World
Efforts to ban conversion therapy gain traction around the world
Global Equality Caucus lawmakers play prominent role
Efforts to ban so-called conversion therapy gained significant traction around the world in 2022.
Only four countries at the end of 2021 had explicit laws that banned the widely discredited practice. Numerous jurisdictions around the world in 2022 have enacted legislation or taken executive action. The Global Equality Caucus, an international network of lawmakers who have committed themselves to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity, has driven many of these efforts.
Global Equality Caucus Vice President Tamara Adrián, who is also the first openly transgender woman elected to the Venezuelan National Assembly, told Washington Blade that “any compulsive therapy to modify sexual orientation is contrary to human rights. Subjecting a person to conversion therapy will be unsuccessful and can create very serious mental health problems, as these therapies use invasive behavioral methods to try to modify sexual orientation.”
“The consequence is that no one modifies their sexual orientation but may become unable to have relationships with any person and that is the reality in this matter. They are a mechanism intended to erase LGBT people from the earth,” Adrián added.
Canada and France in January introduced LGBTQ-inclusive bills to ban conversion therapy for minors and adults, regardless of perceived “consent,” in clinical and religious settings. Anyone found guilty of offering or practicing conversion therapy is subject to a fine or jail time.
New Zealand in February passed the Conversion Practices Prohibition Act with the same breadth of protections as Canada and France. And in May 2022, following an amendment to the Health for All Act, lawmakers in Greece passed measures explicitly prohibiting conversion therapy for persons under 18 and “non-consenting” adults.
A law that lawmakers in the Australian state in Victoria passed in 2021 took effect in February. The law, first proposed in 2020, has been hailed as a model for legislation to ban conversion therapy and certainly inspired New Zealand’s ban.
Several Mexican states also banned conversion practices this year, following the nation’s first prohibition that Mexico City approved in 2020. Lawmakers in Jalisco, Baja California, Puebla, Hidalgo and Sonora states approved measures to ban them.
The British government’s decision to support a trans-exclusive bill to ban conversion therapy prompted advocacy groups to boycott an LGBTQ and intersex rights conference that was to have taken place in London during Pride Month. The conference was later cancelled.
Nick Herbert, a member of the British House of Lords who advised then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson on LGBTQ and intersex issues, is a member of the Global Equality Caucus.
Indirect conversion therapy bans are “when countries do not explicitly prohibit them through legislation, however, they are not allowed from a mental health standpoint,” Global Equality Caucus Membership and Programs Coordinator Erick Ortiz told the Blade.
Israel’s Health Ministry in February issued a directive that said medical professionals are prohibited from offering, advertising or performing conversion therapy, and those who violate the ban could face punishment. The Knesset in 2020 passed a conversion therapy ban bill, but lawmakers have yet to codify the directive.
India’s National Medical Commission the same month in a filing with the Madras High Court clarified that any licensed medical professional in the country who is found guilty of offering conversion therapy can face prosecution for professional misconduct. India, like Israel, does not explicitly ban the practice throughout the country, but the filing reaffirmed a 2021 court order that prohibits any attempt to “cure or change” the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ people.
Vietnam’s Health Ministry in 2021 issued guidance to clarify that homosexuality and transgender identities are not considered curable diseases, and that doctors should not engage in coercive treatments that attempt to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Paraguay in November joined Argentina and Uruguay in becoming the third South American country to amend its mental health law to prohibit a mental health diagnosis on the basis of “sexual choice or identity.”
Lawmakers in several countries in 2022 introduced bills to ban conversion therapy; but they have not been passed because of legislative processes, timelines and elections.
Icelandic MP Hanna Katrin Fridriksson, a Global Equality Caucus member, in January introduced a bill in the Althing (Iceland’s Parliament,) but it has not yet progressed. Dutch Sen. Boris Dittrich, helped champion a bill in his country’s Parliament, but it was referred to committee. A bill in Cyprus also reached the committee stage and is likely to be passed in 2023.
