corporations, universities, and other institutions with potentially discriminatory practices.
“Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex,” the order states.
Under the directive, the Justice Department and Education Department must issue guidance within 120 days to educational institutions receiving federal funding on compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that struck down race-conscious college admissions.
The order maintains exemptions for veterans’ preferences and does not restrict academic freedom to discuss DEI practices in higher education settings.
The policy delivers on Trump’s campaign promises to dismantle DEI initiatives, which grew to new prominence in 2020 following the killing by police of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minnesota. Floyd’s death provoked outrage over enduring elements of systemic racism, including police killings, and sparked a national conversation about righting historical wrongs. Many companies and organizations enacted DEI initiatives in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing as a means of counteracting repressive policies.
Advocates have celebrated DEI policies as necessary for addressing historical inequities, while critics have slammed them, claiming they prioritize identity politics over merit. In a fact sheet accompanying Wednesday’s order, the Trump administration pointed to the latter sentiment, stating: “Many corporations and universities use DEI as an excuse for biased and unlawful employment practices and illegal admissions preferences.” This divide emerged as a significant point of contention between often pro-DEI Democratic candidates and their increasingly anti-DEI Republican counterparts during the 2024 campaign season.
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International Criminal Court: Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials because of persecution of LGBTQI+ community
On Thursday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials: Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
They are accused of crimes against humanity on the grounds of gender-based persecution under the Rome Statute of the court, which sets out the duty of every State signatory to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes.
“These applications recognise that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Mr. Khan said in a statement.
USA: Trump makes ‘two sexes’ official and scraps diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) policies
US President Donald Trump issued executive orders shortly after he was sworn in to change the US government’s policies on gender and diversity, following through on promises he made on the campaign trail.
He rolled back orders from the Biden administration that the Trump White House called “unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government”.
The Austrian Administrative Supreme Court prohibited legal gender recognition in a judgment of 5 December 2024 (VwGH 05.12.2024, Ro 2023/01/0008)
Entries in the civil register, in birth certificates, passports, id-cards etc must, from now on, display biological sex only.
After Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria Austrian is the 4th country abolishing legal gender recognition.
ECJ: The refusal of a Member State to recognise the change of first name and gender lawfully acquired in another Member State is contrary to the rights of EU citizens
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) held in a case agains Romania that the refusal of a Member State to recognise the change of first name and gender lawfully acquired in another Member State is contrary to the rights of EU citizens.
Case C-4/23 | [Mirin], Judgment of 4 October 2024
More: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-10/cp240158en.pdf
US Supreme Court to decide if Maryland parents can exempt their children from reading LGBTQ+ books
The United States Supreme Court agreed on Friday to hear a case where Maryland parents are asking for their children to be exempt from reading elementary school books involving LGBTQ+ topics such as gender transitions. The respondent, the Montgomery County Board of Education, had approved a bill requiring schools to read their students stories with such subject matter.
Primary petitioners Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat are practitioners of Islam and are joined by Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox parents who object to the content of these LGBTQ+ books. Though the petitioners are not asking to change the curriculum, they argue that compelling children to read these books contrary to their parents’ convictions violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled against the petitioners, holding that denying opt-outs did not “compel” the petitioners to change their beliefs or conduct and that they remain free to discuss these topics with their children and advise them as they wish regarding how to interpret these materials.
The US Supreme Court has taken a conservative turn in recent years, putting LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights in doubt. The court has recently agreed to hear arguments regarding defunding reproductive care provider Planned Parenthood and heard arguments on the legality of providing transgender youth gender-affirming care.
The post US Supreme Court to decide if Maryland parents can exempt their children from reading LGBTQ+ books appeared first on JURIST – News.
A requirement to specify gender for a marketing address is not legal under the General Data Protection Regulation. This has been clarified by the ECJ.
The French state railroad SNCF tried to be particularly polite in its marketing campaigns. To be able to choose the correct form of address for emails, it asked customers to state their gender when booking online via SNCF Connect. The judges of the European Court of Justice have now ruled that this is unlawful.
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 