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Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Canada, Asia, and Europe

Russian authorities raided four gay bars earlier this month

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

CANADA

Voters in New Brunswick booted the Progressive Conservative Party from government on Oct. 21 after a tumultuous year that saw the provinceā€™s premier lead a trend of Canadaā€™s conservative parties launching policies targeting transgender students in schools.Ā 

The New Brunswick Liberals led by Susan Holt won 31 seats to the Progressive Conservativesā€™ 16 and the Green Partyā€™s 2. Holt will become the provinceā€™s first woman premier.

Outgoing Premier Blaine Higgs, who had personally spearheaded the provinceā€™s controversial policy requiring parental notification and consent if a student wants to use a different name or pronoun in school, lost his own seat in the election. 

Higgs had announced the policy earlier in the year, which led to two of his own cabinet ministers resigning in protest. While the Progressive Conservatives insisted the policy was popular and campaigned hard on maintaining it, voters ultimately rejected it.

Holt has pledged to withdraw the policy and put safeguards in place for LGBTQ students.

New Brunswick is the third Canadian province this year where voters rejected conservative parties that had implemented or proposed anti-trans policies in schools, after Manitoba and British Columbia.

Voters in Saskatchewan on Monday will decide the fate of the right-leaning Saskatchewan Party government, which recently passed a law overriding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to implement its parental notification and consent policy for trans students. The party has also pledged further crackdowns on trans people in schools. 

Polls indicate the race is tight, with some predictions suggesting the New Democrats, who have pledged to repeal the policy, look set to unseat the Saskatchewan Party for the first time in 17 years.

The Progressive Conservative government of Nova Scotia also called snap elections for Nov. 26, and polls indicate that the PCs will cruise to a victory. The Nova Scotia government bucked the anti-trans trend among Canadaā€™s conservative parties and has announced plans to update education policies to make schools more LGBTQ-inclusive. 

IRELAND

Irelandā€™s parliament passed a sweeping hate crimes law addressing a sharp uptick in violence against LGBTQ people both on the Emerald Isle and across Europe.

The Criminal Justice (Hate Offenses) Act was passed by a vote of 78-52 on Oct. 23. The bill adds stiffer penalties to crimes if they are found to be motivated by hatred based on race, color, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, disability, gender (including trans and nonbinary identities), sex characteristics, and sexual orientation.

The government said Ireland had been an international outlier due to its lack of hate crime legislation. The lack of hate crime laws had been flagged in the annual Rainbow Index report on Ireland by ILGA-Europe.

Still, the government faced opposition to its initial hate crimes bill, which also included provisions expanding the countryā€™s laws banning hate speech to include hate speech based on gender identity. To get the bill passed, the government stripped those provisions from the bill. Hate speech based on sexual orientation has been illegal in Ireland since 1989.

ā€œMaking the decision to remove the incitement to violence or hatred provisions was a difficult one; but it was necessary to move forward to put the hate crime provisions into law. The message this sends is clear ā€” hatred and violence towards others because of who they are will not be tolerated, and now the law will reflect this,ā€ says Justice Minister Helen McEntee in a statement.

ā€œI have been very clear that I believe we need to update the 1989 Act to adequately deal with incitement to hatred offenses, particularly in the context of modern online communications. I absolutely believe this needs to be next on our agenda and amendments to the 1989 Act will be progressed at the earliest opportunity.ā€

LGBTQ activists had mixed feelings about the billā€™s passage, acknowledging the value of getting the bill passed but pledging to continue fighting for hate speech protections for trans people. 

ā€œLGBT+ and other communities deserve protection and we welcome the imminent passage into law of this long overdue legislation. There must be consequences for targeting people for who they are,ā€ said Irelandā€™s National LGBT Federation (NXF) in a statement on X.

ā€œThe NXF and our civil society colleagues remain firmly committed to seeing the incitement provisions of (the) bill revisited and enacted. Ensuring the legislation is fit-for-purpose is crucial. The safety of our communities is more important than ā€˜culture warsā€™ or political populism.ā€

SOUTH KOREA

Hundreds of thousands of people attended a demonstration against LGBTQ rights in the South Korean capital on Oct. 27, organized by Christian groups.

