25 July 2019 NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI Rights

Articles

More calls for India to rethink controversial trans bill
Gay Star News, 25 Jul 2019

 International rights groups say India is failing in its constitutional obligation to allow transgender Indians to self-identify International rights groups this week added their voices to condemn a controversial transgender rights billIndia reintroduced to parliament this week. India’s cabinet claims the bill will ‘provide for protection of rights of transgender persons and their welfare.’ But the trans community have labeled it a ‘travesty of justice’ and a ‘burial of rights.’ The legislation does not allow trans individuals to self identify. It mandates sex reassignment surgery for people who want to change gender. What’s more, rights groups detailed, it sets out lighter sentences for sexual abuse and domestic abuse. It also leaves in place laws that could be used to unfairly target transgender citizens. Moreover, the bill enshrines little to no protections to trans people in public spaces or in the workplace.
 

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Equal marriage in Japan just got a major legal boost
Gay Star News, 25 Jul 2019

Japan’s law regulators just labeled the failure to recognize same-sex unions a 'serious human rights violation'. The law regulatory authority in Japan on Wednesday (24 July) said the government’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage was a ‘serious human rights violation’. The influential Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) found current marriage law violates equality and contravenes Articles 13 and 14 of Japan’s Constitution. ‘Therefore, the state should allow same-sex marriage and promptly revise the relevant laws and regulations’ a summary of the findings said. 

 

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Georgia Same-Sex Couple Sues Over Denial of Child's Citizenship
Advocate, 24 Jul 2019

A same-sex couple in Georgia filed suit Tuesday against the State Department for failure to recognize the citizenship of their daughter. Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg’s daughter, Simone Mize-Gregg, was born via surrogacy in England in 2018. “Because only one of Simone’s fathers has a biological connection to her, the State Department is disregarding Jonathan and Derek’s marriage and is treating Simone as though she was born out of wedlock, a classification which requires more stringent requirements for recognition of her citizenship,” says a press release from Lambda Legal, which is representing the couple, along with Immigration Equality and pro bono counsel Morgan Lewis.

 

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North Carolina: trans people given right to use bathrooms matching identity
The Guardian, 23 Jul 2019

Settlement marks the end of a three-year battle over a controversial ‘bathroom bill’, also known as HB2. A federal judge has affirmed the right of transgender people to use bathrooms matching their gender identity in North Carolina, by approving a legal settlement brought by Governor Roy Cooper and LGBTQ rights groups. The settlement marks the end of a three-year battle over a controversial North Carolina “bathroom bill”, which forced transgender people to use bathrooms that matched the gender on their birth certificate in state-owned buildings such as universities and highway rest stops.

 

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Poland LGBT march: Police arrest 25 after attacks on activists
BBC, 22 Jul 2019

Polish police have arrested 25 people after attacks on LGBT activists taking part in the city of Bialystok’s first ever equality march. Around 800 pro-LGBT demonstrators marched through the streets of the city on Saturday amid a heavy police presence. Hundreds of counter-protesters attempted to disrupt the event, with some attacking activists and chanting homophobic insults

 

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