The Trump-Pence administration has refused to sign a statement in support of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling on marriage equality and transgender rights.
Earlier this month, the court issued an opinion that Costa Rica is in violation of its treaty obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) by not providing marriage equality or providing legal options for transgender people to change their gender marker on identity documents. While seven of the eight countries in the Organization of American States (OAS) LGBTI Core Group signed on to a statement supporting the court’s opinion, the United States did not.
“The Trump-Pence administration’s refusal to sign this statement in support of marriage equality and transgender rights is deeply troubling,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “As the administration unleashes a torrent of attacks on the LGBTQ community here at home, it is also abandoning LGBTQ people around the world. We are in desperate need of leadership that will advance America’s commitment to LGBTQ human rights in the U.S. and abroad.”
The seven nations that signed the statement on January 22 are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. While the United States has not ratified the ACHR, Canada also has not, but that did not prevent their leadership from signing the statement. It is also notable that Chile, which does not yet have marriage equality, and a number of countries that do not offer transgender individuals the option to legally change their official gender markers, signed the statement.
The European Union’s top court has ruled that psychological tests to determine a person’s sexuality should not be used for asylum claims.
Controversial, so-called ‘gay tests’ have been used on people fleeing countries where it is illegal to be homosexual to assess asylum claims.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling is binding in all 28 EU states.
The case which prompted the ruling was brought by a Nigerian man who submitted an asylum application in Hungary in April 2015.
Homosexuality is illegal in Nigeria, and punishable by death in certain areas of the country.
His request was refused after a psychological test in which he was pressured to draw a picture of a person in the rain and participate in a Rorschach ink-blot test failed to confirm his homosexuality.
Due to this new ruling, a court in Szeged, Hungary, will now reconsider his claim.
The ECJ stated in the new ruling that “certain forms of expert reports may prove useful,” but said that these reports infringed on a person’s privacy.
The judge said that authorities must determine the reliability of the claims, but without these tests.
According to the EU Agency for Fundamental rights, hundreds of homosexuals who fear persecution in Chechnya, Africa and the Middle East have sought asylum in Europe.In 2013, the ECJ ruled that applications would be accepted if the person’s home country imprisoned people for homosexuality.
Cherry said: “We can all agree that no one should ever be persecuted on account of their sexuality.
“Last week at the PinkNews Awards, the Prime Minister said we have come a long way on LGBT rights, but there’s still much more to do.
“Can I ask her to start that work today by promising that never again will the Home Office deport LGBT Asylum Seekers to countries where they are likely to be persecuted with the instruction that they pretend to be straight?”
The Prime Minister did not provide a direct assurance in her response.
Bruce McArthur, 66, made his first court appearance this morning, facing charges of first-degree murder in relation to the two missing men from The Village. Caryn Lieberman reports from the Church and Wellesley village.
Some members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community say they’re relieved an arrest has been made in the presumed deaths of two men who went missing from the city’s gay village last year, but they’re also angry that police didn’t heed their concerns over a possible serial killer earlier.
Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old Toronto man, was arrested and charged Thursday as part of an investigation into the disappearance of Selim Esen and Andrew Kinsman.
McArthur made a brief appearance in court Friday and was returned to custody until Feb. 14, when he will appear in court through a video link.
Alphonso King and his husband John Allan were among those who packed the downtown Toronto courtroom.
King said they wanted to see the face of the man whose alleged actions kept the gay village on edge for the better part of a year.
“It was intense,” he said. “For a lot of people, I’m sure that they were really nervous because you didn’t know who it was.”
Court sketch of Bruce McArthur (left), Crown attorney Sean Doyle (centre), and Justice Howard Chisvin (top right), in a Toronto court on Jan. 19, 2018.
Pam Davies
Now that an arrest has been made, there is a sense of relief and hope for closure, King said.
But the pair also said they felt police had put lives at risk by ignoring the community’s concerns over the disappearances for so long.
“The community tried to tell them, ‘We think it’s a serial killer, we think that the cases are related, we think that there’s a possibility that it was all tied to one of the (dating) apps or something like that, that there has to be a link,’ and they assured us that there wasn’t,” King said.
“They completely dismissed that notion. They guaranteed us the cases weren’t related, they guaranteed us there wasn’t a serial killer around, and that’s exactly what it turned out to be,” Allan said. “So that’s why we’re pissed off.”
The couple, who knew Kinsman, said everyone who knew the men has been traumatized. Bereavement counselling is being offered by at least two community groups in the area, they said.
