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JK Rowling mocked Scotland’s new hate crimes law

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

SCOTLAND

JK Rowling in a 2019 BBC interview (YouTube screenshot)

Harry Potter author JK Rowling took the opportunity of Scotland’s new hate speech law coming into force to harass several prominent British transgender people over X, but Scottish police say they’re not planning to charge her over her posts.

Rowling spent the morning of April 1 making a series of posts in mock celebration of the womanhood of well-known trans people, starting with some well-known convicted sex offenders and then listing several notable trans activists. At the end of her series of posts, Rowling gave up the joke.

“🎉🌼🌸April Fools! 🌸🌼🎉Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren’t women at all, but men, every last one of them,” she wrote. “If what I’ve written here qualifies as an offense under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”

As is her usual style, Rowling then spent the rest of the day reposting fawning congratulatory posts from other bigots and arguing with people who stood up to her.

Rowling was protesting the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which came into effect on April 1. The revision to Scottish hate crime law added protections for age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex people, both for aggravated punishment of hate-motivated crimes and for “stirring up hatred” against protected groups. 

The law has drawn criticism from free-speech advocates, who say it will having a chilling effect on speech critical of protected communities. But supporters of the law saw that the threshold for prosecution is very high and it’s unlikely to be used for genuine political discourse or advocacy.

So far, that seems to have been borne out — Scottish police have already said that Rowling’s posts do not rise to the level of hate speech and she is not being charged.

In fact, the whole incident has just burnished Rowling’s reputation among anti-trans crusaders. 

Not only did British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commend the decision not to charge Rowling, but his statement to the BBC on the matter seems to back up Rowling’s hateful views.

“Nobody should be criminalized for saying commonsense things about biological sex,” Sunak told the BBC.

Trans issues have become a major issue in the UK over the past several years as a rising tide of self-described “gender-critical” activists — of whom Rowling is the most prominent — have successfully gotten the ear of the governing Conservative Party.

Last year, after the Scottish government passed a controversial law that would allow transpeople to change their legal gender by self-declaration, the British government disallowed the law, saying it would be incompatible with England and Wales’ rules around gender recognition.

Conservatives have also slow-walked their promised bill to ban conversion therapy after years of pressure from gender-criticals who got the government to remove protections for trans youth. A bill in unlikely to pass before elections expected later this year.

Scotland is holding consultations on its own conversion therapy ban bill, but divisions over LGBTQ issues are one of the causes of a rift in the governing Scottish National Party, which is seeing a challenge from the upstart ALBA party, which also wants Scottish independence but has leaned into anti-trans politics.

ENGLAND

A private women’s club in Central London. (BBC YouTube screenshot)

An anti-trans activist has announced plans to open a private, members-only lesbian bar that refuses admission to trans women in London later this year, although details on where the bar will be located or when it will open have yet to be revealed. 

The bar, to be called L Community, will be a private, members-only bar, which owner Jenny Watson, 32, says will allow her to skirt discrimination laws by restricting membership to cisgender lesbians.

Watson has gain notoriety in England for throwing lesbian focused events that exclude trans women. 

Last year, Watson threw a lesbian speed-dating event that gathered controversy for its trans-exclusion policy, but was ultimately allowed to go ahead.

Watson says the backlash to that event has led to her other trans-exclusionary events being refused or cancelled by venues she’s tried to book. Having her own venue will allow her to host her own events.

“No one will take bookings for my events any more,” Watson told the Telegraph. “The trans activists are constantly targeting the events, so venues don’t want anything to do with them.”

“We should have a right to our own space — hence the idea to set up the bar. It will be for biological females only and this is why we’re making it a members-only club so we can legally restrict it to women,” she said.

On the web site for L Community, Watson lists potential events the bar could host, including speed dating, networking events, lesbian movie nights, open mics, trivia nights, book clubs and panel discussions.

Even though the bar has no opening date, L Community is already soliciting free and premium memberships, which its website says will come with priority access to events and L Community’s “social media platform.” Premium members are asked to make a “donation” of £120 (approximately $150.)

Anyone wishing to join must attest to being a biological female and upload government ID to the L Community website as proof.

Trans journalist Shivani Dave criticized the “crap new terf [trans-exclusionary radical feminist] bar” on their Instagram account and announced a plan to hold a trans-inclusive kiss-in in front of the bar “if it ever opens.” 

