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: After Class-Action Lawsuit, Aetna Will Equally Cover Fertility Treatment for LGBTQ+ Couples
The insurance giant will pay out $2 million to members affected by its previous policy.
Health insurance company Aetna will now equally cover artificial insemination and other fertility treatments for all customers nationally, as part of a settlement in a lawsuit that alleged discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
The National Women’s Law Center and the law firm Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP initially filed suit against the insurer in September 2021. The class action lawsuit alleged that Aetna’s definition of infertility led to unequal insurance coverage treatment for LGBTQ+ couples. Heterosexual couples could receive coverage for infertility treatments if they said they were unable to become pregnant after six or 12 months of intercourse. However, LGBTQ+ couples had to pay out of pocket for six or 12 cycles of artificial insemination — which can cost thousands of dollars — before becoming eligible to be covered for additional rounds or for in-vitro fertilization.
Czechia Constitutional Court rules against legal requirements for gender transition
The Czech Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday against a regulation that required surgical procedures for official sex change for trans people. Czech law required transgender people to undergo procedures like sterilization and transformation of the genitals to officially change their gender records.
The Constitutional Court deemed the policy requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization surgeries as contrary to trans people’s fundamental right to protection of bodily integrity, personal autonomy and their human dignity. Furthermore, it considered the rule to be against transgender people’s right to self-determination and personal autonomy. The court further stated that the law is in contravention with the the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case was brought before the Constitutional Court by a transgender person seeking the official records to prove his gender identity without having to undergo surgical procedures. Various international organizations such as Human Rights Watch previously expressed concern over sterilization laws in the Czech Republic. These laws were labelled as a “violation of the right to health” under the European Social Charter.
Czech Minister of Justice, Pavel Blazek mentioned in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that this decision gives clear instructions as surgery will stop being a legal condition for official gender transition after more than two years of no political consensus.
The Constitutional Court annulled various provisions of the Civil Code but postponed the enforceability of the ruling. This gives space to the legislators to take appropriate legislative action to propose new regulations that will, according to the court, reflect the fundamental rights of trans people. This decision approximates the Czech Republic towards the standards of human rights protection for transgender people in Europe, as the laws are expected to change.
This decision marks another step towards the recognition of transgender rights, such as showcased by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling against medical assessments for legal change of gender in 2013, demonstrating a general European movement in favor of human rights protection for transgender people. With the ruling of the Constitutional Court, the Czech Republic is asserting these human rights standards.
ECHR finds Russia discriminated against LGBTQ teacher
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Tuesday that Russia discriminated against a teacher when she was fired after posting pictures that indicated her sexual orientation.
In the case of A.K. v. Russia, A.K, the applicant, was a teacher in a state school in Russia. In November 2014, a Russian NGO collected on social media private pictures, including that of her kissing other women. After the school received the information, it asked her to quit, regarding such conduct as “her propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation.” Even though she opposed the decision, she was finally dismissed in December of the same year. After that, she brought complaints before the Russian national courts, but all of them were unsuccessful. As a result, the case was lodged before ECHR in 2016, before Russia left the ECHR.
The ECHR found violations of the right to privacy and the prohibition of discrimination under Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights. In the judgment, the proportionality of the dismissal was mainly assessed. The court denied the Russian courts’ claim that the dismissal could be justified by her sexual orientation. Additionally, it emphasized that the right to private life covered an individual’s sexual orientation, which can be expressed privately and publicly, while indicating that other ways were available for the school to take for the protection of public morals. Such disproportionate interference led to the violation of her private life, and in conjunction with it, discrimination. The court ordered Russia to pay 22,500 EUR in total to the applicant as compensation.
During the past several years, Russia has strengthened its attacks on the LGBTQ community, labelling expressions of different sexual orientations as propaganda. In 2022, the parliament passed a bill prohibiting the spread of LGBTQ information to any people. At that time, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed deep concern about the violation of LGTQ people’s fundamental rights by the legislation. In March 2024, a Russian watchdog listed the LGBTQ public movement as a terrorist organization, the same as Al-Qaeda and Taliban. LGBTQ people in Russia have faced difficulty not only protecting their human rights, but also expressing their personal sexual orientation publicly and privately.
07.05.2024 Judgments and decisions of 7 May 2024 The European Court of Human Rights has today given notification in writing of six judgments and four decisions (link). Dismissal of teacher for photos posted on social media discriminated against her on grounds of her sexual orientation A.K. v. Russia
The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights
Prague (AFP) – Same-sex couples in the Czech Republic will enjoy most rights of married couples from next year after President Petr Pavel signed a new bill into law on Monday.
USA: Two new regulations strengthen protections for LGBTQ people
In the past week, the Biden administration issued two final rules that strengthen protections from discrimination for LGBTQ people. On April 26, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule that restores and expands LGBTQ protections from discrimination in health care under the Affordable Care Act, citing our transgender population estimates and research on the costs and benefits of providing transition-related health care in employee health benefit plans. Days later, on April 29, the Administration for Children and Families, finalized a policy that bolsters protections for youth in foster care by requiring state child welfare agencies to ensure that LGBTQ children have access to specially designated foster care placements. The final rule cites our research assessing the disproportionality and disparities among LGBTQ youth in foster care in Los Angeles.
