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English The International Olympic Committee polices women and girls and fails them – Ilga Olympics: Sex Testing Harms All Women and Girls – Sport &

In meetings at the Supreme Court, Congress, and Brazilian universities, Reem Alsalem made anti-trans statements and was criticized by feminist and LGBTQIAPN+ organizations. By Dany Avelar (AzMina website), translated by SPW.

This is our second and latest bulletin of 2025. It offers a broad overview of events and trends in gender, sexuality, and abortion policy throughout the year to complement the analysis developed in July that addressed the policies implemented by the Trump’s second administration and the US landscape.

On January 22, Trump’s administrarion announced it was suspending the funding for foreign organizations that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. SPW summarized the main changes, which expand the restrictions set by the Mexico City Policy and will have many ramifications. Check it out below:

Genspect was founded in 2021 by Irish psychotherapist Stella O’Malley. As will become clear later, it is based on a conservative ideology. Insidiously, it disrespects the transgender community and undermines their rights—namely, the right to undergo medically assisted gender transition—which is in clear dissonance with the current values of integration and acceptance of this group.

The Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW), the Center for LGBT+ Human Rights and Citizenship at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (NUH/UFMG), and the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA) have released the research report “Blurred Boundaries: Feminist and Women’s Movements and Anti-Gender Politics in Brazil,” which is also supported by Ação Educativa, Cladem Brasil, Criola, Ipas Brasil, and the Nem Presa Nem Morta campaign.

On June 17th, SPW hosted, as part of the Pending and Emerging Dialogues project, the debate The new world disorder: meanings and impacts of Trump 2.0, with the participation of Heidi Beirich (GPAHE – focus on Project 2025) and Paisley Currah (Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, expert on trans rights).

Legal instruments are being waged in a new offensive against the trans community. By Bruna G. Benevides, originally published in Portuguese at Portal Catarinas. In

In June 2019, we published a special issue on the first 180 days of the Bolsonaro administration. Six years later, we take on the challenge

Analysis The Anti-Trans Executive Orders – Signs Journal The Human Toll of Trump’s Anti-Trans Crusade – American Civil Liberties Union Trump on DEI And Anti-Discrimination

To mark the launch of SPW’s new website, we invited some long-term partners to explore our archive and select a piece of content (a publication,

Introduction Once again, our newsletter brings you news and analysis about the current times, which are more somber than bright: authoritarian trends, the continued expansion

By: Tomás Ojeda, Mariana Gaba, Isidora Paiva-Mack, Rodrigo Sierra Rosales, Débora Fernández y Alemka Tomicic Year: 2024 This piece explores the relationship between gender-affirming interventions,

Sonia Corrêa In April 2024, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, the main doctrinal body of the Holy See, published the Declaration Dignitas Infinita. This

>> Read in PDF << Part 2 – Continuing anti-gender offensives Gender politics: good news Inevitably, the political situation described in part 1 of this

>> Read in PDF << Part 1 – Democracies in dispute Introduction As we have pointed out in previous editions, in recent years sexual politics

What’s wrong with the Cass Review? A round-up of commentary and evidence – Ruth Pearce American Academy of Pediatrics’ response to Dr. Cass NY Times’

Published at Review of International Studies (RIS). Download it here.

>> Download and read in PDF << First Words This edition of the SPW newsletter covers the main events in sexual politics since July, roughly

Access here the article of Alyosxa Tudor: The -anti-feminism-of-anti-trans-feminism

>>> Read/download in PDF <<< Opening Words This newsletter describes and seeks to contextualize the developments in sexual politics since February 2023. In times of

By Nana Soares. In July 2022, we published an article echoing and contextualising the guidelines then adopted by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) regarding the participation of trans women in their competitions. As we highlight in the article, gender policing in sports is not a new debate, but it is one that has intensified and taken on new forms in recent years.

  Maping and tracking Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures – American Civil Liberties Union 2023 anti-trans bills tracker – Trans Legislation

>> Read in PDF << First words In 2022, we adjusted our perspective for monitoring and analyzing sexual politics. In the previous two years, our

>> Download as PDF << Preface Due to its relevance in Brazil and the rest of the world, we rescheduled the publication of our newsletter

By Sonia Corrêa Uýra Sodoma is a non-binary Amazonian performance artist. She is intersectional in every sense. In one of her multiple layers, Uýra is

By Nana Soares The International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced at the World Championship, held in June in Budapest, a new technical-medical rule to regulate the

If the LGBT+ population is already under attack in the legal and policy realms, this year we have observed a new and worrying trend: the

English Pride Month in Turkey Showcased Homophobia, Resistance – Human Rights Watch This could be one of the most dangerous Pride months ever – openDemocracy

English As elite sports think again about trans participation, our only demand is for fairness – The Guardian International Federations’ bans targeting trans and intersex

>>> Read in PDF  First Words Since April 2020, SPW newsletters have been tracking and analyzing sexual politics in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

>>> Download the PDF version here. First Thoughts The last 2020 SPW special hypothesized that during 2021, because of vaccines, Covid-19 would no longer be

Since July, when we published our last Special Edition, as you will see in this issue, a lot has happened in the pandemic and in the field of sexual politics. Once again, the pages that follow are quite dense, but we remind you that the sections are relatively autonomous.

Video prepared as a tribute to the launching of the Brazilian version of the book “Our bodies, ourselves”, presented at the book launch event, a

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the face of the world as we knew it. The lives of whole societies were put on hold, almost all

First Words  In the last 2020 edition of Sexual Politics in Times of Pandemic Special of 2020, we hypothesized that throughout 2021, with the arrival

The Tokyo Olympics’ Indelible Moments of Loss and Solidarity – New Yorker Olympic magic cut through the pandemic gloom, but the Tokyo Games’ legacy is

Read the new issue of GLQ on “Cuir/Queer Américas: Translation, Decoloniality, and the Incommensurable”

Preliminary comment In 2020, in order to adjust our lenses to COVID-19 world conditions, we suspended our regular monthly announcements and started a series of

Go to the conference website

EFZ CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF THE COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION FROM THE ZAMBIAN EDUCATION CURRICULUM – Phoeniz FM News American Christian right group hosts anti-LGBT

Since 2013, Pope Francis I has been making unexpected comments about homosexuality, which usually call for compassion and tolerance. While these speech acts erupt here

Editors’ Note We apologize to our readers and partners for the delay in making our last Special Issue on Sexual Politics in the Pandemic available.

Investigate Dr. Sybrand de Vaal with regards to promoting harmful psychiatric practices with respect to Trans (including non-binary) children. This includes: * Examine his competency

“Conversion therapy” practices Key findings  PDF: English | Spanish | Portuguese Full Report PDF: English

PROTECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTI PEOPLE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC – Amnesty International LGBTQ Inequality and Vulnerability in the Pandemic – HRW COVID-19 pandemic

Since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in early 2020, SPW has been reporting on the events, trends and dynamics triggred by Sars-Cov-2. In order to

Since January, when the Chinese government adopted extreme confinement measures in Wuhan,  the pandemic sparked the worldwide spread of questionable war semantics.  It also provided

The global scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed since April, but the crisis is still far from over. Only eight countries are listed as

The SPW Announcement for May and early June 2020 will have the same format adopted in March-April 2020, it will organize the newly compiled information

Covid-19 Backlash Targets LGBT People in South Korea – HRW Authorities warn against homophobia hindering virus containment efforts – The Korea Herald ‘No one wants

Indonesia Indonesia’s Intelligence Service is Coming Out to Counter COVID-19 – The Diplomat Myanmar In Myanmar, the Coronavirus Gives Nationalists an Opening – Foreign Policy

March and early April 2020 It has been very challenging to prepare the  SPW announcement for March/April 2020 due to the abnormality, risks, and losses

By Sonia Corrêa[1] But, people die, don’t they? Yes, indeed. However, the current naturalization of death erases thinking – Santiago López Petit In the first week of

Preamble 1. We, the undersigning individuals and organizations, have gathered from all over Latin America in joint work to accompany people and communities of faith

MAY / JUNE LGBTQ Inequality and Vulnerability in the Pandemic – HRW LGBT: Covid-19 forced me back home where I’m ‘unwanted’ – BBC LGBT Nonprofits

Anti- gender politics in Latin America – SPW is pleased to announce the collection Anti-gender Politics in Latin America, which encompasses  nine case studies from

The year of 2019 has finished and, as traditionally, SPW offers our readers and followers a compilation of the main facts, trends, setbacks and victories

Transgender Rights Bill India’s transgender rights Bill faces ‘unanimous opposition’ from trans people – RNZ India’s Trans Community Faces Continued Discrimination – The Diplomat Regressive,

HIGHLIGHTS Latin America: Politics in Trance In the period covered by this newsletter, Latin America has been the scene of three simultaneous elections – in

September 28 – “Abortion is a Health Issue” was the theme of this year’s International Safe Abortion Day, widely celebrated around the world (see compilation).

