Iran sentences two LGBT activists to death

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-62793573

European Court of Justice: Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C‑356/21 – Sexual orientation cannot be a reason to refuse to conclude a contract with a self-employed worker

More: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/documents.jsf?num=C-356/21

The European Court of Human Rights has condemned France over the collection and retention of data, by the country’s blood donation service, concerning a man’s presumed sexual orientation

More: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#%20

Arturas Tereskinas, Annija Karklina, Anita Rodina, Between Injustice and Legal Change: The Situation of LGBTQ+ People in Latvia and Lithuania (2022), European Union and its Neighbours in a Globalized World, vol 8. Springer

assesses situation of the LGBTQ+ People after the 2020 judgment of Constitutional Court of Latvia and after 2021 proposal of amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia

Patrick Parkinson, Adolescent Gender Identity and the Sex Discrimination Act: The Case for Religious Exemptions, Australian Journal of Law and Religion 2022, vol. 1

assesses provisions permitting discrimination by faith-based schools against students based on their sexual orientation and gender identity

More: https://ausjlr.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Volume-1-Parkinson.pdf

USA: Ninth Circuit upholds Washington’s ban on conversion therapy for minors

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Tuesday unanimously upheld Washington’s state ban on conversion therapy for children under 18. The three-judge panel rejected therapist Brian Tingley’s claim that the law undermined his free speech and free exercise rights under the First Amendment.

Judge Ronald M. Gould wrote the opinion of the court that affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Tingley’s claim. The court compared the case to a nearly identical California law upheld in the case of Pickup v. Brown. In that case, the court ruled that the state ban on conversion therapy regulated conduct, not speech, and therefore did not violate the First Amendment.

In this case, the court ruled that the Washington legislature acted rationally when it decided to protect the physical and psychological well-being of its minors by preventing state-licensed health care providers from practicing conversion therapy. The court also ruled that the law was neutral and targeted at preventing harms associated with conversion therapy in addition to not targeting religious exercise. After the court reviewed legal precedent, it concluded that there is a well-established tradition of constitutional regulations on the practice of medical treatments.

In June, President Joe Biden signed an executive order which encouraged the Federal Trade Commission “to consider whether so-called conversion therapy constitutes an unfair or deceptive act or practice, and to issue such consumer warnings or notices as may be appropriate.”

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USA: Texas federal judge rules HIV preventative-care mandate violates private employer’s religious rights

A Texas federal judge Wednesday ruled that private employers do not have to provide health insurance coverage for HIV prevention drugs (PrEP drugs) and other preventative care if it violates their religious rights. The ruling means private employers can now offer health insurance plans that exclude or limits coverage of PrEP drugs, contraception, the HPV vaccine, and screenings and behavioral counseling for STDs and drug use.

US District Judge Reed O’Connor found that the government defendants failed to show “a compelling interest in forcing private, religious corporations to cover PrEP drugs with no cost-sharing and no religious exemptions.” At issue in the lawsuit was the preventative-care mandate, which requires most private employers’ health insurance plans to cover certain preventative care under the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act.

Six individuals and two businesses challenged the legality of the preventative-care mandate in the US District Court of the Northern District of Texas. Braidwood Management, a Christian for-profit corporation and one of the plaintiffs in the case, alleged that the preventative-care mandate violated the business’s religious beliefs “by making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.” Braidwood Management, along with the other plaintiffs, argued that they suffered religious and economic injuries by being forced to pay for insurance coverage they neither supported nor wanted.

O’Connor agreed with the Braidwood Management, stating that the government’s arguments were unpersuasive. The court stated the government inappropriately argued the correctness of the Braidwood Management’s beliefs when they should have focused on the sincerity of the beliefs.

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India National Medical Commission declares conversion therapy ‘professional misconduct’

India’s medical regulatory institution, the National Medical Commission (NMC) Friday declared conversion therapy “professional misconduct” and empowered the State Medical Councils to initiate disciplinary action against medical professionals if they attempt to perform conversion therapy. 

Conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific therapy concept intended to change a LGBTQIA+ person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, is considered torture by rule of law and human rights organizations. While same-sex relationships are protected in India, conversion therapy is practiced through the nation. Anjana Hareesh, a 21-year-old student, reportedly completed suicide in 2020 after her family forced her to undertake conversion therapy for months after coming out as bisexual.

On June 6, 2021, the Madras High Court prohibited the practice of conversion therapy and issued guidelines observing that “queerphobia is being affirmed in the curriculum of the country’s medical courses, leading to prejudice against LGBTQIA+ community.” In July 2022, the Madras High Court issued a series of directives intended to uplift the LGBTQIA+ community and asked the NMC to label conversion therapy as professional misconduct. In adherence to the Madras High Court directions, NMC identified conversion therapy as professional misconduct under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct Etiquettes and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.

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New article: Fae Garland; Kay Lalor; Mitchell Travis, Intersex Activism, Medical Power/Knowledge and the Scalar Limitations of the United Nations  

More: https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/issue/22/3

Austria: On 31 August a decree by the Federal Minister of Health entered into force, repealing Austria’s blood-donation-ban for MSM.

MSM are now treated on equal footing with the rest of the population in access to blood donation

See: https://gcn.ie/historic-day-austria-lgbtq-blood-donation-ban-end/