Esen and Kinsman were reported missing from the Church and Wellesley streets area at separate times last year. Their bodies have not been found.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders defended the force’s approach Thursday, saying officers had been working with the evidence they had at the time.
Police have also said they believe McArthur is responsible for the deaths of other men, though they did not say who or what led them to that conclusion. They said new evidence surfaced this week that gave them a “definitive link,” but did not elaborate further.
A European Court of Justice advocate general has advised that European Union member states must recognize the rights of same-sex spouses, even if a country has not extended marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples.According to The Guardian, Melchior Wathelet, a Belgian advocate general in the Luxembourg court, said that all EU members must recognize the rights of gay spouses.
Such opinions are non-binding but are normally followed by the court, the paper wrote.
The Luxembourg court is currently deliberating in the case of a Romanian national, Adrian Coman, whose American husband, Claibourn Robert Hamilton, was refused residence in Romania based on the couple’s 2010 marriage in Brussels. A decision is expected in the coming months.
Romania is one of the six EU member states that do not recognize the unions of gay couples. The other nations include Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on five Russians and Chechens, including the head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, for alleged human rights abuses.
Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov delivers a speech during a rally in support of Muslim Rohingya following the recent violence, which erupted in Myanmar, in the Chechen capital Grozny, Russia September 4, 2017. REUTERS/Said Tsarnayev
The new sanctions blacklisted Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
U.S. authorities accused Kadyrov of overseeing “an administration involved in disappearances and extrajudicial killings”.
On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, a senior U.S. State Department official said that “one or more of Kadyrov’s political opponents were killed at his direction.”
Kadyrov reacted to news of the sanctions with his usual defiance.
“A sleepless night is waiting for me,” Kadyrov wrote, apparently sarcastically, on his Instagram social media account. “I can be proud that I‘m out of favor with the special services of the USA. In fact, the USA cannot forgive me for dedicating my whole life to the fight against foreign terrorists among which there are bastards of America’s special services.”
He also wrote that he would not be visiting the United States.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed the sanctions, which freeze the banks accounts of those targeted, under a 2012 law known as the Magnitsky Act.
The Magnitsky Act imposed visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials linked to the death in prison of Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian auditor and whistleblower. The act also seeks to hold responsible those U.S. authorities allege orchestrated or benefited from the death of Magnitsky.
“Treasury remains committed to holding accountable those involved in the Sergei Magnitsky affair, including those with a role in the criminal conspiracy and fraud scheme that he uncovered,” Director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control John Smith said in a statement.
Magnitsky was arrested and died in a Moscow jail in 2009 after discovering a $230 million tax fraud scheme, according to U.S. authorities. Supporters of Magnitsky say the Russian state murdered him by denying him adequate medical care after he was imprisoned on tax evasion charges. The Kremlin denies the allegation.
In addition to Kadyrov and one other Chechen official, the Treasury’s action on Wednesday targeted three Russians that U.S. authorities say were involved in the complex tax fraud scheme that Magnitsky exposed.
The Magnitsky sanctions have been a point of tension between Moscow and Washington, even before Russia’s annexation of Crimea sent relations spiraling. In retaliation for the Magnitsky Act, Putin signed a bill halting U.S. adoptions of Russian children.
It had been unclear to sanctions experts whether President Donald Trump’s administration, which has signaled a desire to rebuild ties with Moscow, would continue to target people under the law.
The Magnitsky Act attracted greater public attention when it emerged that the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., had met with a Russian lawyer and a lobbyist – both strident opponents of the law – in New York ahead of the 2016 U.S. elections. When asked about the June 2016 meeting, Trump Jr. later said they discussed the adoptions issue.
On a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, State Department officials said that despite the new sanctions the Trump administration wants a constructive relationship with Moscow.
“We believe a Russia that takes care of the human rights of its own citizens will be an even more effective partner,” a senior State Department official said.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation in partnership with PEMEX, Mexico’s largest state-owned petroleum company, has launched the 2018 HRC Equidad MX Report, a first-of-its-kind assessment designed to increase LGBT-inclusion in workplaces across Mexico. Thirty-two major major employers earned top ratings in the inaugural report, reflecting their commitment to LGBT equality and adoption of vital LGBT-inclusive policies and practices.
The 2018 HRC Equidad MX Report assessed major Mexican businesses and multinational companies based on three core pillars of LGBT inclusion:
Adoption of nondiscrimination policies;
Creation of employee resource groups or diversity and inclusion councils; and
Engagement in public activities to support LGBT inclusion.
