23 Feb 2017 - NPWJ News Digest on on LGBTI rights

Articles

Trump revokes Obama guidelines on transgender bathrooms
by Reuters, 23 Feb 2017

President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday revoked landmark guidance to public schools letting transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice, reversing a signature initiative of former Democratic President Barack Obama. Reversing the Obama guidelines stands to inflame passions in the latest conflict in America between believers in traditional values and social progressives, and is likely to prompt more of the street protests that followed Trump's Nov. 8 election. Obama had instructed public schools last May to let transgender students use the bathrooms matching their chosen gender identity, threatening to withhold funding for schools that did not comply. Transgender people hailed the step as victory for their civil rights. Trump, a Republican who took office last month, rescinded those guidelines, even though they had been put on hold by a federal judge, arguing that states and public schools should have the authority to make their own decisions without federal interference. The Justice and Education departments will continue to study the legal issues involved, according to the new, superseding guidance that will be sent to public schools.

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Government money used to pay for gay clubs with backrooms
by LGTBQ Nation, 22 Feb 2017

The head of Italy’s anti-discrimination office has resigned after accusations that he used government money to fund gay sex club. A popular television program reported that money from the National Office against Racial Discrimination (UNAR) had been used to National Association Against Sexual Discrimination (ANDDOS), which was supposed to create support centers for the victims of homophobic violence. ANDDOS received 55,000 euro in government money (about $53,000). ANDDOS runs hundreds of gay clubs throughout Italy, and some of these clubs have back rooms. The television report showed a reporter being offered sexual services for money in three of the clubs. UNAR director Francesco Spano was listed as a member of one of the clubs and has stepped down. He said that his resignation is not an admission of guilt and that he doesn’t know why he was listed as a member of the club. While rightwing organizations have called for UNAR to be immediately shut down, LGBT groups warned against knee-jerk reactions. “We hope the government intervenes, not to close UNAR, but to verify who receives the money and if necessary demand it be repaid,” GayLib national secretary Daniele Priori said.

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Europe rights chief says all states must approve same-sex unions
by Pink News, 21 Feb 2017

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, the Latvian-American Nils Muižnieks, outlined his view in a report today. In it, he draws on existing international human rights protections to assert that the 47 member states of the Council of Europe must all provide protections same-sex couples. He wrote: “The 20 member states of the Council of Europe that still do not provide any legal recognition to same-sex couples should enact legislation to create – at the very least – registered partnerships that ensure that privileges, obligations or benefits available to married or registered different-sex partners are equally available to same-sex partners. “All states should ensure that legislation exists to provide registered same-sex couple with the same rights and benefits as married or registered different-sex couples, for example in the areas of social security, taxes, employment and pension benefits, freedom of movement, family reunification, parental rights and inheritance.” The Council of Europe is distinct from the European Union and has a broader membership – including Ukraine, Russia and Turkey. Mr Muižnieks stops short of calling for same-sex marriage to become a uniform standard, however, noting that “international human rights law currently does not create an obligation on states to allow same-sex couples to marry”. The commissioner explains: “There are arguments in favour of providing access to civil marriage to same-sex couples. One is to ensure that the rights available to same-sex and to different-sex couples are truly equal. “Indeed, more often than not, registered partnerships offer a pared-down selection of rights, leaving aside more controversial issues such as adoption of children or medically assisted procreation. “My opinion is that genuine commitment to full equality would at least require states to seriously consider opening up civil marriage to same-sex couples.”

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Drop in teenage suicide attempts linked to legalisation of same-sex marriage
by The Guardian, 20 Feb 2017

Legalisation of same-sex marriage in US states has been linked to a drop in suicide attempts among teenagers. Researchers say suicide attempts among high school students fell by an average of 7% following the implementation of the legislation. The impact was especially significant among gay, lesbian and bisexual teenagers, for whom the passing of same-sex marriage laws was linked to a 14% drop in suicide attempts. Julia Raifman, co-author of the research from Johns Hopkins University, said she hoped the research would help to draw wider attention to the scale of the issue among sexual minorities. “I would hope that policymakers and the public would consider the potential health implications of laws and policies affecting LGBT rights,” she added. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the second leading cause of death for those aged between 15 and 24, with suicide rates much higher among those who identify as sexual minorities than heterosexual students. “This study was really motivated by evidence that there are large disparities across domains of health that affect LGBT adolescents,” said Raifman. “I was interested in whether larger structural issues were potentially leading to those disparities.”

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