World
Top 10 international stories of 2022
Brittney Griner, expansion of marriage rights, and World Pride shocker
WNBA star Brittney Griner’s arrest in Russia, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat in his country’s presidential election and the extension of marriage and other rights to LGBTQ and intersex people around the world made headlines over the past year. Here are the top international stories of 2022.
#10 World Pride 2025 cancelled, moved to D.C.
The decision to cancel WorldPride Taiwan 2025 sparked widespread criticism among the island’s LGBTQ and intersex activists.
WorldPride Taiwan 2025 had been scheduled to take place in Kaohsiung, but organizers in August announced its cancellation. The announcement said InterPride, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group that organizes WorldPride events, had asked organizers to remove Taiwan from the event’s name. InterPride in a subsequent interview with the Washington Blade disputed this claim.
InterPride on Nov. 3 announced D.C. will host WorldPride 2025.
#9 Kenya’s landmark intersex rights law takes effect
A landmark law that granted equal rights and recognition of intersex people in Kenya took effect in July.
The Children Act 2022 allows intersex people to select an “I” gender marker. The law, among other things, also requires intersex children to have equal access to education, medical care and other basic services and protects them from so-called sex normalization surgeries without a doctor’s recommendation.
The law took effect roughly five years after Kenya became the first country in Africa to count intersex people in a Census.
#8 British government removes trans people from bill to ban conversion therapy
The British government in April cancelled an LGBTQ and intersex rights conference after advocacy groups announced they would boycott it over then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to exclude transgender people from a bill to ban so-called conversion therapy.
The Safe to Be Me Conference was to have taken place in London from June 29-July 1, 2022. A British government spokesperson on April 5 confirmed the conference’s cancellation.
Nick Herbert, a member of the British House of Lords who advised Johnson on LGBTQ and intersex issues, in a statement described the conference’s cancellation as “damaging to the government and to the U.K.’s global reputation.” Herbert added it is “also an act of self-harm by the LGBT lobby.”
#7 Former British colonies decriminalize homosexuality
Four former British colonies in 2022 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
Lawmakers in Singapore on Nov. 29 repealed Section 377A of the country’s penal code that criminalized homosexuality. Singaporean MPs on the same day also approved an amendment to the city-state’s constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
The Barbados High Court on Dec. 12 struck down the country’s sodomy law.
A judge on the High Court of Justice in St. Kitts and Nevis on Aug. 29 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in his country. High Court Judge Marissa Robertson, who sits on the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, earlier in the year ruled sections 12 and 15 of Antigua and Barbuda’s Sexual Offenses Act 1995 are unconstitutional.
#6 Marriage equality legalized across Mexico, Cuba, Chile, Switzerland, Slovenia
Several countries around the world extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in 2022.
Cubans on Sept. 25 approved a new family code that includes marriage equality.
Lawmakers in Slovenia on Oct. 4 passed a bill that extended marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. Switzerland’s marriage equality law took effect on July 1.
Chile’s marriage equality law took effect on March 10. Same-sex couples can legally marry throughout Mexico after lawmakers in Tamaulipas state on Oct. 26 approved a marriage equality bill.
A court on Dec. 6 ruled Aruba and Curaçao must allow same-sex couples to marry.
#5 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro defeated
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Oct. 30 defeated incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro in the second round of the country’s presidential election.
Da Silva, who was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010, defeated Bolsonaro in the election’s first round that took place on Oct. 2, but neither man received at least 50 percent of the vote.
Bolsonaro, a former congressman and Brazilian Army captain, has faced sharp criticism because of his rhetoric against LGBTQ and intersex Brazilians, women, people of African and indigenous descent and other groups. Bolsonaro, among other things, has encouraged fathers to beat their sons if they are gay and falsely claimed people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are at increased risk for AIDS.
#4 Marriage equality becomes part of U.S. foreign policy
The special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights this year confirmed the Biden administration’s support of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad now includes marriage equality.
“The administration acknowledges that married or not, LGBTQI+ people, couples and their families deserve full equality, access to legal protections and should have their families legally recognized,” said Jessica Stern during an exclusive interview the Blade published on June 1. “All of this is consistent with President Biden’s commitment to LGBTQI+ equality and marriage equality specifically.” President Biden in February 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy. The White House four months later named Stern, who was previously the executive director of OutRight International, to her position.
