World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe, North America, and Asia
Georgian lawmakers on Sept. 17 approved package of anti-LGBTQ bills
GEORGIA
In a move that has drawn international condemnation, the Georgian government passed a package of draconian anti-LGBTQ bills through parliament Sept. 17 in a unanimous vote that was boycotted by the opposition.
The new law, dubbed the Law on Family Values and Protection of Minors, bans recognition of any same-sex relationship, ban adoption by transgender people or non-heterosexuals, ban the promotion of same-sex relationships or LGBTQ identities including through the media or public gatherings, and ban legal gender change or medical interventions for gender reassignment. The bills mirror similar bills passed in Russia, which have led to a serious and escalating crackdown on LGBTQ people.
President Salome Zourabichvili has said she intends to veto the legislation, but the ruling Georgian Dream party has enough votes to override any veto.
Opposition parties have been boycotting parliament since the government passed a “foreign agents” law that requires any organization receiving funds from outside the country to register as an agent of a foreign power. Critics said that the bill was a clear mechanism to defund or discredit the opposition, the media, and the nongovernmental organizations.
Both the foreign agent law and the anti-LGBTQ law had already drawn criticism from the international community, but the passage of the anti-LGBTQ law brought a new round of diplomatic condemnation.
The U.S. announced financial sanctions and travel bans on dozens of Georgian leaders it says are complicit “undermining democracy” and “serious human rights abuse.”
The EU had already frozen accession talks with Georgia after the foreign agents bill was passed. This week, it announced it was considering removing access to visa-free travel to the EU for Georgian citizens.
The U.N. Human Rights Office also called on the Georgian government to rescind the law.
“We are deeply concerned that this law may encourage hate speech, lead to more incidents of violence, and reinforce stigma, intolerance and misinformation,” spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement.
That statement proved to be sadly prophetic. The day after parliament voted to pass the anti-LGBTQ legislation, Georgia’s most prominent trans woman was murdered in her home.
Kesaria Abramidze, 37, was a model and social media influencer. She was found dead in her apartment after neighbors heard screams. A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the crime.
“Horrifying murder! Rejection of humanity! This should be a sobering call … Hatred drenched in hatred, which weakens and divides us and gives a hand to an enemy to manipulate us,” Zourabichvili wrote on her personal Facebook page. “I hope the death of this beautiful young woman will make us more humane, more Christian. I hope this tragedy will not be in vain.”
The new laws come as the small country located in the Caucasus Mountains gears up for elections on Oct. 26. Georgian Dream looks set to capture the largest share of votes according to polls, but the opposition parties are mostly aligned on the goal of restoring democratic norms if they can form a majority coalition.
EUROPEAN UNION
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced her intention to ban so-called “conversion therapy” across the EU in a mandate letter sent to the new EU Commissioner for Equalities this week.
The letter to Hadja Lahbib, who also serves as Belgium’s minister of foreign affairs, directs her to “propose a new LGBTIQ Strategy for post-2025. The strategy should notably focus on the continued and persisting hate-motivated harassment and violence, including online, and banning the practice of conversion therapy.”
It is not immediately clear how von der Leyen or Lahbib envision a conversion therapy ban – either through EU-wide legislation or by encouraging member states to ban it individually.
Of the EU’s 27 member states, eight already ban conversion therapy in local law: Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, France, and Belgium. Bans have also been proposed in Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, and Finland, but legislation in all four states has stalled.
At the same time, several EU member states have passed or introduced legislation to restrict freedom of expression for LGBTQ people, calling it “LGBT propaganda,” including Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Lithuania.
CANADA
Dueling protests for and against LGBTQ-inclusive sex education took place across Canada on Sept. 20 with rallies across the country timed as some provinces head toward local elections.
Anti-LGBTQ groups calling themselves Hands Off Our Kids and 1 Million March 4 Children coordinated the anti-sex education protests, as they did last year. Protests were reported in more than a dozen cities across Canada; including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Moncton, Saskatoon, and Ottawa.
