Human rights groups condemn Russia legislation targeting transgender people

Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, released statements on Friday condemning Russia’s newly adopted bill that targets transgender people. The new legislation states that citizens who have already changed their sex will be prohibited from adopting children and their marriage will be annulled. It also prohibits surgery and hormonal therapy, as well as gender changes in documents.

Amnesty International’s Russia Director, Natalia Zviagina said that this recent legislation shows an “utter disregard” for the rights of transgender people in Russia. She further stated that the ban on gender affirming care will discriminate against transgender people’s right to healthcare and impact their mental health, and will “damage the Russian society for generations.”

Similarly, the Human Rights Watch LGBT rights director Graeme Reid stated that Russia was attacking sexual and gender minorities for political purposes and because of this, the bill needs to be dropped. Reid continued to stress the importance of inclusivity and protection of LGBT people in Russia and asserted that the first step towards this is to reverse the anti-trans law.

The Chairman of State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia’s legislature, Vyacheslav Volodin told state news that the bill protects Russian citizens and children. He cited the United States’ growing transgender population, calling it a “monstrous trend” that leads to a “degenerate” nation.

The new law is part of Russia’s intensifying crackdown of LGBT people, and went into force starting July 14.

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More than 30 embassies [including Switzerland] urge Hungary to protect LGBTQ+ rights ahead of Pride Festival

Multiple embassies and various cultural institutions from over 30 countries released a joint statement on Friday supporting the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Hungary, ahead of the 28th Budapest Pride Festival. Signatories to the statement included the US, the UK, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy and others. The group emphasized the importance of revoking laws that discriminate against LGBT people. The statement says that signatories reject and condemn all acts of violence, stigmatization and discrimination against LGBT people. It also stresses the need to eliminate political rhetoric that contributes to discrimination.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has banned “gay propaganda,” which he defines as any content that is believed to “promote” homosexuality in schools or in the media. His government fined Hungary’s largest booksellers for selling the LGBT novel “Heartstopper” without closed wrapping. Orban and his right-wing Fidesz party have pushed many anti-LGBT actions, including urging voters to redefine the definition of marriage to exclude same-sex couples, limiting the ability of those couples to adopt and revoking the legal recognition of transgender individuals.

The European Commission launched a lawsuit last year saying that Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws are highly discriminatory. The lawsuit was supported by 15 EU governments including France, Germany and Slovenia. Italy and Poland were not in support of the lawsuit. Despite this lawsuit and the reaction of the international community, Orban continues to defend his style of governance.

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___________________________________________________

Joint Statement on the Occasion of the 28th Budapest Pride Festival

July 14, 2023

On the occasion of the 28th Budapest Pride Festival, we the undersigned embassies and cultural institutes express our full support for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in Hungary and their rights to equality and non-discrimination, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and freedom from violence.  Respect for the rule of law and universal human rights are the foundations upon which democratic states are built. International human rights law is grounded on the broad premise that all individuals have the same rights and freedoms without discrimination.

We reject and condemn all acts of violence, hate speech, harassment, stigmatization and discrimination committed against individuals and communities on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics and support the fight against such acts.  In this regard, we are concerned with legislation and political rhetoric, including in Hungary, that is in tension with principles of non-discrimination, international human rights law and human dignity, and contributes to stigmatization of the LGBTQI+ community.  We stress the need for leaders and governments, here and elsewhere, to show respect for and protect the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals and communities, and to eliminate laws and policies that discriminate against them.

We stress the inviolability of human dignity, the right to freedom of expression and information, the right to private and family life, and the right to non-discrimination for all.

Furthermore, we welcome the important advocacy of LGBTQI+ grassroots human rights defenders, activists, journalists, media workers and civil society organizations working to ensure that all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, receive equal treatment and the full protection of the law.

Celebrating diversity is an important way to promote respect for human rights for all. Budapest Pride has the longest history of such events in the region, and we highlight its role in promoting equality of treatment and social acceptance for all LGBTQI+ persons, and contributing to the creation of a more open, just, inclusive and equal society.

Signed by the Following Embassies and Cultural Institutes:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, The United States, Ukraine, Uruguay, General Delegation of Flanders, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Austrian Cultural Forum Budapest, British Council, Czech Center, Estonian Institute, FinnAgora, Goethe-Institut, Institut Français, Instituto Camões, Instituto Cervantes

Source: https://hu.usembassy.gov/news-joint-statement-on-the-occasion-of-the-28th-budapest-pride-festival/

Transgender women barred from female events as UCI takes ‘precautionary measure’

More: https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/66203709#:~:text=World%20cycling’s%20governing%20body%20has,’men%2Fopen’%20category.

Russia Duma passes ban on gender-affirming surgeries

Russian lawmakers unanimously passed a bill on Friday to ban gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people in the country. The Chairman of the Russian State Duma Viacheslav Volodin announced the bill’s passage on his Telegram channel, claiming the bill will protect Russian citizens and children.

The bill prohibits surgery and hormone therapy for transgender individuals as well as any gender changes on official Russian documentation. The bill also applies retroactively, barring any Russians who have already transitioned from adopting children. The bill also annuls transgender individuals’ marriages.