This book investigates the relationship between sex and gender under international human rights law, and how this influences the formation of individual subjects.
Combining feminist, queer, and psychoanalytical perspectives, the author scrutinises the sexed/gendered human rights discourse, starting from the assumptions underpinning interpretations of sex, gender, and the related notions of gender identity, sex characteristics, and sexual orientation. Human rights law has so far offered only a limited account of the diversity of sexed/ gendered subjectivities, being based on a series of simplistic assumptions. Namely, that there are only two sexes and two genders; sex is a natural fact and gender is a social construct; gender is the metonymic signifier for women; and gender power relations take the asymmetrical shape of male domination versus female oppression. Against these assumptions, dominative and subordinate postures interchangeably attach to femininities and masculinities, depending on the subjects’ roles, their positionalities, and the situational meanings of their acts. The limits of an approach to gender which is based on rigid binaries are evident in two case studies, on the UN human rights treaty bodies’ vocabulary on medically unnecessary interventions upon intersex children and on the European Court of Human Rights’ narrative on sadomasochism.
United Nations ‘alarmed’ by Iraq’s new anti-LGBTQ+ law
Ravina Shamdasani, U.N. human rights office spokesperson, said in a statement that the law “should be shelved.”
The law criminalizes transgender people under an amendment to a 1988 anti-prostitution law. The amendment prohibits “biological sex change based on personal desire and inclination,” punishing transgender people and doctors who perform gender-affirming care with three years in prison.
Iraq’s parliament set a seven-year minimum prison sentence for those who “promote” homosexuality and a maximum three-year sentence for men who “intentionally” act like women.
Shamdasani said the law violates several human rights treaties signed by Iraq, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides all people equal protection from discrimination.
Iraq criminalizes same sex relationships and transgender individuals
The Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a law Saturday criminalizing same sex relationships and transgender individuals. The law has garnered widespreadcriticism from human rights groups and diplomats across the world.
The Anti-Prostitution and Homosexuality Law amends a previous law from 1988. It provides prison sentences and fines for most of its offenses. Anyone convicted of participating in a same sex relationship could face imprisonment for ten to fifteen years. The law also criminalizes transgender individuals, making it illegal to identify as anything other than your biological sex assigned at birth, which could result in one to three years imprisonment. Further, any medical professional who performs gender re-assignment surgery could face the same sentence. However, an exemption was marked out for anyone receiving or performing such surgery to correct a birth defect. Finally, a minimum of seven years imprisonment is outlined for anyone who promotes homosexuality or prostitution.
The new law has been heavily criticized by diplomats, including UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who described the law as “dangerous and worrying.” He went on to “encourage the Government of Iraq to uphold human rights and freedoms of all people without distinction.”
The US also condemned the law in a press statement by Matthew Miller, spokesperson of the US State Department:
This amendment threatens those most at risk in Iraqi society. It can be used to hamper free-speech and expression and inhibit the operations of NGOs across Iraq. The legislation also weakens Iraq’s ability to diversify its economy and attract foreign investment. International business coalitions have already indicated that such discrimination in Iraq will harm business and economic growth in the country.
The law has been justified by those who passed it as upholding religious values. Speaking to Shafaq News agency, Independent Iraqi MP Amir Al-Maamouri said, “the law will contribute to building a sound society in line with Iraqi customs.” This law means Iraq will join over 60 countries worldwide that criminalize same sex relationships.
USA: Tennessee legislature passes bill criminalizing adults aiding minors in receiving gender-affirming care
The Tennessee House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that criminalizes adults who knowingly take minors away from Tennessee to help them receive gender-affirming medical procedures without the consent of their parents.
The companion bill was introduced to the Tennessee House of Representatives on January 29, 2024 as HB 2310 by Representative Bryan Richey and to the Tennessee Senate on January 31. Senator Janice Bowling introduced SB 2782 in the Senate. The bill originally allowed parents to sue any adult who “knowingly remove a minor from [Tennessee] without the consent of a parent of the minor” for the purpose of aiding the minor to receive medical procedures for making the minor better able to identify with a sex they are not.
Since then, however, the Senate and House have both added their own amendments to the bill. The Senate’s amendment added that in a civil action based on violating the bill, “[The] plaintiff may recover from the person: (A) Compensatory damages; (B) Punitive damages; and (C) Reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and expenses.” It also made violating the bill a Class C felony, which has the sentencing range for a first-time offender as three to six years imprisonment and, for a repeat offender, can be as high as 10 to 15 years imprisonment. The House’s amendment most notably added that the “common carrier transporting passengers for hire” as part of their business activities are exempt from the bill.
The Senate initially rejected the House’s amendment. In order to resolve their dispute, both the Senate and House appointed their own Conference Committees. Both committees ended up approving the bill and its amendments, with the Senate having a 2-1 vote and the House having a 3-1 vote.
According to The Tennessee Conservative, Richey stated that the bill is simply a “parents’ rights bill.” Tennessee advocates for Planned Parenthood see the bill as an unconstitutional attack on personal autonomy. Planned Parenthood went on to say:
[T]he exclusion of the term ‘legal guardian’ and inclusion of only the consent of ‘a parent’ poses the likely possibility that this bill would disproportionately impact youth who do not have parents or accessible parents, youth who likely are members of multiple marginalized identities and facing heightened social and health inequities.
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 