Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Blocks Idaho Anti-Trans School Bathroom Law

A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked enforcement of Idaho’s anti-transgender school restroom law, one which was set to go back into effect on 2 November 2023. On 27 October, a 3-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction stopping its enforcement.

Senate Bill 1100, which Gov. Brad Little (R) signed into law in March 2023, bars trans students in public and charter schools from using multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities consistent with their gender identity. Every such facility is to be designated for “male persons only or female persons only.”

The injunction in "Roe v. Critchfield" will remain in place while the appellate court further reviews previous actions regarding the law. The review is expected to take place over the next few months, according to a press release from Lambda Legal.
https://www.advocate.com/law/idaho-trans-restroom...

Tennessee Families Ask Supreme Court to Block Ban on Gender-Affirming Healthcare

Transgender youth, their families, and a Tennessee doctor have asked the US Supreme Court to block enforcement of the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors.

On 1 November 2023, the lawyers in the case, from Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, filed the request with the high court. They seek to restore a preliminary injunction that would keep the law from being enforced while a lawsuit against it makes its way through the courts. Thus, even if the Supreme Court were to take up the request, it would not be the last word.

This is the first petition to the Supreme Court on the instant issue.
https://www.advocate.com/law/tennessee-transgende...

The petition for a Writ of Certiorari in "L.W. v. Skrmetti" is here:
https://lambdalegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/1...

Jamaica Supreme Court Upholds Colonial-Era Sodomy Law

Per LGBT Marriage News:

On 27 October 2023, the Jamaica Supreme Court ruled that the country’s sodomy laws are shielded from constitutional challenge due to the presence of the Jamaica Constitution’s Savings Clause. As a result, according to the ruling, only the Jamaica Parliament can change it.

However, there is a chance that the petitioners can appeal this decision, first to the Jamaica Court of Appeal, and then to the UK Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Still, the JCPC has tended to give very wide leeway with regard to savings clauses, so success there is not overly likely.

One needs to note that said ruling applies to Jamaica alone. The remaining Caribbean nations with colonial-era sodomy laws still on the books, but under active court challenge, namely, Dominica, St. Lucia, St.Vincent/Grenadines, and Grenada, do not have savings clauses in their respective constitutions. Furthermore, these cases are being heard in a different court, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The ECSC has already ruled, and thus established its own precedent, that colonial-era sodomy laws in Antigua/Barbuda and in St. Kitts-Nevis are unconstitutional and of no effect. As for Guyana, the Caribbean Court of Justice, in a different matter, has already ruled that the Guyana Constitution's Savings Clause is no longer in effect, and thus, cannot be applied.
https://xtramagazine.com/power/caribbean-legal-vi...

Thailand: Marriage Equality Bill to Be Presented to Cabinet Next Week

Per BG Magazine:

El Primer Ministro tailandés habló acerca del proyecto de ley sobre el matrimonio igualitario. ¡Este se presentará al Gabinete la próxima semana (el 31 de octubre 2023)! Habló de los avances en los derechos de la población LGBTQIA y los derechos de trabajadores/as sexuales.
https://twitter.com/ConLatink/status/171800654192...

The Thai Prime Minister spoke about the draft law on marriage equality. This will be presented to the Cabinet next week (on 31 October 2023)! He spoke about the advances in the rights of the LGBTQIA population and the rights of sex workers.

Per LGBT Marriage News:

The new government coalition in Thailand is finally going to give consideration to a same-sex marriage bill at a cabinet meeting on 31 October 2023. If they approve it, the bill will then be introduced in Parliament in December where it must pass three readings before it becomes law.

Marriage equality was promised by many of the leading parties in both the government and opposition camps during elections earlier this year, although it may face an obstacle in the military-controlled Senate.The new Prime Minister is also apparently pushing for bills to legalize prostitution (i.e., sex work), and to allow legal gender change.
https://lgbtmarriage.substack.com/p/thailand-to-d...

Another Peruvian Same-Sex Marriage by Rights Activists in Argentina

Per Gabriela Zavaleta:

Fabiola Arce y yo, Gabriela Zavaleta, tuvimos la inmensa felicidad de poder casarnos el 20 de octubre 2023 en Buenos Aires, en compañía de nuestras familias peruana y argentina y de nuestras amigas y amigos de distintas partes del mundo.
https://twitter.com/_zavandija/status/17165003723...

Fabiola Arce and I, Gabriela Zavaleta, had the immense pleasure of being able to marry on 20 October 2023 in Buenos Aires, in the company of our Peruvian and Argentine families and our friends from different parts of the world.