#3 LGBTQ issues overshadow World Cup
Qatar’s LGBTQ and intersex rights record overshadowed the 2022 World Cup that ended on Dec. 18.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death in Qatar. A report that Human Rights Watch published in October noted several cases of “severe and repeated beatings” and “sexual harassment” of LGBTQ and intersex people while in police custody from 2019 and September 2022.
World Cup Ambassador Khalid Salman in November described homosexuality as “damage in the mind” during an interview with a German television station. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Nov. 22 press conference in Doha, the Qatari capital, criticized FIFA over its threat to sanction European soccer teams if their captains wore “one love” armbands during the World Cup.
#2 LGBTQ Ukrainians flee war
LGBTQ and intersex Ukrainians are among the millions of people who have fled their country after Russia launched its war against it on Feb. 24.
Dmitry Shapoval, a gay man with HIV, lived in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, until he swam across a river and entered Poland in March. Shapoval now lives in Berlin with his cat and has begun the process of resettling in Germany.
“I feel very secure here,” Shapoval told the Blade on July 22 during an interview in Berlin.
LGBTQ and intersex activists from Ukraine were among those who took part in Berlin’s Christopher Street Parade that took place a day after Shapoval spoke with the Blade. Kyiv Pride, Kharkiv Pride and Insight are among the myriad organizations that continue to support LGBTQ and intersex Ukrainians who remain in the country.
#1 Brittney Griner detained in Russia
WNBA star Brittney Griner returned to the U.S. on Dec. 9 after Russia released her in exchange for a convicted arms dealer.
Griner — a Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her wife, Cherelle Griner — had been serving a nine-year prison sentence in a penal colony after a Russian court convicted her on the importation of illegal drugs. Customs officials at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February detained Brittney Griner after they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage.
Russia on Dec. 8 released Brittney Griner in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who had been serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S.
Chile
Chilean presidential election outcome to determine future of LGBTQ rights in country
Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast favored to win Dec. 14 runoff.
The results of Chile’s presidential election will likely determine the future of LGBTQ rights in the country.
While Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, the first transgender woman elected to Congress, managed to retain her seat on Sunday, the runoff to determine who will succeed outgoing President Gabriel Boric will take place on Dec. 14 and will pit two diametrically opposed candidates against each other: the far-right José Antonio Kast and Communist Jeannette Jara.
Schneider, an emblematic figure in the LGBTQ rights movement and one of the most visible voices on trans rights in Latin America, won reelection in a polarized environment. Human rights organizations see her continued presence in Congress as a necessary institutional counterweight to the risks that could arise if the far-right comes to power.
Kast v. Jara
The presidential race has become a source of concern for LGBTQ groups in Chile and international observers.
Kast, leader of the Republican Party, has openly expressed his rejection of gender policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to anti-discrimination laws.
Throughout his career, he has supported conservative positions aligned with sectors that question LGBTQ rights through rhetoric that activists describe as stigmatizing. Observers say his victory in the second-round of the presidential election that will take place on Dec. 14 could result in regulatory and cultural setbacks.
Jara, who is the presidential candidate for the progressive Unidad por Chile coalition, on the other hand has publicly upheld her commitment to equal rights. She has promised to strengthen mechanisms against discrimination, expand health policies for trans people, and ensure state protection against hate speech.
For Schneider, this new legislative period is shaping up to be a political and symbolic challenge.
Her work has focused on combating gender violence, promoting reform of the Zamudio Law, the country’s LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination and hate crimes law named after Daniel Zamudio, a gay man murdered in Santiago, the Chilean capital, in 2012, and denouncing transphobic rhetoric in Congress and elsewhere.
Schneider’s continued presence in Congress is a sign of continuity in the defense of recently won rights, but also a reminder of the fragility of those advances in a country where ideological tensions have intensified.
LGBTQ organizations point out that Schneider will be key to forging legislative alliances in a potentially divided Congress, especially if Kast consolidates conservative support.