“YOU THINK I’M JOKING? We are gonna go and make out in front of this TERF bar every single day until it closes. Lol that is if it ever even opens. Bigots be bigoting? Trans+ people are gonna be snogging,” they wrote.

THAILAND

A lesbian couple celebrates Bangkok Pride in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Bangkok Pride’s Facebook page)

Thailand got one step closer to legalizing same-sex marriage this week as the Senate voted 147-3 to advance the marriage bill through first reading. The bill now heads to a committee which has up to 60 days to study the bill before returning it to the senate for second and third reading.

Advancing LGBTQ rights has become a major issue in the southeast Asian country of 66 million over the last decade. Last year saw the opposition Move Forward Party win a plurality of seats in elections to Parliament’s lower house after it promised to legalize same-sex marriage. But the party was barred from government by a court ruling its leader breached the constitution by proposed changes to the country’s strict laws that forbid criticism of the monarchy. 

The governing coalition that was later formed without Move Forward agreed to make marriage equality and LGBTQ rights a part of the coalition agreement anyway, and last month the lower house gave final, overwhelming approval to the same-sex marriage bill

There had been some worry that the bill would face a rougher ride through the more conservative senate, which is made up of appointees of the Thai military, a holdover from the last junta that ran the country until 2017. 

But the overwhelming support for the bill in the senate signals that it will likely pass and be sent to the king for royal assent before the summer, with it coming into effect before the end of the year.

Thailand will likely become the first state in southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Elsewhere in Asia, only Taiwan has legalized same-sex marriage, while the Nepalese Supreme Court has legalized it, although it can be difficult for couples to marry in practice.

Thailand’s push to enhance LGBTQ rights hasn’t stopped at marriage. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has ordered his Cabinet to draft a bill to allow trans people to change their legal gender, and the government is also considering changes to surrogacy law to allow same-sex couples and foreigners to access services to have children. The government is also directing resources toward ending HIV transmission in the country by making PrEP more widely available. 

The government is eager to promote Thailand as an LGBTQ tourist destination, and is bidding to have Bangkok host World Pride 2028.

JAPAN

(France 24 YouTube screenshot)

Five more prefectures and more than 40 municipalities began offering partnership certificates to same-sex couples on April 1, providing a limited measure of security for Japan’s LGBTQ couples as marriage remains out of reach.

While courts and the national government continue to fail to recognize same-sex marriage, local governments across the country are stepping up to fill the void with “partnership certificates” for same-sex couples. The certificates can help couples access local services reserved for couples and hospital visitation, but they are not considered legally binding. Couples do not access inheritance rights and are not treated as legal next of kin.

Beginning April 1, Aichi, Hyōgo, Nara, Ōita, and Tokushima prefectures began offering partnership certificates, bringing the total to 26 out of 47 prefectures recognizing same-sex couples. Additionally, 445 municipalities offer the certificates, according to Marriage for All Japan, a local advocacy group. More than two-thirds of Japanese people live in a jurisdiction that offers same-sex partnerships.

Some prefectures go further, offering “familyship” registries that allow same-sex couples to also register their children.

Same-sex marriage, however, remains out of reach for same-sex couples. National lawmakers have proven too conservative to advance LGBTQ rights. 

Last year, a government bill that was meant to ban discrimination was given much fanfare ahead of the G7 conference in Tokyo. Conservative lawmakers pushed back and the bill was watered down to simply promote “understanding” of LGBTQ people, with no actual legal protections offered.

Meanwhile, a multi-year effort to advance same-sex marriage through the courts has delivered several key rulings finding that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, but the courts have thus far failed to offer couples any remedy.

Last month, the first appellate-level court issued a ruling finding the marriage ban unconstitutional, but again did not order the government to allow same-sex marriage. The couples involved in the case have said they will appeal to the Supreme Court. Other marriage cases are still ongoing in other district and appellate courts.

For its part, the Supreme Court recently ruled that same-sex couples must be given access to a benefit paid to the survivors of crime victims on an equal basis as married heterosexual couples. Observers are already saying that the ruling will have implications for the full suite of benefits of marriage, including when it comes to taxes, housing, inheritance, pension and insurance. 

