US: Judge rules sexual orientation discrimination falls under purview of landmark Title IX law

A federal judge in California has ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation falls under the purview of the landmark Title IX law, giving a broader interpretation to the 1972 statute that prohibits sex discrimination in the nation's schools and colleges.

In his 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson said that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not a separate category of discrimination, but rather, such claims fall under Title IX's view of discrimination on the basis of gender or sex. 

The ruling allows two former players on the Pepperdine University women's basketball team to proceed with a lawsuit that alleges the university harassed and discriminated against them because they were dating. Read more via the Los Angeles Times

US: Federal agency urges court to include sexual orientation under sex discrimination ban

The federal agency charged with enforcing existing civil rights laws has urged a federal appeals court to rule that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination and therefore illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

In a filing at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wrote that “sexual orientation discrimination is sex discrimination, and such sex discrimination violates Title VII.” In supporting the appeal of Barbara Burrows, whose lawsuit against the College of Central Florida was tossed out by a trial court judge, the EEOC wrote, “The district court’s treatment of sexual orientation discrimination as distinct from sex discrimination is untenable and based on a fundamentally flawed premise.”

The move is the latest step from the EEOC and advocates in an effort to protect LGBT people from discrimination under existing civil rights law.   Read more via Buzzfeed

Japan: Different-names ruling leaves door open to possibility of same-sex marriages

Last month the Supreme Court handed down its verdict on a lawsuit filed by people who objected to the Civil Code requirement that married couples be registered under one surname. The majority of the 15 judges ruled that the plaintiffs’ rights were not being violated by the law, and the media debate that followed pivoted on the question of constitutionality versus culture, or the assumption that Japan had some unusual social need for couples and their children to be identified by one name only.

Within this discussion, Sota Kimura, an associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University and presently one of the most in-demand media pundits when it comes to constitutional matters, brought up the wording the judges used in their decision. Kimura pointed out that this is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on a case concerning Article 24, which defines marriage as a legally binding union between two people who mutually agree to enter into that union. Although English translations of the Constitution typically describe marriage as involving “both sexes,” the word ryōsei can also be interpreted to mean “two parties,” and Kimura believes it was this interpretation the judges were stressing. While the court said there is nothing unconstitutional about compelling married couples to register under one name, they didn’t expressly limit marriage to a man and a woman.

According to Kimura, if a same-sex couple someday sues the state to have their marriage legally recognized, lawyers can use this ruling as a precedent to claim that such a union is guaranteed by the Constitution. The Constitution does not use the word danjo (men and women), so it is not manifestly apparent that the two “parties” have to be of different genders. Read more via The Japan Times 

China: Gay man sues for right to marry

A court has accepted China's first same-sex marriage case, lodged by a gay man against a civil affairs bureau for denying him the right to marry, in a decision hailed as a step forward for gay rights. While homosexuality is not illegal in China, and large cities have thriving gay scenes, same-sex marriage is not legal and same-sex couples have no legal protections.

A court in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, accepted the lawsuit filed by Sun Wenlin: "Our marriage law says there is the freedom to marry and gender equality. These words can be applied to same-sex marriage."

Activists said the court's acceptance of the case was significant and would likely lead to more such cases. "In China, courts often reject politically sensitive cases, so the fact that the lawsuit is accepted signals some official willingness to address discrimination against LGBT people, which is encouraging," said Maya Wang, a China researcher at New York-based group Human Rights Watch.  Read more via Channel News Asia 

Fiji: PM says gays should go to Iceland and stay there

Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has said LGBTI people in the Pacific island nation should go to Iceland and stay there. Bainimarama was responding to Shamima Ali, co-ordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center, who had called on the government to legalize gay marriage. 

‘Tell Shamima Ali, there will be no same-sex marriage in Fiji,’ he said in a televised interview, ‘Not in her lifetime and not in ours.’ If two women want to marry, ‘they should go and have it done in Iceland and stay and live there.’

Ali condemned Bainimarama’s statements: ‘It’s extreme homophobia and really total disrespect for a community in Fiji.' Read more via Gay Star News

Greece: 26th European country to recognise same-sex partnerships

A same-sex civil union bill has passed with a wide majority in the Greek Parliament. The landmark legislation passed due to support from political parties like the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), To Potami and the Union of Centrists, along with some New Democracy members of parliament.

“This ends a period of backwardness and shame for the state, which led to our country receiving international rulings against it,” said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. “Instead of celebrating, though, maybe we should apologize to hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens that have been denied their rights all these years.”

The law passed recognizes same-sex unions, however campaigners have said it does not go quite far enough: “The bill does not provide equality before the law, especially in regard to adoption and custody of children, but it comes close,” LGBT campaigner Leo Kalovyrnas said. “Politicians in this country tend to hide behind the church but they, too, across the board, are homophobic.”

Comments made earlier this month by the bishop of Kalavryta sparked controversy, as he condemned homosexuals as “freaks of nature” and encouraged people to ”spit on them.”  Read more via International Business Times

Italy: Treat surrogate parents as sex offenders, says Italian minister

Italy’s interior minister has called for surrogate parents to be treated as sex offenders, as part of a broader campaign against the prime minister’s efforts to grant family rights to same-sex couples.