Per Fabiola G. Arce:

Nos vamos de Argentina como la familia Arce-Zavaleta, con la esperanza de saber que nuestra unión se reconoce legalmente y con el compromiso de lucha para que se reconozca también en nuestro Perú.
https://twitter.com/fabiolaarce/status/1717246007...

We are leaving Argentina as the Arce-Zavaleta family, with the thought of knowing that our union is legally recognized and with the commitment to fight so that it is also recognized in our Perú.

Japan Supreme Court: Transgender Sterilization Requirement Ruled Unconstitutional

On 25 October 2023, Japan's Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to require citizens to be sterilized before they can officially change genders. The 2004 law had said that people could only change their gender if they have no reproductive capacity.

The definitive court ruling striking down said requirement came after a transgender woman filed a petition challenging the law. The judgment upholds the rights to health, privacy, and bodily autonomy for trans people in Japan, and reverses a 2019 verdict by the court which found the same law to be constitutional.

Earlier this month, in a separate case, a local family court ruled in favor of a transgender man, Gen Suzuki, who had requested to have his gender legally changed without his undergoing surgery. The family court judge, Takehiro Sekiguchi, said current law violated Article 13 of the Constitution, stipulating that all persons shall be respected as individuals.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-67213374

Hong Kong Court of Appeal: Another LGBT Win; Inheriting Property from Partner

On 24 October 2023, a Hong Kong court upheld a ruling that grants equal inheritance rights to same-sex couples. The Court of Appeal rejected the government’s motion to block the lower court ruling, which stated that same-sex couples can enjoy such rights of inheritance under the city’s two inheritance laws.

The latest ruling came out of a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Edgar Ng, who was concerned that if he died without a will, his properties would not be passed on to his partner, Henri Li. The two married in London in 2017. Ng died in 2020.

A spokesman for the advocacy group Hong Kong Marriage Equality said that the right thing for the government to do is to create a comprehensive system for governing same-sex partnerships.
https://www.voanews.com/a/hong-kong-appeals-court...

Ukraine: Justice Ministry Approves Same-Sex Registered Partnership Bill

Per LGBT Marriage News:

On 22 October 2023, the Justice Ministry of Ukraine took the first steps toward codifying same-sex marriage by approving Bill No. 9103, entitled "On the Institution of Registered Partnerships." The ground-breaking bill would establish in law that registered partnerships are voluntary family unions for two adult individuals, regardless of gender.

Amendments for the second reading of Bill No. 9103 are currently being prepared, Inna Sovsun, an MP from the liberal Holos party, announced. The process in Ukraine is being accelerated by the prospect of starting formal EU accession negotiations this December.
https://www.bne.eu/ukraine-takes-first-steps-to-c...

Czech Republic: A Proposed Compromise for Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

Per LGBT Marriage News:

The various parties in the Czech Parliament are in process of reaching a compromise on same-sex marriage. Accordingly, registered partnerships will apparently become “marriage in all but name." In return, conservative parties will stop obstructing the bill in parliament, and will abandon their own bill to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage.

LGBT groups and liberals are not happy with the proposed compromise, but Czech MPs seem to want to deliver at least some of the benefits that will come with advancing a bill. For example, by allowing adoption, they will help thousands of existing same-sex families who currently have difficulties with the existing legal aspects of parenthood.

The compromise agreement will be debated by the various party caucuses this week, and if it looks like they can go forward, some MPs believe it can be passed by the end of 2023.
https://lgbtmarriage.substack.com/p/czech-mps-to-...

Argentina: Prominent LGBT Activist Elected to the National Congress

On 22 October 2023, a prominent LGBTQ activist in Argentina won a seat in the nation’s Congress. Esteban Paulón, from Rosario in Santa Fe province, is the former president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgenders (FALGBT). The Santa Fe Socialist Party member finished first on La Fuerza de Santa Fe ticket.

Paulón noted that he was the only openly gay candidate in the election. “I am going to defend my community, to represent the Socialist Party, and to resist the pretensions of the most reactionary and conservative sectors of Argentina that have entered Congress with force in this election, regardless of the fact that the president has not yet been determined,” he said.

Paulón, along with other LGBTQ activists, expressed concern that so many voters in Argentina, for president, voted for Javier Milei, an outsider who opposes marriage equality and trans rights. They further note that he has pledged to close the country’s Women, Genders, and Diversity Ministry.

In the first round, Milei received 29.98 percent of the vote, while Economy Minister Sergio Massa won 36.68 percent. A run-off is now slated for 19 November.
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/10/23/promin...