La Justicia confirmó la condena contra un grupo de neonazis de Mar del Plata https://t.co/MNTrCuRCqA

— infobae (@infobae) February 21, 2020

Argentina: court confirms sentence against neo-Nazi group who targeted trans persons

The Criminal Court of Cassation of Argentina has upheld the conviction of a group of neo-nazis sentenced in 2018 for a number of attacks against trans persons and human rights defenders.

According to reports, the group was held accountable for several attacks that happened in Mar del Plata between October 2013 and February 2016, when they had targeted trans persons and human rights defenders, assaulting them with PVC pipes filled with cement.

In May 2018, six men received sentences from five to nine years for the attacks. In an unprecedented ruling, the Court pointed out that the group “aimed to impose its ideas and combat those of others by using violence”, and that the organisation was “carrying out propaganda based on ideas or theories of superiority of a race, religion or ethnic group".

The wait time for approval has been cut from two years to six months. However, transgender individuals will still have to a prove they are living with a different gender identity https://t.co/72JmEYCv9I

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) February 26, 2020

Israel: new rules announced to simplify legal gender recognition for trans people, but concerns remain

The Justice Ministry of Israel has approved new rules that make it significantly easier for trans persons to see their gender legally recognised.

Previously, persons wishing to change their gender marker on their identity documents would have to have undergone Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) as well as gender-affirmation surgery – which had a two-year waiting list – before applying to the Approval Committee for the change.

Now, under the new rules, trans people will not be required to undergo any form of medical intervention to see their gender legally recognised, while the age at which trans persons are allowed to amend their documents has been taken down from 18 to 16. At least one representative from a local trans-led organisation will need to be present for every meeting of the Approval Committee. However, those applying for a gender marker change must still demonstrate to the Committee that they are living day-to-day in the gender they are applying to have recognised.

The move has been welcomed by human rights defenders, though some concerns and criticisms remain.

“For transgender people, any place they have to show an identity card is a place where they’re exposed to violence and anti-transgender discrimination” said local LGBT organisations in a joint statement.

However, “the new rules still severely infringe on the autonomy of body and soul,” cautioned Project Gila co-founder Ido Katri. “It’s not clear what the justification for the existence of this medical committee is, especially when we’re talking about people who don’t seek to undergo any sort of medical procedure, but are rather seeking legal recognition of their identity.”

'You HIV people like making babies': forced sterilisation for infected women @javubaloyi https://t.co/8Znlbz9CPx

— Commission for Gender Equality South Africa (@CGE_ZA) February 24, 2020

South Africa: medical practitioners forcibly sterilised HIV-positive women, new report finds

South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has released a report detailing how at least 48 women living with HIV have been forced or coerced into sterilisation by some doctors in state-run hospitals, due to the stigma around HIV/AIDS.

The report found that medical staff had breached their duty of care and acted inhumanely, with some doctors and nurses making women sign consent forms they did not understand, and refusing to provide answers some had about the forms or medical procedures.

The CGE has urged the Health Ministry to act to end the practice and provide redress to the affected women. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said he will meet the commissioner to discuss the contents of the report.

This practice is a demonstration of the stigma and discrimination that people with HIV/AIDS continue to face  - a struggle also shared by many in rainbow communities over the years. Fear and misinformation around the transmission of HIV continues to affect the bodily autonomy of women, children and persons with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities around the globe.

The burning of the effigy of a same-sex couple in #Croatia represented “another sign of the rise in hate in Europe that is being fueled by anti-LGBT rhetoric. This is a clear expression of hatred,” @ILGAEurope's Brian Finnegan @finneganba told @Reuters https://t.co/EsR25WecBl pic.twitter.com/tNZeKOZPH8

— ILGA-Europe (@ILGAEurope) February 26, 2020

Croatia: outrage as local festival burns a depiction of two men kissing

A festival in the Croatian town of Imotski sparked outrage when participants  set an effigy of two men kissing and holding a baby ablaze. Throughout Croatia, the burning of effigies is common in carnivals, though politicians and human rights defenders have decried the event as “a clear expression of hatred”.

Croatia’s Rainbow Family Association said the action sent an appalling message to society and to children especially.

“The scary scenes from Imotski cannot be justified by carnival customs,” said Daniel Martinovic, coordinator at the Rainbow Family Association. “What kind of message is being sent to our children, children who nowadays in Croatia grow up with lesbian mothers or gay fathers?”

Other groups in the region - as well as ministries and the country’s Ombudsman - have also spoken out against the incident, while Croatian president Zoran Milanovic stated that the event organisers "deserve the strongest condemnation of the public.".

The torching came only a few weeks after the Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex couples should be allowed equal opportunities to foster children. However, this is not the first time that homophobic rhetoric in the country has come in the form of fire: in 2018, Croatia’s first children’s book to depict a rainbow family was similarly burned at another festival.

Australia: survey documents the extent to which hate speech affects our communities

A survey conducted among over a thousand persons of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics in Australia has found that up to 69% of them have been called a derogatory word in the past 12 months. Almost 3 out of 4 LGBTIQ participants in the study “believe that hurtful and homophobic language is a major issue in Australia today”, a percentage that drops to 41% among those who do not identify as a part of rainbow communities.

In the lead up to this year’s Sydney Mardi Gras and based on the results of the study, Australian bank ANZ have released their #LoveSpeech campaign – aiming to combat hurtful language online and offline. The campaign, however, was met with mixed feelings, as it features a video that depicts young LGBTIQ+ people using the same slurs that haunt our communities so pervasively.

"A Catholic child welfare organization in Philadelphia wants to turn away same-sex parents while relying on public funding." #NOH8 https://t.co/6sE8A6yWUn

— NOH8 Campaign (@NOH8Campaign) February 24, 2020

United States: Supreme Court to hear case, threatening 30 years of non-discrimination laws

The US Supreme Court has announced that it will take up a case in which a charity has sued the city of Philadelphia over the right to deny same-sex couples the opportunity to provide foster care.

The decision could lead the Supreme Court to reconsider its 1990 ruling that religious beliefs do not exempt individuals or organisations from following local, state or federal laws which apply to everyone.

The appeal was brought by Catholic Social Services, one of 30 agencies with a contract with Philadelphia to find homes for abused and neglected children. After learning in 2018 that the group would not consider same-sex couples as potential parents for foster children, the contract was severed.

In its lawsuit, Catholic Social Services said endorsing same-sex couples as foster parents would violate its religious teachings about marriage. All lower courts, however, have ruled in favour of Philadelphia officials, who claimed they acted to oppose discrimination and to ensure "that all qualified Philadelphians have access to governmental services provided by contractors and paid for by their taxes."

There is concern that a decision overturning the ruling would make it easier for both individuals and businesses to claim a religious exemption from state and local laws that ban discrimination against people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. The court will hear the case during its next term, which begins in October 2020.