PHILIPPINES

Rep. Marissa Magsino in a committee hearing last month. (Photo courtesy of Marissa Magsino’s Facebook page)

Filipino legislator Marissa Magsino of the opposition OFW Party has filed a bill in Congress seeking to recognize the property rights of same-sex couples, which would be a landmark of progress in the deeply Catholic Asian country if passed.

The bill was filed March 20 but has not yet been called for a first reading, it is a companion to a similar bill filed in the Senate in November 2022, which has been stuck in committee since.

Both bills would only offer limited property rights to same-sex couples. Couples would be deemed to share ownership and responsibility for any property acquired during the partnership, unless a written agreement is signed saying otherwise. A partnership would only be deemed to exist if partners cohabit for at least one year. 

The bill aims to treat partners equitably in the event of a breakup. 

While this is a very limited set of rights, the Philippines does not currently offer any recognition of same-sex couples or their property rights. 

“Though through the years there has been change in the mindset of people on long-standing stereotypes and generalizations with social perceptions becoming more accommodating of the LGBTQ+ community, there’s still no legislation that guarantees equal rights for everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” Magsino said in a statement to the Manila Bulletin on April 2.

“This legislation is a significant step towards achieving greater equality and justice for all Filipino citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is imperative that we ensure equal protection under the law for every individual in our society,” she said.

Proposals to create more expansive civil unions that recognize a broader set of rights similar to marriage for same-sex couples have occasionally been lodged in Congress, but none has ever been brought to a vote.

In 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking a right to same-sex marriage for lack of standing, as the petitioner did not seek to get married himself. The petitioner and his counsel were cited for indirect contempt of court over the matter.

The Philippines Congress has struggled to advance any pro-LGBTQ+ legislation for years. A bill that would add discrimination protections for sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, dubbed the SOGIE Bill, has been introduced multiple times since 2001, and has even passed the House of Representatives multiple times, but has always stalled in the more conservative Senate.

Dozens of provinces and municipalities have passed local non-discrimination ordinances across the country.

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Spain

Spanish women detail abuses suffered in Franco-era institutions

Barcelona-based photographer Luca Gaetano Pira created ‘Las Descarriadas’ exhibit

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Luca Gaetano Pira's 'Las Descarriadas' exhibit profiles women who suffered abuses in Franco-era institutions. (Photo courtesy of Luca Gaetano Pira)

A Barcelona-based photographer, audiovisual artist, and activist has created an exhibit that profiles Spanish women who suffered abuse in institutions that Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship established.

Luca Gaetano Pira, who is originally from Italy, spoke with women who the regime, which governed Spain from 1936-1975, sent to Women’s Protection Board institutions.

The regime in 1941 created the board the country’s Justice Ministry oversaw.

Franco named his wife, Carmen Polo, as the board’s honorary president. Then-Prime Minister Felipe González fully dissolved the board in 1985, a decade after Franco’s death.

Gaetano’s exhibit is called “Las Descarriadas” or “The Misguided Women” in English.  

“These are women who were detained between 1941 and 1985 for reasons that are unthinkable today: being lesbian, poor, pregnant out of wedlock, rebellious, politically active … or simply considered ‘morally suspect,'” Gaetano noted to the Washington Blade.

Groups affiliated with the Spanish Catholic Church ran these institutions. Gaetano pointed out they were “presented as social assistance centers.”

“In reality, they were spaces of punishment and forced reeducation, where isolation, unpaid work, and psychological violence were the norm,” he said. “Many of the survivors are still alive. Their testimonies are powerful, urgent, and of extraordinary current relevance.”

The regime sent more than 40,000 women to Women’s Protection Board institutions.

“Despite its seemingly benevolent name, it was in fact one of the most powerful instruments of moral and social control over women during and after the dictatorship,” notes the exhibit. “Under the guise of care and re-education, this institution functioned as a repressive apparatus that punished women who deviated from the ideal feminine model imposed by Franco’s regime: submissive, obedient, married, and dedicated to motherhood within the Catholic family structure.”

The Spanish Catholic Church last month issued a public apology, but Gaetano described it as “very soft” and noted “the women did not accept it.” Gaetano also compared the Women’s Protection Board institutions to Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries.

The Associated Press notes tens of thousands of “fallen” women were sent to the laundries that Catholic nuns operated in Ireland from the 18th century until the mid-1990s. Then-Irish Prime Minister Edna Kenny in 2013 issued a formal apology for the abuses that women suffered in the laundries and announced the government would compensate them.

