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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:

Since we released our second 2025 bulletin, last December, the world has gotten worse. What happened in Venezuela on January 3, with the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US military forces in Caracas and his imprisonment on US territory, has radically altered the world order, with effects far beyond Latin America.

Patton for Dummies – The Dispatch The Nuremberg Clown Rally – Discourse Blog Pete Hegseth’s “Warrior Ethos” Is Just the Closet in Camouflage – Them

Scenes From Saturday’s Nationwide ‘No Kings’ Protests – Wired ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump bring a street party vibe to cities nationwide – AP Were

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).

Question: Two weeks ago, we witnessed a new and fierce attack on academic freedom in the United States. The University of Berkeley that is considered

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

Gender and sexual politics The Supreme Court Has Dealt Another Devastating Blow to Women – The Nation What to know about the Supreme Court’s ruling

Trump’s First 100 Days: 5 Attacks on Reproductive Rights You Might Have Missed – Center for Reproductive Rights The Supreme Court Just Made It Easier

Analysis The Constitutional Crisis Is Here – Atlantic How Trump’s immigration policies compare to those of America’s past – Berkeley News We Study Repression in

Analysis The Targeted Chaos of Trump’s Attacks Against International Human Rights Law and Justice – American Civil Liberties Union What do the Trump administration’s sanctions

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

The ridiculous real story behind the tariff plan that turned Donald Trump into a global disaster – Rachel Maddow Show The Trump Tariffs Just Got

Analysis DOGE Has Achieved Its Final Form – Wired What Did Elon Musk Accomplish at DOGE? – New Yorker DOGE Is Busier Than Ever—and Trump

Image: Getty Image USA There Was a Record 5 to 6 Million People Who Took to the Streets to Stop Trump on Saturday! — And

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,

By Judith ButlerPublished at The Guardian As Trump delivers a series of devastating and appalling executive orders and public pronouncements every day, it has never been

In 2024, more than 60 countries will have elections at different levels of government. The contests will not only be electoral, but also about the

When Trump was elected for the first time, in 2016, we published a compilation of articles that predominantly analyzed the astonishment that the election result

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

English Harris steps up – The Nation August 2024 Issue  The Kamala Show – The New Yorker Kamala Harris’s Gamble – New Yorker Where Kamala

In 2024, more than 64 countries will have elections at different levels*. These disputes are both electoral and about the meaning of democracies. They will

>> 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

English If Trump Wins – NY Times Why Trump’s Second Victory Would Be Worse – The Nation The Theocratic Blueprint for Trump’s Next Term –

Hate Crimes Against Queer and Trans Students Quadrupled in States With Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws – Them A Terrifying 300 Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Have Already Been Introduced in

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

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

One Year, 61 Clinics: How Dobbs Changed the Abortion Landscape – NY Times  The Hell of Providing Health Care in a Post-Dobbs America – Mother

  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

English US midterm elections: Democrats retain control of Senate as House race still undecided – as it happened – The Guardian Red Tsunami? More Like

The philosopher and gender theorist says the restriction of abortion rights is part of a project to restore patriarchy. By Alona Ferber The fallout from the

See our playlist featuring SPW co-chair Sonia Corrêa dedicated to analysing the roots, meanings and effects from the overturning of the constitutional right to abortion

>>> 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.

English The Johnny Depp–Amber Heard Verdict Is Chilling – The New Yorker The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was an orgy of misogyny – The Guardian

Last monday (May 2), an initial draft majority opinion, written by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and leaked by Politico, unveiled what has long been considered credible: the Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade 1973 landmark ruling, that granted constitutional ground to the right of abortion. SPW is gathering – in English, Spanish  and Portuguese – assessments and analysis on the background and implications of the draft.

Anti-abortion trend: macro and political analysis If Roe v. Wade Is Overturned, What’s Next? – New Yorker 2022 State Legislative Sessions: Abortion Bans and Restrictions

>>> 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

Para acessar o artigo da The New Yorker Is a Civil War Ahead?

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.

