Macleod Sawyer

via @/rachellense.bsky.social

Thailand’s Cabinet on Tuesday approved an amendment to its civil code to allow same-sex marriage, with an expectation for the draft to be submitted to Parliament next month.

Karom Polpornklang, a deputy government spokesperson, said the amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code will change the words “men and women” and “husband and wife” to “individuals” and “marriage partners” for same-sex couples to be able to receive the same rights that heterosexual couples receive.

He said the law would guarantee the right to form a family in a relationship between same-sex couples, adding that the next step will be an amendment to the pension fund law to recognize same-sex couples as well.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters that the draft law is expected to be proposed to Parliament on Dec. 12. If it becomes law after Parliament’s approval and King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s endorsement, Thailand will be the third place in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal, to allow same-sex marriage.

Source: AP News, November 21, 2023

Brazil’s Supreme Court has ruled that homophobic slurs can now be punishable by prison.

The unanimous 9-1 ruling that took place on Tuesday (22 August) now puts homophobic slurs on par legally as racist hate speech. 

Justice Edson Fachin, who led the ruling, called the decision a “constitutional imperative” to ensure LGBTQ+ people have equal protection under Brazilian law. 

In 2019, most of Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to recognize homophobia and transphobia as crimes under Brazilian law. That ruling applied to violence and discrimination in areas such as employment, while this week’s order extends the law to cover homophobic attacks against individual people. [2]. This applied to hate speech targeting the queer community, not particular individuals.

Transgender lawmaker Erika Hilton was one of many to celebrate the ruling, writing on social media: “Victory against LGBT-phobia.”

Source: [1]. Attitude Magazine, August 24th 2023 [2]. Blavity via MSN

Governor Katie Hobbs issued the two executive orders on Tuesday (27 June), with one banning state agencies from promoting or funding conversion therapy, and the other allowing state employee health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming surgery, which was previously banned in a 2017 policy.

Governor Hobbs has previously been praised for her work protecting the LGBTQ+ community in Arizona, signing an executive order extending employment protections to LGBTQ+ state employees on her first day in office in January 2023. She has since vetoed a bill that would have banned trans students from using the bathrooms appropriate for their gender at school.

“SB 1040 is yet another discriminatory act against LGBTQ+ youth passed by the majority at the state legislature,” Hobbs said. “I will veto every bill that aims to attack and harm children.”

I couldn't believe I hadn't posted this for pride yet.

In his order, Moody ruled that the prohibition violated the due process and equal protection rights of transgender youth and families. He said the law also violated the First Amendment rights of medical providers by prohibiting them from referring patients elsewhere.

“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that, by prohibiting it, the state undermined the interests it claims to be advancing,” Moody wrote in his ruling.

Republican lawmakers in Arkansas enacted the ban in 2021, overriding a veto by former GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson, who left office in January, said the law went too far by cutting off treatments for children currently receiving such care.

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I just finished “Improper Bostonians: Lesbian and Gay History from the Puritans to Playland“. This was a fantastic read tonight.

Just added to (Notable) Recently Finished Books - "Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity" by Robert Beachy

http://macleodsawyer.com/books

controversial opinion: rainbow capitalism has done more for LGBTQ representation and acceptance than any other campaigns in history.

In years passed, having a company verbosely proclaim they are LGBTQ+ supporting by changing their logos to rainbow was a MONUMENTAL step, we as a community would yell from the roof tops how happy and forward thinking this was (even just five years ago). This new wave of anti-rainbow corporatism is a way for anti-lgbt rhetoric to proliferate throughout our movement to seperate us and allow for discrimination.

We should be thankful that corporations now see us a marketable demographic, that we hold sway over their profits and well-being. We won the battle for acceptance, but not the war just yet. We should be happy when a company decides to commercialize us, because without commercialization we wouldn't be where we are.