“These employers have invested in LGBT inclusion in the workplace because it is both fair and smart business. The 32 honorees know that the economy of tomorrow is built by today’s talent and becoming more inclusive is key to attracting and retaining the best workforce, said Deena Fidas, HRC Director of HRC Equidad MX and Workplace Equality Programs. “We commend all of them on this designation of being a ‘Best Place to Work for LGBT Inclusion’ and look forward to continuing our work together in the coming years.”
Since September 2016, HRC Equidad MX has been on the ground working with Mexican companies to promote awareness about the importance of LGBT diversity and inclusion in workplaces across Mexico. The program creates consulting and education models for Mexican companies and organizations interested in furthering their inclusivity efforts. The companies will be honored at an event hosted by PEMEX, Mexico’s largest employer, for their commitment to creating LGBT-inclusive workplaces.
“Earning the HRC Equidad MX certification is a watershed moment that will motivate more people to build more respectful work environments. We are delighted to demonstrate PEMEX’s commitment to equality and non-discrimination policies, especially among its LGBT employees,” said PEMEX Inclusion Manager Melissa García Godínez. “We are proud that the talent and effort of our employees contribute to the growth our company regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Through HRC Equidad MX and the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), HRC Foundation has established guidelines to implement LGBT-inclusive policies, best practices and benefits across national and international corporations. Last year, HRC held its second-ever international launch of the CEI in Mexico City, recognizing the positive impact of leading companies for LGBT-inclusion. In addition, HRC Equidad MX released a Spanish-language business toolkit for workplaces in Mexico and Latin America.
HRC is proud to join with Accenture México (Accenture), American Express Company (México), S.A. de C.V. (American Express), AT&T, México (AT&T), Cinépolis de México (Cinepolis), Grupo Financiero Banamex, S.A. de C.V. (Citibanamex), CompuCom México (Compucom), Dow Química Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. (DOW), Edelman México, S.A de C.V. (Edelman), EY (EY), Ford Motor Company (Ford), GE México, S.A. de C.V. (General Electric), Google México (Google), Herman Miller México, S.A. de C.V. (Herman Miller), IBM de México (IBM), JP Morgan Grupo Financiero, S.A. de C.V (J.P. Morgan), Kellogg Company (Kellogg), Lubrizol Servicios Técnicos, S de R.L. de C.V. (Lubrizol), Mastercard de México (Mastercard), Nielsen México (Nielsen), PayPal México (PayPal), Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and business subsidiaries (PEMEX), PepsiCo México – PepsiCo Internacional México, S. de R.L. de C.V. (Pepsico), Pfizer de México (Pfizer), P&G México (Procter & Gamble), SAP México, S.A. de C.V. (SAP), Scotiabank Inverlat, S.A. (Scotiabank)
SODEXO México (Sodexo), TE Connectivity México (TE Connectivity), The Boston Consulting Group (The Boston Consulting Group), UBER México Technology & Software (Uber), Unilever de México (Unilever), Walmart de México y Centroamérica (Walmart) to celebrate LGBTQ-inclusion in the workplace.
For more information on the HRC Equidad MX program, or to download a free copy of the report, visit hrc.im/equidadMX.
The Australian House of Representatives’ has voted overwhelmingly in favor of marriage equality legislation. The measure passed with only four votes against it. The Australian Senate previously passed the measure by a vote of 43 to 12.
After the Governor-General gives the legislation official approval in a formality known as “Royal Assent,” marriage equality will become the law of the land. Australia will become the 25th country to recognize same-sex couples’ right to marry.
The legislation followed a voluntary postal survey that showed a clear majority of Australian voters endorse equality. The postal survey came after years of stalled efforts to bring marriage equality to Australia. After the country’s governing party refused to allow a conscience vote on the issue in parliament, it undertook the controversial and expensive survey in an attempt to settle the issue. The survey was widely criticized for delaying the arrival of marriage equality.
“This belongs to us all. This is Australia – fair , diverse, loving and filled with respect for every one of us. This has been a great, unifying day in our history.”
“We welcome Australia into the growing family of freedom loving nations that ensure marriage equality for all couples,” said Ty Cobb, Director of HRC Global. “The overwhelming support for marriage equality Down Under is a testament to the hard work of Australia’s LGBTQ advocates and allies who fought tirelessly to make today a reality. We congratulate them on this incredibly important victory.”
