US: White House Reverses Obama-Era Transgender Bathroom Protections

by Ali Vitali, Pete Williams and Mary Emily O'Hara

In a complete reversal of the Obama administration's position, President Donald Trump's administration formally rescinded past guidance on transgender bathroom protections in public schools.

Letters from the Justice and Education departments late Wednesday notified the Supreme Court and the nation's public schools that the administration is changing its position on the issue.

Former President Barack Obama instructed public schools that they must allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with a child's chosen gender identity. The guidance was issued as an interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

Now, the administration is revoking key guidance on which that policy was based. The letter informs the court that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division will no longer "rely on the views expressed in that guidance, and instead will consider further and more completely the legal issues involved."

The two federal departments advise their belief that "there must be due regard for the primary role of the States and local school districts in establishing educational policy."

In addition, the letter knocks down the past administration's interpretation of transgender rights as an extension of Title IX by saying the Obama administration's guidance did not "contain extensive legal analysis or explain how the position is consistent with the express language of Title IX, nor did they undergo any formal public process." Read more via NBC

US: Eight states censor LGBTQ topics in school. Now, a lawsuit is challenging that

As a 16-year-old junior in high school, Harper McGee had to fight for the ability to say “gay” on campus.

At the time, McGee and a friend were trying to create a Gay-Straight Alliance group at Lone Peak High School in Highland, Utah, in the fall of 2014. McGee wanted to have an organized place where students could talk about LGBTQ issues, but It wasn’t easy. School officials were concerned about the name because, as one of them said, it “include[d] a reference to human sexuality.”

Utah is one of eight states that has laws, sometimes called “no promo homo” laws, that limit how teachers can talk about LGBTQ issues with students, or forbid it altogether. While some teachers say the laws reflect parents’ concerns about discussing sex at school, some LGBTQ activists say they perpetuate a culture of fear among students who need support. And now, for the first time, a lawsuit is aiming to overturn one of them. Read more via PBS

China: Qiubai sued the Ministry of Education for calling teaching materials "stigma"

Today (10th) afternoon, the "Qiubai sued the Ministry of Education" case involving discrimination against sexual orientation was opened in the second instance of the Beijing Higher People's Court. The case was not pronounced in court. The plaintiff's attorney Yu Liying stated that Qiu Baifang provided new evidence and expanded the content of the infringement, but the Ministry of Education did not recognize the relevance of the evidence.

　　Beijing News Express (Reporter Wang Wei, intern Wu Linyue) Today (10th) afternoon, the "Qiubai sued the Ministry of Education" involving sexual orientation discrimination opened in the second instance of the Beijing Higher People's Court, and the case was not pronounced in court. The plaintiff's attorney Yu Liying stated that Qiu Baifang provided new evidence and expanded the content of the infringement, but the Ministry of Education did not recognize the relevance of the evidence.

　　The Beijing News previously reported that in August 2015, Qiubai (pseudonym), a homosexual female college student in Guangzhou, took the Ministry of Education to court because the Ministry of Education did not respond to her application for “discrimination against homosexuality in college textbooks” and did not fulfill it. Information disclosure responsibilities.

　　At 3:45 this afternoon, Qiubai's case against the Ministry of Education opened. The focus of the case is still "whether the handling of teaching materials supervision matters has violated Qiubai's rights."

　　The attorney Yu Liying disclosed to the Beijing News reporter that the plaintiff claimed in the first instance that Qiubai had violated his personal rights and the right to education when he was reading textbooks involving "stigmatizing homosexuality". In the second trial, Qiu Baifang submitted supplementary evidence that Qiu Bai bought a textbook that stigmatizes homosexuality-"Mental Health Course" as an elective course, and suffered property losses. In summary, the Ministry of Education's ineffective supervision of teaching materials has a stake in Qiubai's personal rights, education rights, and property rights.

　　According to his description of the court hearing, the Ministry of Education insisted on the opinion of the first instance and believed that the handling of materials supervision matters did not directly infringe Qiubai's rights. "The Ministry of Education denied the relevance of the evidence we presented when responding, saying that these were not direct evidence."

