Japan court upholds ban on same-sex marriage but voices rights concern

• Court flags lack of legal protections for same-sex families
• Recognition of the lack is a “big step”, says activist
• Tokyo’s outsize influence adds heft for rest of Japan

TOKYO, Nov 30 (Reuters) – A Tokyo court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday but said a lack of legal protection for same-sex families violated their human rights, a comment welcomed by plaintiffs as a step towards aligning Japan with other G7 nations.

Japan is the only G7 nation that does not allow same-sex marriage, and its constitution defines marriage as based on the mutual consent of both sexes.

Although Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ruling party has revealed no plans yet to review the matter or propose changes, several senior members support same-sex marriage.

More: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-awaits-same-sex-marriage-ruling-crucial-future-lgbtq-rights-2022-11-30/

Italy: Government loses court battle over ID documents for gay parents

ROME, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Same-sex parents have the right not to be called “father” and “mother” in the ID papers of their offspring, a court in Italy has ruled, in a decision that rubs against the country’s new right-wing government.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sees herself as a defender of Christian values and of what she calls the “traditional family,” and her hard-right Brothers of Italy party is particularly hostile to same-sex parenting.

More: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italy-govt-loses-court-battle-over-id-documents-gay-parents-2022-11-17/

USA: US appeals court: religious organizations do not have to provide gender-affirming medical care

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Friday issued a permanent injunction against the enforcement of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which would require medical providers to provide gender-affirming medical services to transgender individuals.

Two groups of Catholic employers and health care providers, the Religious Sisters of Mercy and the Catholic Benefit Association (CBA), challenged the ACA’s prohibition on discrimination “based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs and activities.” According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sex encompasses gender identity.

The Catholic groups argued that the regulation “not only forces healthcare professionals to violate their medical judgment, it also forces them to violate their deeply held religious beliefs” and that Title IX does not apply to entities “controlled by religious organizations.” The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota agreed. The Eight Circuit’s Friday decision affirmed the district court and held that “intrusion upon the Catholic Plaintiffs’ exercise of religion is sufficient to show irreparable harm.”

HHS believes that transgender Americans deserve protection in healthcare, explaining that “more than 40 percent of transgender respondents in one survey said their health insurance company denied them coverage for a gender-affirming surgery,” and a “similar proportion” were denied insurance coverage for hormone replacement therapy.

The challengers noted that HHS and EEOC have not yet evaluated how the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) “and other religious exemptions might apply to such religious entities.” In its original regulation, HHS said it “would comply with RFRA and all other legal requirements.”

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ECtHR: Children’s interests not given enough weight in paid-surrogacy adoption ban by Denmark

More: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22003-7514285-10313040%22]}

New publication: Surrogacy and Same-Sex Parenthood before the European Court of Human Rights: Reflections in Light of Cases against Switzerland, E Brodeala, MH Peter-Spiess – Swiss. Rev. Int’l & Eur. L., 2022 More: https://www.svir-ssdi.ch/fr/publications/sriel/ Hein Online: https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/sriel32&id=407&collection=journals&index=

New Publication: Surrogacy and Same-Sex Parenthood before the European Court of Human Rights: Reflections in Light of Cases against Switzerland — LGBTI Recht in der Schweiz – Droit LGBTI en Suisse – by Professor Andreas R Ziegler

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.

The post Congressional Equality Caucus condemns anti-LGBTQ hatred and gun violence following Colorado Springs shooting appeared first on JURIST – News.

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.

The post Same-sex marriage protection bill passes US Congress appeared first on JURIST – News.