The Spanish government has yet to offer compensation to the women abused in Women’s Protection Board institutions.

“My work focuses on recovering the historical memory of marginalized communities, particularly through the portrayal of survivors of institutional violence and the use of archival materials,” Gaetano told the Blade, noting he has also sought to highlight the repression that LGBTQ people suffered during dictatorships in Portugal and Latin America.

Gaetano’s exhibit can be found here:

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Afghanistan

ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over persecution of LGBTQ people, women

Groups ‘non-conforming’ with group’s gender policy targeted

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The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photo by STRINGER Image/Bigstock)

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials accused of targeting LGBTQ people, women, and others who defy the group’s strict gender norms.

The warrants are for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Afghanistan Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

“Based on evidence presented by the Office (of the Prosecutor), the judges found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have committed — by ordering, inducing, or soliciting — the crime against humanity of persecution, under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, on gender grounds, against girls, women, and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as ‘allies of girls and women,’” reads an ICC press release that announced the warrants.

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, in January announced a request for warrants against Taliban officials over their treatment of women and other groups since they regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. The request marked the first time the court specifically named LGBTQ people as victims in a gender persecution case before it.

“The issuance of the first arrest warrants in the situation in Afghanistan is an important vindication and acknowledgement of the rights of Afghan women and girls,” reads the press release the ICC released on Tuesday. “It also recognizes the rights and lived experiences of persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, such as members of the LGBTQI+ community, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women.” 

A report that Outright International released in 2023 notes Taliban officials have systematically targeted LGBTQ people — especially gay men and transgender women.

Taliban officials have subjected them to physical and sexual assault as well as arbitrary detention. The Outright International report also notes Taliban authorities have carried out public floggings for alleged same-sex sexual relations, and have collected intelligence on LGBTQ activists and community members.

Artemis Akbary, executive director of the Afghanistan LGBTIQ Organization, praised the ICC.

“Today is a historic moment for LGBTIQ victims and survivors,” he said on social media.

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El Salvador

#JusticiaParaKarla: una lucha por el derecho a la identidad en El Salvador

Karla Guevara inició su camino legal y personal en 2020

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Karla Guevara (Foto de Ernesto Valle por el Washington Blade)

Cinco años han pasado desde que Karla Guevara inició un camino legal y personal para lograr que su nombre y género sean reconocidos en su Documento Único de Identidad (DUI). Cinco años de sentencias, apelaciones, puertas cerradas y vulneraciones que hoy se resumen en una sola palabra: resistencia.

En medio de un país que aún arrastra estructuras jurídicas y sociales poco sensibles a las realidades trans, Guevara se ha convertido en una voz visible. No solo por la denuncia pública de su caso, sino por su capacidad de transformar el dolor en acción: ha iniciado la campaña #JusticiaParaKarla, la cual acompaña con conversatorios llamados “Si tú fueras yo” en diferentes zonas del país.

Su historia se remonta al año 2018, cuando, junto a otras tres defensoras de derechos humanos —Mónica Hernández, Bianca Rodríguez y Verónica López— interpuso una demanda para lograr el cambio de nombre legal. La acción se inspiró en la Opinión Consultiva 24/17 de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, que obligó a los Estados miembros de la OEA a garantizar los derechos de las personas trans, incluyendo el reconocimiento de su identidad.

A diferencia de sus compañeras, cuyo proceso fue resuelto favorablemente, Guevara fue la única a quien el Estado salvadoreño le negó el derecho, incluso tras contar con una sentencia favorable. El camino ha sido empinado, desgastante y doloroso, y ha implicado múltiples etapas legales con resoluciones contradictorias.

El 8 de enero de 2020, el juzgado declaró su demanda improponible. Guevara apeló el 22 de ese mismo mes, pero la Cámara de Familia desestimó su recurso. Aun así, perseveró. En abril de 2021 presentó una segunda apelación, y en septiembre se revocó la decisión del juzgado, ordenando admitir su demanda. Una pequeña luz parecía abrirse.

En agosto de 2022, después de varios peritajes que, según Guevara, incluyeron momentos donde se sintió expuesta y violentada, recibió una sentencia favorable: se autorizaba su cambio de nombre y género en la partida de nacimiento. Sin embargo, esta victoria fue parcial y breve. Aunque se ordenó marginar su partida, no se ordenó cancelarla como en otros casos similares.

