Pakistan lifts ban on award-winning film featuring transgender lead

Pakistan authorities Wednesday announced that the previously-banned film “Joyland” has been cleared for release. “Joyland” follows the love story between a young man and a transgender actress.

On November 11, authorities announced that “Joyland” was not certified for release due to “highly objectionable material” that does not conform “with the social and moral standards” of Pakistan. Amnesty International Researcher and Policy Advisor on Gender Nadia Rahman said the ban came at a time when “the right to freedom of expression and the already limited rights of transgender people are under increasing threat in the country.”

After intense domestic and international backlash, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee to review the decision, and at the committee’s request, the full Pakistan censor board viewed and reevaluated the film. Head of the Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi announced the change in decision, saying, “Freedom of speech is fundamental right [and] should be nourished within ambits of the law.”

In a statement, director Saim Sadiq wrote:

I am compelled to point out that this sudden U-turn by the Pakistan Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is absolutely unconstitutional and illegal. Our film got seen and certified by all three censor boards in August 2022. The 18th ammendment in the Pakistani constitution gives all provinces the autonomy to make their own decision. Yet the Ministry suddenly caved under pressure from a few extremist factions – who have not seen the film – and made a mockery of our federal censor board by rendering their decision irrelevant.

“Joyland” is Pakistan’s official submission to the Oscars and won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes Film Festival in May. The post Pakistan lifts ban on award-winning film featuring transgender lead

USA: Congressional Equality Caucus condemns anti-LGBTQ hatred and gun violence following Colorado Springs shooting

The LGBTQ Equality Caucus of the US Congress released a statement Sunday 20 November 2022 condemning the “twin epidemics of hate and gun violence” following a deadly shooting at a queer club in Colorado Springs. Around midnight, a gunman entered Club Q, a “safe haven” for LGBTQ residents of Colorado Springs, killed 5 and wounded more than 25 people. The club released a statement describing its devastation at this “hate attack.” The attack occurred on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, marked by LGBTQ Caucus Chai Cicilline in the press release. Transgender Day of Remembrance serves as a day to honor those lost to “anti-transgender bigotry and violence.” The Day was started by Grendolyn Ann Smith in memory of Rita Hester, a trans woman killed in 1998. This past week was Transgender Awareness Week, during which the Human Rights Campaign reported that at least 32 transgender and gender non-conforming people had been killed in the U.S. this year.

The Colorado Springs attack follows a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation and fear-mongering from politicians, including from one of Colorado’s congressmen. Though Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert released a statement condemning the attack, she has previously made statements that feed into anti-trans and anti-gay hate. Boebert had earlier tweeted “take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.” Club Q was scheduled to have an all-ages Drag Brunch Sunday morning to honor Trans Day of Remembrance. 

President Biden released a statement reaffirming his administration’s commitment to protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans. Biden encouraged Congress to pass the Respect for Marriage Act and the Equality Act to provide long-overdue protections to LGBTQ Americans.

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Child’s right to private life violated by lack of provision in Swiss law, until 2018,for alternative means of recognising children born to same-sex couplesthrough surrogacy More: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22002-13896%22]}

ECtHR : Child’s right to private life violated by lack of provision in Swiss law, until 2018,for alternative means of recognising children born to same-sex couples through surrogacy — International Law in Switzerland – Professor Andreas R Ziegler

Imprecision of domestic legislation for gender changes in civil-status records in
Georgia (ECtHR: A.D. et al v Georgia – Judgment of 01.12.2022)

In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of A.D. and Others v. Georgia (application no. 57864/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:
– a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The applicants are transgender men (assigned female at birth). The case concerned their complaints that they had been unable to obtain legal recognition of their gender because they had not undergone sex reassignment surgery.

The Court found in particular that, despite the fact that the right to have one’s sex changed in civilstatus records had existed in Georgia since 1998, there had not apparently been one single case of successful legal gender recognition. The imprecision of the current domestic legislation undermined the availability of legal gender recognition in practice, and the lack of a clear legal framework left the domestic authorities with excessive discretionary powers, which could lead to arbitrary decisions in the examination of applications. Such a situation was fundamentally at odds with the respondent State’s duty to provide quick, transparent and accessible procedures for legal gender recognition.

A legal summary of this case will be available in the Court’s database HUDOC (link).

See: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22002-13909%22]}

Same-sex marriage protection bill passes US Congress

The US House of Representatives Thursday issued final approval to the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill to federally recognize same-sex marriages, in a vote of 258 to 169. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden for approval.