ILGA Oceania – the regional chapter of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association – acknowledged the hard work that LGBTIQ and human rights activists in Australia and around the world have done during this long and protracted fight.
“First of all, thank God for what was achieved today in Australia,” commented Tuisina Ymania Brown, ILGA Oceania co-Convenor. “As a trans woman of color and faith, I believe that love will always prevail. Today, love won. Human rights won. Marriage equality won. Humanity won. Why? Because for the first time in this country, we are equal in terms of who we love. Australians have spoken, and their representatives have done it. Bravo and Brava to all the human rights activists, the Australians that voted, the MPs and senators that worked with our activists to define and refine the legislation. Thank you. And for all those that have shed blood, for those we have lost because of bigotry and discrimination and the hate crimes against LGBTIQ people, this one is for your sacrifice. ILGA Oceania is proud to have supported this campaign.”
“As the former campaign manager for marriage equality in New Zealand, it’s great to finally say: it’s about time, Australia,” commented Rawa Karetai, ILGA Oceania co-Convenor based in New Zealand. “It’s a great day to celebrate the campaign win in Australia. To our LGBTIQ friends in Australia, party in the streets and show that this is a significant win for our community. Marriage equality is finally here and it’s awesome to know that our LGBTIQ community is allowed to get married.”
“Love prevails once again as loving LGBTQ couples in Australia obtain the hard-fought right to marry and move past the emotional toll of their relationships and families being open to debate,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “Marriage equality is a historic benchmark, worthy of celebration, as advocates continue the push for full LGBTQ acceptance.”
Earlier this year, GLAAD teamed up with Australian celebrities including Yvone Strahovski, Luke Hemsworth, Hugh Sheridan, Dan Macpherson, and Courtney Act to encourage voters to exercise their civic duty and cast their ballots in support of advancing LGBTQ equality during the postal survey and called on Australian lawmakers to pass a clean marriage equality bill without religious exemptions.
Austria’s highest court ruled Tuesday to fully legalize marriage equality by 2019 after declaring the law restricting LGBTQ partnership to civil unions discriminatory. With this historic decision, the current restrictions on LGBTQ Austrians will be overturned on December 31, 2018 and marriage equality will be in full effect starting Jan. 1, 2019.
“Today, the differentiation between marriage and legally registered partnerships can no longer be upheld without discriminating against same-sex couples,” the court said. “For the separation into two legal institutions implies that homosexual individuals are not equal to heterosexuals.”
“Everyone deserves the full right to marry the person they love and build lasting relationships and families in their communities, and today Austria’s highest court ruled in favor of equality with this historic victory,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD. “It is inspiring to see love prevail as the world faces a resurgence of anti-LGBTQ activism that reminds us of the work that must still be done to accelerate acceptance.”
Earlier this year, Germany and Malta both legalized marriage equality and voters in Australia overwhelming voiced their support of marriage equality in a national referendum.
Nicole spent nine months this year locked up at home, where his parents “beat and humiliated” him for wanting to transition to female, before escaping and seeking refuge in Russia’s first LGBT shelter.The sanctuary, in a guarded complex on the edge of Moscow, can take up to 14 people.
It opened in April to house gay men fleeing Russia’s Chechnya region after revelations of jailings and police torture there.
Then in October, gay support group Moscow Community Center opened up the shelter to other LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people who are homeless or vulnerable.
The idea to create such a space in Russia had been long discussed but the crackdown on Chechen gays helped the Moscow Community Center to raise funds, said director Olga Baranova.
“We opened this shelter for all those LGBT people in Russia who are suffering.”
Olga Baranova, the director of Russia’s first shelter for LGBT people
These include people who are transitioning, those thrown out by their families and others who have lost jobs or been attacked, she said.
The three occupants who spoke to AFP all come from the Caucasus region, where, they said, entrenched homophobia is rife.
Nicole, whose long dark hair is tied back in a ponytail, is from ex-Soviet Azerbaijan while the others are from Russia.
After Nicole, who uses masculine forms when talking about himself, grew his hair long and started taking female hormones, his family locked him in their flat for long periods.
“From January to September, I was locked up and they wouldn’t let me out,” he said, adding that he barely moved from the couch and had suicidal thoughts as he was unable to take hormones.
His parents finally agreed to let him leave for Russia and helped him buy a ticket but threatened to kill him and themselves if he ever came back.
“When I got here, I couldn’t stand on my feet, my muscles had atrophied,” he said, saying he suffered pain and swollen legs for days from long lack of use.