The only exceptions to the bill’s wide-reaching language apply in cases of medical interventions for congenital anomalies or children born intersex.

Speaking to the Associated Press ahead of the bill’s final reading, Executive Director of Russia’s Independent Psychiatric Association Lyubov Vinogradova said gender-affirming procedures “shouldn’t be banned entirely, because there are people for whom it is the only way to … to exist normally and find peace with themselves.”

The law’s passage through the Russian Duma reflects theescalating persecution of LGBTQ+ people within the country, despite international pressure to reverse course. In December, Russia enacted a sweeping law banning “LGBT propaganda,” including any and all positive displays of LGBT relationships and lifestyles for all age groups. In April, Russian authorities arrested two men and charged them with violating the law because the two released videos to YouTube and TikTok where they can be seen touching. 

The law also reflects a global rise in the persecution of transgender and LGBTQ+ people, including broad restrictions on gender-affirming care in the US and laws elsewhere, which criminalize LGBTQ+ people entirely.

The bill now goes to Russian President Vladimir Putin for final approval, at which time the law will come into effect.

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The latest issue of the Australian Feminist Law Journal (Vol. 49, no. 1, 2023) focuses on “International Law Dis/oriented: Sparking Queer Futures in International Law”

Contents include:

• Special Issue: International Law Dis/oriented: Sparking Queer Futures in International Law
  • Lena Holzer, Bérénice K. Schramm, Juliana Santos de Carvalho & Manon Beury, An Introduction to International Law Dis/oriented: Sparking Queer Futures in International Law
  • Claerwen O’Hara, In Search of a Queerer Law: Two People’s Tribunals in 1976
  • Giovanna Gilleri, Human Rights Discourses and Subject Formations: Tainting Queer Theory with Psychoanalysis
  • Kseniya A. Kirichenko, Queer Intersectional Perspective on LGBTI Human Rights Discourses by United Nations Treaty Bodies
  • Odette Mazel, The Texture of ‘Lives Lived with Law:’ Methods for Queering International Law
  • David Ikpo, Advancing Queer-inclusive International Human Rights Law Education in Nigerian Classrooms through Indigenous Storytelling: Stories from a Law Classroom at Eko (Lagos, Nigeria)
  • Shaimaa Abdelkarim, Farnush Ghadery, Rohini Sen & Lena Holzer, A Roundtable Conversation: Feminist Collaborative Ethos in International Law
  • Samuel Ballin, Four Challenges, Three Identities and a Double Movement in Asylum Law: Queering the ‘Particular Social Group’ after Mx M
  • Leonam Lucas Nogueira Cunha, Queer Methodologies in the Study of Law: Notes about Queering Methods

Japan Supreme Court finds restriction on transgender bathroom usage unlawful

The Supreme Court of Japan ruled on Tuesday that the restriction of transgender women’s use of female bathrooms is unlawful. This landmark decision overturns a 2021 Tokyo High Court ruling and marks the first time the high court has spoken to sexual minorities’ usage of bathrooms.

The five-judge Supreme Court panel found unanimously in favor of the appellant. The court found that the government’s restriction on bathroom usage was unjust and inappropriate.

In this case, the appellant—who chose to remain anonymous—still bears a male gender marker because of being unable to undergo the required surgery, due to health reasons. Under current Japanese law, transgender people in Japan can only alter their gender markers on their family register after undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

The case arose when the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry forced the appellant to use a bathroom several floors below the floor that she worked on because her fellow coworkers were uncomfortable with her using the women’s bathroom on their floor. The appellant was forced to undergo this treatment at work from 2010 through 2013, at which point she asked the National Personnel Authority, under Article 86 of the National Public Service Act, to lift the restriction on her bathroom use. Her request was rejected and she filed suit in 2015.

A district court found in favor of the appellant in 2019. However, that ruling was later overruled by a Tokyo High Court ruling in 2021.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court overruled the 2021 ruling in their Tuesday decision. The court held that the appellant’s workplace should have not only considered the comfort of the appellant’s coworkers in allowing the appellant to use female bathrooms, but also the appellant’s benefit of leading a social life based on her own gender identity. The court accused the government of not doing enough to work towards the realization of an inclusive society that respects diversity, such as that of the appellant.

Toshimasa Yamashita, the legal representative of the appellant, hoped that the legislature will draft new guidelines on bathroom usage by transgender people soon. The Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno responded in a press conference that the government is considering next steps.