“We want ‘wombs for rent’ to become a universal crime. And that it is punished with prison. Just as happens for sexual crimes,” Angelino Alfano said.

The minister’s comments outline the fierce debate over family rights under way in Italy as the country prepares to give gay couples legal rights for the first time. The push for same-sex unions and stepchild adoption rights has proved perhaps the greatest challenge in the first two years of Matteo Renzi’s coalition government.

Surrogacy is illegal in Italy and punishable by steep fines and up to two years in prison, although a legal grey area has meant that couples who travel abroad for surrogacy are not prosecuted when they return home. A “family day” held in June brought hundreds of thousands of people to Rome, marching against proposed legal changes and lessons about gay families in schools. Read more via the Guardian 

UK: Transgender people are being let down by the government, say MPs

Transgender issues should never be treated as a mental health problem, according to a radical parliamentary report that demands a complete overhaul of the legal protections for transgender people in the UK.

The House of Commons women and equalities committee said the government should introduce a non-binary gender option on passports, require all police officers to undergo transphobic hate crime training, and ensure transgender people cannot be excluded from single-sex institutions such as women’s refuges.

The report also insists transgender prisoners should be allowed to serve their sentence in a prison that is appropriate to their gender, says 16- and 17-year-olds should be allowed to switch their legal gender, and calls for an explicit ban on anti-transgender hate speech.

“I can think of no group that suffers more discrimination than trans people,” committee chair Maria Miller said. “We must think about the human rights of every single person who lives in our country, and at the moment the human rights of trans people are not fully protected.” Read more via Buzzfeed

Hong Kong: LGBT community disappointed by long awaited report on discrimination against sexual minorities

A long-awaited report on discrimination against sexual minorities was finally released yesterday. In wording that disappointed rights activists, the report recommended “a further study” on other jurisdictions to inform “future consultation” on both legislative proposals and administrative measures. The group also called on the government to draw up a non-discrimination charter to be voluntarily adopted by employers, schools and landlords, as well as training for teachers, medical practitioners and social workers.

Hong Kong’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities have for years been asking for wider recognition of their rights. But their bid for legislation to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation was dashed on the last day of the year.

“It took two years to discuss, and the conclusion is to ‘further study’ whether to hold public consultation [over whether to legislate to protect sexual minorities from discrimination]? This is unacceptable,” said Brian Leung Siu-fai, of LGBT rights group Big Love Alliance.

Chan, a People Power lawmaker, criticised the group: “The report has been toned down and is very conservative now,” said Chan. “The current administration is absolutely not sincere in launching legislative work at all.”  Read more via South China Morning Post

US: Can states protect LGBT rights without compromising religious freedom?

Twenty-eight. That’s the number of states where it’s not against the law to discriminate against a gay person who’s looking for an apartment, applying for a job, or buying something from a store. Five more states have protections, but with exceptions: New York, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin don’t forbid discrimination against transgender people, for example, and Massachusetts and Utah don’t protect all LGBT people in all situations in which discrimination might arise.

The federal government does not protect against this kind of discrimination, either, except in limited cases. Although Democrats have proposed legislation that would change that, the chances of it successfully sliding through a Republican Congress in an election year seem slim.

The irony of gay marriage becoming legal in the United States is that it has made discrimination against LBGT people easier. For example: Many newlywed couples may be asking their employers for spousal benefits for the first time. Depending on where they live, it may or may not be illegal for that employer to respond by firing them—something that happened in a number of states in 2015. Some state legislatures have tentatively taken on this issue; Pennsylvania and Idaho, for example, both saw bills introduced in 2015.

But in many places, these efforts are complicated by a tangled political question: Should these laws make exceptions for religious individuals and organizations that object to employing and providing services to gay people? This question could produce some of the biggest political fights of 2016. Read more via the Atlantic

North America: Are bisexuals shut out of the LGBT club?

New studies from University of Massachusetts and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto show that bi people are being excluded by both straight and gay peers. No, bisexuals don’t have twice as much sex as everyone else. But there is mounting evidence to suggest that they experience double the types of discrimination as their gay and lesbian peers.

Two studies published in the December 2015 issue of the Journal of Bisexuality confirm what bi people have been saying for some time: The discrimination they face within the LGBT community is as real as the discrimination they face outside of it.  

Researcher Tangela Roberts believes that her study sheds light on a troubling but often ignored fault line within the LGBT population: “This is the thing that isn’t talked about,” she said. “It’s like airing out the dirty laundry of the supposed ‘LGBT community.’ It’s saying, ‘Look, we haven’t been acting like this community that we’re supposed to be and we need to do something about that.’”   Read more via the Daily Beast

Chile: Ministry of Health to stop “normalising” interventions on intersex children

The Chilean Ministry of Health has issued instructions to its national health sector to stop “normalising” medical interventions on intersex infants and children. This guidance is a global first: the first time that a health ministry has shown leadership in taking this step without legislation or legal action. They have done this while awaiting the development of human rights-affirming treatment protocols and legislation to offer protection from discrimination on grounds of “sexual characteristics”.

The report entitled “Instructions on aspects of health care to intersex children“ instructs the ceasing of “unnecessary “normalization” treatment of intersex children, including irreversible genital surgeries, until they are old enough to decide about their bodies“, while work takes place to develop protocols that meet human rights standards. Read more via OII