Police estimated that around 230,000 people attended the demonstration, while organizers claimed that attendance was over one million, Reuters reports

The protesters were demonstrating against a recent Supreme Court ruling that found that the National Health Insurance Service was obligated to provide spousal benefits to same-sex couples. While the ruling is binding, reports have emerged that the NHIS is still not providing benefits to same-sex couples, as there remains no legal recognition of same-sex couples in South Korea.

Recently, 11 same-sex couples filed lawsuits seeking to establish same-sex marriage rights in the country. 

Attendees at the protest carried signs that decried LGBTQ rights generally, including opposing a proposed anti-discrimination law, and urging ā€œprotect our children from gender pollution, gender confusion, and gender division destruction.ā€

Not all Christian groups agree with the protestersā€™ anti-LGBTQ sentiments. 

ā€œThis rally claims to be a ā€˜joint worship service,ā€™ but it is nothing but a sinful event in which participants base their claims on outdated conspiracies to push homophobic discrimination,ā€ read a statement signed by 53 LGBTQ organizations and LGBTQ-friendly Christian groups.

ā€œThis directly contradicts the values of generosity, diversity, and respect for human rights that our society has worked so hard to instill. They are oppressing the rights of minorities under the name of the ā€˜majority,ā€™ā€ the statement read. 

RUSSIA

The Russian government has escalated its crackdown on LGBTQ people, with raids on four gay bars across the country leading to at least 50 people being detained, Novaya Gazeta reports.

The raids took place on Oct. 12, coinciding with the barsā€™ events celebrating National Coming Out Day. Two popular queer bars, Central Station and Three Monkeys, were raided in Moscow, while two other queer bars were reportedly raided in Yekaterinburg in central Russia. 

Videos of the crackdowns released on Russian propaganda Telegram channels show detainees being forced to lie on the ground or stand with their hands against the wall while police violently frisk them. 

The channels variously allege that the purpose of the raids was to crack down on drug trafficking or respond to civilian complaints of impropriety. One channel alleges that the clubs were ā€œdiscrediting the Russian armyā€ as drag performers at Central Station mocked Russiaā€™s invasion of Ukraine. 

Russia has intensified a crackdown on LGBTQ people over the past decade, first banning ā€œLGBTQ propagandaā€ in 2013. Last year, the Supreme Court declared ā€œthe international LGBT movementā€ an ā€œextremist organization,ā€ causing several queer organizations and venues to close or go underground. 

GEORGIA

Georgiaā€™s opposition leaders are crying foul after what theyā€™re saying was a rigged election that let the ruling Georgian Dream party hold onto power. Georgian Dream has led a crackdown on LGBTQ people while leading an increasingly authoritarian, anti-democratic, and pro-Russia government at odds with the countryā€™s largely pro-Western and pro-democracy population.

The opposition parties claim that multiple exit polls showed them winning a combined majority of votes on election day Oct. 26, before official results reported that Georgian Dream had won 53 percent of the vote. Opposition parties claim that the official results come from voter intimidation, ballot stuffing, fraud, and other irregularities seen and reported at polling stations across the country, especially in rural areas where Georgian Dream dominated.

President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official results, which she claimed were caused by Russian interference. The opposition parties also announced on Monday that they would boycott parliament. They have collectively called for protests against disputed election. 

The European Union called for an investigation into the election. Georgia officially seeks to join the EU but has had its membership application suspended due to democratic backsliding under Georgian Dream.

The U.S. government has also previously applied sanctions on Georgian Dream leadership and has said it is observing the situation closely. 

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World

Trump election sparks concern among activists around the world

Brazilian organization: Grassroots advocacy crucial to defending LGBTQ rights

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A poster in Santiago, Chile, in 2017 mocked then-President Donald Trump. Activists around the world with whom the Washington Blade has spoken this week expressed concern over a second Trump administration and its impact on LGBTQ rights around the world. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups around the world have expressed concern over President-elect Donald Trump’s election.

“I worry that Trump’s win means no protection for global LGBTQ+ human rights,” Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha told the Washington Blade.

Mugisha added Trump “won’t or step in to support us” when “we are under attack with extreme anti-gay legislations.” (The Biden-Harris administration last year imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.)

Esteban PaulĆ³n, a long-time LGBTQ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, echoed this concern and Mugisha.

“My first reaction (to Trump’s election) is concern over how it is going to impact (LGBTQ) rights in the international sphere,” PaulĆ³n told the Blade.

Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administrationā€™s overall foreign policy. The White House in the same year named Jessica Stern, who was previously the executive director of Outright International, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.

Then-State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a 2021 interview with the Blade noted the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations was one of the Biden-Harris administrationā€™s priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad. Stern in 2022 told the Blade that support of marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process is ā€œamong a wider set of priorities.ā€

Trump during his first administration tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.

Axios on Thursday reported Grenell is Trump’s top candidate to succeed Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Bru Pereira and Gui Mohallem are co-directors of VoteLGBT, a Brazilian organization established in 2014 with a mission to increase LGBTQ representation their country’s politics.

Pereira and Mohallem in a statement they sent to the Blade on Wednesday said the U.S. election outcomes, “especially as they reflect a divided political landscape, underscore an international trend we are observing ā€” a growing divide between progressive movements and the resurgence of conservative, often authoritarian, political forces.”

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was in office from 2018-2022. He faced sharp criticism because of his rhetoric against LGBTQ Brazilians, women, people of African and Indigenous descent and other groups. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on Jan. 8, 2023, stormed the Brazilian Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court.

President Luiz InƔcio Lula da Silva took office a week earlier.

Pereira and Mohallem in their statement said they are “witnessing how grassroots efforts, particularly from marginalized communities, are crucial in defending LGBTQ+ rights under right-wing governments.”

“For us, advancing and protecting LGBTQ+ rights in such a context involves fostering local leadership, as well as strengthening community resilience and alliances,” they said. “Itā€™s about creating spaces where voices traditionally sidelined ā€” especially those of trans, Black, and Indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals ā€” can lead democratic change. Here, we see our role not just in advocacy but in shaping an intersectional approach to political transformation, one that insists on the inclusion and visibility of diverse identities.”

“Ultimately, we believe that the democratic health of any nation depends on its most vulnerable communities being empowered to speak up and lead,” added Pereira and Mohallem. “Weā€™re committed to supporting this journey, even in times of political setbacks, through community solidarity and international collaboration.”

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Executive Director Joy Chia in an email to supporters on Wednesday largely echoed Pereira and Mohallem.

“As a funder of LGBTQI+ communities in all regions of the world, the Astraea Foundation is keenly aware of the far-reaching impacts that this election will have and has already had,” wrote Chia. “I also recognize that political repression is not new to LGBTQI+ activists and our communities. This isnā€™t our first time working in hostility and chaos, and we are ready to resist.”

“The Astraea Foundation will continue to work alongside grantees to build power and create sustainable change so that our communities can thrive. We will continue to push liberation forward, support our grantee partners, and hold true to our intersectional feminist values at every turn,” added Chia. “The work we do every day is vital, and this difficult moment only strengthens our resolve to keep the fight moving forward.”

Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjƶdin in an email to their group’s supporters said the U.S. election results “have raised deep concerns for many of us who care about fundamental human rights, freedoms, and democratic norms for LGBTIQ people and everyone else around the world.”

“As Outright International unites with you, our global community, we know that this outcome impacts not only the U.S. but also the global momentum toward justice and equality. Nationalism, authoritarianism, white supremacy, xenophobia, anti-queer, and anti-transness have been on stark display throughout the election campaign,” they wrote. “Such narratives risk eroding years of progress and scapegoat marginalized communities. Resulting policies could deny gender recognition, defund LGBTIQ-supportive programs internationally, and be a threat to international cooperation and multilateralism.” 

Sjƶdin added “moments like this also reveal the strength of our global solidarity.”

“The spirit of connection that fuels our shared movements is needed now more than ever,” they said. “From Argentina to Poland, Uganda to Ukraine, LGBTIQ communities are rising to this challenge. Together, we can and must resist discriminatory forces and protect and continue to advance the progress made. This isnā€™t just about policies ā€” itā€™s about our lives and those of our global community.”

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Mali

Mali on the verge of criminalizing homosexuality

Country’s Traditional National Council has drafted a new penal code

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(Photo by Rawf8/Bigstock)

Mali’s Transitional National Council on Oct. 31 adopted a draft penal code that would criminalize acts of homosexuality.

Minister Mamoudou KassoguƩ after the TNC meeting said any person who advocates or engages in same-sex relations will be prosecuted.