The Respect for Marriage Act formally repeals the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 bill which established the federal defition of marraige as a union between one man and one woman. The bill’s provisions were invalidated by Supreme Court rulings in United Sates v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges.

In his concurring opinion to Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the legitimacy of Obergefell and said justices should “reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents,” including Obergefell. If Obergefell is overturned, states would be free to ban same-sex marriages. However, the Respect for Marriage Act ensures that the federal government – and individual states in many circumstances – would still recognize existing same-sex marraiges.

Director of the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project James Esseks cautioned observers that the bill is “actually fairly limited” but “signals how far public conversations around marriage equality have evolved in recent years.”

On November 29, the Senate passed the bill with amendments preserving the ability of religious organizations to refuse “to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.” Thursday’s vote in the House accepted the Senate’s amendments.

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The Free Movement of Rainbow Families under EU law  – Prof. Alina Tryfonidou – Neapolis University Pafos, University of Reading   – Thursday, 15 December 2022 17.15-18.45 University of Fribourg, Miséricorde, Room Jäggi (MIS 4112), Avenue de l’Europe 20       Weitere Informationen / Plus d’information :     Programm / Flyer   Wir würden […]

The Free Movement of Rainbow Families under EU law  – Prof. Alina Tryfonidou – Neapolis University Pafos, University of Reading   – Thursday, 15 December 2022 17.15-18.45 University of Fribourg, Miséricorde, Room Jäggi (MIS 4112), Avenue de l’Europe 20    — International Law in Switzerland – Professor Andreas R Ziegler

USA: Minneapolis legalizes gender-affirming healthcare for transgender community

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Friday signed an executive order legalizing gender-affirming care for the transgender community. This happened just a month after the Ohio House of Representatives introduced a bill limiting medical care for transgender children under 18.

The order defines “gender-affirming healthcare” as all services, supplies, drug therapies, and other care that an individual may receive to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity. The order contains several protection measures that protect gender-affirming care for the transgender community. These measures include not restricting access to gender-affirming healthcare, bans insurance exclusions for gender-affirming healthcare, requires coverage of gender-affirming healthcare by state Medicaid, and requires city personnel not to enforce laws of or respond to requests for information regarding gender-affirming care from other jurisdictions.

In response to the order, City Council President Andrea Jenkins stated:

I am proud to support this executive order, especially in light of the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies and hate crimes we are experiencing in our country and state right now. As we consider our work and our future at the City of Minneapolis, it’s important to focus on intentional policies and practices, including demonstrating and stewarding safe access to gender-affirming healthcare. As we know, yesterday was World AIDS Day; consider how different the impacts would have been had we addressed the healthcare needs of the LGBTQ+ community. This executive order puts us at the front of the curve instead of behind the ball.

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Interesting Publication: Faye, Shon. The Transgender Issue : an Argument for Justice. Allen Lane, 2021

More: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/315349/the-transgender-issue-by-faye-shon/9780141991801

Russia enacts strengthened anti-LBGT ‘propaganda’ bill

Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday signed an amended “LGBT propaganda” bill into law. The amendments significantly expand the scope of the previous legislation. Last week, the amended legislation passed unanimously in the Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, and it faced no opposition in the Federal Council, the upper house.

The law, originally passed in 2013 and styled as ‘For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values,” laid out harsh penalties for individuals and companies found guilty of disseminating LGBT information to children. The enacted amendments will now prohibit all positive displays of LGBT relationships and lifestyles for all age groups. Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, has been tasked with monitoring and removing material deemed offensive to Russian family values. Any mention of gender affirming surgery, same-sex marriage or non-heterosexual intimacy will be censored.

The escalation in anti-LGBT laws in Russia has alarmed its European neighbors. In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled the 2013 propaganda law discriminatory and anti-scientific. Russia vacated its seat on the court in March. The UN Human Rights Council has also expressed concerns of how the law affects basic human rights and the further isolation of Russia from international norms.

The amended law coincides with a dramatic increase in censorship across all aspects of Russian life. The war in Ukraine has driven a political narrative uniting Russia under traditional values while rejecting Western propaganda. LGBT individuals and organizations within Russia are often labeled as “foreign agents” working to undermine national values.

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New Publication: Valérie V. Suhr, Rainbow Jurisdiction at the International Criminal Court. Protection of Sexual and Gender Minorities Under the Rome Statute (Springer 2022)

More: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-6265-483-9