All states must ensure access to safe and legal abortion as a matter of human rights, say UN experts – OHCHR Demanding Reproductive Rights on

We start this announcement recalling that, before May 2019, two major antigender events have taken place that are worth revisiting because of their potential subsequent

May 2018 Monthly briefing Sexual politics in May 2018 – SPW Original articles Political mythology on abortion and trans men | Blas Radi – SPW

#StopTheBans – Thousands of demonstrators marched in more than 500 cities across the US on May, 21th to protect abortion rights after Alabama state house passed,

‘People of faith against LGBTphobia’ in São Paulo Pride The group of Freaks in the São Paulo pride Millions celebrate LGBTQ pride in New York

The right to education is a fundamental right of citizens in all countries. Educational institutions play an essential role in shaping the attitudes of individuals

Rainbow wave: record number of LGBTs running for office in India – The Times of India Riding the rainbow: first Lok Sabha elections since Section

Highlights Algeria and Sudan: A revived Arab Spring? –  Almost six years after the Arab Spring waned under the shadows of the Sissi regime, political

Access all e-books and working papers of this project at: https://sxpolitics.org/trendsandtensions/ Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) would like to re-launch the fourth publication of its most

About the publication The right to found a family is a fundamental right recognized by many international treaties and conventions. This is an evolving right, indicating

The Christchurch attack In Christchurch, New Zealand, a solitary white male Australian sniper killed fifty people who were praying in two mosques. Prime Minister Jacinda

#Hail International Women’s Day 2019: struggle, endurance, resistance! #Eyes on Brazil From an insider´s point of view, observing Brazilian politics after January 1st is like being caught

SPW has compiled news, articles and assessments on the first two months of Brazilian far-right new administration and its setbacks and worrying moves, in various fronts such as Education, Foreign Affairs, Health, Human Rights and corruption scandals.

In this special issue of Signs, the contributors address the complex and powerful relationship between gender and the rise of the global Right. This discussion demonstrates how, in transnational terms, the Right has become a significant player in gender politics.

Supreme Court Allows Challenges to Trump’s Transgender Military Ban to Continue in Lower Courts – National Center for Lesbian Rights Supreme Court Declines Transgender Military

Call for Papers for a session at the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG), London 28-30 August

As 2018 reaches its end, SPW publishes a recollection of main events, trends, discoveries and challenges as we start 2019 and prepare for all the

SPW has the pleasure of promoting the Global Public Health Journal call for papers for the Special Issue — The Contested Global Politics of Pleasure

Researchers: María Angélica Peñas Defago, José Manuel Morán Faúndes, Juan Marco Vaggione Guest Experts: Gordan Bosanac, Kapya Kaoma Research Assistance: Violeta Cánaves Download the report

The Brazilian perfect storm We apologize for the delay in the circulation of SPW’s October 2018 monthly announcement due to the stormy process and result

#MourningMuseuNacional: As this announcement was being finalized, the Brazilian National Museum burned in flames. A singular and irrecoverable collection of the country’s historical and cultural

Global Philanthropy Project and Funders for LGBTQ Issues are pleased to present the 2015-2016 Global Resources Report: Philanthropic & Government Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,

By Marco Aurélio Máximo Prado “I contend that these values all derive from important Jewish sources, which is not to say that they are only

22nd International AIDS Conference:  On July 22, Pedro Villardi, from GTPI-ABIA, participated in the  Challenging Criminalization Globally Pre-Conference, one of the more important satellites events

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, introduced in 2016 by the Minister for Women and Child Development and approved in February 2018 by

Main global trends  ICD Reform – On June 18, the Working Group set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) released the final version of

The World Health Organization will stop classifying transgender people as mentally ill – CNN Being Transgender Is No Longer Considered A Mental Disorder By World

The World Health Organization has just announced the completion of the ICD-11 and released the official online version. The announcement does not mark the end

Several hundred people danced, marched and raised slogans on the Chennai 10th Rainbow Pride March with banners and flags celebrating the date on June 24.

New Global Health Guidelines a Victory for Transgender People – Human Rights Watch

Nicaragua:  SPW calls attention to the violent political crisis sweeping through this small Central American country and expresses its solidarity with the Nicaraguan society that

IDAHO Event Country Map Charter – DayAgainstHomophobia.org Brazil Establishes National Pact Against LGBT Violence on IDAHOTB eve Same-sex couples tie the knot in Cambodia in a

Blas Radi (Universidad de Buenos Aires)[1] The sexual and (non) reproductive health of trans men is a challenging issue. In the first place, because it

Authors The initiative Mawjoudin for equality is a Tunisian association that fights for equality and the rights of LGBTIQ people. Damj The Tunisian Association for

On July 13-15th, 2016 Sexuality Policy Watch organized the seminar/workshop SexPolitics: Mapping Key Trends and Tensions in the Early 21st Century in Durban, South Africa.

On March 14th, 2018, Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes were brutally assassinated in a shootout a week after Women’s International Day.  Marielle was

Main global trends Another mass shooting in Parkland (Florida) shocked the US and the world. Research findings that gained visibility after the tragedy reveal that

“Reject RKUHP that Criminalizes Women, Children, Indigenous Peoples and Marginalized Groups”  We are women, housewives, workers, students, students, activists, and survivors of sexual violence who

Changing Faces Changing Spaces (CFCS) is a biennial pan African activist-led and planned conference facilitated by UHAI. It is a platform for African LGBTIQ and sex

From the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Trans people (REDLACTRANS) we reject the transphobic violent attack suffered by the national coordinator of Barbados, Alexa

In January of 2018, a fierce transnational feminist controversy erupted on the question of sexual harassment. In the same week of the Golden Globes Award

As 2018 begins, SPW highlights the main events and trends as well as tensions and challenges traversing sexual politics worldwide. Trends and Facts January In

Crackdowns have been reported in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and, once again, in Egypt. In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government presented the

December 15, 2017.   GATE released the publication Gender is not an illness. How pathologization violates human rights law. This paper was conceived and produced as a contribution

In Europe, the rise of the extreme right – which implies both the deepening of racism and a threat to gender and sexuality-related rights –

October began with the International Day of the Girl on the 11th when the media attention was towards highlighting how access to education, especially in some

The IE SOGI mandate was created through UN Human Rights Council resolution A/HRC/RES/32/2 in June of last year and was confirmed through six separate votes

The Trans Health Survey is the result of the work of Transgender Europe (TGEU) and its partner organisations Women’s Initiative Supportive Group (WISG), Trans-Fuzja, Daniela

MANUAL ON PROVISION OF MEDICAL AND SOCIAL CARE FOR TRANSGENDER, TRANSSEXUAL AND GENDER NONCONFORMING PEOPLE FOR MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS OF ALL LEVELS OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Originally published at Pan Africa ILGA – International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association. The right to freedom of association under threat: 20 arrested

This information sheet has been prepared for parents and families of children born with intersex variations. The tendency to categorize all people as either ‘female’

This information sheet provides some helpful tips for people wanting to communicate in constructive ways about marriage equality and related issues like gender diversity, sexual

The Chinese version of the Advancing the Human Rights and Inclusion of LGBT People: A Handbook for Parliamentarians has been jointly produced by the United Nations Development

Two outstandingly positive news are to be reported in sexual politics worldwide in August 2017. In India, the Supreme Court issued a groundbreaking decision on

NHRI Guidelines for Mainstreaming Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics Work: APF resource sets out the practical steps NHRIs can take to ensure there

By Arnika Fuhrmann Through an examination of post-1997 Thai cinema and video art Arnika Fuhrmann shows how vernacular Buddhist tenets, stories, and images combine with sexual politics

Originally posted at Human Rights Watch, on August 21, 2017. Available here. August 17, 2017 Malawi Human Rights Commission Off Paul Kagame Road Private Bag

In July, once again, contradictory trends were registered in the abortion frontline. In Chile, the processing of a bill aimed at legalizing abortion in three cases

The research found that LGBTIQ people are often represented in the news media inaccurately, stereotypically, or without a clear understanding of SOGIE. The study recommends that a professional code of conduct on reporting SOGIESC issues be developed. The study was developed in partnership between the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University and UNDP.

Psychology of sexual and gender identity Volume 10, Issue 1, 2017 (click here to access it) Certainly, many significant and important strides in achieving equality

June is LGBTIQ Pride month worldwide. This SPW brief highlights events around the world, prioritizing parades and other demonstrations that are not captured by mainstream radars. In that regard, we also recommend the readers who read Spanish to peruse the new blog Orgullos Críticos which examines trends and traps implied in the growing normalization and pinkwashing of pride parades

By María Amelia Viteri and Gabriel Ocampo. Homosexuality was criminalized in Ecuador until November, 1997[1]. As a result, until then, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons were considered criminals, could face imprisonment and were often tortured and even killed.