Rough Night for Democrats Exposes the Party’s Weakness – NY Times Were the Ultra-Conservative “Mama Bears” Youngkin’s Secret Weapon? – Mother Jones Lessons From Virginia:

Is Trump’s power over Republicans starting to slip? – BBC All the Republicans Who Won’t Support Trump – NY Times A Prominent Anti-Trump Republican Says

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

After more than two years in the making, the first volume of “Nossos Corpos por Nós Mesmas,” has arrived! The book, a Brazilian Portuguese adaptation of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” covers topics including anatomy and sexuality, birth control, abortion, body image, safer sex and violence against women.

Last week’s rallies in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles against lockdown measures attracted both New Agers and far-right groups. We’ve seen before this overlap between the spiritual

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

Title  Vehicle / Author Pedophilia – more of the same? SPW Monsters Under The Bed SPW How Covid-19 myths are merging with the QAnon conspiracy

With the contribution and/or endorsement of 100 academics from universities such as Harvard, Brown and Columbia, and of organizations such as Greenpeace USA, Amazon Watch,

The 2020 US presidential election in data: how Joe Biden won – New Statesman How Homegrown Disinformation Could Disrupt This U.S. Election – NY Times

COVID-19 encounters Black Lives Matter In June, however, another wave of protests swept over the global political landscape, also targetting State repression but carrying an

Paul B. Preciado: The Hot War – e-flux Pompeo’s Legacy Of Partisanship And Wading Into Political Waters – NPR Brazil Joins Egypt, Indonesia, Uganda, Hungary

Pedophilia – more of the same? – SPW Monsters Under The Bed – SPW How Covid-19 myths are merging with the QAnon conspiracy theory –

COVID-19 to Add as Many as 150 Million Extreme Poor by 2021 – World Bank What crisis? Billionaires rack up record fortunes, survey shows –

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.

Majority says winner of presidential election should nominate next Supreme Court justice, Post-ABC poll finds – Washington Post Trump’s Selection of Amy Coney Barrett for

SPW dearly congratulates our friend and Steering Committee member, Rosalind Petchesky, for receiving the New Political Science Charles A. McCoy Career Achievement Award, a more

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

US Supreme Court LGBT worker ruling has a giant loophole – Al Jazeera Devil in the detail of SCOTUS ruling on workplace bias puts LGBTQ

North America US The Coronavirus Crisis Inside Prisons Won’t Stay Behind Bars – NY Times Stop Unnecessary Arrests to Slow Coronavirus Spread – NY Times

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

Six ways capitalism spreads the crisis – Corporate Watch Precarity in Times of Pandemic:Covid-19 and the crisis in India’s informal labor markets – Bot Populi

World Indigenous groups in Canada, Australia, Brazil brace for coronavirus – Washington Post US Why has Navajo Nation been hit so hard by the coronavirus?

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

 GENDER UNDER ATTACK Europe Romania International Call Against the Teaching of Gender Ban in Romania – The Gender International Controversies Over Law Banning Any Reference

MAY / JUNE EUROPE Germany Germany unveils first national strategy for gender equality – DW Germany is 5th country to ban conversion therapy for minors

English Germany Politicians worry about radicalization at anti-lockdown protests – Deutsche Welle US Tea Party 2.0: What the Reopen Protest have in common with the

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

English Trump, Bannon y Cañizares: los lobbies ultrarreligiosos alimentan la teoría de la conspiración abortista del coronavirus – el diario The Coronavirus Is Cutting Off

MAY / JUNE Contesting science and misinformation Ofcom: Christian TV network aired Covid-19 conspiracies – The Guardian Nigerian pastor spread covid-19 conspiracies and disinformation –

MAY / JUNE Hunger, infection and repression: Venezuela’s coronavirus calamity – New Yorker Contact-Tracing Apps: No Substitute for Public Healthcare Interventions – Bot Populi Spread

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

Full Coverage: Harvey Weinstein Is Found Guilty of Rape – New York Times ABC’s coverage of Weinstein affair  We Didn’t Expect Weinstein to Be Convicted,

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

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).