“There are provisions in our laws that prohibit homosexuality in Mali,” he said. “Anyone engaging in this practice, promoting or apologizing for it, will be prosecuted. We will not accept that our customs and values ā€‹ā€‹are violated by people from elsewhere.”

Nginda Nganga, an African LGBTQ rights activist, said the Malian government should not be concerned about other people’s sexual orientation.

“LGBTQI+ people have always existed, and they always will. Itā€™s a human rights issue, and honestly, I have never understood why some are so concerned about others’ personal choices and private lives,” said Nganga. “Itā€™s strange.”

Eugene Djoko, another African rights activist, said deterring and monitoring one’s sexual orientation will not solve the countryā€™s problems.

“According to the minister, anyone who practices, promotes or glorifies homosexuality will be prosecuted, however, restraining personal liberties is not how you will fix the country’s problems,” said Djoko.

Amnesty International in its 2023/2024 report said violence and discrimination against people based on descent remained prevalent in Mali. The report highlighted several killings based on this type of discrimination.

Although Mali does not recognize same-sex marriages, the country’s constitution and penal code does not criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations or LGBTQ identity. The TNC’s Oct. 31 vote, however, will change the situation for the country’s LGBTQ community, even though President Assimi GoĆÆta has not approved them.

The LGBTQ community before the Oct. 31 vote already faced a lot of stigma, especially from fellow Malians.

Mali is largely an Islamic country, and Sharia law does not tolerate same-sex sexual relations. The majority of Malians view homosexuality as a Western import.

People in some regions who are found to be part of the LGBTQ community can face punishments that range from so-called conversion therapy to amputation, flogging, and even death. Many LGBTQ Malians and those who advocate on their behalf remain in the closet or work behind closed doors. Some have opted to leave Mali and seek refuge in countries that protect LGBTQ rights.

The actual ramifications of KassoguĆ©’s statements as they relate to consensual same-sex sexual relations or LGBTQ advocacy in the country remain unclear.

Arrests of LGBTQ people or activists on the basis of sexual orientation are rare, but Malian society tends to handle them under the guise of religious and cultural beliefs as opposed to a law enforcement issue. Law enforcement officials cite acts of indecency when they arrest those who identify as LGBTQ or activists.

GoĆÆta, for his part, has yet to explicitly make any public comment on LGBTQ-specific issues. He has, however, often spoke about his support for Islamic and African values.

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World

Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Asia, Canada, and Europe

Tokyo High Court Japanā€™s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

JAPAN

The Tokyo High Court ruled that the countryā€™s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, upholding a lower court ruling. This is the second High Court ruling favoring same-sex marriage after the Sapporo High Court came to a similar conclusion earlier this year, and more High Court rulings are expected over the next few months. 

The court found that laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples “are not based on reasonable grounds” and lead to “discriminatory treatment (of people) based on their sexual orientation,” according to the ruling.

The rulings donā€™t immediately create a right to same-sex marriage in Japan, but they add pressure on the government to address the unconstitutionality. These cases will likely find their way to the Supreme Court next year.

Same-sex marriage is not currently legal anywhere in Japan, and the government has long asserted that Section 24 of the post-war constitution rules out same-sex marriage. Section 24 states ā€œmarriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained through mutual cooperation with the equal rights of husband and wife as a basis.ā€

However, equal marriage supporters point out that Section 24 was not intended to deal with same-sex marriage, but rather to assert the right of individuals to marry the person of their choice, rather than traditional arranged marriages. 

A series of recent court victories have gradually opened up recognition of equal rights for same-sex couples in Japan. Five lower courts have found that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitution, while only one lower court has upheld the ban as constitutional. 

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court found that same-sex couples are entitled to survivorsā€™ benefits for victims of crime. 

Additionally, 450 municipalities and 30 of Japanā€™s 47 prefectures have instituted partnership registries for same-sex couples. Although these registries have little legal force, they have helped couples access local services and demonstrate growing recognition of same-sex couplesā€™ rights.

This weekā€™s High Court ruling comes at a time of flux in Japanese politics. During last weekā€™s parliamentary election, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its governing majority, while the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, which supports same-sex marriage, made huge gains.

Anglo Nippon Politics reports that a very narrow majority of newly elected legislators have expressed support for same-sex marriage, but that the dynamics of the new parliament may make it difficult for the LDP, which hopes to hold onto power with support for smaller conservative parties, to advance controversial issues.