By Matthew Waites. The Queer Asia conference has emerged as one of the most fresh and ground breaking conference events in global queer studies. The event is held at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, yet the organising team nevertheless managed to bring together presentations

By João Manuel de Oliveira. The legend says that Portugal is a conservative country with a supposedly glorious past, whenever colonization and its engagement with the slave traffic eliminated from the equation. It is also described as a profoundly religious country, deeply marked by the influence of endemic Catholicism. Sociologists, using an equation

Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn, the Independent Expert Human Rights in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity the first report of the mandate to the Human Rights

Anti-occupation LGBTQ activists block Tel Aviv pride parade – 972 The Latest: Tear Gas, Checkpoints Greet LGBT Pride in Turkey – U.S News The Baltic

In April and May, Brazilian crisis has deepened further more, prompting colossal political chaos which reverberated in sexual politics. Sonia Corrêa, SPW co-chair, assess the deep connections within the crisis regarding threats to abortion rights. Celebrations and good news came from around the world. In Bangkok, researchers and activists gathered

The past ten years have witnessed tremendous advances for HIV and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) rights globally, including the creation of an Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) mandate at the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights

News and Events By Country -Idahot Committee Chapter Four Uganda Statement on IDAHOT 2017 African Men for Sexual Health and Rights – IDAHOT Press Release

The number of countries criminalising consensual, private same-sex sexual activity between adults has decreased to 72, while the variety of law relevant to sexual orientation continues to expand steadily

An advance edited version of the 1st report (A/HRC/35/36) by the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

In March and early April, the abortion frontline in Latin America has been remarkably eventful,  in positive ways. In Bolivia, the proposed revision of abortion

The Nigerian feminist and writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was plunged into a noisy row after remarks that distinguish experiences of transgender women from those who are

There are many events to be reported in regard to abortion rights in February and early March 2017. The most important comes from  Brazil where

Text by Kyle Knight published at Human Rights Watch, on February 16, 2017. Available here. More than 600 transgender people applied for civil service jobs

President Trump on Wednesday rescinded protections for transgender students that had allowed them to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, overruling his own education secretary and placing his administration firmly in the middle

This article presents the first sustained social analysis of the Kaleidoscope Trust, the UK’s leading social movement organization on LGBTI issues internationally, and its engagement

Submit by March 15, 2017. We recognize that the entrenched practice of organizing the world into the sex binary and gender binary has alarming and

Article authored by Rebekah Thomas, Frank Pega, Rajat Khosla, Annette Verster, Tommy Hanaa & Lale Sayc. Published at Bull World Health Organ. Click here to

Originally posted at TGEU, on Feb 8, 2017. Available here. This is a review of some of the European editions of the National Geographic Special

Transgender Europe (TGEU), launching the revised edition of the Legal Gender Recognition toolkit hope it can inspire more change across Europe in the area of

Transgender Europe (TGEU) calls on the National Geographic to publish a response[1] to the European trans community who has been negatively affected by the translation,

In January, the first and foremost events to be reported are avalanche of draconian and regressive policy measures adopted in the chaotic first two weeks

Supreme Court on Monday issued a verdict requesting to provide citizenship to gender and sexual minority under the Others (O) category. The Ministry of Home Affairs has already begun providing citizenship on the basis of identity but there are still obstacles in the districts.

When it comes to Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who was sentenced to prison after leaking a trove of classified government data to

his study on trans-women living in Pakistan uncovers an in-depth review of their socio-economic situation and the challenges/barriers they face as well as the support systems available to them.

Compiled by Arcus Foundation (special thanks to Garrett Sander), January 2017. The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive and fluid list of

As 2017 begins, SPW highlights the main events and trends as well as tensions and challenges traversing sexual politics worldwide. January In January, the Zika

Text by Fida Hussnain, originally publish at The Nation, on Jan 10, 2017. Available here.  LAHORE –  The Lahore High Court yesterday allowed a petition

Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted a new comprehensive report on fundamental rights in the EU. The report assesses how fundamental rights are implemented in the

Andrew Mroczek and Juan José Barboza-Gubo created a series of photographs called “Canon.” It’s a symbolic name — a way of re-writing traditional laws in Peru to

As part of its celebrations of the Human Rights Day, Mesahat Foundation for Sexual and Gender Diversity is pleased to launch its publication “LGBT Voices from Sudan,” which documents violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity against sexual and gender minorities in Sudan.

November began with a resounding shift in global politics: Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. As the reactions flooded through the world

At a time in which electoral processes are undermining democracy not only in Brazil, but also in many other countries, electoral results can give in sight to many questions regarding the foundations of the democratic process.

The monitoring research was conducted from December 2015 till June 2016 by the Transgender Legal Defense Project. Within the framework of the research, the project

Text by Stephen Wood, Lukas Berredo and Carla LaGata published at Institute of Development Studies on Nov 18, 2016. Available here. In the three months following the

To celebrate both International Day of Action for Trans Depathologisation (22 October) and Intersex Awareness Day (26 October), SPW shares articles, news and campaigns aimed at

Originally published at Kaos GL The book Situation of LGBTI Rights in Turkey and Recommendations including the articles of six experts major in different disciplines

Originally posted by Maneo Mohale at Bitch Media on 19/09/2016. Available at: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/magic/contradiction-resilience-and-creativity-black-feminism-south-africa Maneo Mohale is the 2016 Bitch Media Writing Fellow in Global Feminism.

The UN Human Rights Council has nominated its first independent investigator aimed at protecting people in regard to sexual orientation and gender identity across the

Originally from Prostitution Policy Watch ——————- Once again, Rio de Janeiro has hosted a sporting mega-event, this time the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. And once

With great sadness SPW informs about the departure of Agniva Lahiri, a young Indian activist from Kolkata, who was deeply engaged in local and global

Feminist and queer art was part of the 13th International AWID Forum in Costa do Sauípe, Bahia Sep 8th-11th , 2016). Gabrielle Le Roux was

It also seemed to me that the general mood of pessimism came from the fact that most of the meeting’s participants were not digital natives, not exactly the ”globalized children”. This meant – again, with notable exceptions – that we still saw activism and policy advocacy

Talking about migration would be talking about what happens with the crossing of boundaries. Boundaries of culture and climate, and boundaries of visibility, where a change in semantics can come to render what was invisible visible (an accent, perhaps a way of dressing, one’s values and ideas, the experience of being surveilled as an alien), while also allowing the migrant certain new freedoms to be invisible (anonymity where ‘nobody knows your name’, and certain kinds of agency one may not have enjoyed back home).

The defining event of the 32nd Session of the Human Rights Council was the passing of the resolution appointing an Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

From sex to race, classification is a tool of oppression. Particularly examining abuse directed at Caster Semenya, this article looks ahead this week’s AWID International Forum’s theme ‘Bodily Integrity and Freedoms’.

In August, the Rio Olympic Games provided a privileged stage for the critical observing of gender and sexuality performances. Several SPW partners positively and generously

by Leonardo Peçanha The Rio Olympic Games were a landmark in regard to gay and lesbian athletes openly disclosing their sexual orientation. This visibility and

  The  most commented sport modalities of the Rio Olympics were the gender relations obstacle course competition, racism target shooting and out-of-closet leaping by Fernando Seffner[1]

Originally by Human Rights Watch, posted on 10/08/2016. Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/11/indonesia-lgbt-crisis-exposed-official-bias (Jakarta) – The Indonesian government stoked an unprecedented attack on the security and rights

The IACHR just launched the English version of the report “Violence Against LGBTI Persons”.  In this Report, the Commission focuses on violence against LGBT persons

The last days of the government of Hosni Mubarak and the turbulent revolution that followed were tense, occasionally gut-wrenching times for many in Egypt. But

Ending AIDS by 2030 is redundant rhetoric. It is meaningless without investment in community participation. Code red for action.

Trans organisations signing this letter, and the activist networks they represent, celebrate the Resolution [on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and

There’s a global push to remove “gender identity disorder” from the list of mental illnesses. But many transgender people in Japan aren’t on board with the idea. J. Lester Feder reports from Osaka.

Pride Uganda raided by police as LGBT activists arrested – Pink News Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) Statement on State-Sanctioned Disruptions of Pride

The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) is the national umbrella body for SOGIE organizations representing various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex voices

  Between July 12th and 15th, right before the Durban International AIDS Conference, SPW organized a seminar in Umhlanga, the Northern District of the City.

The on-going political conservative trends that has brought us the Brazilian “soft coup”, BREXIT and the candidacy of Donald Trump has also resulted in an increase in reactionary politics across the political spectrum, even among “radicals” and “progressives”. In Brazil, this has been recently manifest in attacks against

Originally posted by the Government of the Netherlands on 14/07/16. Available at: https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2016/07/14/international-coalition-launched-for-lgbti-equal-rights  In Uruguay on Wednesday an international coalition was launched for equal rights

Originally posted at the OAS’ website on 25/07/2016. Available at: https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2016/097.asp  Washington, D.C. — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes the recent creation

Originally posted by ЛГБТ Аман түүх at lgbtamantuukh on 04/07/2016. Available at: https://lgbtamantuukh.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/welcome-to-the-lgbt-oral-histories-of-mongolia-project/  Sponsored by the LGBT Centre (Mongolia)’s Youth Leadership Program, Batchimeg S. and

The proposal launched in May by the LAC 5 countries for the creation of a Special Mandate on Human Rights and Sexual Orientation and Gender

On March 2016, we relaunched our Spanish website that (among other things) provides access to the Spanish translation of Queering the Public Sphere in Mexico

On June 30th the Human Rights Council, after a complex and difficult negotiation has voted a resolution that establishes the mandate of and Independent Expert

In what was described as a dramatic milestone by human rights activists working on the promotion and protection of human rights on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, members of the United Nations at the 32 session of the Human Rights Council voted a resolution that provides a new mandate for an independent expert that will be responsible for reporting violence suffered by people on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, globally.

