Jamaica in violation of international law for its provisions criminalising consensual same-sex acts, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights decided

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has found Jamaica responsible of violating the human rights of a gay man and a lesbian woman, and urged an immediate repeal of the country’s laws criminalising consensual same-sex sexual acts.

According to Human Dignity Trust (HDT), this is a landmark human rights case for the entire Caribbean region: this is the first-ever decision of the Commission to find that provisions criminalising LGBT people violate international law.

The case was brought in 2011 by a gay man and a lesbian women, Gareth Henry and Simone Edwards, after they were attacked by homophobic gangs in two separate incidents and sought asylum overseas. They argued that the colonial-era law that punishes "the abominable crime of buggery" and "gross indecency" legitimised violence against our communities. The decision on the case was made in September 2019; however, it was kept confidential by the Commission until this week.

Highlighting the importance of this landmark decision for the Caribbean region; Téa Braun, Director of HDT, says “This is a major legal victory for Gareth, Simone and the entire LGBT community in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, where nine countries continue to criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy. It is a highly significant step forward that must now accelerate the repeal of these stigmatizing and discriminatory laws”.

As ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia report points out, consensual same-sex acts can be published with a country with a sentence of up to ten years in prison.

“LGBTI people and communities in Europe and Central Asia have been pushed to the brink” in 2020, a new report points out

After an extraordinary year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Europe and Central Asia have been awoken to the acute fragility of the human rights situation for LGBTI people across the region.

The latest annual review published by ILGA-Europe, focusing on 54 countries from across Europe and Central Asia, has drawn attention to the concerning rise in homophobic language and hate speech against LGBTI people, and raised concern over the pandemic’s impact on our communities.

According to ILGA-Europe Executive Director Evelyne Paradis, “there has been a resurgence of authorities and officials using LGBT people as scapegoats while authoritarian regimes are empowered to isolate and legislate without due process.”

Overall, there has been a crackdown on democracy and civil society, and attacks on freedom of assembly continue to be a growing trend. Politicians have increased their verbal attacks towards LGBTI people, while many religious leaders directly blamed our communities for Covid-19. Young LGBTI individuals have struggled with abuse as they had to move back into hostile family and communities’ situations.

The report has also shown a significant growth of opposition towards trans rights across Europe, which is beginning to have a wide and negative impact on legal gender recognition.

Amidst all this, Paradis pointed out,”it is essential to take bold and decisive action at multiple levels so that the human rights of LGBTI people in all their diversity will continue to advance across the region, and the promise of equality will be experienced in their lived realities”.

Services for rainbow youth get $4 million boost from govt https://t.co/5NUJ3tghr5

— RNZ News (@rnz_news) February 13, 2021

Aotearoa New Zealand: government announces funding for LGBTI youth mental health support

Mental health services for LGBTI youth will receive a support of NZ$ 4 million during the next four years. 

According to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, this is the first ever nationwide funding for rainbow youth, and would be an important step towards improving their wellbeing.

“This is a long overdue commitment to some of our most vulnerable youth”, Ardern said, reminding that young people in our communities are at greater risk of being discriminated against, harassed, and bullied than their peers, and that they often suffer from poorer physical and mental health as a result.

In 2019, the first comprehensive national survey of the health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people living in Aotearoa New Zealand found that 66% of participants had experienced discrimination at some point in their lives, and that more than one in five students were bullied at school at least once a week. 

Now, NZ$3.2 million of the funding will be used aiming at expanding nationwide mental wellbeing services, and NZ$800,000 will be provided to the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund, which was found as a tribute to people convicted of consensual same-sex acts before the law was changed in 1986.

#جاوید_رحمان، گزارشگر ویژه حقوق بشر ایران در سازمان ملل، در گزارش ویژه خود، برای اولین بار به وضعیت جامعه #ال‌جی‌بی‌تی در ایران اشاره کرده است.
وی در این گزارش با استفاده از گزارش‌های #شش‌رنگ و سازمان بین المللی آوت رایت، به نقض حقوق افراد #ال‌جی‌بی‌تی اعتراض و/۱@JavaidRehman pic.twitter.com/zEBgS4eZdo

— 6Rang (@6rangiran) February 10, 2021

UN expert raises alarm over reports of LGBT child subjected to “inhumane and degrading treatment” In Iran

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran Javaid Rehman has expressed concern over reports that the country has subjected LGBT children to “torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.” 

Iranian government claims that there was no coercion in ‘treatment’ practices. However, Rehman states that such practices included “electric shocks and the administration of hormones and strong psychoactive medications”, which violate Iran’s obligations under international treaties. 

The report also expressed concern over how “individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender experience human rights violations and widespread discrimination” in the country. As ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia report points out, the death penalty can be imposed in Iran for consensual same-sex sexual relations. There have been reports of executions, and several confirmed reports of state-led raids on private parties followed by mass arrests of those suspected of homosexuality”.

The government has not yet commented over the report, which will be discussed during the 46th session of the Human Rights Council from 22 February to 23 March.

Hoy presentamos una acción ante la Corte Suprema exigiendo que derogue la reforma constitucional que prohíbe el matrimonio igualitario y el aborto en Honduras.

Acá un resumen de lo que presentamos#PuedeSerDistinto pic.twitter.com/8YWE8sjusB

— CATTRACHAS (@CATTRACHAS) February 19, 2021

Honduras: activists file lawsuit against constitutional amendment strengthening prohibition on abortion and marriage equality

Human rights defenders in Honduras have filed a lawsuit to the Supreme Court, demanding it repeals the constitutional amendment that has strengthened prohibitions on abortion and marriage equality in the country.

In January 2021, members of the Honduran Congress approved an amendment that would make it much harder to reverse existing prohibitions on abortion and same-sex marriage. Lawmakers voted “to require a three-quarters super-majority”, instead of the usual two-thirds majority to ratify a constitutional change, to amend an 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.” 

According to reports, civil society was not consulted, and alerted of the developments only 24 hours before the vote. Now activists have decided to challenge this new provision: “The ban was introduced out of nowhere,” lesbian feminist organisation Cattrachas explains. “Over eight days, Honduras moved to ban marriage equality without consultations. But the country needs to adjust its laws according to its international obligations. We demand equality before the Supreme Court. We will not tire of demanding justice.”

Ghana Queer Lives Matter!

Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT
Some Ghanaians are LGBT#RespectDiversity#TogetherWeBuild

— LGBT+ Rights Ghana (@LGBTRightsGhana) February 17, 2021

Ghana: local LGBT+ group faces backlash after opening office

LGBT+ Rights Ghana, an organisation working to advance the rights of our communities in the country, is facing backlash after opening its new offices and a community centre.

The group opened its new offices on 31 January 2021 after hosting a fundraiser to promote its community space.

Soon after the event, however, misleading reports started circulating on local media, and an anti-rights organisation started a campaign calling on the police to shut the community space down, arrest the group’s leaders and enact laws that further restrict the human rights of our communities. 

The organisation promptly responded, reiterating their right to exist “as a recognized entity and movement entitled to all the rights and protections guaranteed under Article 21 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution. We have the right as Ghanaians to live in peace, join groups, be protected from harm and have our privacy respected.”

“LGBT persons in Ghana face many injustices, with homophobia having led to the loss of many Ghanaians’ lives and many more in fear for theirs”, reads a statement released by the organisation. “LGBT people have peacefully existed on this soil since time immemorial and will continue to do so. We are no longer allowing the shadows of colonial hate and the abhorrent homophobia to decide our future.”