　　After the trial, Qiubai told the Beijing News reporter that he "will never give up" the revision of college textbooks that discriminate against homosexuality. "If I lose the case, I can still appeal to the procuratorate. If this is possible, I will certainly try. I will also go directly to lobby publishers and editors to revise the textbook."

　　Case review: Qiubai's "Three Sues" Ministry of Education

　　Today is the fourth time Qiubai has filed a lawsuit with the Ministry of Education, and the sixth time he has filed a lawsuit for "stigmatizing homosexuals in college teaching materials."

　　In May 2015, Qiubai sued Guangdong Higher Education Press for harming his reputation due to a similar description of "homosexuality is pathological" in textbooks. However, the court held that "the publication has no direct legal relationship with Qiubai" and did not file a case. Qiubai turned to the Ministry of Education to file a lawsuit three times.

　　"One suit": pre-trial mediation, withdrawal of the suit

　　On November 24, 2015, Qiubai held a dialogue with officials of the Ministry of Education in the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court in the form of pre-trial mediation. The Ministry of Education stated that it had not received any report from Qiubai on "homophobia" teaching materials, and suggested that it should be reported. Qiubai withdrew the lawsuit.

　　From December 2015 to March 2016, Baifang sent a letter to the Ministry of Education, but did not receive a reply.

　　"Second complaint": the court did not file a case

　　On April 25, 2016, Qiubai sued the Ministry of Education for inaction, and the court did not file a case.

　　In May 2016, Qiubai filed an administrative reconsideration against the Ministry of Education, which will not be accepted.

　　"Three Accusations": Lost in the first instance

　　On February 22, 2016, Qiubai mailed a report letter to the Ministry of Education, but the Ministry of Education did not reply.

　　On May 16, 2016, Qiubai applied to the Ministry of Education for administrative reconsideration and again asked for a reply. The Ministry of Education decided not to accept it.

　　On June 14, 2016, Qiubai took the Ministry of Education to court for the third time, and Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court filed the case. This case is called "the first case of gay education rights in China".

　　On September 27, 2016, the verdict of the first instance was pronounced and Qiu Bai lost the case. The court held that Qiubai had no interest in his request. Qiubai immediately appealed.

Read more via Beijing News

Chinese gay activist challenges homosexuality 'disorder' textbooks

Natalie Thomas

A gay Chinese student activist on Monday lodged a suit against the Ministry of Education over school textbooks describing homosexuality as a mental disorder, the latest step by China’s small but growing gay rights movement.

It is not illegal to be gay in China and these days many large Chinese cities have thriving gay scenes, though there is still a lot of family pressure to get married and have children, even for gay men and women.

Homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder until 2001.

However, Chinese universities continue to use textbooks that contain terms such as “disorder” and “impediment” to refer to homosexuality, research the Gay and Lesbian Campus Association of China carried out in 2014 found.

Qiu Bai, 21 and a media studies student at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, told Reuters she came across similar materials when she turned to the books in her university library after beginning to question her own sexual orientation. Read more via Reuters

UNESCO: Report shows homophobic and transphobic violence in education to be a global problem

In some countries, 85% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students experience homophobic and transphobic violence in school, 45 % of transgender students drop out. Homophobic violence also targets 33% of students who are wrongly perceived to be LGBT because they do not appear to conform to gender norms.

These are the findings from Out In The Open, a global report on education sector responses to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Compiled by UNESCO, the report reveals the nature, scope and impact of the violence, the status of education sector responses and recommendations for the way forward.   Read more via UNESCO 

UK: School pupils produce films to take on homophobic bullying

Pupils across Wales have been producing anti-homophobic films as part of a project tackling bullying in schools. Figures released by equality charity Stonewall, found over half to young gay people experience homophobic bullying and 40 per cent of those bullied have attempted, or thought about attempting, to end their own lives.