Originally posted at GATE’s website on 04/07/20216. Available at: http://gate.ngo/gate-statement-on-the-un-sogi-mandate/  On June 30, 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a historic resolution creating

Originally posted at https://lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/un-body-votes-for-independent-expert-on-lgbt-discrimination/ In a 23 against 18 vote (6 abstentions)*, the United Nations Human Rights council voted in favour of a resolution condemning

Utilizing data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which includes representative state-level surveys, Williams Institute scholars provide up-to-date estimates of the percentage and number of adults who identify as transgender in the United States. Approximately 0.6% of adults in the United States, or 1.4 million individuals, identify as transgender.

The ‘natural’ separation of men and women in these spaces arose less than 200 years ago, as part of a pervasive ideology of separation and dominance.

GPP and Funders for LGBTQ Issues have partnered to release a new Global LGBTI Resources Report, the most comprehensive report to date on the state

Solidarity with the LGBTQI community – Frida Mourning Orlando’s Loss from Kabul – Open Society India vigils in memory of Orlando shooting victims – Orinam

Early reports suggest that Mateen pledged allegiance to “Islamic State” while launching his shooting spree. We will know more in the days to come. I am grateful to those who are righteously rushing in to defend Muslims from the inevitable backlash and deplorable discrimination in the shell-shocked wake of this massacre. However, I would also ask them not to do so by downplaying the harsh realities of Islamist political ideology and the way it purveys hatred against many groups, including gays.

The drumbeats have started. Almost immediately after a mass shooting that left over fifty people dead on Latin night in a Florida gay nightclub, Pulse, the news shifted to the identity of the shooter himself. As soon as his name and the fact that his father immigrated (long ago) from Afghanistan was announced, the narrative began unfolding as Naeem Mohaiemen put it, on cue: This must be a terrorist attack.

The mass shooting at the Pulse, the nightclub in Orlando, took over the media screens and pages on the third week of June 2016.  The

By Orinam Jun 13 2016 A makeshift memorial with flowers and handprints rests in a parking lot near the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. source:

This is a late chronicle for several reasons. The obvious one is that it has already been more than 10 days since May 17, the International Day against Transphobia (and other wrongly called ‘phobias’ as they have nothing to do with personal pathologies but rather are social devices to preserve privileges).

Originally posted at the SRI’s website on 2016. Available at: https://www.sexualrightsinitative.org/2016/hrc/sri-calls-for-political-and-legal-framing-that-recognizes-full-range-of-sexual-rights/  The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) is a coalition of organizations from Canada, Poland, India,

This essay looks at the complex relationship between the personal and the political in queer/LGBTIA+ organizing in Africa. It considers how current modes of organizing impact the connection between professional activism and grassroots participation and explores some of the consequences of these two intersecting factors for activist praxis.

Jack Drescher and colleagues (March, 2016)1 highlight two controversies surrounding gender incongruent children below puberty. One controversy concerns how one helps these children.

Originally from TGEU’s website, posted on 17/05/2016. Available at: https://tgeu.org/idahot2016statement/ On this International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) [1], with a special focus on

The Sex Worker Zine Project features work that was produced by 24 men, women and transgender participants who live and sell sex in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. The project involved collaboration with the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement and the MoVE Project.

Feminism and trans activism don’t have to be mutually exclusive, argue the contributors to “Trans/Feminisms,” the most recent issue of TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly.

As the world federation of LGBTI organisations, we strongly believe that gender diversity is not – and should never be – a pathology.

SPW shares an unnamed letter written by  Bangladesh activist after the murders of LGBT activists in the Asian country in the past weeks. The letter

Originally from: https://lgbt-ep.eu/press-releases/european-parliament-speaks-out-against-online-homo-and-transphobic-hate-speech/ In a report adopted yesterday, the European Parliament expresses its concern over online homo- and transphobic hate speech, and calls for strong

rganization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), a leading international non-profit organization devoted to advocating on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, has released a first-of-its-kind glossary of terminology to assist humanitarian professionals to communicate with people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

Sexual Diversity in Africa: Politics, Theory, and Citizenship. Edited by S.N. Nyeck and Marc Epprecht. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2013. Click here to learn more

Across the globe, religion plays a critical role in shaping attitudes about gender norms and sexuality, which in turn have a profound effect on people’s everyday lives. A new Faith, Gender & Sexuality Toolkit launched today seeks to build knowledge and provide crucial support for faith communities and leaders working to promote social justice in relation to gender and sexuality.

We have the great pleasure to inform that our Spanish page has been re-launched. In this opportunity Alejandra Sardá from Akahatá has written an update

Moving Walls is an annual documentary photography exhibition produced by the Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project. This year exhibitions presents Shahria Sharmin’s portrait series on

This tool contains practical advice on implementing HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) programmes with transgender people. It is based on recommendations in the Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations, published in 2014 by the World Health Organization.

Arabic media training position is a 12- month, part-time staff position, with the possibility of renewal of contract for another year and/or increase in work hours. The position is responsible for leading OutRight’s Arabic media sensitivity program, which aims at reaching out to Arabic media outlets and journalists to provide them with a better understanding around sexual orientation, gender identity, and LGBTI rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa.

Originally posted on 31/03/2016 at GATE. Available at: http://gate.ngo/2016/03/31/gate-statement-on-the-international-trans-day-of-visibility-2016/ Today, March 31st, Global Action for Trans* Equality (GATE) calls for collective and critical reflection as

Originally posted at Transrespect on 31/03/2016. Available at: https://transrespect.org/en/tdov-2016-tmm-update/ On occasion of the International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDoV) [1] held on the 31st of

On Wednesday, I became illegal in my home state. I can’t go home to see my mother or my sister or my uncle or my friends from high school. I can’t go back to my favorite restaurant. Because the systematic eradication of transgender people from North Carolina is now the law of the land.

Dozens of transgender women, including asylum seekers who have come to the United States seeking protection from abuse in their home countries, are locked up in jails or prison-like immigration detention centers across the country at any point in time, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many have been subjected to sexual assault and ill-treatment in detention, while others are held in indefinite solitary confinement.

The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) recognises the universality of same-sex expression, across cultures. It holds the position that a same-sex sexual orientation per se does not imply objective psychological dysfunction or impairment in judgement, stability, or vocational capabilities.

Norway’s healthcare ministry on Friday proposed allowing people to legally change their gender without the need for any surgery, hormone treatment or sterilisation, a move hailed by Amnesty International

In a new report launched in the European Parliament today, the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) highlights that prevailing negative attitudes towards LGBT people endanger their fundamental rights and hamper efforts to counter discrimination and hate crime.

The State has a responsibility for protecting the LGBTI community from violence, a UN expert said on Wednesday, adding that he hopes that the Supreme Court of India makes an “enlightened” and “progressive” decision on the matter.

These bills would limit access to single-sex restrooms and locker rooms at schools and in public places; limit protections based on gender identity; permit individuals and businesses to discriminate against transgender people based on religious and moral beliefs.

Article available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296683386_Gender_incongruence_of_childhood_in_the_ICD-11_Controversies_proposal_and_rationale As part of the development of the eleventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), WHO appointed a Working Group

Originally published on Mamba online on 03/03/2016. Available at: https://www.mambaonline.com/2016/03/03/sa-minister-justice-calls-africa-accept-lgbti-people/ South Africa’s Minister of Justice has called on African nations to accept the human rights

Indonesian Psychiatrists Classify LGBT People As Mentally Ill In Order To ‘Treat’ Them – Think Progress The Next Big LGBT “Propaganda” Ban Is Being Written

The present report, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 29/22.

Though funding for LGBTQ activism in West Africa has historically focused on gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), the scan shows that more broad-based LGBTQ organizations are emerging. Several of these nascent groups are led by queer-identified women and gender non-conforming people.

This article asks if and why sexual orientation and gender identity-related rights should connect to a human rights framework. To answer that question it begins by addressing how we understand what makes human rights resonate or not resonate and if addressing a contentious issue such as sexual orientation or gender identity from within a human rights frame advances or detracts from such resonance.

In February, there were good news to report from both Haiti and Europe. In the case of Haiti, the Penal Code reform is underway and

The human rights of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) people have reached centre stage. Curative petitions have been referred to a Constitution Bench with observations by Chief Justice of India (CJI) T.S. Thakur that “the issues sought to be raised are of considerable importance and public interest …”.

In late November, 2015, the Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (IFCS/UFRJ) hosted a one week course

The book, by Andrew Park, is about the American political context, so the audience is mostly in the US.  It advocates using international human development

Originally published on AWID. Available at: http://www.awid.org/news-and-analysis/lohana-berkins-travesti-rage-always#sthash.NHwWZ69A.dpuf Argentinean trans* activist, Lohana Berkins, died in Buenos Aires on February 5, 2016. AWID joins the voices and hearts remembering Lohana,

The LGBTQ community in Argentina, and the region at large continues to mourn the loss of one of its most vocal and compassionate leaders. Lohana Berkins, founding president of The Association for the Fight for Travesti and Transexual Identity (ALITT) passed away last week after a long period of hospitalization.

