World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Australia
Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s National Rally party, died on Jan. 7

FRANCE
Clips and memes of the song “Nobody Mourns the Wicked,” from the hit movie musical “Wicked” went viral in France this week after the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s far-right National Rally party. Le Pen was 96 when he passed away on Jan. 7 and was the father of current National Rally leader Marine Le Pen.
Le Pen rose to prominence in the 1970s and 80s as a politician with his frequent tirades against immigrants, Muslims, and queer people. He ran for president of France five times, making it to the second round in the 2002 election, where he was defeated in an historic landslide.
In 2018, a court found Le Pen guilty of spreading hate toward homosexuals on three separate incidents and ordered him to pay fines. He had claimed that pedophilia was linked to homosexuality in a 2016 blog video, had told a reporter that having gays in his party was like having too much salt in soup, and then said the husband of a gay police officer who had been killed in a terrorist attack should not have been allowed to speak at the officer’s state funeral.
In the 1980s, he also advocated for the forced isolation of anyone living with HIV.
But his controversial statements don’t end there. He frequently voiced support for those who collaborated with the Nazi regime in World War II and downplayed the Holocaust, suggesting it was a mere “detail” of history and that mass murders never took place. Those remarks saw him fined by multiple courts over the years.
His daughter Marine took over the National Rally in 2011, and in 2015, the party expelled him over his refusal to attend a disciplinary hearing over his repeated Holocaust denial.
Shortly after news of LePen’s death broke, hundreds of people gathered at Paris’s Place de la République to celebrate, with many waving Pride flags and tossing confetti in celebration. The hashtag “NoOneMournsTheWicked” started trending on French X.
In a fun bit of transatlantic synchronicity, the same hashtag trended in the U.S. three days later, when news broke of the death of notorious 80s homophobe Anita Bryant.
AUSTRALIA
Melbourne’s major Pride festival Midsumma has become the focus of controversy this week, with the lobby group Transgender Victoria announcing it won’t participate in this year’s parade and a group of masked vandals defacing businesses that were showing support for the festival.
Overnight on Jan. 8, businesses along the parade route that supported the festival were vandalized with posters and spray paint calling for a boycott of Midsumma. The vandals were caught on video surveillance but have not been identified.
The posters variously decry the commercialization of Pride and the participation of police in the festival.
“We will not be satisfied with a commercialized gay identity, that denies the intrinsic links between queer struggle and challenging power,” says one poster. “We are dedicated to fighting the assimilationist monster with a devastating mobilization of queer brilliance.”
“Queer liberation not rainbow capitalism,” says another, which lists Midsumma’s sponsors as Amazon, Woolworth’s, AGL, and L’Oreal.
“No Pride on stolen land,” says another poster.
Businesses were able to clean up most of the damage before the start of business Thursday.
On Sunday, Transgender Victoria,, the state’s leading trans advocacy group, posted on its Instagram account that it was suspending its participation in the festival, citing concerns over police involvement.
“A recent community forum and survey conducted by TGV have confirmed a deep and pervasive discontent among TGD [trans and gender diverse] people regarding their interactions with and treatment by Victoria Police,” the statement says. “In light of these concerns, TGV’s Committee has approved a one-year suspension of participation in the Midsumma Pride March. Our future participation is contingent on Victoria Police accepting accountability for measurable change.”
TGV’s statement says it will participate in other Midsumma events and will schedule a Trans Pride Picnic as an alternative to the Pride march.
Last year’s Pride march was a site of conflict, when a group of about 50 protesters doused a contingent of police officers marching in the parade with pink paint. Officers were seen on video pushing protesters out of the way. The police officers had agreed to join the parade out of uniform and without weapons.
This year’s Midsumma Festival runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 9 in Melbourne, with the Midsumma Pride March on Feb. 2 and Victoria’s Pride Street Party on Feb 9.
Argentina
Argentine president restricts transgender minors access to hormone treatments, surgeries
Advocacy groups say they could challenge Javier Milei’s decree in court

Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 5 issued a decree that restricts minors’ access to gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments.