Kazakhstan
Kazakh lawmakers advance anti-LGBTQ propaganda bill
Measure likely to pass in country’s Senate
Lawmakers in Kazakhstan on Wednesday advanced a bill that would ban so-called LGBTQ propaganda in the country.
Reuters notes the measure, which members of the country’s lower house of parliament unanimously approved, would ban “‘LGBT propaganda’ online or in the media” with “fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.”
The bill now goes to the Kazakh Senate.
Reuters reported senators will likely support the measure. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has also indicated he would sign it.
Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic in Central Asia that borders Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations are decriminalized in Kazakhstan, but the State Department’s 2023 human rights report notes human rights activists have “reported threats of violence and significant online and in-person verbal abuse towards LGBTQI+ individuals.” The document also indicates discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in the country. (Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights under the Biden-Harris administration who co-founded the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice, in August condemned the current White House for the “deliberate erasure” of LGBTQ and intersex people from the State Department’s 2024 human rights report.)
Russia, Georgia, and Hungary are among the other countries with propaganda laws.
Turks and Caicos Islands
Turks and Caicos government ordered to recognize gay couple’s marriage
Richard Sankar and Tim Haymon legally married in Fla. in 2020
The Turks and Caicos Islands’ Court of Appeal has ruled the British territory’s government must recognize a same-sex couple’s marriage.
Richard Sankar, a realtor who has lived in the British territory for nearly three decades and is a Turks and Caicos citizen, married Tim Haymon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2020.
Haymon, who is American, in August 2021 applied for a spousal exemption under the Turks and Caicos’ immigration law on the basis of his status as a spouse that would have allowed him to legally live and work in the territory.
The Turks and Caicos’ Director of Immigration initially denied the application because its definition of marriage used does not include same-sex couples.
Haymon and Sankar filed their lawsuit in October 2021. The Supreme Court heard the case in November 2022.
The court in March 2024 ruled the government’s refusal to issue a work permit exemption for Haymon violates the Turks and Caicos’ constitution that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. The government appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeal heard it in January 2025.
The Court of Appeal in September dismissed the government’s appeal. It released its decision on Oct. 27.
Stanbrook Prudhoe, a law firm in the Turks and Caicos, represents Haymon and Sankar.
“Just like any other spouse coming to the Turks and Caicos Islands and marrying a Turks and Caicos islander, we’re just wanting the same rights,” Haymon told the Blade during a March 2024 interview.
Haymon told the Blade he has received his “spousal certificate that gives me residency and the right to work” in the British territory in the British territory. The government appealed a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ordered it to give him the certificate, but the Court of Appeals denied it.
The Supreme Court ordered the Director of Immigration to grant Haymon a residence permit. He told the Blade he received it on Monday.
The Turks and Caicos are a group of islands that are located roughly 650 miles southeast of Miami.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations have been decriminalized in the British territory since 2001.
The constitution states “every unmarried man and woman of marriageable age (as determined by or under any law) has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex and found a family.” The constitution also says “every person in the islands is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, the right, without distinction of any kind, such as race, national or social origin, political or other opinion, color, religion, language, creed, association with a national minority, property, sex, sexual orientation, birth, or other status.”
Then-Cayman Islands Grand Court Chief Justice Anthony Smellie in 2019 ruled same-sex couples can legally marry in the Cayman Islands. The Caymanian Court of Appeal later overturned the decision, and the British territory’s Civil Partnership Law took effect in 2020.
Then-Bermuda Supreme Court Justice Charles-Etta Simmons in 2017 issued a ruling that paved the way for gays and lesbians to legally marry in the British territory. The Domestic Partnership Act — a law then-Gov. John Rankin signed that allows same-sex couples to enter into domestic partnerships as opposed to get married — took effect in 2018.
Bermuda’s top court later found the Domestic Partnership Act unconstitutional. The Privy Council, a British territories appellate court in London, upheld the law. It also ruled same-sex couples do not have the constitutional right to marry in the Cayman Islands.
The Turks and Caicos government has until Nov. 24 to appeal the Court of Appeals decision. It remains possible the Privy Council’s Judicial Committee could hear Haymon and Sankar’s case.
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