USA: New Jersey AG issues civil rights violations to 28 municipalities for LGBTQ discrimination

The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights (DCR) Wednesday issued notices of violation to 28 municipalities in the state for civil rights violations committed through exclusionary marriage license practices against non-binary people.

The notices allege that the municipalities in question violated the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) by requiring non-binary people applyling for marriage licenses to misgender themselves under oath either as male or female.

According to the Attorney General’s office, such a requirement is inconsistent with the marriage license application on the state’s health department website, which includes a gender option for non-binary individuals and has since 2019. The municipalities face penalties of up to $10,000 if the issue is not resolved. The state was motivated to act because of a report that discovered “certain municipalities violated the LAD by expressly limiting marriage licenses to opposite-sex couples.”

If the municipalities fail to correct this issue, they will face up to $10,000 in fines. The notice also contains an offer of settlement  if municipalities update the marriage licenses on their websites, include a link to the New Jersey Department of Health’s marriage license application, remove any gender-restrictive language pertaining to marriage licenses from their websites, adopt a written policy prohibiting discrimination against those using the municipality’s services, and provide anti-discrimination training to all employees.

The Law Against Discrimination prohibits discrimination by organizations serving the public on the basis of actual or perceived race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or other protected characteristics. According to the DCR, the exclusion of a non-binary gender identifying option violates this provision.

The notices served to the 28 counties are the latest action in the DCR’s Marriage Equality Enforcement Initiative, which was implemented to ensure that municipalities in New Jersey comply with the Law Against Discrimination and provide gender-inclusive marriage licensing options to the public.

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USA: Fourth Circuit hears arguments regarding West Virginia Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming surgeries

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Tuesday heard oral arguments on whether the West Virginia Medicaid Program’s denial of gender-affirming surgery for individuals with gender dysphoria violates the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid Act and Equal Protection Clause under the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment.

Caleb David, attorney for the state defendants, argued that West Virginia’s program treats everyone equally and provides the same amount of coverage to both trans and cis gender participants who seek treatment under the same diagnosis. Judge Diana Gribbon Motz asked the defense whether transgender men and cisgender women are equally situated, regardless of their diagnosis, when they seek similar medical care. David responded by saying that the insurance industry and the Medicaid program define standards for coverage differently.

Tara Borelli, the attorney for the plaintiffs, responded to Judges Julius Richardson and Allison Jones Rushing’s questions regarding West Virginia Medicaid’s  refusal to cover surgeries for people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by stating that gender dysphoria is a diagnosis that only pertains to transgender people. As a result, she argued that the exclusion of the surgeries only applied to particular people.

In David’s closing argument he reiterated that West Virginia Medicaid is not required to cover the surgeries even if it is deemed necessary.

Christopher Fain and Shauntae Anderson, the named plaintiff in the class action, brought the case against West Virginia state officials and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Medical Services. Fain and Anderson receive hormone therapy for their gender dysphoria diagnosis. Both plaintiffs wish to receive gender-affirming surgery, however West Virginia’s Medicaid Plan exclusion of transsexual surgery prohibits any transgender individual who is “diagnosed with gender dysphoria” from receiving “coverage for the surgical treatment of this diagnosis.”

The trial court found in favor of the plaintiffs and granted their motion for summary judgement. The trial court found that West Virginia Medicaid’s exclusion “invidiously discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status.”

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Congratulations to my doctoral student Tsubasa Shinohara for successfully defending his PhD thesis: “Paving the Way for the Protection of Human Rights in Sports: The Case of Intersex and Transgender Female Athletes” More on this thesis defence: https://agenda.unil.ch/display/1669807792947 More on all PhDs written under my supervision: https://www.unil.ch/dip/en/home/menuinst/recherche/andreas-r-ziegler/PhD%20Studies/doctorats-completes.html More on our work on SOGEISC law and […]

Congratulations to my doctoral student Tsubasa Shinohara for successfully defending his PhD thesis: “Paving the Way for the Protection of Human Rights in Sports: The Case of Intersex and Transgender Female Athletes” — Andreas R. Ziegler

In the framework of “The OECD work on LGBTI+ inclusion” a report on Germany was published

More: https://www.oecd.org/social/the-road-to-lgbti-inclusion-in-germany-977b463a-en.htm

More: https://www.oecd.org/social/lgbti.htm

Interesting Article: The Future of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Human Rights – Where Will European Consensus Take Us?

