
France removes transsexuality from the listing of mental disorders
France: In February 2010, France became the first country in the world to remove transsexuality from its official list of mental disorders.

New Spanish Abortion Law
Spain: The Spanish Senate voted to ease the country’s restrictions on abortion, rejecting the opposition of the Catholic bishops and the Vatican over access to safe and legal abortion in that country.

The trajectory of the US HIV/AIDS policy since 2008
Nearly a year ago, Obama lifted the “global gag rule,” which prohibited the US from funding any organizations that provide or “promote” abortions. This move,

US HIV/AIDS policy
USA: On December 18th 2009, the SPW website posted an article written by Natalie Wittlin about the retention of the ‘prostitution pledge’ in the new proposed US HIV/AIDS policy guidelines announced by the Obama Administration on November 23rd. On December 29th, the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo published an article entitled The United States will provide funds to prostitutes, which the content contradicted SPW’s analysis of PEPFAR.

Mexico City have become the first in Latin America to legalise gay marriage
Mexico: In 2009, December 21, the Mexican capital became the first in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage with a groundbreaking law which could set a precedent for gay rights across the region.

US Funding for HIV/AIDS
USA: Even with Obama, the prostitution pledge remains on place in the case of PEPFAR, the US Funding for HIV/AIDS.

Panel Discussion on “Opposing grave Human Rights Violations on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”
USA: Grave human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity were the focus of a panel discussion organised on Human Rights Day 2009 on December 10, in the United Nations, in New York , defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Read more about COMELEC’s decision to deny accreditation to Ang Ladlad in Philippines
The Philippines: Read more about COMELEC’s decision to deny accreditation to Ang Ladlad. > Full resolution by COMELEC, promulgated on November 11, 2009 > Ang