Human rights organizations and LGBTQ groups have condemned the edict that modifies Argentina’s landmark Gender Identity Law.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) and ILGA World have condemned the decree, noting it “imposes severe restrictions on the right to gender identity of trans and non-binary people, particularly young people.” They further state the restriction “ignores scientific evidence and the recommendations of international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).”
The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans (FALGBT), meanwhile, has announced it will go to court to stop the modification of the Gender Identity Law and, if necessary, will turn to international organizations. Legal experts have argued the decree is illegal and unconstitutional, and Argentina’s Supreme Court should intervene.
FALGBT President María Rachid, told the Washington Blade that “from the Argentine LGBT Federation we are filing a declaration of unconstitutionality for this DNU (the Spanish acronym for Necessary and Urgent Decree), because we consider that the president is begging for legislative powers that do not correspond to him. That law was approved by a wide majority in both chambers, where specialists of medicine, of law went to expose concrete research on these issues.”
“On the other hand, we are also going to file injunctions, both collective and individual, to defend the rights of trans children and adolescents, mainly,” said Rachid. “It is not true what he (Milei) says to justify this absolute intrusion to legislative powers, saying that 5-year-old children are mutilated. This is not true. Genital reassignment operations are performed after the age of 18, even by medical indication.”
This decree is in addition to other measures of Milei’s government that affect the LGBTQ community, such as the prohibition of gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for minors and limits on housing transgender women in female prisons.These actions have generated controversy and concern among human rights advocates and international organizations.
“President Javier Milei, since he took office, has been carrying out a series of measures that directly affect the vast majority of formal and informal workers in Argentina, and the LGBTIQNB population is no exception,” said Ornella Infante, a trans woman who is a national leader of the leftist Evita Movement. “In addition to the hate speeches that multiply violence; it is a class hatred to sectors with organizational and mobilization capacity such as women, unions, social movements, and sexual diversity.”
“It is exposed with the dismissals of LGBT people from national agencies, the definition of gender policies, the closure of INADI, a state agency that worked to eradicate discrimination in the country,” added Infante. “All of this directly affects vulnerable populations and painfully shows that it is part of their government’s ideals to end human rights policies.”
ILGA World has urged the international community, human rights organizations and democratic institutions to speak out against these measures and to demand the repeal of the decree, calling it “an abuse of executive power and a blow to democratic institutionality.”
South Africa
South Africa groups offer muted response to president’s pledge to protect LGBTQ rights
Cyril Ramaphosa gave State of the Nation speech on Feb. 6

Several South African advocacy groups say they are not moved by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pledge to protect LGBTQ rights during the State of the Nation speech he delivered in Cape Town on Feb. 6.
“As South Africans, we stand for peace and justice, for equality and solidarity. We stand for non-racialism and democracy, for tolerance and compassion,” said Ramaphosa. “We stand for equal rights for women, for persons with disability and for members of the LGBTQI+ community.”
Even though the president made the proclamation, LGBTQ South Africans continue to face hate crimes that often end in the loss of life, despite laws that include the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech and the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation enshrined in the constitution.
In addition, U.S. President Donald Trump’s 90-day moratorium on nearly all American foreign aid has impacted several LGBTQ organizations in South Africa.
“The cut in funding has really made a negative impact towards the way we run the organization,” said Sibonelo Ncanana, civil society engagement officer for OUT LGBT Well-Being. “It’s more of a malfunction we are witnessing, so what the president said last Thursday has little relevance due to the ongoing predicament we are encountering.”
Bruce Walker, convenor of Pretoria Pride, said he appreciated Ramaphosa’s comments about the protection of LGBTQ rights, but added they were mere grandstanding.
“We really appreciate him saying this and it’s a good thing for an African leader to speak out about the rights of the LGBTI community. LGBTI rights are in our Bill of Rights and constitution,” said Walker. “However, the president’s utterances were just pure window dressing because the current government refuses to condemn the treatment of LGBTI communities in Africa, and are very quiet on the imprisonment and execution of LGBTI people in the world but fight and spend millions to condemn Israel.”
Iranti nevertheless said it expected the president to stay true to his word and ensure the rights of the LGBTQ community are protected as the country’s constitution outlines.