On February 5th, the Argentinean trans leadership Lohana Berkins has departed. Lohana was recognized worldwide as a champion of trans rights as well as a

It dawns. She leaves behind a dominant world angered by her smile, an enemy world that is not ours, a passage from silence to speech; lives crossed, names and identities that no longer pay with their bodies, under a sky that heals as it challenges us. It is dawning in tears and, accompanied, Lohana Berkins dies in Buenos Aires.

Laughter, solidarity, and conviviality were in the air at a quietly remarkable event in a Nairobi hotel on February 12. Yet the subject matter discussed at the event was anything but light: depression and suicide, public stripping and rape. The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) was presenting its new report, “Research on the Lived Realities of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women in Kenya.”

Originally published on 76 crimes on 23/02/2016. Available at: https://76crimes.com/2016/02/23/victory-in-tunisia-activist-group-shams-wins-in-court/# Shams, the Tunisian group pushing for the decriminalization of homosexuality, has won its legal challenge

South Dakota has moved one step closer to becoming the first US state to bar transgender youth from the bathrooms where they are safe and comfortable.

With a growing number of older people in the world, it is time for Reproductive Health Matters to look more closely at the sexual and reproductive health of people in this different stage of life.

 Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people is a prevalent but silent issue in Thailand, said experts at a national level meeting to discuss issues related to discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression (SOGIE) or intersex status.

A new report indicates transgender women in Central America remain particularly vulnerable to discrimination and violence.

The first openly LGBT person elected to Guatemala’s Congress took office last week. Sandra Morán, a lesbian woman who is a member of Convergencia, a left-leaning political movement that advocates on behalf of indigenous Guatemalans and other underrepresented groups in the Central American country, was sworn in on Jan. 14.

Horrifying images posted on social media for all the world to see show men accused of homosexuality thrown off high buildings, stoned to death, or shot in the head by extremist groups, including the Islamic State (known as ISIS) in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

As the year heads toward its end, SPW recollects main trends and facts in sexual politics worldwide. January Pope Francis drew global attention after urging

Butler’s insight into the lives and deaths of transgender women in 2015 penetrates beyond the surface details of their deaths. Her perspective illustrates a startling reality about the real cause of violence against trans women, and the fatal importance of an intersectional approach to the liberation of transgender people.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today is publishing a regional report on the violence perpetrated against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex (LGBTI) persons or those perceived as LGBTI.

Transgender women living with HIV in Los Angeles County face a variety of legal needs that have a significant impact on their access to resources such as income, health care and housing, but most do not receive any legal assistance, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

In 2014, Rihanna, a 22 year-old transgender woman living in Kampala, Uganda was arrested and jailed under Section 145 of the Ugandan Penal Code Act for having “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” — or simply put, for being LGBTQ.

Originally published by TGEU at http://tgeu.org/how-many-trans-people-need-to-die-for-europe-to-take-action/ Every year on November 20, the trans community remembers and mourns those trans people who lost their lives to

On October 14, the internationally known Argentinean trans activist Amancay Diana Sacayán was found dead in her apartment. She was the third Argentinean trans woman

Statements ILGA: ILGA mourns the loss of Diana Sacayán, Argentinian Trans activist Outright – Action International: Argentinian Trans Rights Activist, Diana Sacayan, Found Dead in her

Rodobrás is a work by Virginia de Medeiros, a Brazilian visual artist who, for many years, has portrayed — in photos, videos and installations —

Read New York Times’ article “On Being Queer in the Caribbean“, which reflects on the situation faced by gay and trans people in some Caribbean

Check the main facts in October 2015. We highlight the Stop Trans Pathologization Campaign 2015; the Synod on the Family’s final statement; Brazilian feminists protests against partially approved legislation that criminalizes providing information and assistance in regard to abortion; and the Indonesian regressive law against sexual freedom.

The data which has been collected from 190 countries worldwide is separated into 81 maps, to allow website visitors to take a closer look, and compare country situations for the following topics: ‘Legal Situation’, ‘Health Care Situation’, ‘Social Situation’.

Originally published on: http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/journal/call-papers/ Reproductive Rights Matters – volume 24   number 47   may/june 2016  In this issue of the journal, we are hoping to

Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) met with Dainius Pūras, the United Nations  Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the

The legal status of trans* individuals in India was discussed quite extensively in the 2014 case of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgment by the Supreme Court of India.

The Research Report for Transilience Project on Violence against Transgender Women 2014 offers relevant qualitative data to understand the discrimination and violence faced by transgender community in different parts of South African society.

Originally published on IDS. Available at: http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinion/being-transgender-in-the-workplace-is-difficult-in-vietnam-or-anywhere The White House’s naming of a transgender person as the new outreach and recruitment director at the Office

In July the hottest topic to be reported on is, undoubtedly, the global controversy that emerged when Amnesty International made public a draft policy defining

Retrieved from www.transactivists.org in 2015. London, July 16th 2015 Dear friends, I am very honored to receive this award, which I accept understanding it as

In the first week of June 2015, two articles have reached us that spoke to the unabated tensions – and perhaps unresolvable – tensions between those streams of feminism that deny the validity and ‘authenticity’ of female transgender identities and experiences.

Originally published on http://trans-fusion.blogspot.com.br/2015/06/terfs-of-times.html   This week’s Sunday Review section of the New York Times has as its headline article an opinion piece by feminist

SPW recommend the study Transgender Men Who Experienced Pregnancy After Female-to-Male Gender Transitioning, aimed at conducting a cross-sectional study of trans- gender men who had

Originally published on: http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/being-transgender-egypt Aisha* was sleeping when her apartment was raided. She and three other friends had just moved in when the police came by asking

This policy brief summarizes the impact of intimate partner and family violence on the HIV vulnerability of men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender

Written by Fernando D’Elio of Akahata (with input from Neha Sood of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights) as part of the 2015 ILGA

In April, 2015 Malta passed the Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics (GIGESC) Act, which encompasses, in a new and radical combination, legal recognition,

A comment from GATE on the Maltese Act on Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sex Characteristics. Available at GATE’s website.  In April, 2015 Malta passed

SPW recommends Open Society’s report Marriage and Forced Divorce – A Legal Gender Recognition Issue Brief, in which it “explains legal restrictions that affect the recognition of married trans and intersex people and examines case law and addresses key arguments made by those who oppose such recognition”

The Norwegian Ministry of Health’s Expert Committee on legal gender recognition presented its conclusions and recommendations in Oslo today. The report proposes legislation based on

1. Part 1 – Intro and overview of the region https://youtu.be/_Bi8HvQjzwk 2. Part 2 – ‘Propaganda’ legislation and regulation of sexuality in the region https://youtu.be/vZ1YneaFIPc

April – In a landmark decision, Indian Supreme Court allowed transgender people to identify as a third gender and directed the central and state governments

In October the 10th anniversary of SUR Journal  – International Journal on Human Right was marked by the publication of its 20th issue that comprises

STP, International Campaign Stop Trans Pathologization The International Day of Action for Trans Depathologization 2014, convened by STP, International Campaign Stop Trans Pathologization1, took place

SPW recommends the report written by activists and funders aimed at supporting better coordination and collaboration on trans and intersex funding. Download it here.

The Observatory of Prostitution has published a report revealing the impacts on prostitution and sex trade arising from Brazilian World Cup during June and July.

SPW recommends the article Proposed declassification of disease categories related to sexual orientation in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11),

In August, the Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) published the outcomes from the three Regional Dialogues organized in Asia (2009), Latin America (2009) and Africa (2010)

American groups sent out a fundraising appeal over the weekend claiming LGBT people had been stoned to death. But Ugandan activists say there is no

The World Health Organization has published its proposals on trans health in the ICD-11 Beta Draft, in which for the first time in history it

By Anna Forbes and Sarah Elspeth Patterson August 13, 2014 – 3:54 pm During the 2014 International AIDS conference, The Lancet medical journal released a

From legalising abortion to transsexual rights, marginalised groups have united to become a formidable force for change One tiny country has been blazing a liberal

Richard Parker Participation at the 29th ABA Meeting in Natal On August 6th, 2014, SPW Co-cordinator Richard Parker participated in the Round Table on Challenges

In 2013, Sexuality Policy Watch began a new line of work aimed at critically examining how sexuality, gender and human rights  can be located in

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has produced a guide to adress the needs of transgender and gender non-conforming employees. It settles some important issues

Press Release 24th July 2014 For Immediate Release Transgender Group in Kenya wins Historic Court Battle Nairobi, Kenya, 24 July, 2014. – In a historic

Alongside the ongoing 26th session of the Council, the Sexual Rights Initiative, in partnership with,Ipas, Amnesty International and UNAIDS, hosted a parallel event examining the

Staying positivist in the fight against homophobia Rahul Rao* In recent weeks, arguments against homophobia have been made in two paradigmatically positivist registers – science

The SPW report, “Bracting Sexuality: Human Rights and Sexual Orientation”, written by Ignacio Saiz, analyzes the recognition of rights relating to sexual orientation within the

Corinne Lennox and Matthew Waites, from Institute of Commonwealth Studies (University of London), are the editors of the free online book Human Rights, Sexual Orientation

Danish parliamentarians passed a law which makes it the first European country where a requirement for ‘Gender Identity Disorder’ diagnosis or any psychological assessment/opinion is

Buttlerflies is an awarwed video directed by Vagner Almeida documenting the lives of young gay men and travesties in the poor outskirts of Rio de

Read Helen Clark (UNDP) statement highlighting LGBT rights as matter of concern to all working on human development. Click here.