USA Powerlifting ordered to reverse ‘discriminatory’ ban on trans athletes after legal challenge

Apply now for the Summer School “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Law: Human Rights and Beyond” (25/7 to 4/8 2023)

Application online is now possible for the sixth edition of Leiden University’s
Summer School on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity in International Law
(The Hague, Leiden & Amsterdam, 25 July to 4 August 2023)

The draft programme for the 2023 edition is now online. It includes expert speakers (from many continents, universities and organisations) who will discuss global and regional human rights, international criminal law, international economic law, international refugee law, and more. Some sessions will focus on legal aspects of intersex issues, of gender identity/expression, of sexual orientation, or on themes common to these forms of sex/gender diversity.

Participants learn about the history of the rights of LGBTQI persons in the international sphere, about current developments around the world and about the potential for future progress on equality. Several speakers have been involved in important precedent-setting court cases that helped to achieve some international protection against homophobia, transphobia and interphobia. Academic coordinator is Kees Waaldijk, professor of comparative sexual orientation law at Leiden Law School.

Leiden University’s Grotius Centre has been offering this unique and successful summer school since 2016, with very good evaluations. Each year participants have included lawyers, researchers, activists, officials and students from all over the world.

Requirements for admission: Completion of at least one year of university education including several law courses, plus some knowledge of human rights law and SOGI issues. For participants and potential participants, a list of online video/audio/reading materials has been put together: the Leiden Overview on SOGIESC in International Law. These materials (some of which are by former and future speakers of this summer school) offer a good preparation for taking part.

The summer school takes place in The Hague (the International City of Peace and Justice, and host to a growing campus of Leiden University), and for the last few days in Leiden (the main seat of Leiden University), and Amsterdam (where the annual Queer & Pride events are taking place around the dates of this summer school).

More information and online application form at https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/education/study-programmes/summer-schools/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-in-international-law-human-rights-and-beyond.

Please share this announcement widely!

USA: Tennessee becomes first US state to ban drag performances in chilling attack on LGBTQ+ rights

Badgett Summer Fellowship on Internatiyonal LGBTQI+ Law and Policy

USA: Iowa legislature introduces bill to ban same-sex marriage

Eight Republicans in the Iowa House of Representatives Tuesday introduced a bill that would ban amend the state constitution and ban same-sex marriage in the state. The amendment would stipulate that “In accordance with the laws of nature and nature’s God, the state of Iowa recognizes the definition of marriage to be the solemnized union between one human biological male and one human biological female.”

Representative Brad Sherman, the bill’s primary sponsor, stated that he “is not seeking to deny civil rights or public benefits to anyone” but that “[t]he definition of marriage was defined as being between male and female for 5000 years of world history.” Other representatives expressed their outrage over the bill. Representative Sami Scheetz stated, “we will not be going back to the days when committed, loving same-sex couples don’t have the same right to marriage equality as everyone else. This kind of disgusting hatred and backwards thinking has no place in Iowa.”

The Iowa legislature simultaneously introduced a similar bill that would not require Iowa residents to recognize same-sex marriages. H.F. 508 is a proposed statute rather than constitutional amendment. The operative language states:

The state of Iowa also recognizes the deep historical and religious roots that uniformly defined and understood marriage to be the union between one male and female. Therefore, no resident of Iowa shall be compelled, coerced, or forced to recognize any same-sex unions or ceremonies as marriage.

The bill also states that the Respect for Marriages Act, a federal law protecting same-sex marriage, has no effect in the state of Iowa. H.F. 508 claims that: (1) Congress does not have the power to define marriage, (2) the act violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and (3) the act violates the Tenth Amendment and encroaches on states’ rights.

A local newspaper reported that over 200 Iowa students walked out of school on Wednesday and marched to the Capitol building in response to the recent slew of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced by the legislature.

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