Aceh flogged two gay men 77 times each after a vigilante mob raided their apartment in November, and handed them over to the police. Caning is recognized as torture under international law. Aceh's Islamic criminal code criminalizes same-sex conduct https://t.co/Prl8Zbfcxd pic.twitter.com/k32Oot0axt

— Andreas Harsono (@andreasharsono) January 29, 2021

(trigger warning) Indonesia: two men caned in public after being accused of sexual activity

In a horrific punishment, two men in the Aceh province of Indonesia have been caned publicly 77 times for engaging in sexual activity. 

The men, aged 27 and 29, were arrested in November last year after neighbours broke into their rented room and reported them to religious police. They were sentenced by a Shariah court last month, and the sentence was executed this week in front of dozens of people. 

According to reports, this is at least the third time on record that Aceh has caned people for consensual same-sex relations since the Islamic law was implemented in 2015.

As ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia report points out, consensual same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults are not criminalised under the Penal Code in Indonesia. However, several provinces, cities, and districts prohibit same-sex intimacy through local ordinances. There have been multiple reports in recent years from various parts of the country of men sentenced to receive lashes, of spas and hotels being raided by police, and of individuals being detained and charged under various local laws and customs.

Uganda: our communities remember activist David Kato Kisule

Ten years have passed since human rights activist David Kato Kisule was brutally murdered in his home.

Every 26 January, the anniversary of his demise, our communities in Uganda observe the Kuchu Memorial Day in memory of all those lost to violence. “Today we gather digitally because of the pandemic to pay tribute, to celebrate, to collectively mourn but importantly to draw onto each other for strength at a time when the pandemic has locked many of us back to our homophobic families and neighbourhoods”, wrote Sexual Minorities Uganda.

A teacher and a human rights activist, David Kato Kisule had dedicated much of his life to helping those persecuted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

In the months leading up to his death, he had himself been a target of a hate campaign mounted by a local newspaper, which printed the names, photos and addresses of dozens of persons, outing them and calling for them to be hanged. 

Together with other two litigants, he had filed and won a court case against the tabloid. He was killed a few weeks after the case was over, in a brutal murder that had reverberated around the world.

To mark the anniversary of the tragedy, Sexual Minorities Uganda hosted a dialogue with several council authorities and activists from various organisations, Kuchu Times reported, while our global community remembered the activist and his legacy.

¿Saben qué es una cláusula pétrea?

Es un termino legal que hace referencia a la imposibilidad de modificar la Constitución. Doble candado.

La prohibición del aborto y el matrimonio igualitario se va volver una cláusula pétrea, pese a que va en contra de los derechos humanos.

— CATTRACHAS (@CATTRACHAS) January 28, 2021

Honduras: lawmakers vote to strengthen prohibitions on abortion and marriage equality 

Members of the Honduran Congress approved an amendment that would make it much harder to reverse existing prohibitions on abortion and same-sex marriage.

Currently, all constitutional changes need to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in Congress in order to take effect. As Reuters reports, however, lawmakers now voted “to require a three-quarters super-majority to change a constitutional article that gives a foetus the same legal status of a person, and another that states that civil marriage can only be between a man and a woman.”

With 88 legislators in favour, 28 opposed and seven abstentions, the proposal will still need a second vote before it is enacted.

According to Human Rights Watch, civil society organisations were alerted only 24 hours before the vote took place, with little to no prior consultation. If enacted, the decree is likely to have serious consequences: “It will make it virtually impossible to carry out the recommendations from multiple international human rights bodies to end this violation of reproductive rights”, and “violate regional human rights standards that prohibit arbitrarily treating same-sex couples differently”.

In a landmark 2017 opinion, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights stated that all rights applicable to family relationships of heterosexual couples should extend to same-sex couples. This opinion is applicable in all 23 states party, including Honduras.

As ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia points out, local activists filed two lawsuits with the Supreme Court to legalise same-sex marriage on the authority of such advisory opinion. One was dismissed due to technical errors, and the other case remains pending before the court.

We formally welcome publication of the @ABSStats Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Standardhttps://t.co/fVaZjkiFLk pic.twitter.com/wq02dl2R5T

— Intersex Human Rights Australia (@intersexaus) January 22, 2021

Australian Bureau of Statistics updates standards to better collect data on SOGIESC issues

 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a new standard document to guide the collection and dissemination of data relating to sex, gender, characteristics and sexual orientation. 

Last updated in 2016, the new Standard includes “updated sex and gender variables, as well as the introduction of variables for variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation”.

According to Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA), “the new Standard facilitates the meaningful and respectful collection of data on people with intersex variations (‘variations of sex characteristics’)”, and “it seeks to respectfully recognise the diverse ways in which the sexes of people with intersex variations are recorded.”

“Intersex is often conflated as a sex or gender, and is rarely recorded accurately in data”, commented Tony Briffa, IHRA co-Executive Director and Chair of ILGA World’s Intersex Committee. “The changes by The Australian Bureau of Statistics following much community consultation are extremely encouraging and I hope it’s a model that other jurisdictions can follow. The ABS treating sex, gender and sex characteristics separately makes sense and is inclusive. It means data about intersex people can be accurately recorded.”

BREAKING NEWS! @POTUS @JoeBiden has signed an Exec Order that reverses the previous administration's unlawful & discriminatory #TransgenderMilitaryBan!! The new order will allow transgender people to serve openly in the U.S. military again! Our statement: https://t.co/lCbwQO99TX pic.twitter.com/q9WOpm07Lj

— NCLR – National Center for Lesbian Rights (@NCLRights) January 25, 2021

The United States reverses trans military ban

US President Joe Biden has issued an executive order repealing the ban on trans people serving openly in the military, which had been put in effect by the previous administration.

The executive order "immediately prohibits involuntary separations, discharges, and denials of reenlistment or continuation of service on the basis of gender identity or under circumstances relating to gender identity," the White House said. Military record for any who had been affected by the ban would also be immediately corrected.

Multiple federal courts issued rulings against the much-criticised ban, which kept it from going into effect for nearly two years after it was first ordered in July 2017.

This order “marks the beginning of a much brighter era in which military service is once again based on a person’s qualifications, not on who they are,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “Transgender people have proved their fitness to serve and ask nothing more than the opportunity to do so based on the same standards that apply to others”.

Covid-19 “considerably worsened the general situation of trans persons”, report finds

Trans communities continue to be severely affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey among trans-led collectives and LGBTQ organisations conducted by TGEU showed that “the Covid-19 pandemic has considerably worsened the general situation of trans persons and their access to education, housing, health and employment”. 

Moreover, the report highlighted how “trans civil society were mostly not included in the design of measures to respond to the pandemic”, nor their needs were “addressed in emergency plans”. Little attention went also into ensuring that trans people are not subject to discrimination in Covid-19 interventions, such as introducing lockdown restrictions and their enforcement.

In such a situation, when those facing different layers of marginalisation were affected the most by the consequences of the pandemic, civil society organisations have often stepped in to offer essential services.

“Trans-led organisations proved that they can efficiently provide immediate support and respond to the trans communities’ diverse needs”, the report concludes in a list of recommendation to policymakers. “They need to be included in decision-making around emergency measures, including distribution of aid and relief.”