Historic Second Annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom – US Department of State Pence Praises Alliance Defending Freedom for Being with Trump ‘Every Step of

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

On May 30, the US State Department announced the creation of the “Inalienable Rights Commission” to advise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The body, chaired

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,

Alabama’s abortion ban is about keeping poor women down – The Guardian Trump fulfills his promises on abortion, and to Evangelicals – The New York

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

– What do humans have to do not to have regret at that last second before we die? That is one of Elizabeth Streb’s moving

First of all, could you please tell me briefly about the creation of GENDER INTERNATIONAL? Why have you come up with this idea? How many

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

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro meets with Donald Trump to consolidate their far-right alliance – The Intercept Right-wing movements merge as Bolsonaro visits Trump – Politico Trump

We Can’t Let the Trump Administration Dismantle Women’s Rights Around the World – Rewire Trump Administration Fails to Roll Back Support for Landmark Women’s Rights

This article was originally published in ProPublica. A pro-life license plate on a car in Montgomery, Ala. (William Widmer, special to ProPublica) 1973 U.S. Supreme Court

#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

The Trump administration is launching a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality in dozens of nations where it’s still illegal to be gay.

Supreme Court Halts Closure of Abortion Clinics in Louisiana – Center for Reproductive Rights We Can Thank Kavanaugh for Roberts’ Decision to Temporarily Block Louisiana’s

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

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

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

September is the key moment of the year in the global struggle for abortion rights, as the 28th marks the International Safe Abortion Day. In

The exhibition at MIMA Museum entitled “May ’68 and protest movements in posters” recollects legendary posters used as protesting political vehicles from the sixties. The

#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

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

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

Trump ‘Very Close’ to Supreme Court Decision, but May Wait Till Final Hours – The New York Times In Making His Second Supreme Court Pick,

New York’s Sex Workers rally to take back International Whores Day: ‘Let us survive’ – The Daily Beast Puta Dei in NYC and New Jersey

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

Wendy Brown University of California, Berkeley Neoliberalism and neoconservatism are two distinct political rationalities in the contemporary United States. They have few overlapping formal characteristics,

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

On Wednesday, February 14, Parkland suffered a violent episode of mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School depicted by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who was

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

One year ago, in the preamble of March 8 when we celebrate International Women’s Day and women around the world historically articulate and promote strikes,

By Magaly Marques Los Angeles, January 21st, 2018 The best part of a protest or demonstration is to witness the creativity with which people express

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

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

Nan Goldin is an American photographer known for her deeply personal and candid portraiture. Nan Goldin’s richly colored snapshots capture a world that is universally human

Turkey introduced a draft bill allowing religious leaders to perform civil marriage ceremonies. Women’s rights activists claim it will only make it harder to monitor the ceremonies

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

September is the key moment of the year in regard to abortion rights, as the 28th marks the International Safe Abortion Day worldwide.  As informed

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

Recognising 28 September as the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights is

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

By all accounts, photographer Alice Austen was an extraordinary woman. Born into an affluent family on Staten Island in 1866, she challenged oppressive Victorian conventions

Birthright begins with trauma. The Deavers, a married couple living in Nebraska, were excited to expand their family, but a medical emergency ruined their happy

Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would not allow transgender individuals to serve in the US military in any capacity, reversing a policy put in

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

Donald Trump is dramatically expanding the federal government’s support for healthcare organisations that agree to not provide abortion services. Read more on the Independent. The

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

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 Marge Berer, originally published at International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion on Mar 3, 2017. Available here. The story to date

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

As we resist Trump’s potential anti-LGBTQ orders, it’s important to remember that even though Trump is himself transphobic and homophobic, he can get on the side of LGBTQ rights when it’s convenient.

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

Center for Reproductive Rights Statement on Nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court Trump Nominates Birth Control Benefit Foe Neil Gorsuch to

By Sonia Corrêa In the first two weeks of his administration Donald Trump has opened a can of worms spreading around draconian and regressive conservative

My own sense is that Trump unleashed a rage that has several objects and several causes, and we should probably be skeptical of those who claim to know the true cause and the exclusive object. The condition of economic devastation and disappointment, the loss of hope in the face of an economic future brought on by economic

With endorsement of the Republican Party, the Trump campaign openly disrespected and insulted more than half of the US population and this led to what can be described as a “pressure cooker effect”. After months of an unprecedented election season when Hillary and all women were mistreated by the candidate — who felt entitled to abuse his position– and sometimes also by the press; after outrageous remarks and threats to attack immigrants, Muslims, Mexican-Americans and the entire American population of African descent, the build up of outrage was steaming from coast to coast.