Now schools across Wales are producing a series of eight short films dealing with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender bullying as part of a project run by the Iris Prize Festival. Among those taking part in project are pupils from Aberdare Community School, who chose to focus on bisexuality in their film.

All the films are available to watch for free on Youtube and pupils at the school hope their feature will help others learn more about homophobic discrimination.  

Read more via ITV

UK: Young gay, bisexual men six times more likely to attempt suicide than older counterparts

Conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and funded by Stonewall, the study found gay and bisexual men under the age of 26 were six times more likely to attempt suicide or self-harm compared to men in that group aged over 45. They were also twice as likely to be depressed or anxious. The researchers say the results reinforce the importance of mental health interventions reaching those who need them most, as well as people who actively seek help.

The study is the first to examine the mental health differences within gay and bisexual men in the UK. Using data from the Stonewall Gay and Bisexual Men's Health Survey, the researchers analysed responses of 5,799 gay and bisexual men aged 16 and over living in the UK. Depression, anxiety, attempted suicide and self-harm were examined against a range of life factors. Age, ethnicity, income and education were all found to have a large impact on mental health.

Black gay and bisexual men were twice as likely to be depressed and five times more likely to have attempted suicide than the white majority. Men in the lower wage bracket were more likely to be depressed, anxious, attempt suicide or self-harm. Those with lower levels of education were twice as likely to experience one of those issues compared to those with degree level education, only in part due to earning a lower wage. Read more via Science Daily 

Australia: LGBT youths are turning to Facebook to find a safe place to live

Increasingly, LGBT youth are turning to “Queer Housing” groups on Facebook to find housemates they trust will be accepting. The groups have cropped up across Australia’s biggest cities and beyond – Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga.

Admins say they fill a crucial gap between underfunded emergency service providers and generic house-hunting websites, where LGBT people might end up with people who seem friendly but don’t accept their sexuality or gender.

Adelaide woman Shaylee Leach started the Queer Housing Adelaide group after experiencing “secondary homelessness” – bouncing between friends without a stable roof over her head.  The higher rates of mental illness and unemployment experienced by LGBT people can make house hunting difficult.  Read more via Buzzfeed

South Africa: Student movement splinters as patriarchy muscles out diversity

It was a shocking series of images: a young woman - Thenjiwe Mswane - being violently handled by a group of young men. Mswane was part of a largely feminist and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexed, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) student group. They had gathered at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand to protest against the exclusion and marginalisation of groups and members of the #FeesMustFall movement from a recent campaign. She was attacked by other members of the #FeesMustFall movement after she'd confronted them with her group's concerns.

In 2015 South Africa's student movement was an impressive force. But cracks are appearing along party political, ideological and class lines. More recently the question of gender, and the equality of LGBTIQA+ individuals, have come to the fore.

A strident fringe at universities, with limited but vocal support off campuses, asserts that addressing the equality of women and the marginalisation of LGBTIQA+ people is a "distraction" from the unity of black struggle and that it must wait until after some mythical revolution. Others, also enjoying some support in wider society, insist that the equality of women and LGBTIQA+ people must be part of any genuinely radical action.  Read more via the Conversation

US: Students denied access to LGBT resource websites

The Sioux Falls School District’s internet filter carries an anti-LGBT bias, students say. Students are barred from accessing LGBT resource sites such as “It Gets Better” and “GLADD” on district devices according to Roosevelt High School senior and former city council candidate Briggs Warren.

Students who try to reach these sites are met with a large exclamation point under bold red letters reading, “access denied.” At the same time, conservative sites such as the Family Resource Council and Focus on the Family are accessible, meaning that students are able to reach sites projecting negative views of homosexuality but not those with positive views.

LGBT youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, according to The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline specific to gay and questioning youth. This makes the blocked sites all the more troubling, according to ACLU executive director Heather Smith.

“Schools that block these resources, intentionally or otherwise, are sending a message that being gay, bisexual or transgender is wrong or shameful,” Smith said in a statement.  Read more via USA Today