Germany: Frankfurt Higher Regional Court allows misgender attack
The trans-hostile hashtag #DubistEinMann is a permissible expression of opinion for the Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court. Trans activist Julia Monro was thus defeated by Ana Julia Di Lisio from the TERF group “RadFem Berlin”.
US to expel Gabon, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic from trade program over rights concerns [Trade Policy and Human Rights of LGBTI Persons]
US President Joe Biden announced Monday that he will expel Gabon, Niger, Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR) from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade program due to their records on human rights and the rule of law. In a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Biden outlined his reasons for the decision, stating that the countries did not meet the eligibility requirements of section 104 of the AGOA.
Biden wrote that the governments of the CAR and Uganda had engaged in “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” Meanwhile, Biden stated that Niger and the government of Gabon had not made “continual progress toward establishing the protection of political pluralism and the rule of law.”
Niger and Gabon both experienced military coups in the last few months, leading the US State Department to halt all non-humanitarian assistance to both countries under section 7008 of the State Department’s annual appropriations act. Section 7008 becomes applicable when a democratically elected leader is overthrown in a military coup or where the military plays a decisive role in the overthrow.
President Biden condemned Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act in May, calling it a “tragic violation of universal human rights” and stating that he would “incorporate the impacts of the law into our review of Uganda’s eligibility for the African Growth and Opportunity Act.”
The CAR removed presidential term limits back in August, leading the US State Department to issue a press release expressing concern. The State Department called on the government of the CAR to “announce a date for local elections in which all Central Africans can express their views at the ballot box.”
Established in 2000, AGOA offers eligible countries duty-free access to the US market for over 1,800 products, as well as other benefits. However, there are stringent eligibility criteria, outlined in section 104 of the Act, including the requirement that countries establish or make progress towards establishing the rule of law, political pluralism and the rights to due process, a fair trial, and equal protection under the law.
Biden intends to end the designation of these countries as beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under the AGOA on January 1, 2024, but will “continue to assess whether the Central African Republic, Gabon, Niger, and Uganda meet the AGOA eligibility requirements.”
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After the Supreme Court of Nepal passed two progressive Orders directing the Prime Minister and the council of ministers of Nepal to recognise non-heterosexual marriage and establish an transitional mechanism for the registration of marriages earlier this year, the lower court’s Order turns the clock back.
More: https://theleaflet.in/nepals-lower-courts-rejects-marriage-registration-of-non-heterosexual-couple/
South Korea court upholds law criminalizing same-sex relations in military service
The Constitutional Court of South Korea upheld a law for the fourth time on Thursday that criminalizes same-sex relations in the military. The court, which is one of the highest in South Korea, claimed that same-sex activities might undermine discipline and harm the combat capabilities of the military.
According to Article 92-6 of the Military Criminal Act of South Korea, a person who commits “indecent acts” with any military member of the same sex shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than two years. Boram Jang, an East Asia researcher at Amnesty International, told the Guardian it was “a distressing setback in the decades-long struggle for equality in the country”, and it “underscore[s] the widespread prejudice experienced by LGBTI people in South Korea.” Human rights groups have argued that it does not comply with international human rights obligations.
Several of South Korea’s allies have repealed provisions similar to Article 92-6 of the Military Act of South Korea in order to align with international obligations to protect against the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people. For instance, from 1993 to 2011, the US implemented the “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy on military service, which prohibited queer people from disclosing their sexual orientation or speaking about any same-sex relationships. In 2011, the US Congress repealed DADT policy and allowed queer people to openly serve in the country’s military. What’s more, the UK repealed the law banning on gay people serving in the military in 2000 “in response to the European court’s judgement in Jeanette and Graham’s case.”
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USA: NHL lifts ban on rainbow-colored Pride Tape, after a player defied it
Pride Tape will be allowed to be part of NHL events this season after all, as the league reversed its ban that had sparked a backlash among many hockey players.
“Players will now have the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season,” the NHL said Tuesday as it announced a loosening of its restrictions on theme nights, such as Pride Night.
The decision came days after Arizona Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott became the first player to defy the ban by using Pride Tape in a game.
Pride Tape was introduced around seven years ago as a way to show inclusion and support for young LGBTQ+ athletes who might otherwise quit playing ice hockey rather than face homophobia and discrimination.
More: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/25/1208403697/nhl-pride-tape-ban-lifted-travis-dermott
Japan Supreme Court declares sterilization requirement for legal recognition of transgender people unconstitutional
The Supreme Court of Japan ruled Wednesday that a law requiring transgender people to be sterilized in order to legally change their gender was unconstitutional. The case was decided unanimously by all fifteen justices hearing the case, and the law requiring sterilization of transgender individuals is now struck down.
Previously, since its introduction in 2004, the law governing how to legally change your gender in Japan was constructed of many steps. The Gender Identity Disorder Special Cases Act states that anyone who appeals to a family court to legally change their gender must: undergo a psychiatric evaluation, “have a physical form that is endowed with genitalia that closely resemble the physical form of an alternative gender,” and be surgically sterilized.