El 4 de octubre de ese mismo año, la sentencia fue enviada al Registro del Estado Familiar. Pero la respuesta institucional fue sorprendente: el 3 de noviembre, la Alcaldía de San Salvador se negó a realizar el cambio. El jefe del registro y el registrador presentaron un amparo ante la Sala de lo Constitucional, paralizando el proceso.

“No solo me lo negaron, sino que ahora me exponen a un juicio aún mayor”, expresa Guevara. La frustración y la indignación fueron creciendo. En febrero de 2023, presentó una denuncia ante la Fiscalía General de la República, aunque lo hizo con poca esperanza. “Temía que no harían nada”, dijo. Y el 16 de abril de 2024, sus temores se confirmaron: la Fiscalía archivó el caso alegando que “no existe delito que perseguir”.

El 19 de noviembre de ese mismo año, Guevara decidió acudir a instancias internacionales y presentó su caso ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. La CIDH ya notificó al Estado salvadoreño y le otorgó un plazo de cuatro meses para responder por qué no ha ejecutado el cambio ordenado por el juzgado.

“Obviamente no van a dar respuesta”, lamenta Guevara. Lo dice con la voz entrecortada, como quien ya ha llorado mucho, pero no ha perdido la voluntad de hablar. Reconoce que el proceso le ha afectado emocionalmente. “Cada vez que hablo de esto se me corta la voz”.

Las heridas no solo vienen de las oficinas estatales, sino también de las calles. Las miradas, los comentarios, el momento de presentar el DUI en cualquier trámite. “Es como si cada vez tuviera que explicar mi existencia. Es un juicio constante sobre quién soy”.

Guevara no está sola. Reconoce que hay otras personas trans en la misma situación. “Lo preocupante es que solo pasa en algunas zonas del país. En otras ha habido casos exitosos”, afirma. La disparidad en el trato revela una preocupante arbitrariedad institucional.

Uno de esos casos exitosos es el de Valeria Mejía, coordinadora de monitoreo y evaluación de ASPIDH. Su DUI ya refleja su nombre identitario, aunque no su género. 

“Cuando recibí mi DUI con el nombre que me identifico pensé: aquí empieza una nueva vida”, relata.

Para Mejía, el cambio fue profundamente simbólico. “Uno ve pasar toda su vida frente a los ojos. Toda la discriminación, todos los rechazos. Sentí que algo sanaba”. A pesar de ello, su género asignado al nacer sigue apareciendo en el documento, lo que le genera inseguridad.

“El problema es que tengo que ir a todas las instituciones donde aparezco con mi nombre anterior. En el Seguro Social, por ejemplo, aún estoy registrada con el nombre masculino y no pueden atenderme, aunque el número del DUI sea el mismo”, explica.

Casos como los de Guevara y Mejía visibilizan una problemática estructural: el Estado salvadoreño no garantiza de forma uniforme el derecho a la identidad de las personas trans. Las resoluciones favorables son solo el primer paso. Su implementación efectiva aún tropieza con prejuicios, burocracia y omisiones.

Con la campaña #JusticiaParaKarla, la activista busca más que una solución a su caso personal. Busca generar conciencia, exigir coherencia legal y empujar una transformación cultural. En la marcha del 17 de mayo contra la LGBTIfobia, su presencia se hizo notar con camisetas, banners y mensajes que interpelan directamente al sistema.

Guevara ha hecho de su cuerpo, su voz y su historia una herramienta de resistencia. En cada conversatorio de “Si tú fueras yo”, invita a imaginar, a empatizar, a incomodarse. 

“Lo que me pasa a mí le puede pasar a cualquier persona trans. Y si el Estado no nos reconoce, nos niega también la posibilidad de existir plenamente”, expresa.

Hoy, la resolución está en manos de la CIDH y el tiempo corre. La lucha de Guevara ya no es solo por una partida de nacimiento. Es por el derecho a ser, a vivir sin miedo, a que el nombre que la representa no siga siendo un motivo de juicio, burla o rechazo.

Mientras tanto, sigue esperando. Sigue alzando la voz. Sigue sembrando esperanza en quienes vienen detrás. Porque como ella misma dice: “Esto no se trata solo de mí. Se trata de justicia”.

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