Right-wing media in Canada breathlessly reported Hands Off Our Kids’ estimate that up to two million people — about 5 percent of all Canadians — would participate in the protests. As it turned out, most of the anti-sex education protests saw fewer than 100 participants, and according to reports, all of them were outnumbered by pro-LGBTQ counter-protesters.
Unlike last year’s protests, there were no reports of violence or arrests.
The protests come at a pivotal time for LGBTQ issues in Canadian schools.
In Alberta, the conservative provincial government is planning to introduce legislation in the fall that would require schools to notify parents and obtain their consent if a student chooses to use a different name or pronoun, restrict trans students’ access to school sports and bathroom facilities, require parental notification and consent before any sex education or LGBT issues are discussed in classrooms, and ban gender care for youth under age 16.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also said that after the legislation passes, her party would welcome back lawmaker Jennifer Johnson, who had been booted from caucus after remarks she had made comparing trans students in schools to adding a teaspoon of feces to a batch of cookies.
Three provinces will hold elections in October, in which LGBTQ classroom issues are in the balance. In New Brunswick and Saskatchewan — which go to the polls Oct. 21 and 28, respectively — incumbent conservative governments are defending recently enacted policies that require schools to out trans students to their parents and restrict sex education.
In British Columbia, the opposite is happening. An incumbent New Democratic government is defending its SOGI-123 curriculum that teaches children about inclusion, consent, and health issues in age-appropriate ways, while the opposition BC Conservatives want to scrap it.
Polls in all three provinces indicate very tight races. Earlier this year, a conservative government in Manitoba was defeated after it announced plans to introduce a parental notification and consent law for trans students.
TAIWAN
In a bit of uplifting news, Taiwan announced this week that it would finally remove an administrative roadblock that prevented Taiwanese citizens from marrying a same-sex partner from mainland China.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Taiwan since 2019, but the government refused to recognize same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese nationals, due to security concerns and the island’s complicated relationship with the mainland.
Taiwanese who wish to marry a Chinese national must typically marry in China and await an interview by Taiwanese authorities before their relationship is recognized and their partner is granted residency rights on the island. But because China does not recognize same-sex marriage, that’s impossible.
In August, a Taiwanese court ordered the government to begin the interview process for a cross-strait couple who married in the United States. This week, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council announced that it would comply with the decision and recognize cross-strait same-sex marriages performed in any third country where same-sex marriage is legal.
That still presents a roadblock for some couples, as they must travel to a third country to marry. For now, the nearest places for most same-sex couples to travel would be the US territory of Guam or Australia. Thailand is expected to begin performing same-sex marriages next year.
Additionally, cross-strait same-sex couples may still face an administrative burden in settling in Taiwan, as the Chinese partner must cancel their mainland residency before receiving a Taiwanese ID — the last stage in the process. It’s not clear if China will allow its nationals to cancel their residency, as the government will not recognize their same-sex marriages.
United Nations
UN Human Rights Council extends LGBTQ rights expert’s mandate
29 countries voted for resolution
The U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday extended the mandate of the United Nations’ independent LGBTQ rights expert for another three years.
The resolution passed with 29 countries (Albania, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, South Korea, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, and Vietnam) voting for it and 15 countries (Algeria, Bangladesh, Burundi, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malawi, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, and Sudan) voted against it.
Benin, Ghana, and Kyrgyzstan abstained.
The U.S. in February withdrew from the Human Rights Council. The Trump-Pence administration in 2018 pulled the U.S. from it. The U.S. in 2021 regained a seat on the Human Rights Council.
Graeme Reid has been the UN’s independent LGBTQ rights expert since 2023. The South African activist, among other things, previously ran Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Program.
South Africa National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on June 17 swore in lesbian feminist Palomino Jama as a new MP.
Jama joins other LGBTQ legislators — including Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson; Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Dion George; and Deputy Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities Minister, Steve Letsike.
Jama said she will work hard and excel as MP.
“What a great moment to be alive. Thank you youth of 1976, thank you Simon Nkoli, Phumi Mthetwa, Paddy Nhlaphos, Vanessa Ludwig, and others for what you did for the LGBTI people in the 80s and 90s. Lastly, for the fierce fist of the Jamas to always hit where it matters for the people of this country,” said Letsike.