This last requirement was successfully challenged by a transgender woman in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The Supreme Court held that the existing law “constitutes a significant constraint on freedom from invasive procedures” and thus violates the Japanese Constitution. The court further stated, “The suffering that [transgender people] face in terms of gender is also of concern to society that is supposed to embrace diversity in gender identity.”
This decision comes as a further progression of transgender rights in Japanese courts. Most recently, on October 13, a Japanese court held it to be unconstitutional to require an individual to undergo gender-affirming surgery to obtain identification in line with their gender. Preceding this, the Supreme Court decided in July that banning transgender women from women’s bathrooms was was unlawful.
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Peru dispatch: Constitutional Court ruling on father’s naming rights when mother’s identity unknown to him is a victory for equality
According to article 20º of the Peruvian civil code: “The child has the first surname of the father and the first surname of the mother”; the last paragraph of article 21º of the same law states: “In case the mother does not reveal the identity of the father, she can register the child with her surnames”. The Peruvian civil code traditionally did not allow fathers to register their children without revealing the identity of the mother, a situation that violated the right of equality.
On September 27th, 2021 Ricardo Moran filed a lawsuit against the National Identity and Civil Status Registry (RENIEC, in Spanish) requesting the registration of his minor children as Peruvian citizens, who were conceived through surrogacy in Texas, United States. RENIAC denied the request because, as noted, Peruvian civil code only allowed the unilateral registration of the children when the identity of the father was unknown, not the identity of the mother. For that reason, Ricardo Moran came to the Constitutional Court of Peru.
In this judicial instance, as opposed to the claims of the judges of the first and second instances, the judges valued the best interest of the child in accordance with the right to identity and nationality of Ricardo Moran’s children, principles and rights protected by conventional treaties and guaranteed by our constitution, in order to establish that even if children were born in another country, they can receive state guardianship if their parents have Peruvian nationality.
Subsequently, the Constitutional Court carried out a proportionality test on the RENIEC’s decision to initially deny the plaintiff’s request, in order to determine whether the right to name, nationality and equality of Ricardo Moran’s children were being violated under the existing civil law stipulating that a father must indicate the identity of the mother to be authorized to register their children. Along these lines, the last paragraph of article 21º of the Peruvian civil code was declared unconstitutional because there were no reasons to protect the differential legal treatment between fathers and mothers who want to register their children without revealing the identity of the other parent. In this way, the Constitutional Court of Peru weighed the right to the name and nationality of minors, which cannot be conditional on the recognition of both parents, whether it is the mother or the father who requests the registration on RENIEC.
This jurisdictional pronouncement marks an important milestone in the process of granting the same civil rights to both men and women in Peru’s civil legislation. Due to its old date (1984), there still are normative provisions in that that continue to perpetuate the management of social problems from a sexist perspective, as is the case in this case. Previously it was not conceived that a man could be a single father, therefore, only the rights of single mothers to register their children were protected. There is still a plurality of regulations currently in force that are not consistent with the Peruvian social reality, which is why the work of constitutional control undertaken by the Constitutional Court is essential and vital to prevent violations of human rights.
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Hong Kong appeals court upholds homosexual couple’s equal inheritance rights
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal upheld homosexual couples’ right to inheritance by dismissing on Tuesday an appeal from the Secretary for Justice. The appeal sought to establish that homosexual and heterosexual couples are not entitled to the same rights under Hong Kong’s inheritance laws.
The case centered around Edgar Ng and Li Yik Ho’s concern over inheritance laws. Ng previously applied for judicial review of Hong Kong’s inheritance laws in 2019 as he was worried that his Li, his homosexual partner, would not be entitled to inherit his properties if he died without a will. The Court of First Instance allowed Ng’s review and found in favor of him in September 2020.
However, the Secretary for Justice appealed against the Court of First Instance’s ruling. Lawyer Abraham Chan represented the Secretary for Justice in the appeal. During the appellate hearing, he espoused that homosexual and heterogenous couples were entitled to different rights under Hong Kong’s inheritance laws because they constitute two materially distinguished groups.
Nonetheless, the Court of Appeal’s three-judge panel unanimously upheld the Court of First Instance’s ruling. The Court of Appeal said that the Secretary for Justice failed on his grounds of appeal and agreed with the Court of First Instance in finding that differential treatment of homosexual and heterogenous couples constituted discrimination against homosexual couples.
Upon receiving Tuesday’s judgment, Li wrote on Facebook:
I hope the Government will respect today’s judgment and at long last give Edgar the respect and dignity he’d always deserved … The present appeal is the 7th case in which the Hong Kong [c]ourts confirmed that there should be legal protection for same-sex couples.
This is not the first time Hong Kong courts have handed down judgments with respect to the rights of homosexual couples. On September 5, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal found that the Hong Kong government has a duty to legally recognize homosexual relationships. On October 17, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal dismissed appeals from the Hong Kong Housing Authority which sought to uphold the constitutionality of excluding homosexual couples from legal housing benefits as married couples.
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USA Cycling to segregate trans athletes in updated policy
More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/22/usa-cycling-trans-policy-uci/
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 