World
Colombian LGBT rights advocates visit U.S.
Six activists took part in State Department-sponsored trip
Colombian LGBT rights advocates are in the U.S. on a State Department-sponsored trip. (Photo courtesy of Wilson Castańeda)
Six Colombian LGBT rights advocates have visited D.C. and two other states this month as part of a State Department-sponsored trip to learn how activists, politicians and government officials in this country advance civil and human rights.
The group — which includes lawyer Viviana Baharquez Monsalve; Wilson de Jesús Castañeda Castro, director of Corporación Caribe Afirmativo in Cartagena; Juan Carlos Pietro García, director of the city of Bogotá’s Office of Sexual Diversity and Federico Ruíz Mora of the Santamaría Fundación in Cali — arrived in D.C. on April 14.
The advocates met with State Department officials, Lisa Mottet of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Human Rights Campaign and Victory Fund staffers, transgender activists and others while in the nation’s capital. They will have also traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, and San Diego before returning to Colombia on Wednesday.
Castañeda, whose group advocates on behalf of LGBT Colombians who live along the country’s Caribbean coastline, told the Washington Blade during an April 18 interview that he and his fellow activists highlighted their work on behalf of their gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans countrymen. He said they also wanted to learn about this country’s elections, documentation of hate crimes and anti-bullying efforts in schools while in the United States.
Ruíz, whose group advocates on behalf of trans women, discussed how the Colombian LGBT rights movement compares to that in the United States.
“Things are rather similar to those in our country, but there are clearly obvious differences,” he said.
The activists arrived in the United States less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that challenge the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act. Their trip also coincided with the ongoing debate over a bill that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples in Colombia.
The Colombian Senate had been scheduled to vote on the proposal on April 18 — the same day the activists spoke with the Blade, but it was postponed until Tuesday. Baharquez said it will prove “very, very difficult” to pass the same-sex marriage bill because of opposition from religious conservatives in the country’s Congress.
“There is little hope that something is going to pass,” she said.
Colombian senators in 2007 defeated a bill that would have allowed gays and lesbians to enter into civil unions.
The country’s Constitutional Court in three separate rulings it issued later that year and in 2008 extended property and inheritance rights, social security and pension benefits to same-sex couples. The tribunal in 2009 issued a ruling that said co-habitating gay and lesbian couples must receive the same rights that unmarried heterosexual couples receive under Colombian law.
The same court in 2011 ruled lawmakers must pass legislation within two years that extends the same benefits that heterosexuals receive through marriage to same-sex couples. If legislators fail to act on this mandate by June 20, gays and lesbians can legally register their unions.
Anti-trans violence remains endemic in Colombia
While attention remains focused on extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, violence against trans women remains rampant throughout the country.
A report from the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transgender Women (REDLACTRANS) notes 61 trans women in Colombia have been reported murdered between 2005-2011. The group further notes none of the alleged perpetrators have been prosecuted — Ruíz said authorities often exacerbate the problem.
“Colombia is the same as many Latin American countries and others around the world; the trans community is that which is the most affected,” he said as he discussed the issue. “This has to do with historic discrimination and exclusion accompanied by systematic acts of violence. This violence has to do with transphobic acts because of [the victim’s] gender identity.”
The advocates hope to launch a campaign in support of a trans rights bill that would, among other things, “guarantee a dignified life for trans women in Colombia.” Ruíz further described them as those who are “in a helpless situation against the constant violation of their human rights.”
Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in May 2012 signed a bill that allows people who have not undergone sex-reassignment surgery to legally change their gender without a doctor or judge’s approval. The law further mandates public and private health insurance plans to cover SRS, hormone therapy and other trans-specific treatments without additional premiums.
Castañeda told the Blade the campaign through which Argentine LGBT rights advocates secured passage of their country’s trans rights bill is “important to us.” He stressed, however, their own effort should take into account the “particularity of the situation” that trans Colombians currently face with regard to discrimination and violence.
Ruíz also responded to the Blade’s question about whether the ongoing same-sex marriage debate has overshadowed the need to extend legal protections based on gender identity and expression.
“It is an advance in the recognition of rights as a group,” he said, while noting some trans women don’t identify much with the issue of nuptials for gays and lesbians. “For the trans organizations, it will be much more important that gender identity is recognized as an identify for the purposes of rights.”
In addition to efforts in support of same-sex marriage and trans rights, the advocates said they will continue to seek LGBT inclusion in the ongoing peace profess between the Colombian government and armed rebels. They also hope to have a greater presence in the country’s political system.
The U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this month announced a public-private partnership designed to promote LGBT rights around the world. The Victory Institute and the Astraea Foundation will conduct the initiative’s first training in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, from May 30-June 2.
Bogotá City Councilor Angelica Lozano; Blanca Durán, mayor of the Colombian capital’s Chapinero district and Tatiana Piñeros, a trans woman whom Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro appointed last year to run the city’s social welfare agency are among those expected to attend.
“For those of us who have come to the United States, we identified and built upon best practices to know and use in our daily work,” Prieto said.
Bulgaria
Top Bulgarian court rules government must legally recognize trans people
Decision caps off decade-long legal fight
Bulgaria’s top court has ruled the country’s government must allow transgender people to legally change their name and gender on ID documents.
A trans woman from Bulgaria who moved to Italy, had tried to change her gender and name on her Bulgarian ID documents, but courts in the country denied her requests for nearly a decade.
The Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation in a 2023 ruling essentially banned trans people from legally changing their name and gender on ID documents.
The EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg, which is the European Union’s highest court, in March ruled in the “Shipova” case that member states must allow trans people to legally change their name and gender on ID documents. The lead plaintiff in the “Shipova” case is among the four litigants in the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation case.
Two Bulgarian advocacy groups — Bilitis and Deystvie — along with TGEU – Trans Europe and Central Asia and ILGA-Europe in a joint statement they issued on Tuesday noted the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation’s July 22 decision “aligns Bulgarian practice with the Court of Justice of the EU, enabling changes to gender markers, names, and personal identification numbers.”
“The judges also concluded that EU law requires Bulgaria to establish a legal procedure for legal gender recognition, which is necessary so that Bulgarian trans citizens can travel and reside freely inside the EU,” they added.
Bulgaria has been a member of the EU since 2007.
The country borders Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey.
“We are very glad to see that the judges of the Supreme Court clearly stated that it is actually a matter of rule of law for Bulgaria to respect the universal equality and the dignity of all human beings, including trans people for whom human rights-based legal gender recognition procedures are an indispensable element,” said Denitsa Lyubenova, co-chair of Deystvie who represented the four plaintiffs in the Bulgarian courts and the lead litigant in the “Shipova” case at the EU Court of Justice. “The government needs to act swiftly now to put in place an LGR procedure that is fully in line with European human rights case law, which means without any conditions requiring proof of medical, surgical or hormonal treatment.”
The groups also urged the Bulgarian government to codify the ruling into law.
“While lower courts are expected to follow this ruling directly, a court decision is not a substitute for law,” they said. “Bulgaria still needs a fast, transparent, and accessible legal gender recognition procedure written into legislation, not left to case-by-case court precedent. TGEU – Trans Europe and Central Asia, Bilitis, Deystvie, and ILGA-Europe call on the Bulgarian government to start that legislative process now, with meaningful involvement from civil society.”
France
Prominent French activist attacked outside Paris bar
Pierre Picavet hospitalized with internal bleeding, head injury
French prosecutors say a man shouted anti-gay slurs at a prominent activist before he attacked him in Paris on Saturday.
Media reports indicate Pierre Picavet, a police officer who is the president of FLAG!, a group within the French Justice and Interior Ministries that defends LGBTQ rights, was attacked as he left a bar in Paris’s Marais neighborhood.
The Marais since the 1980s has been center of the French capital’s LGBTQ community.
France 24 reported Picavet’s assailant struck him with a bottle. The attack left Picavet hospitalized with internal bleeding, a head wound, and other injuries.
“When I get better, when my wounds have healed, I will continue the fight,” Picavet told Radio France on Monday. “I am particularly shocked, but it tells me that there is still work to do.”
Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire is among those who condemned the attack.
STOP Homophobia (STOP homophobie), a French group that fights against anti-LGBTQ violence, on its social media pages published a picture of Picavet in the hospital.
“As a long-standing partner of FLAG!, STOP Homophobia wishes to express its solidarity with Pierre Picavet, his loved ones, and the entire association,” said the group. “STOP Homophobia condemns this assault in the strongest possible terms and reiterates that anti-LGBT violence remains a reality — even in spaces where everyone should be able to move freely and live out their sexual orientation or gender identity without fear of attack.”
STOP Homophobia also praised a bystander who came to Picavet’s aid after the attack, and the first responders and law enforcement personnel who responded.
“STOP Homophobia extends its full support to Pierre, his family, his loved ones, and the entire FLAG! team, and wishes him a full recovery,” said the group.
Reports indicate the assailant, who was born in 2006, was scheduled to appear in a Paris court on Monday at 1:30 p.m. local time.
Poland
Poland begins to legally recognize same-sex marriages from other countries
‘This is an important milestone, but it should not be the final destination’
Poland has begun to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed outside the country.
TVP World, the country’s public broadcaster, reported civil registry offices began to “transcribe same-sex marriages legally” conducted outside of Poland on Aug. 22.
The EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg last November ruled in favor of a same-sex couple who challenged Poland’s refusal to recognize their German marriage. Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court in March reaffirmed the decision.
The couple, who lives in Poland, brought their case to Polish courts in 2019. The Supreme Administrative Court referred it to the EU Court of Justice.
The Polish government in May announced it will recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other EU countries. Polish President Karol Nawrocki on July 17 vetoed bills that would have extended rights to same-sex couples.
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal a few days later rejected the recognition of same-sex marriages legally performed in other EU countries. The Love Does Not Exclude Association, a Polish marriage equality advocacy group, in an Aug. 26 press release notes the ruling “does not prevent implementation of these new regulations” because the Constitutional Tribunal is “largely discredited” and the government considers it “to be improperly constituted.”
“This is an important milestone, but it should not be the final destination,” said Maja Heban of the Love Does Not Exclude Association. “No couple should have to cross a border to marry. Our goal is allowing loving, committed couples to marry in Poland in the first place. The law now increasingly recognizes these marriages once couples return to Poland in areas such as healthcare and social security, but significant gaps remain, mainly lack of recognition of same-sex parents which directly impacts security of their children.”
Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland, Spain, and Portugal are among the EU countries in which same-sex couples can legally marry. Andorra, whose prime minister, Xaviet Espot Zamora, is openly gay, and Switzerland are among the other European nations that have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.
The Netherlands in 2001 became the first country in the world to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. Activists who participated in this year’s World Pride that took place in Amsterdam earlier this summer marked this milestone.
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