Embrace Diversity Movement, a local LGBTQ organization, said Jama’s inauguration came at an appropriate time, during Pride month.
“Her swearing-in took place during a month of profound significance in June, which marks both international Pride Month and Youth Month in South Africa,” said the group. “Palomino is a seasoned queer activist and dedicated community builder with a distinguished record of leadership and service.”
“The EDM proudly supports Palomino in her deployment to parliament, her presence meaningfully advances youth and queer representation in public office,” added the Embrace Diversity Movement. “We are confident that she will serve the people of South Africa with integrity, courage, and distinction.”
South Africa is the only African country that constitutionally upholds LGBTQ rights. There are, however, still myriad challenges the LGBTQ community faces on a daily basis that range from physical attacks to online abuse.
Letsike in May faced a barrage of online attacks after she released a scathing statement against popular podcaster Macgyver “MacG” Mukwevho, who during a podcast episode in April insinuated that the reason behind popular socialite Minnie Dlamini’s “unsuccessful” relationships were probably due to the bad odor from her genitals.
Letsike, who viewed MacG’s comments as offensive, called for the podcaster to be summoned before parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities and criticized the local television station that aired the podcast.
X users and other social media subscribers bombarded Letsike with anti-lesbian comments. She, however, was unphased.
Letsike continues to face anti-lesbian comments, even though MacG apologized and the television station on which his podcast had aired cancelled its contract with him.
Israel
Activist recalls experience in Tel Aviv after Israel-Iran war began
Marty Rouse was part of Jewish Federations of North America Pride mission
A long-time activist who was in Israel last month when its war with Iran began has returned to D.C.
Marty Rouse traveled to Israel on June 6 with the Jewish Federations of North America. The 5-day mission ended the night before the annual Tel Aviv Pride parade was scheduled to take place.
Mission participants met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and several LGBTQ activists in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. They visited the Western Wall, the Nova Music Festival site, and Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel that is less than a mile from the country’s border with the Gaza Strip. Mission participants also visited Sderot, a city that is roughly a mile from the Hamas-controlled enclave, a veterans rehabilitation facility, a new LGBTQ health center and the Aguda: The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel in Tel Aviv.
Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed upwards of 360 partygoers and kidnapped dozens more at the music festival that was taking place at a campground near Re’im, a kibbutz that is roughly 10 miles southwest of Nir Oz. The militants killed or took hostage nearly a quarter of Nir Oz’s residents. They also took control of Sderot’s police station.
Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Chen Arieli spoke at the mission’s closing party that took place at the Sheraton Grand, a hotel that overlooks Tel Aviv’s beachfront, on June 12.
Rouse and other mission participants planned to stay in Tel Aviv for the Pride parade, which was scheduled to take place the following day. He and Gordie Nathan, another mission participant who lives in Palm Springs, Calif., had checked into a nearby hotel that was less expensive.
“We said our farewells,” recalled Rouse when he spoke with the Washington Blade in D.C. on June 24. “We went to our hotels, and we get the warning, and then all hell broke loose.”
Israel early on June 13 launched airstrikes against Iran that targeted the country’s nuclear and military facilities.
Rouse said mission organizers told him and other participants who remained in Tel Aviv to meet at the Sheraton Grand for breakfast and dinner — Israel’s airspace was closed in anticipation of an Iranian counterattack, and authorities cancelled the Pride parade.
He said he went to bomb shelters at least twice a night for three nights.
Israel’s Home Front Command during the war typically issued warnings about 10 minutes ahead of an anticipated Iranian missile attack. Sirens then sounded 90 seconds before an expected strike.
Rouse and Nathan walked to the Sheraton Grand on June 13 when the Home Front Command issued a 10-minute warning. They reached the hotel in a couple of minutes, and staff directed them to the bomb shelter.
“You know to walk slowly, everything’s fine,” recalled Rouse. “You get 10 minutes, so everything was fine when the alarm goes off.”
Rouse described the Sheraton Grand shelter as “well lit” with WiFi, a television, and air conditioning. He was watching an Israeli television station’s live coverage of the Iranian missile attack when he saw one hit an apartment building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan.
