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20 December 2018 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights
Articles
They tested positive for HIV. Then the military kicked them out.
The Washington Post, 19 Dec 2018
Testing positive for HIV was difficult enough. Getting forced out of the military by the Air Force because of the diagnosis proved even harder. So say two U.S. airmen who filed suit on Wednesday against Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, arguing that the Pentagon’s decision last month to discharge them from the military owing to their HIV status violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause and federal law. They have asked the court to strike down the decision.
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Gay man can adopt surrogate son, Singapore court rules
Gay Star News, 17 Dec 2018
A gay Singaporean can adopt his son fathered through a surrogate abroad, the city-state’s highest court ruled on Monday (17 December). The man and his partner tried to legally adopt the child last year. But, the Family Justice Courts ruled against their petition. Singapore does not recognize same-sex marriages and adoption rights. In fact, gay sex is still punishable with up to two years in jail. Authorities rarely enforce the law, however.
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Inspired by India, Singaporeans Seek to End Gay Sex Ban
The New York Times, 16 Dec 2018
Across the British Empire, the laws banning gay sex in the colonies were often so similar that some even shared the same code number. In India, it was Section 377. In Singapore, 377A. So when the Indian Supreme Court struck down this fall the country’s colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex, Johnson Ong — 2,500 miles away in Singapore — saw it as a call to action. Within days, Mr. Ong, 43, filed a constitutional challenge to overturn Singapore’s version of the ban, arguing that it was “absurd and arbitrary” and “in violation of human dignity.”
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German parliament approves 'third gender' option
Reuters, 14 Dec 2018
The German parliament has approved a third gender option on official documents for “intersex” people who do not identify as either male or female and may be born with untypical sexual anatomy. The German government in August voted to introduce the third category of “various”, alongside male and female, on birth certificates and other documents.
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