The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University has launched the 5th Edition of the Health and Human Rights Resource Guide. The

Nigerian Senate has passed the HIV Bill 2013, which stipulates that every person living HIV and AIDS shall be assured of freedom from unlawful termination

S.H.E social, health and empowerment feminist collective of Transgender and Intersex Women of Africa has launched its first newsletter, which brings news about trans activism

Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre has published ICPD Beyond 2014 Global Report, which is the culmination of a landmark UN review of progress, gaps, challenges and emerging

These short vídeos document Sexuality Policy Watch activities at the 2006 International AIDS Conference in Toronto: a workshop to discuss the preliminary findings of the

 

SPW gathered news, results and assessments from the 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD). Below, some of them released by now. RESURJ

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of India allowed a transgender people to identify as a third gender and directed the central and state

Read J. Lester Feder’s article published on Buzz Feed in which the author discusses how “Pope Francis’ softening tone on LGBT issues does not appear to

Governments at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) ignored evidence of and regional support for key elements of sustainable development in

Click here to read the statement delivered in the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) which defends sexual rights, sexual

Pambazuka News 667 comes with a special issue on “The struggles for homosexual rights in Africa”, which brings analyzes from a African perspective of the

Mauro Cabral shares the compilation ‘Torture in Healthcare Settings’, which reflects on the report of Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, the first

Dear friends, Around the World During January and February 2014, SPW has watched the development of anti-homosexuality bills in Nigeria and Uganda, as well as

Since December Uganda and Nigeria have approved draconian laws under debate for many years that drastically curtail the freedom and rights of persons whose gender

At the V Queering Paradigm Conference held in Quito, in February 2014, Sonia Corrêa, Nikita Dhawan and Brenny Mendinza were keynote speakers at one main

Nigerian LGBT community is organizing a Global Day of Action on the 7th of March 2014 to protest against law that criminalizes same-sex people relationships. Click

UNDP’s HIV, Health & Development Group has launched a Discussion Paper on Transgender Health & Human Rights, prepared by Jack Byrne, an expert on trans

Read the article “The Implications of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 on Uganda’s Legal System”, by Adrian Jjuuko and Francis Tumwesige, in which the authors discuss

Read J. Vreer Verkerke’s critical article about the new dutch law on transgender people. Here.

In december, Nigeria’s Senate approved a law that criminalizes displays of affection, people in same-sex marriage (including tourists) and even those who argue in favor

LGBTTTI Coalition of Organizations working within the framework of the OAS expressed support and appreciation regarding the creation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Between 29 November and 1 December 2013, the Third International Intersex Forum, supported by ILGA and ILGA-Europe, took place in Valletta, Malta. This event brought

With great pleasure SPW brings attention to the Human Rights Watch post article by Anna Kirey, who has participated in our Buenos Aires training on

IDS Sexuality and Development November Newsletter is on the web and brings discussions about heteronormativity and patriarchy as well as other issues. Learn more.

In an article published at Journal of the International AIDS Society, Chris Beyrer and Monica Malta highlight setbacks on the Brazilian political and financial commitment

In article, New York Times discusses aspects of Rio de Janeiro policy on the organization of Olympic Games: brothles are being captured by an atmosphere

A report on the Situation of Afro-Brazilian Trans Women was presented during a thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights last week in

In a case that has the potential to break the binary gender norms of male and female in law and administrative practices in India, the

In October 2013 our main themes were the following: On October 10, activist Gabriela Leite, who devoted her life to fight for the rights of

The death of Gabriela Leite, on October 10, meant a great loss for the struggle for the rights of prostitutes, and sexual rights brodaly speaking,

Read New Statesman’s article about a German law that lets a birth certificate to be left blank in cases where the child is neither male

SPW recommends the document “LGBTI persons deprived of their liberty: a framework for preventive monitoring”  because it considers very relevant that the Association for Prevention

Anti-sex work group, Equality Now, recently launched an attack on the UN over recommendations to decriminalise sex work in two reports on HIV and Sex

The United Nations Secretary-General’s envoy for HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, Dr Edward Greene, has pleaded for the removal of discriminatory immigration laws in

The Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE) published a statement on the October 19 reaffirming the devasting effects of the patologization of trans identities. Click

Human Rights Watch send a letter to Pope Francis asking that Catholic Church  to “condemn violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)

“If a person does not fit in a neatly packaged place within the straight-gay binary, some people won’t believe them, a fact that led me

The Constitutional Court of South Africa decided that two sections of the Criminal Law Amendment Act are unconstitutional. The measeures were intended to criminalise consensual

The Kuwait Ministry of Health has proposed tightening genetic tests for immigrant workers in order to prevent transgender migrants from entering the GCC job market.

Read The Independen’s news about medical tests that will be conducted by Gulf states to stop homosexual to enter their countries. Click here.

Organizations, associations and activists defending the human and civil law of  trans people denounce generalized extreme violence and murders and impunity that trans people suffer

Read article about the situation of trans people in South Africa and the obstacles that they face regarding the identification country system. Here.

During the month of September, Sexuality Policy Watch has followed the global landscape of sexual and reproductive rights. In the Latin American scene, we highlighted

During September, Sexuality Policy Watch followed the global landscape of sexual and reproductive rights. In the Latin American scene, we highlighted the Regional Conference on

In what organisers suggest is a ‘first of its kind’ move, an informal coalition of over 150 trans* and cis feminist activists, academics, writers and

Read the article “The Queer Art of Whistle Blowing”, about the place that gender is occupying in the context of the “Manning case”. Click here.

Read the article “Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, the New Dissidents?” about United States machinery that satisfies certain tendencies that are in the genetic code

Read feminist Zillah Eisenstein’s article about the Manning case. “Manning has initiated a rare moment of opportunity that makes mainstream silence a bit more difficult”.

Although mature and vibrant, Latin American scholarship on sexuality still remains largely invisible to a global readership. In this collection of articles translated from Portuguese

Immediately before the 9th IASSCS Conference, a second round of the Sexuality Research and Political Change Training Program was held in Buenos Aires, from August 23rd to 27th, 2013. Check more information and the album of workshop pictures.

SPW Newsletter No. 13 landscapes the implications of the new papacy of Francis the First for the sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America. We invited five SPW partners: Daniel Jones, Diana Maffía and Juan Marco Vaggione, from Argentina; Edgar Ruiz, from Mexico; and Maria José Rosado, from Brazil to share their views on how this political shift at the Vatican will affect sexual politics in the region. We choose three authors from Argentina because we wanted critical assessments made by analysts more closely acquainted with Bergoglio’s trajectory and political style. Edgar Ruiz in his article provides a sweeping view of the new papacy from a wider Latin American perspective, and Maria Jose Rosado’s interview speaks more directly of the Brazilian context including concerns about the papal visit and its potential negative impacts.

Maria José Rosado Sociologist. Teacher at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. She founded the Brazilian NGO Catholics for Free Choice. Her field of

Arcus Foundation announces Capacity-Building Initiative for U.S. LGBT Movement. The deadline to apply for Arcus’ LGBT Leadership Initiative for Executive Directors has been extended to allow time for a few more applicants. The extended deadline is now June 5th, 2013.

Read the “Letter Repudiating the Ministry of Health’s Censorship of the Campaign about Prostitution and HIV/AIDS”, written by the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association – ABIA, after the Ministry of Health announced its censorship of the campaign about prostitution and HIV/AIDS launched on International Prostitutes Day (June 2nd).

Read “Bradley Manning, Bayard Rustin, and the perversion of Pride”, an article by Scott Long on A paper bird blog.

United Nations has just released a video stating that LGBT rights are human rights, starring Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.Watch it now.

With the recent release of the US State Department’s Human Rights Reports for 2012, the Council for Global Equality has compiled information from the reports on areas ranging from police/state violence to transgender and lesbian-specific incidents. Download the compendium here.

The International Journal of Middle East Studies just launched a special issue about Queer Affects in its Volume 45 of May, 2013. Copies may be requested here.

Show your support to the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia by changing your profile picture on social networks. Click here for some suggestions.

May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). In 2013, some 100 countries have reported activities to be held in remembrance of the Day and of the victims of homophobia and transphobia. We selected some of the amazing initiatives, which you can see here and get inspired to take part in this movement.

Brazil: From April 2nd to 5th, 2013 activists from more than 20 Latin American countries met in Brasilia, Brazil, to discuss the terms and contents of a new resolution on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, to be presented at the UN Human Rights Council next June. Read more.

From March 18th to 22th, 2013 Sexuality Policy Watch organized the Sexuality and change – a new training program, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gathering participants from Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, United States and Venezuela. This was the first training program offered by SPW and this initiative prompted participants to examine how theory, research and policy can shape meaningful social change. Read more.

