USA: Pentagon reaches agreement with LGBTQ+ veterans discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
The Pentagon has reached a historic settlement with more than 30,000 LGBTQ+ veterans who were dismissed under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. They will now be able to update their military records easily.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/01/07/lgbtq-veterans-pentagon/
Hungary – High court decision on restrictions of the open distribution of LGBTIQ-themed books for the youth
The application of Article 20/A of Decree 210/2009. (IX. 29.) on the Conditions of Performing Commercial Activities, prescribing specific conditions for the sale of children’s products depicting deviation from gender identity aligning with sex at birth, gender reassignment or portraying or promoting homosexuality.
Spain: New legislation on measures to be adopted by companies for the equality of LGTBI persons
More: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/6233-spain-new-law
Lithuania – The Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional a provision restricting information on same-sex families to minors
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law – Professor Andreas R Ziegler is now on Bluesky! Follow us at @sogiesclaw.bsky.social !
Chrysostome Moke appelle l’Etat congolais à protéger les droits des LGBTI
Le Chargé des recherches au Centre d’expertise en droit humains et criminologie (CEDHUC) appelle le Gouvernement congolais à prendre des mesures nécessaires pour la protection des droits des LGBTI. Il l’avait dit à l’issue d’un atelier de renforcement des capacités des défenseurs des droits de l’homme, membres de la société civile d’un côté, et des membres de la Commission nationale des droits de l’homme (CNDH) dans le cadre de son projet « Liberté et égalité pour tous ».
Selon cet expert, qui intervenait sur le sous-thème : « Les droits économique socioculturels des minorités sexuelles », la catégorie minoritaire sexuelle renvoie juste à des hommes ayant des rapports sexuels avec les hommes, les professionnels de sexe, les transgenres, les gays, bisexuelles, les intersexes.
Il se fait que dans la pratique communautaire, ces personnes sont victimes de plusieurs types de discrimination et stigmatisation notamment dans les milieux d’emploi, de santé, culturel… suite à leur orientation sexuelle.
« Ce qui ne devrait pas être le cas parce qu’au regard de nos textes et lois, toute attitude qui tend à discriminer cette catégorie de personne constitue une violation des droits de l’homme. Pourquoi, parce qu’à ce jour, notre législation n’a pas encore organisé des textes qui répriment tous les actes ayant trait avec l’homosexualité », a déclaré le Chargé des recherches au sein de Cedhuc, Monsieur Chrysostome Moke Tamundele.
Interesting Article: MP Bator-Brył, Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation: Analysis of CJEU and ECtHR Case Law Concerning Human Rights
MP Bator-Bryła – Review of European and Comparative Law, 2024
This article analyses the importance of the prohibition of discrimination based on
sexual orientation in light of the primary and secondary legislation of the European
Union, as well as the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the …
See: https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/recl/issue/view/778
USA: Trump announces intent to restrict transgender rights
In his first major rally since his win at the 2024 election, Donald Trump declared his intention to restrict transgender rights when he returns to office, proclaiming that he would “stop men from participating in women’s sports”.
Trump launched numerous attacks on trans rights throughout his first term, including banning transgender individuals from serving in the military and eliminating Department of Education provisions that maintained teachers should treat students in accordance with their gender identity, among others. Trump’s staunch denial of trans rights signifies a deepening conservative backlash against trans rights prevalent in the United States.
An example of this growing backlash is the Ohio Senate’s recent approval of a bill restricting trans students access to bathrooms. There has been additional litigation in the US regarding trans participation in sports, with two transgender girls obtaining permission from US Ninth District Court of Appeals to participate in sports following the state of Arizona passing legislation that prohibits them from doing so.
With the US Supreme Court to rule on the legality of providing transgender youth with gender affirming care this upcoming year, trans rights in America, especially for youth, are particularly unstable. Many trans people have reported preparing for Trump’s second term in office under the expectation of sweeping and pointed attacks on their rights. According to a report published in 2022, only 1.6 million people in the US over the age of 13 identify as trans, which is well under 1% of the population.
This did not stop Donald Trump from spending millions on advertisements focusing on anti-trans propaganda throughout the US election. Trans rights appear to be in urgent danger of being restricted as Trump prepares to take office.
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An Uncloseted Media investigation has found that at least six Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate groups hold what’s known as Economic and Social Council consultative status
More: https://www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/why-do-at-least-six-anti-lgbtq-hate?utm_source=publication-search
Lithuania court finds law restricting same-sex content for minors unconstitutional
The Lithuanian Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that a provision of a law that prohibits the spread of information about same-sex content relationships to minors is unconstitutional.
The court found that Clause 16 of Article 4(2) of the Law on the Protection of Minors from the Negative Influence of Public Information (Law on the Protection of Minors) violated Articles 25 and 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution. The justices found that the formulation of the clause was unclear and that it narrowed the content of the family as a constitutional institution.
The court stated that the nation’s constitution deems the concept of family as gender-neutral, and therefore the law violated constitutional values and rights such as freedom of expression and the concept of family. Constitutional Court President Gintaras Goda announced: “No legal regulation may be introduced which implies that information on any family models and relationships between individuals is in itself inappropriate for minors.” Goda further stated that children’s development shall be based on human rights, dignity, equality, and tolerance.
Clause 16 regards information as “detrimental for minors” if it “expresses contempt for family values, encourages the concept of entry into a marriage and creation of a family other than stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania.”
In February 2024, the former Justice Ministry asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the law. The request followed a failed proposal for amendments in the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) in November 2023.
Human rights issues regarding the law first appeared before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case Macatė v Lithuania, which concerned a ban on the publication of a series of Macatė’s books. Two of Macatė’s recent publications depicted members of various marginalized groups, including same-sex couples. In this case, Lithuania argued the texts violated the Law on the Protection of Minors by depicting a different concept of marriage and family. The ECtHR deemed this a violation of the freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ruling then played a part in the Lithuanian government’s decision to initiate the process of changing the law.
As confirmed in February by former Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska, the ruling of the provision’s unconstitutionality makes it null and void. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda had opposed amendments to this law in November 2023. He argued repealing the law would be a “green light to denigrate the family.”
Other countries, such as Bulgaria, have recently introduced bans on same-sex “propaganda,” which has sparked discontent among LGBTQ+ activists and human rights organizations.
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International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 