Massive and global women’s protest raged through the world and stormed the headlines in a historical action to protest and mark a clear standpoint against

In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump has reinstated a federal ban on U.S. funding for international health organizations that counsel women

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

After every major LGBT rights group in America campaigned in support of Donald Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, it came as little surprise that Trump won

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

From the SPW perspective, Trump arrival to power is just another chapter in a chain of conservative restorations sweeping world politics in recent years of which the demise of the Arab spring in vortex of wars and dictatorship followed by the 2014 election of the BJP in India can be eventually considered the starting points.

  There are two questions that voters in the US from the left of center are asking themselves: Who are these people who voted for

Donald Trump, after defeating Hillary Clinton in an extremely polarized election, will be the  45th President of the United States. This result prompted visceral and

Portrait photography is a work of collaboration. These women are posing as they want to be seen—wearing furs or prized clothes, smiling with a pet dog, lying like one of Henri Matisse’s odalisques, or playing cards. The images are considered and composed. Other than that, we know very little about E. J. Bellocq and the women he photographed.

In fact, “gender ideology” is an invention of the right. It’s a hodgepodge of disparate ideas developed by a diverse group of thinkers over the past 50 years, linked mainly in the minds of its opponents. It doesn’t really exist beyond its creators’ manifestos and protest banners, but it’s already helped them score some very real victories.

The Independent Women’s Forum has leveraged its “non-partisan” brand to become an aggressive player in Republican politics. Read the full article on The Nation.

The most recent issue of differences, “Transatlantic Gender Crossings,” edited by Anne Emmanuelle Berger and Éric Fassin, addresses French and US feminism, gender, and queer

Most photographs and paintings of women of color in the 19th century US — as well as in other slave economies of the period –

CHANGE has released its brand new report “All Women, All Rights, Sex Workers Included: U.S. Foreign Assistance and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Gates, who is worth $80 billion, specialises in top-down technicist quick-fixes, which often backfire on the economic shooting range of extreme corporate influence and neoliberal policies. On Sunday, Gates will get even richer, in terms of the moral legitimacy bestowed by the Mandela Lecture.

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

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.

A Major Victory for Abortion Rights – New York Times The Facts Win Out on Abortion – Linda Greenhouse – New York Times The Supreme

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:

Alma López is a queer Chicana artist who lives in California. Her work has many varied expressions. But most principally it elaborates and re-signify the

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.

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.

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 Catholics for Choice. Available at: https://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/pr/2016/PopeandPatriarchMisrepresent.asp On his way to Mexico, Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic church, met with Russian

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.

The North American black artist Nona Faustini has recently developed a remarkable photography project. She staged a series of nude photographs in urban locations across

Planned Parenthood has been cleared of accusations of selling human tissue, after covert videos released last year prompted the investigation. A Houston grand jury instead

While LGBT people in California appear to be doing better than LGBT people nationwide, there is as much disparity within the state as throughout the

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

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). This resulted

As we were finalizing the compilation of sexual politics related events that make the headlines in November the screens were taken over by the armed

Civilians, Police Injured in Shooting Near Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood (Updated) – Reality Check Anti-Choice Leaders’ Response to Colorado Violence Reveals Tension Between Rhetoric and

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.

The data in Coming Out of Concrete Closets sheds light on the ways in which systemic discrimination of LGBTQ communities—particularly low-income communities and communities of color—forms a dragnet of criminalization for the most marginalized. (Shutterstock)

Originally posted on Washignton Blade on 12/10/2015. Available at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/10/12/gay-couple-seeks-help-from-u-s-officials-in-surrogacy-case/#sthash.2hgFYVjF.dpuf Gordon “Bud” Lake and his husband are unable to take their daughter, Carmen Santos Lake,

At the global stage, one even to be highlighted was the launching of the Sex Work Law Map, produced by the Institute of Development Studies.

Pope Francis’s meeting with Kim Davis disappointed the liberals he courted – The Guardian Vatican: Pope Francis Barely Knew Who Kim Davis Was When He

Originally published on Rewire on 16/09/2015. Available at: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2015/09/16/polling-abortion-rarely-abortion/ by Amanda Marcotte At this point, I’ve given up all hope that anyone will ever construct

When law enforcement targets sex workers and the websites they use, mainstream outlets and organizations tend to give them a pass. But with the raid on Rentboy.com, that script has flipped.