SPW Newsletter No.12 aims to analyze how sexuality matters are debated in international human rights bodies, specifically within the recently reformed Inter-American Human Rights System and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC). In the case of UN HRC, this issue of the SPW Newsletter looks closely at the second round of Universal Periodical Review (UPR) of India and Brazil, held in May 2012. Our main goal was to explore how two of the so-called emerging powers have responded to the UPR process, if sexual and reproductive rights issues have or have not been addressed in these reviews, and how the Indian and Brazilian states have or have not reacted to recommendations made in relation to these topics. These brief analytical exercises provide interesting insights on the merits and limits of the UPR processes, as well the challenges implied in engaging with and monitoring these reviews.

Read “INTRODUCTION: Sexual and reproductive rights at the 2012 Universal Periodic Review of Brazil”, written for the SPW Newsletter N. 12, based on analysis of Magaly Pazello, from EMERGE-Communication and Emergence Research Centre and Women’s Networking Support Programme of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

Scott Long published at the blog A paper bird the article Resources for the unbelievers, on aid conditionality and LGBT rights. A series of contents regarding aid conditionality and LGBT rights is presented in this article, including some contents produced by some partners for the SPW Newsletter n.11. Read more.

Global: Read the IDAHO Committee team balance about the global mobilization worldwide celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, on May 17th. According to IDAHO Commmittee, new countries joining celebrations for the first time.

Argentina: On May 9, 2012 the Senate passed the first ever gender identity law in the country. With 55 votes in favor, 1 abstention and no votes against the law passed is for now the most progressive disposition on transgender people rights in the world. Read the note published by GATE and more.

Argentina: On April 24, 2012 the Senate Committees on General Legislation and on Population and Development signed in Buenos Aires an agreement that authorizes the discussion on the Gender Identity Law at the Argentine Senate to proceed. Read more.

Brazil: ABIA and SPW supported the Brazilian UPR Pre-session, which took place on April 2nd, in Geneva, presenting a short video and recommendations aiming to contextualize some recent aspects of human rights in the country.

Hakima Abbas, the Executive Director of Fahamu Network for Social Justice, wrote for the SPW Newsletter n. 11 the article “Aid, resistance and Queer power”, on the effects of the aid conditionality to the LGBTIQ issues in Africa.

Read the article Aid conditionality and respect for LGBT people rights, written by Luis Abolafia Anguita, from Fundación Triángulo, a Spanish LGBT organization wich works with development cooperation. The article debates the threats, reactions and effects of the recent initiative to reduce the development aid to countries that criminalize homosexuality.

Read the interview with Radhika Balakrishnan, the Executive Director and a Professor at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, about aid conditionalities to developing countries and its impacts on national human rights agenda.

ARC International is co-hosting with the ICJ an NGO roundtable to raise awareness of sexual orientation and gender identity issues on next Monday, 5 March, at the 19th Session of the UN Human Rights Council. Titled “LGBT Issues for the Curious: (Almost) Everything you Wanted to Know about Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity but were too Diplomatic to Ask”, the roundtable affords an opportunity for LGBT human rights defenders from all regions to share their perspectives with diplomats. Read more.

Brazil: Cleides Amorim, a professor at the Federal University of Tocantins, was one of over a dozen LGBT Brazilians murdered in just the first two weeks of 2012. AllOut started a national campaign aimed at Federal Government, inspired in a protest letter from a group of professors of Brazilian universities. Read more.

The Brazilian Association of Studies on Homoculture (ABEH) released the first version of the schedule, the menu of group themes, and the composition of the scientific commission of the VI International Conference of Studies on Sexual and Gender Diversity that is going to take place at UFBA (Federal University of Bahia) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2012.

Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) and the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) were involved in the production of reports on the status of human rights in Brazil for the second Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council, which will be held in June 2012. Read the reports.

Read In favor of a real debate in Cameroon, published at CLAM website, presenting an analysis of the African sexuality context, based on an interview with S.N. Nyeck, a Cameroonian-born Ph.D. candidate at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Political Science.

Nigeria: The Senate passed the Same-Gender Marriage Prohibition Bill. Nigerian Human Rights Defenders have condemned the Bill and the Coalition for the Defense of Sexual Rights in Nigeria circulated a call for action. Read more.

Russia: On November 11, 2011, St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly approved a bill to ban the so-called propaganda of “sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors”. The second reading of the bill has been temporarily postponed until 30 November, 2011. Read more.

The Sexuality Policy Watch is hosting the Inter-Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Politics prior to its Advisory Group regular meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 26-29, 2011.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Justice: A Comparative Law Casebook, by the International Commission of Jurists is the first book of its kind. It collects and analyzes judicial decisions from more than 100 courts around the world. The Casebook showcases the role of international and comparative law in litigation seeking to vindicate the human rights of LGBT individuals. It is organized into fourteen chapters, each consisting of an introduction to the main legal issues and arguments followed by detailed case summaries.

Uganda:A number of violations based on sexual orientation and backlashes are also to be reported in Uganda, starting with the murder of David Kato, in Kampala, in January 2011, and more recently the suspicious ‘burglary’ at FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda), which has posed threats to the lives of other Ugandan activists.

Turkey: read a series of news on recent cases of violance against LGBt people in this country.

APC launches the final reports of the EroTICs: Sexuality and the Internet – an exploratory research, with the full research findings from Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa and United States, that delve into the complexities of policy and legislative trends on internet content regulation, map key actors and processes, and document how sexuality figures as a central theme in this debate. Read more.

New public health recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners aim to help policymakers and doctors scale up access to treatment and prevention services for HIV and sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men and transgender people. The guidelines Prevention and treatment of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among men who have sex with men and transgender people: Recommendations for a public health approach are the first global public health guidelines to focus on these specific population groups and provides 21 recommendations for actions to be taken by multiple stakeholders, in close cooperation with men who have sex with men and transgender people.

The UN resolution on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity is available in all 6 UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

EU: On 30 June 2011, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights held a hearing on LGBTI rights in the world. Read more.

The Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) is participating at the VIII International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS) Conference, in Madrid, Spain, from 6th to 9th July 2011, organizing the session Regional dynamics in Sexuality and politics: common threads and differences (July 8th) and participating in the panel Electronic Sociability, Gender, Sexuality and Internet Regulation (July 9th), organized by APC-WNSP. Read more.

The EroTICs: Sexuality and the Internet – an exploratory research, lauched by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), looks at how the internet plays host to critical information about sex education, health, fighting sex discrimination and defining one’s own sexuality. It debunks the commonly-held view that sexuality online is just about pornography. The EroTICs project took place between June 2008 and June 2011 and was funded by The Ford Foundation. Sexuality Policy Watch (SPW) and the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM) developed the Brazilian EroTICs research.

> UN endorses gay, transgender rights, Boston.com > Bahamas backs UN resolution on gay rights, Caribbean News Today > Nigeria oppose UN gay rights resolution, Next.com > U.N. rights

Global: The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was celebrated on May 17th 2011 with hundreds of events taking place all around the world and on every continent. Read more.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) launched State-sponsored Homophobia – A world survey of laws criminalising same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults, a research by Eddie Bruce-Jones & Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, Birkbeck College School of London, United Kingdom, which was updated in May 2011.

Sylvia Tamale launched the book African Sexualities – A Reader, a groundbreaking volume which provide a critical mapping of African sexualities, informing readers about the plurality and complexities of sexualities on the continent. Click here to read more.

USA: Read the statement by the White House’s Press Secretary on Ending Violence Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Watch the series of interviews made by Rachel Maddow with David Bahati, the parliamentarian who proposed the so called “kill the gays” bill in Uganda.

UN – Joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation & gender identity 1. We recall the

Global: Read and follow up on the joint declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity, read by Colombia on behalf of 85 member countries during the UN Human Rights Council 16th session.

As part of the EroTICs: Sexuality and the Internet – an exploratory research project, SPW and CLAM have prepared an Executive Summary for the Brazilian chapter of the research, that is available at the last issue of the electronic magazine genderIT.org.

UK: Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde’s request for asylum to be reviewed on February 7th by UK Border Agency. Read more.

Uganda: After the High Court prohibited Rolling Stone local magazine to campaign against LGBTI community, gay activist David Kapo was murdered in his home. Read more.

Read the article “The meaning of the Kampala Court Decision”, by Kasha Jacqueline, from the Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG), on the Uganda’s high court decision permanently prohibiting the tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the venerable U.S. publication by the same name) from continuing its public vigilante campaign against that country’s LGBT community.

Read Developing sexual health programmes – A framework for action, organized by the World Health Organization, pointing to the importance of programming for sexual health across the five domains of laws, policies and human rights; education; society and culture; economics; and health.

Global: On 21 December, 2010 the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of restoring reference to “sexual orientation” in a high-profile resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Read more.

Read the article Putting the “Universal” Back in the Universal Declaration, written by John Fisher, Co-Director of ARC International. This short article focuses on the recent developments at the UN, with an overview of both progress and challenges on LGBT issues in the international arena.

