UK: Rishi Sunak apologises to LGBT veterans for past armed forces gay ban

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66242611

ECtHR: R.K. v HU 22.06.2023 (absence of effective legal framework for change of legal gender), violation

See: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-225330

DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE WOJTYCZEK

I respectfully disagree with the views that the application is admissible and that Article 8 has been violated in the instant case. I refer in this respect to the arguments put forward in the joint dissenting opinion written by Judge Pejchal and myself and appended to the judgment in the case of X v. the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (no. 29683/16, 17 January 2019). I note that further important arguments supporting our view have been provided in the powerful dissenting opinion of Judge Ranzoni appended to the judgment in the case of A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France (nos. 79885/12 and 2 others, 6 April 2017). In my view, the Convention does not guarantee the right to obtain a change of the registered sex on birth certificates and the High Contracting Parties can choose how to regulate this domain.

Belgium: Parliament approves law on conversion practices (conversion therapy)

Last Thursday the Belgian Parliament approved, with a large majority, a law on conversion practices (conversion therapy). The law will soon become effective (« 10 days after publication in the Moniteur belge »).

The law punishes : practicing conversion therapy, offering conversion therapy, incite persons to undergo conversion therapy and making publicity for conversion therapy.

Nobody can agree with conversion therapy, which means that conversion therapy is also punishable when practiced on consenting adults (in other words : the law is not limited to minors and vulnerable adults).

The text of the new law can be found here : https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/55/3429/55K3429003.pdf

The definition of conversion practices is as follows :

« Conversion practice means any practice which consists of a physical intervention or the application of psychological pressure, of which the perpretator assumes or pretends that it is intended to suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression regardless of whether this characteristic is actually present or merely alleged by the perpetrator.

Are not considered conversion practices: the assistance and services offered in the context of mental and physical health care in connection with the exploration and development of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of a person.

Are also not considered conversion practices: the treatments or interventions in the context of a social or medical transition offered by healthcare professionals, in accordance with the conditions and within the framework of the law of 22 August 2002 on patients’ rights. »

Last Thursday the Belgian Parliament approved, with a large majority, a law on conversion practices (conversion therapy). The law will soon become effective (« 10 days after publication in the Moniteur belge »).

The law punishes : practicing conversion therapy, offering conversion therapy, incite persons to undergo conversion therapy and making publicity for conversion therapy.

Nobody can agree with conversion therapy, which means that conversion therapy is also punishable when practiced on consenting adults (in other words : the law is not limited to minors and vulnerable adults).

The text of the new law can be found here : https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/55/3429/55K3429003.pdf

The definition of conversion practices is as follows :

« Conversion practice means any practice which consists of a physical intervention or the application of psychological pressure, of which the perpretator assumes or pretends that it is intended to suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression regardless of whether this characteristic is actually present or merely alleged by the perpetrator.

Are not considered conversion practices: the assistance and services offered in the context of mental and physical health care in connection with the exploration and development of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of a person.

Are also not considered conversion practices: the treatments or interventions in the context of a social or medical transition offered by healthcare professionals, in accordance with the conditions and within the framework of the law of 22 August 2002 on patients’ rights. »

Last Thursday the Belgian Parliament approved, with a large majority, a law on conversion practices (conversion therapy). The law will soon become effective (« 10 days after publication in the Moniteur belge »).

The law punishes : practicing conversion therapy, offering conversion therapy, incite persons to undergo conversion therapy and making publicity for conversion therapy.

Nobody can agree with conversion therapy, which means that conversion therapy is also punishable when practiced on consenting adults (in other words : the law is not limited to minors and vulnerable adults).

The text of the new law can be found here : https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/55/3429/55K3429003.pdf

The definition of conversion practices is as follows :

« Conversion practice means any practice which consists of a physical intervention or the application of psychological pressure, of which the perpretator assumes or pretends that it is intended to suppress a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression regardless of whether this characteristic is actually present or merely alleged by the perpetrator.

Are not considered conversion practices: the assistance and services offered in the context of mental and physical health care in connection with the exploration and development of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of a person.

Are also not considered conversion practices: the treatments or interventions in the context of a social or medical transition offered by healthcare professionals, in accordance with the conditions and within the framework of the law of 22 August 2002 on patients’ rights. »

USA: Michigan governor signs conversion therapy ban into law: ‘A champion for LGBTQ+ equality’

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/27/gretchen-whitmer-michigan-governor/

Vladimir Putin signs Russia law banning trans healthcare and adoptions, and annulling

https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/25/vladimir-putin-trans-healthcare-ban-russia

____________________________________________________________________________

Russia President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a bill that bans transgender people from obtaining gender-affirming surgeries in the country. The Russia Duma previously unanimously passed the bill on July 14. 

The new law prohibits surgery and hormone therapy for transgender individuals as well as any gender changes on official Russian documentation. The law applies retroactively, barring any Russians who have already transitioned from adopting children. The law also annuls transgender individuals’ marriages. However, there is an exception to the law for those with congenital physiological abnormalities.

The Russian Orthodox Church has expressed support for Russia’s steady restriction of LGBTQ+ rights. In 2013, the Kremlin banned public endorsement of non-traditional sexual relations between minors. Then, in 2020, Russia banned same-sex marriage. More recently, in 2022, Russia approve an expansion of the 2013 ban so that the ban now encompasses propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to adults as well as minors.

