On April 21, a judge in St. Petersburg shut down Charitable Foundation Sphere, the legal entity under which the Russian LGBT Network operates

On April 21, a judge in St. Petersburg shut down Charitable Foundation Sphere, the legal entity under which the Russian LGBT Network operates.

The network works to promote and protect the rights of LGBT+ people in Russia. During the anti-LGBT+ crackdown in Chechnya that began in 2017, the network led efforts to stop abuses and evacuate survivors.

The Russian authorities are using a baseless claim that helping LGBT+ people is against traditional Russian values.

The team of Sphere has declared it will resist and continue providing legal, psychological and emergency assistance to the LGBT+ community, and do everything possible to ensure that this work continues without interruption, regardless of the legal status of their team. But they will need your support.

Urge the Russian authorities to revoke this decision NOW by signing and sharing this petition.

USA: Federal district court rules trans discrimination violates Illinois attorney ethics

Transgender Attorney Sheryl Ring Monday won a lawsuit in US district court with a stipulation that Illinois attorney ethics rules do not allow discrimination based on gender identity. The new stipulation says that an Illinois ethics rule banning sex discrimination also apply when a lawyer discriminates against a transgender individual on the basis of sex in violation of a law or ordinance which uses the word sex encompassing gender identity or expression.

The lawsuit began when Ring filed an October 2021 complaint against the Administrator of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Ring petitioned for the state of Illinois to ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. To support her case, Ring cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, which held that that Title VII’s ban on sex discrimination also extends to gay and transgender workers.

In her complaint, Ring stated that she experienced daily discrimination from both attorneys and judges as a result of her gender identity. Her allegations included a court clerk’s refusal to use her legal name and female pronouns; a retired judge who asked if she had surgically transitioned during a mediation hearing; an arbitration panel who informed her that she could not represent clients because she is transgender and incompetent to stand as an attorney; lawyers and judges deliberately misgendering her and referring to her as her pre-transition name (“deadname”) in court even after being corrected; being called slurs from the bench and even having lawyers share pre-transition pictures of her with the court.

When asked about her feelings about the win, Ring stated: “I am absolutely overjoyed at this result, because for the first time trans litigants and attorneys in Illinois can walk into court knowing that misgendering, deadnaming and genital inspections are prohibited, and they have recourse for violations.”

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South Korea Supreme Court overturns convictions of soldiers for gay sex

The Supreme Court of South Korea Thursday overturned a 2019 military court conviction of two male soldiers sentenced for having consensual sex outside their military facilities.

In its landmark ruling, the Supreme Court said that the military court did not consider whether the defendant’s relations were consensual, stating the law should not apply to consensual sex away from a military setting. The Supreme Court stated that “[p]unishing these incidents could . . . infringe upon the right to equality, the dignity and value as human and the right to pursue happiness as guaranteed by the Constitution.”

While homosexual activity is not illegal for South Korean civilians, the country’s 1962 Military Criminal Act Article 92-6 prohibits same-sex conduct among soldiers in the country’s military. Human rights advocates have long pushed for South Korea to decriminalize same-sex relationships for men in the military, warning that it fuels discrimination and stigmatization against gay soldiers.

Boram Jang, Amnesty International’s East Asia researcher in an emailed statement regarding the decision stated: “The criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual acts in South Korea’s military has long been a shocking violation of human rights, but today’s ruling should pave the way for military personnel to freely live their lives without the threat of prosecution.”

In response, the Ministry of National Defense said it would thoroughly review “the intent of the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

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Latvia – Extension on scope of protection against discrimination in access to goods and services

Read: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5629-latvia-extension-on-scope-of-protection-against-discrimination-in-access-to-goods-and-services-140-kb

Activists defeat Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ referendum

Although Hungary’s notorious right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán came away with yet another “crushing victory” in the country’s parliamentary election on 3 April, human and civil rights activists came away with at least one success: thwarting Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ referendum.

Read: https://www.fairplanet.org/editors-pick/activists-defeat-hungarys-anti-lgbtq-referendum/

USA: Transgender sports ban passes Pennsylvania House

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday passed a bill that would prohibit transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

House Bill 972, also known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, would require all public school sports teams, and private school teams that compete against public school teams, to designate themselves as male, female, or mixed. Athletic teams designated for females would not be open to students of the male sex. The bill defines sex as “the biological distinction between male and female based on reproductive biology and genetic make-up.”

The bill provides that any student who suffers any direct or indirect harm because of a violation of this law may bring a cause of action against the school for injunctive relief and damages, including for emotional, psychological and physical harm suffered, as well as attorney fees and costs. Furthermore, a student who is subject to retaliation by a school for reporting a violation of this law has a similar cause of action against the school.

The bill passed the house by a vote of 115 to 84, largely along party lines. The bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Barb Gleim, said “This issue is about supporting biological women and their right to play sports on a competitive playing field.” She further stated that transgender women could continue to play sports, only on male or mixed teams.

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta noted that one in five transgender children attempted suicide in the last year, and said of House Republicans who voted in favor of the bill, “For a party that always brags about being so pro-life, they are awfully eager to support a bill that will likely lead to more death for trans kids.” Democratic Governor Tom Wolf stated in a tweet after the passage of the bill that he would veto it, writing, “It won’t get past my desk.”

The bill now heads to the Pennsylvania Senate.

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Greece – New directives on the identification of trans persons in the framework of the COVID-19 emergency control measures

See: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5626-greece-new-directives-on-the-identification-of-trans-persons-in-the-framework-of-the-covid-19-emergency-control-measures-105-kb

Italy – Survey on Discrimination against LGBT+ people in the Field of Employment

See: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5624-italy-survey-on-discrimination-against-lgbt-people-in-the-field-of-employment-96-kb

USA: Federal judge orders US military to stop discriminating against HIV-positive service members

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia Wednesday ordered the US military to stop restricting HIV-positive service members from advancing in their careers. 

Under the current military policy, individuals with HIV are prohibited from enlisting or being deployed overseas. This policy has faced criticism from a variety of sources.

In 2018, LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal brought lawsuits on behalf of three different service members. In Roe v. Austin, the US Department of Defense attempted to discharge two Air Force members because of their HIV-positive status. In Harrison v. Austin, the Army National Guard denied Sargeant Nick Harrison a commission as a military lawyer.

On Wednesday, Judge Brinkema ordered the military to stop discriminating against HIV-positive service members. She issued summary judgments in the two separate cases, enjoining the defendants from discharging the two Air Force members and denying Harrison’s application on the basis of their HIV-positive statuses.

On the ruling, Lambda Legal wrote: “The groundbreaking ruling represents a landmark moment in the fight to advance the rights of people living with HIV and reflects the reality that HIV is a chronic, treatable condition, not a reason to discriminate.”

Other countries are beginning to take similar steps toward including and allowing HIV-positive individuals advancement in the military. The UK announced in December that it would permit people with HIV to join the armed forces if they no longer have a detectable amount of the virus.

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Interesting Article: G. Willems, Le droit de la famille revu et corrigé par les juges des droits humains. Réflexions sur la diversité des stratégies juridictionnelles et les enjeux du dialogue interjuridictionnel au départ du cas du mariage homosexuel

published in: Revue de Droit International et de Droit Comparé (2021, no. 4).