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.
Belarus
Belarusian lawmakers approve bill to crackdown on LGBTQ rights
Country’s president known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’
Lawmakers in Belarus on Thursday approved a bill that would allow the government to crack down on LGBTQ advocacy.
The Associated Press notes the bill would punish anyone found guilty of “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender change, refusal to have children, and pedophilia” with fines, community labor, and 15 days in jail.
The House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, last month approved the bill. The Council of the Republic, which is the parliament’s upper chamber, passed it on Thursday.
President Alexander Lukashenko is expected to sign it.
Belarus borders Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Lukashenko — known as “Europe’s last dictator” is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kazakhstan is among the countries that have enacted Russian-style anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws in recent years.
Vika Biran, a Belarusian LGBTQ activist, is among those arrested during anti-Lukashenko protests that took place in 2020 after he declared victory in the country’s presidential election.
Kenya
Kenyan advocacy groups launch LGBTQ voter mobilization campaign
As Kenya prepares for next year’s August general election, local queer rights groups have joined Gen Zers in also mobilizing their members to register as voters.
The groups’ drive began ahead of the electoral commission’s official launch of a one-month nationwide mass voter registration on March 30, targeting 6.5 million new voters to bring the total to more than 28 million.
The groups — led by the Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination (INEND) and Galck+ — note that politics is not optional, but rather it is “our responsibility” to use the ballot to put an end to bad leadership and discriminatory laws against them.
“Voting is one of the most powerful ways we exercise our autonomy and remind the State that our human rights are not ‘Western imports’; our struggles for housing, employment, safety, and dignity are fundamentally Kenyan issues,” INEND states.
It reminds queer individuals that the nation entrusts them with an identity card at age 18 as a recognition of their ability to make decisions, follow laws, and take responsibility for the country’s future.
INEND also notes that despite this honor, LGBTQ people get kicked out of their homes due to homophobia, are discriminated against at work, and face violence in public places due to the punitive laws that the same State legislates.
“As queer Kenyans, our vote matters,” INEND states. “Our voice belongs in the democratic and governance conversations, and true democracy includes everyone.”
Some voter mobilization initiatives the queer lobby groups have been using include ‘Queering the Ballot’ Podcasts on civic participation, dubbed ‘Your Vote is Your Future’. The topics explored include how laws shape their lives, the relationship between lived experiences of common citizens, discrimination fatigue, distrust in government systems, and voter apathy.
The groups through the mobilization drive hope to create a queer voting bloc to actively participate in restructuring and reconstructing the existing governance system they argue has been a problem for them. They maintain the queer community navigates a system that was not built for them from its questioning of their right to exist, yet the Kenyan Constitution clearly states that no citizen should be discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Court of Appeal next month will hear a case challenging the constitutionality of provisions in Kenya’s Penal Code that criminalize consensual same-sex relationships among adults. The appeals court postponed the case after adjourning on Feb. 4, its first substantive hearing since the High Court judgement in 2019.
“Change requires more than pointing fingers. It requires reflection, action, and showing up, especially at the ballot box as LGBTQ Kenyan citizens and declaring that this is our country, our business, and we can no longer watch from the sidelines,” INEND states.
The group notes that they want a governance system that embraces queer people as they go about their daily lives without any form of homophobic discrimination, harassment, or arrests. Queer people are therefore urged to pick the right leaders who listen to them in Kenya’s six elective positions, from the president down to the local government representatives, as their decisions while in power affect them.
“It is very irresponsible for any human being, even around the world, to assume that they don’t have political responsibility. It is easy and sounds fancy to say ‘I don’t like politics,’ but it does not make one good as it makes one abandon their political responsibility as a citizen,” INEND states.
The groups are also concerned with the existing homophobia among Kenyans, especially whenever they join them in street protests against the government’s punitive measures or advocating for change. However, they maintain that the LGBTQ community won’t be left behind despite being marginalized in society, yet they are the most affected group when the government raids people’s pockets for taxes.
“Now we are moving from the margins to the centre of this political conversation early enough to ensure that our community sees the sense because if we live in a country that doesn’t work, we will be the most affected,” INEND states.
INEND, with the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Galck+, last November launched the second Queering the Ballot Campaign and the 2024 Situation Report on queer participation in Kenya’s democracy.
The report surveyed 14 of the country’s 47 local governments, whose key findings affirm that queer Kenyans are not outsiders to democracy but its heartbeat.
“The title ‘Our Vote, Our Future: LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Democratic and Governance Processes’ in Kenya is an ode to the spirit of the queer movement in Kenya; unshaken in the face of adversity, determined in its pursuit of justice, and unrelenting in demand to be seen, heard and counted in democratic and political processes,” reads the report forwarded by former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.
The report calls on Parliament, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the County Assemblies, and every Kenyan to make inclusion not symbolic but systemic.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
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