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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 chief sounds alarm over ‘comprehensive onslaught’ against LGBTQ rights
Volker Türk on Monday spoke at UN LGBTI Core Group event
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday said there is a “comprehensive onslaught” against LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world.
“We know that progress for human rights has never been linear … but today’s backlash is deep and it is coordinated and the persecution of LGBTIQ+ people around the world is escalating at an alarming rate,” he said during an U.N. LGBTI Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The Core Group is a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights.
Mexico and Norway are the current co-chairs. The U.S. withdrew from the Core Group shortly after the Trump-Vance administration took office in 2025.
“We know that across every region, LGBTIQ+ people continue to live and to love in the face of hostility and exclusion,” said Türk. “Their rights, safety, well-being are under attack … it’s a comprehensive onslaught.”
The event took place days after Turkish authorities carried out raids in Istanbul and in other cities across the country that targeted the country’s LGBTQ community.
Türk in his remarks specifically referenced Turkey and Senegal, which further criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations earlier this year. He also noted some countries have deemed LGBTQ and intersex rights groups as “terrorists, extremists, or national security threats.”
The Trump-Vance administration’s anti-terrorism strategy that it released in May specifically references “radically pro-transgender” groups.
Türk noted “more and more candidates and political parties … use bigotry in order to promote anti-LGBTIQ+ sentiments” during election campaigns. He pointed out trans people and women are often targeted.
“These attacks are designed to confuse and to distract,” said Türk. “They cloak bigotry in the language of decency and morality. They evoke the protection of children against manufactured threats, while real and growing dangers to children’s lives and futures, including those linked to technology, to inequality and to the climate disaster remain unaddressed.”
“More broadly those who seek to erase difference and independent thought, expression, and voices from our societies often begin this by erasing LGBTIQ+ people from books and classrooms, from film and culture and from our streets,” he added. “So, this is always the beginning. It’s a wedge issue that unfortunately is used politically to erase other portions of society eventually.”
90 percent of LGBTQ, intersex groups have lost funding since 2025
The event took place less than two weeks after Outright International released a report that found 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since January 2025.
The Trump-Vance administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid shortly after it took office.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March 2025 announced 83 percent of U.S. Agency for International Development contacts had been cancelled, and the State Department would administer the remaining programs. USAID officially shut down on July 1, 2025.
Rubio issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during the funding freeze. The Washington Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of gaps in U.S. funding.
Dutch Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma in his remarks at the Core Group event noted his government — openly gay Prime Minister Rob Jetten took office in February — will pledge €50 million ($57.29 million) to support LGBTQ groups around the world. British Under Secretary of State Chris Elmore pointed out his government has pledged £21 million ($28.05) from 2026-2029 to bolster LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world.
“Equality benefits everyone,” said Elmore.
Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Norwegian International Development Minister Åsmund Aukrust, Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Maltese Foreign and European Affairs Minister Chris Fearne, Brazil’s National Secretary for the Promotion and Defense of the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People Symmy Larrat, Irish State Minister for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond, South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation Director-General Zane Dangor, Uruguayan Multilateral Affairs Director María Noel Beretta, French Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights Isabelle Rome, Cabo Verdean Permanent U.N. Representative Tania Romualdo, Estonian Department of International Organizations and Human Rights Director General Käthlin Saluveer, and Swedish International Development Cooperation Director-General Camilla Nevstad Bruzelius also spoke at the event that Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin moderated.
Other speakers included Jon Tilli of Deutsche Bank, UN Women Civil Society Division Director Lopa Banerjee and two activists: Gloria Quaye of Ghana and Nhuun Wannapong Yodmuang of Thailand.
Quaye was among the 21 people who Ghanaian authorities arrested in 2021 during a human rights workshop for LGBTQ activists. She was detained for three weeks until a court dropped the charges.
“In times of adversity, countries can often be tempted to turn inward at precisely the moment when international cooperation is needed the most,” said Sjödin. “The United Nations, of course, brings together sovereign states, but sovereignty cannot be used to decide whose rights count.”