CANADAĀ 

The Alberta government under United Conservative Party Premier Danielle Smith introduced four pieces of anti-LGBTQ and anti-transgender legislation last week, prompting protests in the capital Edmonton and in the provinceā€™s largest city Calgary.

Smith had initially announced the legislation in February, amid a general hysteria about transgender youth and school inclusion policies that had swept through conservative parties across Canada. 

The four bills ban gender care for trans youth, require parental notification and consent if a trans student wishes to use a different name or pronoun in school, bars trans women from competing in sports in schools and colleges, and requires parental notification and ā€œopt-inā€ if sexual orientation, gender identity, or human sexuality will be discussed in classrooms.

Opponents criticized Smith for the legislation, which critics said was timed to help Smith in a leadership review held this weekend. Smithā€™s leadership was upheld with more than 91 percent of the vote at the UCP convention in Red Deer on Saturday.

More than 1,000 people showed up at Calgary City Hall to demonstrate against the bills on Saturday, as well as against the UCPā€™s priorities for Alberta, while hundreds more turned up in front of the provincial legislature in Edmonton.

Rowan Morris, an organizer with Trans Rights YEG, told the Edmonton Journal that the bills had galvanized opposition from across the political spectrum, recalling a conversion he had with a conservative supporter.

ā€œ[She said], ā€˜My whole family is here, weā€™re all conservatives, we will all be conservatives for the rest of our lives, but we recognize that bodily autonomy is a freedom we need to uphold for all Albertans. Whether we agree on how you live your life or not, the government does not have a place in your private medical decisions with your doctor,ā€™ā€ Morris said.

Because of the UCPā€™s majority in the provincial legislature, there is little chance the bills wonā€™t pass. Voters next go to the polls in Alberta in October 2027.

Voters in Canada have had a chance to weigh in on anti-trans policies this year, and the results have been mixed. In Manitoba and New Brunswick, voters turfed conservative parties from government after they introduced or announced anti-trans policies, while in British Columbia, voters kept the governing New Democrats in office after the opposition Conservatives had announced several similar anti-trans policies.

Last month, voters in Saskatchewan returned its conservative government to power after it introduced a parental notification and consent policy in violation of Canadaā€™s Charter of Rights and pledged to introduce a ban on trans students accessing change rooms and bathrooms in schools if reelected.

GERMANY

The Gender Self-Determination Act came into force on Friday, marking a historic advancement for trans rights in Germany. 

Under the new law, anyone will be able to change their legal name and gender by making a simple application at their local registry office. 

The new law replaces the Transsexuals Act, which dates from the early 1980s, and required anyone wishing to change their legal gender to get permission from a judge after submitting two psychological assessments. 

The law allows name and gender changes for minors. Children under 14 can have the process done by their parents, while those over 14 can do so with parental permission. Youth will also have to submit a declaration that they have sought advice from a psychologist or from a youth welfare specialist.

Also included in the law is a new protection that makes it a criminal offense to out a trans person without their consent.

Gender self-determination is increasingly the norm in Western European countries. Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark have all introduced similar legislation in recent years. Additionally, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Uruguay, India, Pakistan, as well as several provinces and states of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico allow gender self-determination.

SWITZERLANDĀ 

The Swiss canton of Vaud became the latest place in Europe to ban so-called conversion therapy, as legislation to ban the discredited practice of attempting to change a personā€™s sexual orientation or gender identity nationwide has stalled in the federal parliament.

Vaud is the third of Switzerlandā€™s 26 cantons to ban conversion therapy, following Neuchatel last December and Valais earlier this year. Vaud is Switzerlandā€™s third-largest canton, home to more than 800,000 people. 

In 2022, the lower house of the Swiss parliament passed a motion calling on the government to introduce a conversion therapy ban, but the motion was rejected by the upper house earlier this year.  Legislators at the time said they wanted to wait for more information from the Federal Council, which was due to report on conversion therapy over the summer. 

In the meantime, several other Swiss cantons have begun debating local bans on conversion therapy, including Geneva, Bern, and Zurich. 

Doctors and therapists are already prohibited from practicing conversion therapy in Switzerland by their professional associations, but much conversion therapy is carried out by unlicensed individuals.

Conversion therapy has already been banned across much of Western Europe, including France, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Cyprus, and Iceland. It has also been banned in Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, and in many U.S. and Australian states.

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