Read the issue number 6 of the Sexuality, Health and Society – Latin American publication (contents in Spanish, Portuguese and English), published by the Latin American Center on Sexuality and Human Rights (CLAM). Despite an instigating article on the relations between clients and female prostitutes in Rio de Janeiro, and a reference to other countries (Mexico and Chile) in two of the book reviews, all the other articles and reviews in this issueconcentrate on Argentina. Even if such concentration is due to the random influx of submissions, it is rather timely. With the approval of the so-called Equal Marriage Bill, Argentina has gone, over the past few months, over important transformations in the expansion of civil rights.

Jamaica: A recently produced public service announcement focuses attention on the need to respect LGBT individuals and features prominent Jamaicans requesting tolerance of the Jamaican LGBT community. Read more and watch the video.

Regulating Sexuality: Legal Consciousness in Lesbian and Gay Lives, by Rosie Harding, explores the impact that recent seismic shifts in the legal landscape have had for lesbians and gay men. In this study of the interaction between law and society in social justice movements, the author interweaves insights from the new legal pluralism with legal consciousness studies to present a rich and nuanced exploration of the contemporary regulation of sexuality. Read more.

Venezuela: The postulation of a transexual lesbian feminist woman, activist of human rights, to become a Judge for the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice Venezuela causes call to mind in Venezuela. Read more.

ARC International (www.arc-international.net) is releasing an “Activist’s Guide to The Yogyakarta Principles”, a tool for those who are working to create change and build on the momentum that has already begun around the Yogyakarta Principles.

Between July 18 and 23, 2010, the International Aids Conference was held in Vienna, Austria, the premier gathering for those working in the field of

Spain: A controversial exhibition titled “Invisible: transgressive nature” (in Spanish, Invisibles: Naturalezas transgresoras) organized by Decide-T at the University of Alicante, Spain, presented Trans Barbie dolls.

Since the African Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics will take place next week in Lagos, Nigeria, we have selected a series of articles related to sexuality and gender issues in Africa, published in the last months for the SPW’s newsletter n.9. See below.

SPW has just concluded the Brazilian stage of the EroTICs: sexuality and the internet – an exploratory research project, sponsored by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Soon, a final report presenting the observations, analysis, and findings of the study will be published, in which it was tried to map and analyze recent initiatives and debates concerning internet regulation.

If you would like to be kept updated with information from the MDG Summit on sexuality issues, visit IPPF’s MDG Blog – Sex and the Summit.

> Visit the IFG 2010 website > Read “Internet Governance Issues on Sexuality and Women’s Rights” at GenderIT.org > Follow @apc_news live streaming on Twitter.com

Carlos Figari* and Mario Pecheny** In July 15th, 2010, at 4 am, the Argentine Senate voted for the reform of civil marriage. The project had

Indonesia: Read a note written by Kamilia, from the Institut Pelangi Perempuan, an Indonesian Youth Lesbian Center, on one more meeting attacked as a result of harassment from some fundamentalist and hard-line Islamic groups.

USA: Rhonda Copelon, a US human rights lawyer and an intellectual leader and pioneer in the field of sexual and reproductive rights, died on 2010 May 6th. Read a note by SPW and more.

IDAHO May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO). Various activities are being planned around the world. On www.dayagainsthomophobia.org > This year, IDAHO will

Read here the synthesis of presentations and some highlights of the African Dialogue and be informed about the main issues debated during the meeting. >

Find here the compilation of the African Regional Dialogue that combines the final report with the Synthesis by Dr. Oka Obono, Sociology Department University of

Here you can find a brief note on the African Dialogue, and the list of participants. See also some pictures of the meeting. > Read

Lagos – Nigeria – October, 2010 Originally planned for early 2010, the African Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics took place from October 4th to

IDAHO: The International Day Against Homophobia, held on May 17 every year, is a rallying event offering an opportunity for people to get together and reach out to one another. Fondation Émergence promotes the International Day Against Homophobia and encourages organisations and individuals to highlight this event in their environment. Get involved.

Vatican: Read ILGA’s press release on the statement by the spokesperson of the Vatican Press Room, Federico Lombardi, about paedophilia and homosexuality.

Read official ABGLT position on Vatican statements about homosexuality and pedophilia. Avalilable in English and Portuguese.

Indonesia: ILGA through its Co-Secretary General Gloria Careaga provides detailed information on what really transpired in Surabaya, Indonesia and why the Fourth ILGA Asia Regional Conference was canceled. Read more.

Read the article “Homophobia, Africa and Evangelical Neocolonialism” on the Uganda’s anti-homophobia Bill, written by Rosalind P. Petchesky, Member of the SPW’s Steering Committee and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Hunter College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

Europe: The Secretary General of the Council of Europe welcomes the decision of the Committee of Ministers on Wednesday 31 March, 2010 to adopt a recommendation to member states on measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

CONTENTS I. SPW ACTIVITIES / EDITORIAL Since late September 2009, the SPW executive team has been engaged in a wide variety of activities. First and

In this issue of SPW’s newsletter, we unfortunately highlight an event that recently occurred in South Africa, not in favor of, but against initiatives that

2.6 Human Rights violations Turkey: Multiple Murders of transgender people highlight inadequate state protection Jamaica: British Honorary Consul John Terry murdered in his bedroom. The

2.5 Sexuality and religion Vatican: Read the article The Great Catholic Cover-up, by Christopher Hitchens, a columnist for Vanity Fair and the Roger S. Mertz

2.4 Laws, policies and politics Australia: Australia recognises ‘non-specified’ gender. Read more. USA: A restriction on abortion coverage was added to the health care bill

2.3 Global and regional relevant events > The Panel Discussion on Opposing grave Human Rights Violations on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The EroTICS Brazilian case study: A short article synthesizing the findings of this first level of investigation was written by SPW and Clam and will soon published by Gender IT.

As a result of the Latin American Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics, the participants have written a statement to join efforts with the international campaign Stop TransPathologization 2012.

Originally planned for early 2009, the African Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics has been postponed to the last week September, 2010 and will be held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Australia: On March 8th, 2010, Australia may have made gender history, as the New South Wales government lays claim to being the first in the world to recognise an individual’s sex as officially “not specified”.

Due to the larger representation of trans people in this edition of ILGA-LAC, there was a greater exchange of experiences, and more effective integration amongst

Planned preparatory meetings on the 26th and 27th of January 2010, preceded the main event, with themes directly related to the defence of LGBT rights.

As well as examples of achievements regarding public policy and LGBTI citizenship in Latin America, the conference also promoted the exchange of experiences about different

There were several government representatives present at the opening ceremony, including: Human Rights Minister, Paulo Vanucchi and from within the same department, the national co-ordinator

Brazil: 5th ILGA-LAC Conference brings together more than 400 LGBT activists in Curitiba, Brazil.

MANIFESTE LA TRANSEXUALITÉ N’EST PAS UNE MALADIE! POUR LA SUPPRESSION DE LA TRANSEXUALITÉ DU DSM ET DU CID! Nous, participants du Dialogue Latino-américain sur Sexualité

In this issue, you find information on what SPW has been involved since October, 2009. First and foremost, we made further progress on preparation for the Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics and the African Regional Dialogue will held in the last week September, 2010. Following the recommendation of the Latin American Regional Dialogue, we have added our voices to a global campaign that has been underway since May 2009 by developing, together with partners, a statement calling for the de-pathologization of transexuality. In the session “Around the world”, we highlight on the one hand the regressive legislation proposed in Uganda, which aims to further criminalize “homosexual” behavior, and on the other hand you find information on the same sex marriage legislation recently approved in the Federal District of Mexico. Read also about other regional highlights, and recent sexuality/sexual rights advocacy, like the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). See what projects and events connect art and sexuality and browse listings of upcoming events, scholarships, job opportunities and publications.

In the article “Draconian laws against homosexuality in Africa”, Cesnabmihilo Aken’ova discusses on the state homophobia that has swept over the African continent. She analyses the draconian laws against homosexuality proposed by some leaders and positions that have placed the human rights of same sex loving people and people who are perceived to be gay under attack.

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

Transexuality is not a disease Calling for the elimination of transexuality from the DSM and ICD We, as participants of the Latin American Regional Dialogue

Malawi: Human rights groups in Malawi have leapt to the defense of two gay men who were arrested after marrying in the country’s first public same-sex ceremony. The men were charged in court. Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, pleaded not guilty before a court in Blantyre to charges of indecency.

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.

In this issue, you find information on the main activities which SPW has been involved since June. The first one is the Latin American Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geoplitics that took place in Rio de Janeiro, in August, and gathered close to 50 researchers and activists to reflect on the sexual political landscape in the region. The other important activity is that SPW’s is involved in the global research EroTICs: Sexuality and the internet – an exploratory research project, organized by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC WNSP). Read also about global and local events involving sexuality, politics, as well as recent sexuality/sexual rights advocacy. See what projects and events connect art and sexuality and browse listings of upcoming events, scholarships, job opportunities and publications.

STATEMENT FROM THE UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP) ON THE DELHI HIGH COURT’S DECISION ON SECTION 377 OF THE INDIAN PENAL CODE July 2, 2009

By Marina Maria* The First Brazilian National GLBT Conference will be held in Brasília between June, 6th – 8th, 2008. Roughly 600 participants are expected,

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