Former Colombian Congressman Mauricio Toro introduced a bill, but it was not passed before the new Congress took office in July. A group of lawmakers from various political parties have reintroduced the bill.
Norwegian Equality Minister Anette Trettebergstuen introduced a bill proposing a total ban on conversion therapy, going beyond plans the previous government first announced in 2021. Lawmakers are currently reviewing the measure. The Belgian Cabinet has approved a similar proposal, but the lower house of the country’s Parliament has not given its final approval.
The Mexican Senate after nearly four years of stalemate approved a federal bill after consultations with Yaaj Mexico, an LGBTQ and intersex rights group, and talks at the Global Equality Council summit that took place in Mexico City earlier this year. The measure will take effect once the Mexican Chamber of Deputies approves it, which will likely take effect in 2023.
Several other countries have expressed they support conversion therapy bans, but their governments or congressmen have yet to submit a parliamentary bill. They include the Ireland, Sweden, Finland and some states in Australia.
Peruvian Congresswoman Susel Paredes will lead a bill to ban conversion therapies in her country
“Congresswoman Susel Paredes is waiting for the right moment to present the project due to the political problems Peru is facing,” Ortiz said.
Germany
1 dead, 29 injured in Berlin Pride attack
Authorities investigating incident as ‘Islamist terrorist attack’
At least one person died on Saturday when a van drove into a crowd at Berlin’s annual Pride march.
The incident took place shortly before 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) in Tiergarten park.
Authorities say a 21-year-old German man of Lebanese descent who tried to join the Islamic State drove the van into the crowd. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Sunday told reporters during a press conference the suspect also attacked people with a machete.
Dobrint said the suspect injured 29 people — with some of them in critical condition.
He and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed authorities are investigating the attack as “an Islamist terrorist attack.” Officers killed the suspect in the Berlin suburb of Spandau on Sunday after he reportedly charged at them with a knife.
A memorial service and rally took place in Berlin on Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of people participate in the annual Christopher Street Day parade — which is one of Europe’s largest Pride events — that winds its way through Berlin.
Tiergarten is near June 17 Street and the Brandenberg Gate where post-parade parties and concerts take place. Authorities cancelled the remaining Pride events after Saturday’s attack.
“We strongly condemn the fatal attack at the Christopher Street Day celebration in Berlin,” said the U.S. Embassy in Germany on Sunday. “This attack undermines the fundamental values of freedom and respect which underpin open and democratic societies. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the first responders.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are among those who condemned the attack.
“It is difficult for us to put into words the shock and grief of the queer community,” said Alva Träbert of Federation Queer Diversity, a German LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym LSVD, on Sunday in a statement. “Our solidarity goes out to all the victims and their families. The community’s grief now needs space to be expressed. This act, which according to the current state of the investigation was motivated by Islamist extremism, is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We owe our thanks and deep respect to the entire Berlin Pride team for their organization and to the emergency services for their swift assistance.”
Träbert added the attack “was not directed at a party, but at a political demonstration for the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people” and was “also an attack on democratic values themselves.” Träbert also urged the German government in the wake of the attack to do more to protect LGBTQ and intersex Germans.
Dutch authorities to ‘take extra measures’ during World Pride in Amsterdam
The attack took place on the same day that World Pride began in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema on Sunday said authorities will “take extra measures … where necessary” during the event and the city’s annual Pride, which will take place on Aug. 1. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is gay, on social media said he expressed his condolences to Merz.
“The horrific act of aggression last night at the Pride in Berlin is a direct attack on our free and tolerant society,” said Jetten on X.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones,” he added. “In these difficult times, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our German neighbors.”
Brazil
2026 International AIDS Conference to take place in Rio
US funding cuts have significantly impacted global HIV/AIDS fight
The 2026 International AIDS Conference will take place next week in Rio de Janeiro.