A 74-year-old woman died and her boyfriend was seriously injured.
“I go over to look at the TV, just to watch,” recalled Rouse. “All of a sudden, you watch, and you see one bomb go and land and explode in Tel Aviv on TV. It landed and blew up.”
“I was like, okay, this is real, and so that was scary,” he added.
Rouse said the bomb shelter in the hotel where he and Nathan were staying after the mission ended was far less comfortable.
“It was dark. It was humid. It was hot. It was very uncomfortable,” said Rouse. “You really felt alone.”
Rouse and nearly everyone else on the mission who were in Tel Aviv when the war began left Israel on June 15. They boarded buses that took them to the Jordanian capital of Amman, which is a roughly 2 1/2-hour drive from Tel Aviv through the West Bank.
Rouse described the trip as “like a field trip” until they drove across the Jordan River and arrived at the Jordanian border crossing.
“You walk into this room, and instead of being in a well air-conditioned airport, you’re in this hot, humid, small place in the middle of the desert, packed with people, and those big, large, loud fans and pictures of military people on the walls,” he said. “It was almost like a Casablanca kind of feeling.”
Rouse said Jordanian authorities brought mission participants through customs in groups of 10. A Jewish Federations of North America liaison from Amman who previously worked as a tour guide for A Wider Bridge — a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism and other forms of hatred” — went “behind closed doors” to ensure everyone was able to enter the country.
“It took a really long time,” Rouse told the Blade.
Mission participants arrived in Amman a short time later. They checked into their hotel and then had dinner at a restaurant.
“Now we feel like we’re safe and we’re in Amman,” recalled Rouse. “We’re sitting outside having a beautiful dinner.”
Iranian missiles passed over Amman shortly after Rouse and the other mission participants had begun to eat their dessert. They went inside the restaurant, and waited a few minutes before they boarded busses that brought them back to their hotel.
“No one was openly freaking out, which I was surprised by,” said Rouse.
The group was scheduled to fly from Amman to Cairo at 11 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) on June 16. They visited Jerash, an ancient city north of Amman, before their flight left Jordan.
“[The Jerash trip] actually took our minds off of everything,” said Rouse.
A Jewish Federations of North America contact met Rouse and the other mission participants at Cairo’s airport once their flight landed. Rouse arrived at JFK Airport in New York on June 17.
Trump-announced ceasefire ended 12-day war
President Donald Trump on June 23 announced a ceasefire that ended the 12-day war.
The U.S. three days earlier launched airstrikes that struck three Iranian nuclear sites. The ceasefire took effect hours after Iran launched missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar.
Iran said the war killed more than 900 people in the country.
The Associated Press notes Iranian missiles killed 28 people in Israel. One of them destroyed Tel Aviv’s last gay bar on June 16.
The war took place less than two years after Oct. 7.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people on that day when it launched its surprise attack on the country. The militants also kidnapped more than 200 people.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed nearly 55,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, has said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who the IDF killed last October, are among those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
Rouse upon his return to the U.S. said he “was never as aware of the comfort of another human being than I was during that time.” Rouse affectionately called Nathan his “bomb shelter boyfriend” and even questioned the way he reacted to the missile alerts.
“He’s sitting on the edge of the bed and he goes, okay, I’m going to put on my socks and my shoes, and I say, really? You’re going to put on your socks,” Rouse told the Blade. “The fact that I was nervous, that putting on socks might have changed the direction of our lives, to me was like I can’t believe I said that to him.”
Rouse quickly added Nathan helped him remain calm.
“If I was by myself, those nights would have been long enough,” said Rouse. “It’s a totally different feeling to be with another human that you know than to be by yourself.”
Rouse also praised the Jewish Federations of North America.
“JFNA really sprung into action and started to figure out all options to get us all safely home,” said Rouse. “It was all about logistics. Staff worked around the clock identifying and then mobilizing to get us back to the states. It was a great team effort and I know I speak for everyone in expressing our deep appreciation for their dedication to getting us safely home.”
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