By Yasmin Nair August 25, 2015 Originally published on: http://www.yasminnair.net/content/rentboy-sex-panics-feminism-and-more We woke up to the news that Rentboy, a popular online male escort service, has been

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

Originally published on: http://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/largest-online-male-escort-service-raided on 25/08/2015. A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging the CEO of Rentboy.com, Jeffrey Hurant, and

Originally published no Paper Bird on 23/08/2015. Available at: http://paper-bird.net/2015/08/23/the-un-security-council-terrible-idea/ By Scott Long   I. Questions On August 18, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS

Exclusive: Hollywood stars have taken offence at Amnesty’s latest proposal to decriminalise sex work, but the human rights organisation tells Radhika Sanghani there’s been a

Of course I cried. I cried because these nine antiquarian arbiters in funeral garb – five of them anyway, each looking about as forward-thinking and progressive as a constipated grandparent – informed me at last that I am part of this Great Community they help to govern.

Originally posted on Buzzfeed on 24/07/2015. Available at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jinamoore/abortion-rights-billboard-censored-ahead-of-obamas-kenya-vis#.esP8rrLX6 Reproductive health advocates say they were told Kenyan officials insisted on the removal of the billboard

Uganda’s infamous 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would institute the death penalty for a new and surreal category of offenses dubbed “aggravated homosexuality,” captured international headlines

 Developing creative campaigning strategies Call for Consultancy Objective: Support LGBT organisations, especially in the global South and East to develop and implement innovative public campaigning

On June 18th, the Vatican launched the encyclical “Laudato Si – On Care for Our Common Home”. The encyclical is the first one to have

As we know June is always important for LGBT rights. But this year the month has been especially productive in respect to the same marriage

Originally published on Reality Check on 11/06/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/06/11/abortion-rates-alone-dont-tell-us-need-know-state-reproductive-wellness/ by Steph Herold, Sea Change Program June 11, 2015 – 11:33 am   While a

Originally published on Aljazeera on June/2015. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/rules-clothing-label-discrimination-case-150601141831931.html Supreme Court rules in favour of Muslim woman who said clothing label denied her a job

Originally published on Rewire on 14/05/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/14/gop-fiddling-uterus-country-burns/ by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check May 14, 2015 – 4:06 pm At

Originally published on Reality Check on 09/04/2015. Available at: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2015/04/09/white-house-takes-stance-reparative-therapy/ A letter posted Wednesday to WhiteHouse.gov thanked visitors for signing a petition in support of banning

Originally published on Rewire on 10/03/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/10/women-deserve-know-hiv-prevention-medication/ by Anna Forbes and Manju Chatani and Dázon Dixon Diallo March 10, 2015 – 1:05 pm In

Originally published on Rewire on 03/03/2015. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/03/03/making-affordable-raise-baby-wont-make-abortion-demand-obsolete/ by Amanda Marcotte March 3, 2015 – 9:39 am With their new paper, the Brookings Institution‘s researchers

Originally published on NYT on 26/02/2015. Available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/health/american-hiv-battle-in-africa-said-to-falter.html?_r=0 By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. FEB. 26, 2015   SEATTLE — The $1.3 billion that the United

Originally published on Rewire on 02/12/2014. Available at: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/12/02/activists-must-address-hiv-advocacy-using-reproductive-justice-framework/ by Melanie Medalle and Nerissa Irizarry December 2, 2014 – 1:33 pm In the United States,

By Erin Matson, Editor at Large, RH Reality Check September 24, 2014 – 2:41 pm All over the country, from Denver to Minneapolis and beyond,

By Laurie Essig California’s enacting on Sunday of the “yes means yes” law is a victory for some campus feminist activists but an ill-conceived detour

If you have followed the aftermath of the August 9 killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown, then you have most likely seen the image of his

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

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

Stigma and discrimination have always played a major role in the global AIDS epidemic, but they are getting renewed attention this year at the ongoing

The Nation‘s article underlines the gaps between Obama’s administration promises to cut funding to discredited HIV and pregnancy prevention programs in Uganda and the ongoing

SPW is on Twitter and Facebook! Follow @sxpolitics and like our Facebook fan page to read more on our activities and sex politics around the

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing private companies to deny their employees insurance coverage for birth control under the Affordable Care Act’s preventive

Brazil In May and early June the Brazilian sexual politics scenario has winessed setbacks and authoritarian measures, particularly with regard to women’s rights. At the

The SPW report, “Global Implications of U.S. Domestic and International Policies on Sexuality”, written by Françoise Girard, was launched at the San Juan high level

The kidnapping of more than 200 girls by the extremist Islamic group Boko Haram in Nigeria has prompted a worldwide campaign for their release, in

An article from RH Reality Check shows how fundamentalist christians are reaching space on US state and federal governmemt. Read here.