Francisco Ruiz, the former director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima are among those scheduled to speak at the conference that will take place in the Brazilian city from July 26-31. Other scheduled speakers include Spanish Health Secretary Javier Padilla, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, South African Deputy Health Minister Mathume Joseph “Joe” Phaahla, and Alexus D’Marco of the United Caribbean Trans Network.
The International AIDS Society-organized AIDS 2026’s theme is “Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.”
AIDS 2026 will take place against the backdrop of U.S. funding cuts that have significantly impacted the global HIV/AIDS fight.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after the Trump-Vance administration took office issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Washington Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
The International AIDS Society in a press release it issued on Tuesday noted PEPFAR “has saved more than 26 million lives” since President George W. Bush implemented it in 2003, “and changed the trajectory of the HIV pandemic.”
“PEPFAR was a success under the first Trump administration, with major progress toward the 95-95-95 goals,” it said.
The UNAIDS’s 95-95-95 goals are 95 percent of people with HIV knowing their status, 95 percent of people with HIV having access to antiretroviral therapy, and 95 percent of those receiving ART having suppressed viral loads by 2030.
“Since the start of the second Trump administration, however, it has undergone major disruptions,” added the International AIDS Society.
Eswatini is among the African countries that have received doses of lenacapavir, a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug that users inject twice a year, through PEPFAR since the Trump-Vance administration took office.
The White House last month announced it will end PEPFAR funding for South Africa.
President Ronald Reagan in 1985 implemented the global gag rule, also known as the “Mexico City” policy, that banned U.S. foreign aid for groups that support abortion and/or offer abortion-related services. The Trump-Vance administration earlier this year expanded the prohibition to include groups that promote “gender ideology” and support gender-affirming care and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The International AIDS Society in its press release notes 52 percent of “all implementing partners had at least once terminated award,” while 77 percent of them “had been asked to restrict their work to comply with an additional U.S. policy.” The International AIDS Society notes 1,010 public health facilities, 325 “access points” and 126 “drop-in centers” around the world have closed because of U.S. funding cuts.
“Science is moving fast, giving us more powerful HIV prevention and treatment tools. But these advances cannot save lives if they never reach the people who need them,” said International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn, who co-chairs AIDS 2026 and is the director of Rio de Janeiro’s Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infection Diseases’ HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Unit. “That requires robust, stable financing and steadfast political commitment.”
Poland
Polish president vetoes same-sex relationship recognition bills
Karol Nawrocki: measures would ‘lead to the loss of the special status of marriage’
Polish President Karol Nawrocki on July 17 vetoed bills that would have extended rights to same-sex couples.
Reuters reported Nawrocki rejected two measures that would have allowed same-sex couples who live together to enter into “cohabitation contracts.” Reuters noted the bills would have allowed same-sex couples to make decisions on issues that include access to medical information, property rights, and burial.
The country’s coalition government backed the bills that MPs approved. Nawrocki, a socially conservative Catholic, in a statement said they “create a new, formalized institution of family law, equipped with a broad catalogue of rights similar to those of marriage.”
“As the guardian of the Constitution, I cannot accept a solution that would lead to the loss of the special status of marriage, defined in Article 18 of the Constitution as a union of a man and a woman under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland,” said Nawrocki, as Reuters noted.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk sharply criticized Nawrocki.
Miko Czerwiński of the Campaign Against Homophobia, a Polish LGBTQ advocacy group, in a statement noted nearly 80 percent of Poles “believe that the status of same-sex couples should be protected.”
“Once again, the voice of society has proven irrelevant to those in power,” said Czerwiński. “We are not willing to accept this. We will continue working towards full marriage equality.”
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. Tusk, for his part, apologized to same-sex couples for the “years of rejection and humiliation” they suffered because Poland did not recognize their relationships.
“We will continue working towards full marriage equality,” said Czerwiński in response to Nawrocki’s vetoes. “We will not allow years of work by non-governmental organizations, activists, and our entire community to be wasted.”
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