“I was fighting a battle with myself, with my inner self, with my appearance,” he says.
– ‘Build a new life’ –
The occupants of the refuge said they saw no future in Russia and, with help from its organisers, plan to go abroad.
Nicole is still taking female hormones and recently had his testicles removed.
He moved to the shelter after asking the United Nations for support and hopes to eventually move to the Netherlands.
“I have a few operations ahead and I want to build a new life and get new ID papers. Here I won’t be able to do that,” he said.
Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he appears extremely nervous, meeting in the Moscow Community Center’s office.
Another resident Grigory Chibirov, 22, is confident with bright blond hair and blue nail varnish.
“I feel safe there, among my own kind,” he says of the shelter. “We’re all friendly and support each other — because no one else does.”
Coming from Vladikavkaz, a city in North Ossetia, he said his parents and brothers felt “disgraced” by him being gay.
“I can’t live there because of who I am,” he said simply.
He was bullied from a young age in the region bordering Chechnya and his family even forcibly shaved his hair off when he dyed it.
“Fearing for my life, I left,” he recalled.
As an adult, he says he has been sacked from jobs, been attacked and had people yell “fag” at him in the street.
He plans to move to France and wants to work in fashion.
“In this country I won’t be able to fulfil my potential,” he says.
And he doubts things will improve.
“Maybe in 50 or 100 years — but it’s unlikely to happen while (President Vladimir) Putin is in power,” he says.
He cites recent laws, including one banning “propaganda” of gay relationships to minors.
The homophobic climate means almost no celebrities have come out. Gay pride events are regularly banned and crushed by riot police.
– ‘A second family’ –
The shelter offers a stay of six weeks in rooms with two or three beds, with free food, advice and counselling.
It has had 37 applications since last month from all over Russia including Moscow and the far north — more than twice the number of available places — Baranova said.
She stresses the organisers pick people with an achievable plan for their stay while trying to offer appropriate help to the rest.
Most residents are gay men, while around a quarter are transsexuals and 20 percent are women, Baranova said.
One transsexual resident, 31-year-old Nika comes from Karachai-Cherkessia region in the North Caucasus. She plans to go to France for hormone treatment and surgery.
With carefully painted dark lashes, she says she had been threatened by relatives over her orientation, but feels safe in the shelter.
“It gives you a roof over your head and security,” she says. “I gained a second family.”
International human rights experts today released a supplement to the groundbreaking Yogyakarta Principles, a universal guide to human rights related to sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics which applies to all United Nations member states.
The original Yogyakarta Principles were drafted by human rights experts in 2006 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in response to documented human rights abuses against LGBT people worldwide. They have been translated into 30 languages and have been cited by judges, legislators and government officials around the world as well as the U.N.
The Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10 (YP+10) include nine new principles and 112 additional state obligations that address developments in international human rights law and changes in society on issues of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC).
“The document issued today is destined to become one of the most important touchstones in the development of LGBTI rights globally,” said Andrew Park, Williams Institute International Program Director, who served as secretariat for YP+10.
Key additional recognitions and obligations in YP+10 include:
A broader recognition of characteristics upon which governments are barred from discriminating. The original Yogyakarta Principles focused on sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI. YP+10 provide guidance on human rights based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, or SOGIESC.
The rights of intersex people. YP+10 state that no one should be subjected to invasive or irreversible medical procedures, including those done for sex conditions, without free, prior and informed consent. This includes children, in a manner consistent with their evolving capacity.
The rights of refugees. A well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of SOGIESC is acceptable ground for the recognition of refugee status, and all asylum seekers have the right to protection from violence and discrimination during the determination of their claims.
Personal information. Governments should only record personal information, including gender, when that information is relevant, reasonable and necessary. When gender is recorded, governments should establish mechanisms to allow individuals to change gender designations to match their gender identity.
Sanitation. All people have the right to sanitation, including access to bathrooms, without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity or sex conditions.
Information technology. All people have the right to use information and communication technologies without discrimination and to employ encryption, anonymity and pseudonymity tools.
Truth. All people have the right to the truth, including the right to know what medical procedures have been conducted on them.
“The Yogyakarta Principles are not about aspiration,” said Park. “They detail exactly what governments should be doing to comply with current international standards under today’s human rights treaties. When countries appear before the U.N. to have their human rights record reviewed, they are asked if they comply with the Yogyakarta Principles.”
The Williams Institute and international human rights groups will host a series of webinars with YP+10 signatories to give more detail about the principles and their implications.
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