According to Alternet, Tennessee has become the first state in U.S. to pass a law criminalizing women for their pregnancy outcomes. Click here to learn

Learn more about “The Gathering”, a secretive group that provides funding for many evangelical causes at US, including the anti-LGBT movements abroad. Here.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Louisiana State House of Representatives voted to repeal a law, enacted in 1805, that punishes and undermines LGBT rights.

Sexual and reproductive rights global landscape in March and early April 2014 During March and early April, Brazil was under the spotlight in terms of

Read the final publication of the EROTICS: sex, rights and the Internet project here.

Read Reality Check‘s article about the movement by the Koch Brother to support anti-choice organizations in the context of the mid-term congressional elections this year.

Read NY Times article about some of the findings of a landmark government-sponsored report on the size and structure of the sex economy in USA,

CHANGE Presidente Serra Sippel, in article, says that “the long, hard struggle to alter US policy on HIV/AIDS assistance shows that advocacy can deliver a

Read article “Two Women, Different Outcomes: How U.S. Foreign Assistance Policy Harms Women”, by Elizabeth Maguire in “RH Reality Check”, in which the author tells

New York Times brings an article about the increasing of American gay men who reported having unprotected sex to federal  health investigators . The article remarks that

November was marked by two relevant facts in the sexual and reproductive rights landscape: the financing of Human Rights Campaign to promote LGBT rights and

In article on The Guardian, Annmarie Chiarini tells how her ex-boyfriend put nude photos of her on the web and how she reacted. The case

Read RH Reality Check’s article “Anatomy of the War on Women: How the Koch Brothers Are Funding the Anti-Choice Agenda”, where the author criticizes that

Article on NY Times describes the case of a american young woman, taked in handcuffs to a cell because of the allegation that she, once

Cultural Cold Wars: Where “traditional values” came from See Scott Long’s HQ on the place of sexual rights in what he calls “Cultural Cold Wars”.

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

Read Huffington Post’s article about USA iniciative “Safe from the Start”, designed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in conflict and crisis and build

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”.

Read the article “Abortion education under pressure in U.S. medical schools”, in which it highlights the battle at the state level in the United States

Uganda: Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) happily welcomes the court ruling by US Federal judge on Wednesday August 14, 2013. In the historic ruling the judge

US: Exodus International announces it’s closing doors. The closure comes less than a day after the organization released a statement apologizing to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for years of undue judgment, by the organization and from the Christian Church as a whole. Read more.

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.

US: NY Archdiocese has been reluctantly paying for health plan that covers birth control. Read more.

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.

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.

Uganda: Exactly one week after the re-tabling of the Anti Homosexuality Bill (2009) by MP David Bahati, a workshop organized by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) human rights defenders was invaded and shut down in Entebbe. The State Minister for Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President, Rev. Fr. Simon Lokodo, in the company of an aide and the police, announced that the workshop was illegal and ordered the meeting to close immediately or else force would be used to end the meeting.

SPW: How do you see the connections between China and the rest of the world in terms of sexuality research and activism? Pei: As I

USA: A remorseless House of Representatives returns to Capitol Hill, armed with a grim anti-woman agenda, in the form, once again, of the Global Gag Rule, a presidential order that declares that U.S. international family planning funds cannot go to organizations that use non-U.S. funds for abortion services, counseling, or referrals. Read more.