Back when the new law was still in the Russian legislature, human rights groups authored a letter condemning the bill. The groups claimed the bill was an attack on sexual and gender minorities, showing an “utter disregard” for their rights. Human Rights Watch (HRW) doubled down on the language from the letter—which they helped author—in a statement Tuesday. HRW condemned the new law as “an infringement on the rights of transgender people in Russia.”

The post Putin signs ban on gender-affirming care into law appeared first on JURIST – News.

Switzerland: Gay men to achieve parity when it comes to blood donation

23 applicants v. Italy: EConHR does not require recognition of foreign birth certificate with name of non-genetic parent

On 30 May 2023, the ECtHR declared all of the applications inadmissible.  Applying its judgment in D.B. & Others v. Switzerland (22 November 2022), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-220955, the ECtHR concluded that the possibility of a second-parent adoption in Italy is enough.  Registration of the non-genetic parent as a legal parent of a child, born abroad or in Italy, is not required, as in Boeckel v. Germany (7 May 2013), https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-120617. 

https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-225716

DÉCISION

Requête no 59054/19
MODANESE contre l’Italie
et 2 autres requêtes
(voir liste en annexe)

1.  Les présentes requêtes concernent le refus des autorités italiennes de reconnaître des actes de naissance délivrés en Californie et au Canada pour des enfants qui y étaient nés d’une gestation pour autrui (« GPA ») pour autant que ces actes établissaient un lien de filiation à l’égard des pères d’intention, le second parent, à savoir les pères biologiques respectifs des enfants en question, étant quant à lui reconnu.

https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-225717

DÉCISION

Requête no 10810/20
Stefano Maurizio BONZANO et autres contre l’Italie
et 2 autres requêtes
(voir liste en annexe)

1.  Les requêtes concernent le refus des autorités italiennes de transcrire sur les registres de l’état civil italien les actes de naissance américains d’enfants légalement conçus aux États-Unis par gestation pour autrui (GPA) et dont les parents d’intention (trois couples homosexuels) sont italiens, au motif que la gestation pour autrui est contraire au droit italien.

https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-225622

DÉCISION

Requêtes nos 47998/20 et 23142/21
Ettore NUTI contre l’Italie
et Sara DALLABORA et autres contre l’Italie

1.  Les requêtes concernent le refus de transcrire sur les registres de l’état civil italien l’acte de naissance d’enfants nés en Italie de couples homosexuels par procréation médicalement assistée (PMA) effectuée à l’étranger pour autant qu’ils désignent la mère d’intention comme étant leur mère.

Kenya set to introduce cruel anti-homosexuality law

Kenya is on the verge of introducing legislation that would criminalise openly identifying with, or supporting, the LGBTQ+ community, with punishments including the death penalty.

More: https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/20/kenya-anti-homosexuality-law-africa/

HRW: LGBTQ+ people in Saint Vincent and Grenadines regularly subjected to discrimination and violence

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Thursday of violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. According to a new report, six of the twelve Anglophone countries in the Caribbean region continue to criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy, including Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

HRW called upon the country to repeal the colonial-era laws  that criminalizes consensual same-sex conduct and push for the passage of legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Same-sex activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1988 which criminalizes acts of “buggery” and “gross indecency.”  The law was inherited from the British during their colonial rule over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Cristian Gonzalez Cabrera, LGBT rights researcher with HRW, commented, “[T]he criminalisation of gay sex gives tacit state sanction to the discrimination and violence that LGBT people experience in their daily lives.” Cabrera continued to say that repeal of the law “will not only create a more equal society for LGBT people in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, but it will strength the rule of law for everyone living there.”

While there have been no recent reported convictions under the laws, HRW argued that the laws stigmatizes LGBTQ+ people and creates an obstacle to full equality. Furthermore, as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are signatories of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, the continued existence of these colonial laws runs contrary to their international obligations.

One of the most recent legal challenges involving the laws occurred in 2019. Two gay men filed court proceedings to challenge the law, stating that they had been exiled from the Caribbean nation “due to the severely draconian and damaging effects of these laws.”

Nearly all LGBTQ+ interviewees reported at least one recent incident of discrimination, which for many “is part of everyday life.” Every interviewee also stated that had either wished to leave the country or envisioned a future abroad due to the presence of homophobic or transphobic violence and discrimination.

Recently, some countries in the region have taken strong steps to protect LGBTQ+ people. In 2022, courts in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados as well as Saint Kitts and Nevis struck down laws that criminalized consensual same-sex conduct. In 2016 and 2018, Trinidad and Tobago similarly overturned discriminatory laws against LGBTQ+ people.

The post HRW: LGBTQ+ people in Saint Vincent and Grenadines regularly subjected to discrimination and violence appeared first on JURIST – News.

Swatch takes on Malaysian authorities in LGBT lawsuit

Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group has filed a lawsuit against the Malaysian government for confiscating rainbow-coloured watches that celebrate LGBT rights, in an act the company says has damaged its reputation. Homosexuality is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and rights groups have warned of growing intolerance in the country towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. In May, Malaysian authorities confiscated watches from Swatch’s ‘Pride collection’ because of the presence of the letters ‘LGBTQ’ on the watches, the home minister said. Home ministry officials “illegally” seized 172 watches from 16 outlets, Swatch said in court documents seen by Reuters. The lawsuit, filed on June 24 at the Kuala Lumpur high court, was first reported on Monday by the Malay Mail, a Malaysian news website. + Read more: Malaysian authorities raid Swatch stores “Without a doubt, the seized watches did not and are not in any way capable of causing any disruption to…

More: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/swatch-takes-on-malaysian-authorities-in-lgbt-lawsuit/48667296