Then-first lady Jill Biden in 2024 spoke at a Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of that year’s U.N. General Assembly. Then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016 headlined the Core Group event that coincided with that year’s U.N. General Assembly.
The U.S. did not send any representatives to this year’s event.
Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights under the Biden-Harris administration, and former U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Eric Nelson were among those from the U.S. who attended.
“The movement for the equal rights of LGBTIQ+ people has much to teach the world, particularly at this moment, but some seek to erase or reject those lessons,” said Türk. “The history of the movement for the equal rights is full of courage, dignity, and solidarity and it is an integral part of the human rights movement.”
“It’s not something separate; it’s an integral part of the full human rights movement,” he added. “In claiming their freedom, the LGBTIQ+ communities helped free our societies. We need to see it as a broader strive for freedom.”
Turkey
Activists protest outside Turkish Embassy in D.C.
Dozens detained during anti-LGBTQ ‘My Family Is Safe’ campaign raids
A group of activists on Friday gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in D.C. to protest the country’s anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The protest — which the Council for Global Equality, Amnesty International USA, Outright International, and Health GAP organized — took place less than a week after Turkish authorities detained dozens of people during raids that targeted the country’s LGBTQ community and advocacy groups and HIV/AIDS service organizations.
Authorities in Istanbul on Sept. 15 detained more than 150 people who gathered outside a courthouse to protest the raids that are part of the government’s “My Family Is Safe” campaign. Journalists are among those who were taken into custody.
“This crackdown is not making families safer,” said Amnesty International USA Executive Director Nadia Daar, speaking in front of the Turkish Embassy.
Council for Global Equality Managing Director Keifer Buckingham stressed that “homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey.” Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Outright International Senior Director of Law, Policy, and Research Neela Ghoshal also spoke.
View on Threads
Activists in Madrid and in other cities around the world held similar protests on Friday.
Turkey
More than 150 people detained outside Istanbul courthouse
Protesters gathered after raids targeted Turkey’s LGBTQ community
Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained more than 150 people who gathered outside an Istanbul courthouse to protest raids that targeted the country’s LGBTQ community.
CNN reported the protesters had planned to speak with reporters outside the city’s Caglayan courthouse, but authorities prevented them from doing so.
Turkish authorities over the weekend detained dozens of people in Istanbul and in other cities during raids that were part of the government’s “My Family is Safe” campaign.
A statement from a group of Turkish advocacy groups the Washington Blade received on Tuesday notes “at least 112 people have been detained in connection with the operations.” The organizations said 43 of those taken into custody are “LGBTI+ rights defenders,” and “at least” 62 of those detained “have been arrested, while judicial proceedings remain ongoing in Istanbul.”
“Among those arrested, at least 16 are LGBTI+ activists or individuals connected to LGBTI+ associations, including founders and members of association bodies,” reads the statement. “Per press statements by the prosecutor’s offices, dissolution cases will also be launched against associations.”
“The majority of those arrested are trans women who are charged with prostitution-related offences,” it adds. “While authorities have framed the operations as part of investigations into alleged crimes such as obscenity, prostitution and child exploitation, human rights defenders and civil society organizations have raised serious concerns regarding the use of criminal law mechanisms and public morality narratives to target legitimate LGBTI+ rights activities. Civil society views the ‘My Family is Safe’ narrative as a smokescreen to distract the public from deep economic crises and actual domestic violence, weaponizing moral panic to scapegoat LGBTI+ rights defenders, who have long been targeted by the government.”
The raids have sparked outrage among LGBTQ activists in Europe and elsewhere around the world.
The Congressional Equality Caucus and U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) are among those who have publicly condemned them in the U.S. The Council for Global Equality on Friday is scheduled to hold a rally in support of Turkey’s LGBTQ community in front of the Turkish Embassy in Northwest D.C.
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