A number of factors hampered our ability to deliver the 10th SPW Newsletter in early 2011, as planned. On the one hand, we regret and apologize for this delay. On the other, it is rather striking to note that how, in such a relatively short period of time, the world scenario has been swept by a sequence of outstanding events and trends, whose meaning and effects can not yet be fully grasped. So, in this issue you can find information on the cycle of “Regional Dialogues on Sexuality and Geopolitics”, that is finalyzing in late September 2011, with an inter-regional meeting which will take place in Rio de Janeiro to share and process the outcomes of the three dialogues and to prepare the foundation for a global publication, planned for 2012. In the section “Around the world”, you can read reflections on how sexual politics intersect with a shifting landscape, as well as on the relevants global meetings in terms of the intersections between sexuality and politics. Find also the sections “Advocacy: keep an eye”, “Sexuality in Art”, “Check it out” and “We Recommend”, with suggestions of publications, resources, papers, articles, and relevant links.

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.

> 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

Read Are Women’s Rights on Obama’s Agenda in Latin America?, an article by Luisa Cabal and Lilian Sepúlveda on RH Reality Check.

SPW has contacted Serra Sippel, director of CHANGE: Center for Health and Gender Equity, and asked her what are the practical implications of the positive

USA: After the United Nations evaluation of the United States’ human rights record, the U.S. released a report to the U.N. affirming that “no one should face violence or discrimination in access to public services based on sexual orientation or their status as a person in prostitution.”

Read the article Abortion in the United States’ bible belt: organizing for power and empowerment, written by Mary Ann Castle, from the Planing Alternatives for Change.

Read the article The Sudden Rise of a Pro-Gay Foreign Policy in the United States, written by Javier Corrales, analyzing the Obama administration regarding gay rights.

In A Tale of Two Moralities, published at the New York Times website, Paul Krugman talks about the American political morality and highlights the deep intersection of economic and abortion debates in the USA. Read the article.

USA: The recent spate of gay teen suicides has captured the attention of the US nation to confront the issue of anti-gay bullying and the vulnerability of gay adolescents. Barack Obama has released a video to draw attention to the pressures facing gay teenagers. Read more.

In this issue, you find information on the main activities which SPW has been involved in the last months, like the African Regional Dialogue on Sexuality and Geopolitics, that will be held in Lagos, Nigeria from October 4th to 6th, 2010, as part of the series of Regional Dialogues on Sexuality and Geopolitics. We also highlight in “Around the world” a series of global meetings that are relevant in terms of the intersections between sexuality and politics, mainly the Vienna XVIII International AIDS Conference (July). You also can find in this issue other updates on regional highlights and more in the sessions “Advocacy: keep an eye”, “Sexuality in Art”, “Check it out” and “We Recommend”, with suggestions of publications, resources, papers, articles, and relevant links.

USA: Elderly gay couple forcibly separated by county officials in California. Click here to read a short article written by Kenneth Camargo and more on it.

USA: On March 21, 2010 the President Barack Obama announced that he will be issuing an executive order after the passage of the health insurance reform law that will reaffirm its consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion. See a series of opinions regarding this issue.

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

USA: Read about the stand taken by one brave catholic priest against Prop-8, the California referendum on gay marriage.

Nearly a year ago, Obama lifted the “global gag rule,” which prohibited the US from funding any organizations that provide or “promote” abortions.  This move,

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

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

USA: A restriction on abortion coverage was added in November 7th, 2009 to the health care bill. The provision would block the use of federal subsidies for insurance that covers elective abortions. The Obama White House is refusing to weigh in on an amendment that represents perhaps the most restrictive anti-abortion measure introduced in a generation. Read more.

USA: President Obama announced in October 30, 2009 the end of a 22-year ban on travel to the United States by people who had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS. At a White House ceremony, he announced that a rule canceling the ban would be published in November 2, 2009 and would take effect after a routine 60-day waiting period.

Hillary Clinton received the Four Freedoms Award from the Roosevelt Foundation on September 11. She gave her acceptance speech and announced a Security Council Resolution

The abortion front lines: Recently in Brazil a scandal came out when a 9 years-old girl was impregnated by his stepfather and then excommunicated by the Olinda’s bishop. Meanwhile, in Nepal the Court orders the State to improve women’s access to abortion. Read more in the SPW’s newsletter n.6.

USA: The Obama administration formally endorsed a U.N. statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality

Letter from the US: Nature and Bono conspire against sound HIV/AIDS policy By Melissa Ditmore* Brazil has been an inspiration for me, as an activist

To US Congress Re: PEPFAR January 31, 2008 Dear Member of the US Congress: We are members of non-governmental and community-based organizations from throughout the

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