‘President Ramaphosa affirmed that he stands with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, a very important act as we witness a regression of LGBTQIA+ rights and the growth of anti-gender movements across the globe,” said Iranti. “We urge the president to follow up on this commitment, with concrete strategies and actions that will improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in South Africa.”
South Africa is the only African country that constitutionally recognizes LGBTQ rights. Many South Africans, however, do not recognize the LGBTQ community because of cultural and religious beliefs and the idea that homosexuality is a Western import.
The suspension of nearly all U.S. foreign aid has impacted the Uthingo Network, OUT LGBT Well-Being, Iranti, and other advocacy groups. Trump on Feb. 7 signed an executive order that limits American financial assistance to South Africa because of the Expropriation Act that Ramaphosa signed last month.
Though the Expropriation Act involves compensation, some of the land the government has deemed of public interest — for infrastructure projects, public service expansion, and environment conservation — can be expropriated without permission. Trump said the law violates South Africans’ rights.
Kenya
Kenyan president defends Trump executive order on two genders
Advocacy groups criticized William Ruto’s Jan. 26 comments

Kenyan President William Ruto is facing backlash for backing U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order that recognizes only two genders: Male and female.
Ruto’s support for Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military and competing on women’s sports teams has drawn criticism from human rights defenders, lawmakers, lawyers, and intersex activists.
Ruto’s critics cite Kenya’s 2022 landmark decision to officially recognize intersex people as the third gender with an “I” gender marker after years of court battles for recognition and their inclusion in a national Census for the first time in 2019.
“We are very proud that contrary to what has been happening in the past, this year we got some very welcoming developments in the United States that as a leading democracy, we have gotten to understand that the policy direction of the U.S. supports what we believe in,” Ruto stated during a Jan. 26 speech at the Global Cathedral Church’s annual convention in Nairobi. “Boys must remain boys, men must remain men, women must remain women and girls must remain girls.”
Ruto’s position to side with Trump on sex and gender identity contradicts his previous stance during the Biden-Harris administration when he was cautious about speaking about transgender and queer rights in order not to jeopardize his relationship with Washington.
Trump on Jan. 21 signed an executive order that directed the U.S. federal government to only recognize male and female genders. This directive revoked the Biden-era policy that recognized trans rights and allowed trans servicemembers.
Trump on Feb. 6 signed another executive order that bans trans athletes from competing on female sports teams
“The war on women’s sports is over,” he said.
“We’re putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” Trump warned. “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.”
His executive order relies partly on the U.S. Justice Department’s authority to bring enforcement actions under Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education and requires schools to offer girls an equal opportunity to play sports. The law, under Trump’s interpretation, forbids trans girls from playing in girls’ sports.
Trump in 2017 banned trans people from serving openly in the U.S. military.
“We thank God that this year the first very news from the U.S. in the new administration is to confirm what the Bible says, what our faith believes in, and what our tradition firmly is grounded on,” Ruto said in his speech.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a government-funded body, described Ruto’s comments as “embarrassing and unfortunate.”
“In Kenya, the law is very clear and the Children’s Act recognizes the intersex because they are unique persons as they have no issues based on sex identity or gender orientation,” said an intersex rights activist who asked the Washington Blade to remain anonymous. “His sentiments are likely to increase stigma against the intersex persons and if they are discriminated against, anyone will just go to court because they are also protected by the law.”
Esther Passaris, an opposition MP who represents Nairobi County, maintained there are not two sexes in Kenya.
“Let’s face it, we have intersex children with two or incomplete sexes. These children require our love as a society,” she said. “Let God deal with the genders.”
Since the recognition of intersex people, several policy measures to tackle discrimination have been implemented to ensure their protection and equal treatment.
Kenya last week officially recognized intersex people at birth, allowing them to receive birth certificates with an “I” gender marker. The KNCHR described this decision as “a historic milestone” that aligns with the Kenyan constitution and other existing policy measures that include the Children Act and the proposed Intersex Persons Bill, 2024.
“This is a major step towards securing rights, dignity, and equal opportunities for all intersex persons in Kenya,” KNCHR stated.
KNCHR asked Kenyans, state, and non-state institutions to support awareness, policy reforms, and the inclusion of intersex people for the latest reform to be implemented successfully.
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