Japan is currently the only G7 country which lacks legal protection over sexual minorities’ rights. Yet, four local courts, including the Nagoya and the Fukuoka District Courts, have recently ruled that the lack of legal protection for same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

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European Court of Human Rights backs Semenya appeal against Swiss decision (intersex)

The South African runner had appealed a ruling by a Swiss court, upholding regulations that forced her to artificially reduce her naturally high testosterone levels in order to compete in women’s races. Double Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya won an appeal against track and field’s testosterone rules on Tuesday when the European Court of Human Rights ruled she had been discriminated against. The ruling could force sport’s highest court to re-examine the regulations that force Semenya and other female athletes to artificially reduce naturally high testosterone levels in order to compete at top meets such as the Olympics and world championships. The Strasbourg-based rights court ruled in Semenya’s favour by a four-three majority of judges. + Why Swiss courts are involved in the Semenya case The court also ruled the South African runner was denied an “effective remedy” against that discrimination when the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and Switzerland’s…

More: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/european-court-backs-semenya-appeal-against-swiss-decision/48656302

Press Release: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press#{%22itemid%22:[%22003-7701642-10631202%22]}

Jugement en français: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-225768%22]}

US federal court allows Tennessee ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on Saturday in favor of Tennessee, removing a temporary injunction placed on a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming healthcare for minors, including hormones and puberty blockers. This ruling will allow the ban to be in effect immediately, despite ongoing litigation.

Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, writing for the majority, opined that the district court that granted the original injunction had exceeded its scope, saying, “A court order that goes beyond the injuries of a particular plaintiff to enjoin government action against nonparties exceeds the norms of judicial power.” Sutton also went on to claim that the plaintiffs were not likely to succeed on their constitutional claims, saying:

[T]he challengers do not argue that the original fixed meaning of either the due process or equal protection guarantee covers these claims. That prompts the question of whether the people of this country ever agreed to remove debates of this sort—about the use of new drug treatments on minors—from the conventional place for dealing with new norms, new drugs, and new technologies: the democratic process. Life-tenured federal judges should be wary of removing a vexing and novel topic of medical debate from the ebbs and flows of democracy by construing a largely unamendable federal constitution to occupy the field.

Sutton concluded, saying, “These initial views, we must acknowledge, are just that: initial. We may be wrong. It may be that the one week we have had to resolve this motion does not suffice to see our own mistakes.”

Judge Helen White concurred in part and dissented in part, writing, “Because I believe that Tennessee’s law is likely unconstitutional based on Plaintiffs’ theory of sex discrimination, I would not stay the district court’s injunction, although I would narrow its scope.”

Groups who assisted the plaintiffs in filing the original suit, including The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lambda Legal and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP have condemned the ruling, stating, “This ruling is beyond disappointing and a heartbreaking development for thousands of transgender youth, their doctors, and their families.” However, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the ruling, saying, “The case is far from over, but this is a big win.”

The original suit, LW v. Skrmetti, was filed in April by several Tennessee families, and challenged SB 1, Tennessee’s ban on transgender healthcare for minors, claiming it is unconstitutional and discriminatory. SB 1 was passed in 2022 and signed into law by Tennessee’s governor in March. The US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee originally granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the ban while litigation was ongoing. Skrmetti’s office appealed the district court ruling at the end of June.

LGBTQ+ issues have been in the foreground in Tennessee in the last few months, with the state’s ban on drag performance struck down in early June.

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Interesting Article: Same-Sex Marriage in Japan and the Role of Courts in a Dominant Party System

Guy Baldwin, Same-Sex Marriage in Japan and the Role of Courts in a Dominant Party System (questioning whether judicial deference on the question of the constitutionality of Japan’s failure to provide for same-sex marriage makes sense in a dominant party system)

See: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4490325

Ghana Parliament unanimously passes extreme anti-gay bill

The Parliament of Ghana passed an extreme anti-gay bill on Wednesday, which is set to tighten laws against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ghana’s 275 members of Parliament unanimously passed the bill, known as the 2021 Promotion of Appropriate Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

The bill is set to criminalize the promotion, advocacy, funding and acts of homosexuality. It stiffens prison terms up to ten years in prison for LGBTQ+ advocates and three years for anyone identifying as such. Moreover, the bill seeks to withdraw health services from this community, including HIV medication.

The bill’s main sponsor, legislator Sam Nartey George, said, “[H]omosexuality is not a human right in Ghana, but a lifestyle choice. A sexual preference.” With this reasoning, legislators viewed preferences as not absolute, meaning they did not hesitate to pass a bill against it. Furthermore, George warned the US not to interfere with plans to pass the bill into law, threatening to halt Ghana’s business interests in the country. He said this in reference to the travel restrictions imposed upon Uganda following the signing of their own anti-LGBTQ+ law.

Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin, stated LGBTQ+ practices are strongly abhorred and will not be allowed to take root in the country. He said:

I am very clear in my mind that the Parliament of Ghana will pass this Bill (to criminalize LGBTQ). I have gone through it and I will confirm that the Bill will be a reference point for many countries. It has gone through all the provisions of the constitution, laws and international obligations.

Rightify Ghana, a human rights organization in Ghana, believes that the passing of this bill erodes progress towards fighting HIV and AIDS. Additionally, they quoted a 2021 statement from the UN anti-AIDS program, UNAIDS, that viewed this bill as undermining the basic rights of the LGBTQ+ community. The statement warned of the potential for international law violations if the bill passed, and stated, “Given that LGBTI people are present in every family and every community it is not very difficult to imagine how, if it were to be adopted, this legislation could create a recipe for conflict and violence.”

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