Botswana: Groundbreaking judgment by Court of Appeal

A full bench of the Court of Appeal of Botswana has delivered a significant judgment in the case of Attorney General v Thuto Rammoge and 19 Others upholding the decision of the High Court and ordering the Botswana government to register the organisation Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) as a society in terms of the Societies Act. 

In 2012, LEGABIBO applied but were refused registration as a society by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs. The government’s position was that LGB persons’ rights were not recognised by the Constitution and the objectives of LEGABIBO were incompatible with peace, welfare and good order in Botswana.

Thuto Rammoge and other activists, with support from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA) and BONELA, took the government to the High Court seeking a review of the decision to refuse registration. They argued that the decision was irrational and in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection of the law, freedom of association and freedom of expression. The activists obtained a successful judgment in the High Court in November 2014, but the State appealed the decision.

The Court of Appeal reaffirmed that the refusal to register LEGABIBO was both irrational and in violation of the right to freedom of association. In an important judgment for the LGBTI community, the Court emphasised that there is no legislation in Botswana which prohibits anyone from being homosexual. The Court went further to hold that the objectives of LEGABIBO, which include promoting the human rights of LGBTI persons and advocating for law reform, were not unlawful. Importantly, the Court of Appeal emphasised that fundamental rights are to be enjoyed by every person and to deny this, is denying an individual’s human dignity.  

Read more via Southern Africa Litigation Centre
 

Canada: Kael McKenzie sworn in as 1st transgender judge

Winnipeg has sworn in Canada's first transgender judge. After being appointed to the bench in mid-December, former Crown attorney Kael McKenzie officially took his seat in the Manitoba court Friday.

"Kael is the first self-identified transgender judge in Canada and that is something to be celebrated," a judge said to a crowd of applause at the swearing-in ceremony. "Kael is a proud member of the Manitoba Métis Nation. His appointment can only serve to strengthen public confidence in the administration of justice in this province."

McKenzie was praised for his involvement in the legal community before saying a few words himself. Read more via CBC 

Netherlands: Court convicts, fines politician for anti-gay statements

A Dutch court convicted former Amsterdam politician Delano Felter for comments he made in 2010 against homosexuals. He was fined one thousand euros by the court, which conditionally suspended half the amount for two years.

“The gay profile is simply too dominant. I think that there are too many gays in the government,” he told broadcaster AT5. These people with these sexual deviations must basically be contested by heterosexuals,” he said. The court found his comments “unnecessarily offensive,” and incited discrimination against a group of people.

Felter was the leader of the Republikeinse Moderne Partij, or Modern Republican Party, when he made the remarks on camera as part of a political debate. 

 Read more via Netherlands Times

 

UK: Straight couple lose court bid to have civil partnership

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan from London were told the Civil Partnership Act 2004 - the precursor to same-sex marriage being legalised in the UK - only applies to “two people of the same sex”. Earlier this month they argue to the High Court that everyone should be treated equally by the law, regardless of their sex or sexual orientation.

But Mrs Justice Andrews ruled that “just as the UK was under no obligation to extend marriage to same-sex couples, it has never been under an obligation to extend civil partnership to heterosexual couples”. Speaking after the ruling was announced, Steinfeld said a civil partnership “captures the essence of our relationship and values”.

“Civil partnerships are a modern social institution conferring almost identical legal rights and responsibilities as marriage, but without its history and social expectations,” she said. “We don’t think there is sufficient justification for stopping us or other opposite-sex couples from forming civil partnerships.” The couple, who campaigned for equal marriage laws, now must decide whether to take their case to the Court of Appeal, or the European Court of Human Rights.  Read more via Buzzfeed 

Lithuania: Refusal to recognise same-sex marriage for residence permit

Lithuania has refused to issue a temporary residence permit to the husband of a Lithuanian man. The country’s Migration Department refused to issue the permit to the Belarusian man who married his husband in the Netherlands.

The men have the option to appeal the decision within 14 days at a regional court. The Migration Department consulted with the Interior Ministry before making the decision, said the Department’s interim head Evelina Gudžinskaitė.

“The Ministry of the Interior responded that same-sex marriages are not allowed in Lithuania and such a marriage is not recognised in Lithuania,” she said. Foreign nationals can apply for residence permits on the basis of family reunification in Lithuania. A marriage does not have to have taken place in Lithuania to be recognised, but this is the first time where a same-sex marriage has been considered by the Department. Read more via Pink News

India: Supreme Court refers plea against Section 377 to five-judge Bench

Moved by arguments that a person cannot be branded a criminal for his sexuality, the Supreme Court referred a batch of petitions challenging Section 377 of IPC, a colonial era law criminalising consensual sexual acts of LGBT adults in private, to a five-judge Constitution Bench for in-depth hearing. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur and Justices Anil R. Dave and J.S. Khehar gave full credence to arguments that the threat imposed by Section 377 amounts to denial of the rights to privacy and dignity and results in gross miscarriage of justice.

Giving an indication that the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Section 377 with new eyes, Chief Justice Thakur told senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for petitioner Naz Foundation, that the new Bench would not limit itself to the narrow confines of the curative law and conduct a comprehensive hearing of the arguments placed for the protection of the dignity and rights of the LGBT community.

With this, what had seemed to have been the last strand of hope for the decade-old legal fight for LGBT rights has suddenly transformed into a full-fledged battle cry with the Supreme Court indirectly accepting that its past decisions upholding Section 377 IPC needs a thorough relook. Read more via the Hindu

Ireland: Teacher to be compensated over comments on gay son

A primary school has been ordered to compensate a teacher after the Equality Tribunal found she had been harassed on religious grounds and discriminated against because her son was gay.
Resource teacher Bernie Marron, who worked at the school for seven years, said the principal made a series of critical comments about her son’s sexual orientation.

Ms Marron, a non-practising Catholic, said she felt repeatedly undermined by the principal and complained to the school in September 2013. The issues, however, were not dealt with properly by the school.

Ms Marron told the tribunal she was looking for an acknowledgment that what had happened to her was wrong and sought no financial compensation. The tribunal, however, ordered the school to award her €3,000 on the basis that the case would attract a significant award of damages in the ordinary course of events.

Ms Marron said she brought the case in order to challenge a culture that allowed personal opinion and beliefs to override other people’s human rights. “I was hurt and angry by the experience. No one should be subjected to judgment about their parenting or their son’s right to be themselves,” she said. Read more via Irish Times 

Lebanon: Transgender court ruling erases barrier to legal recognition

Lebanon’s Court of Appeals has granted a transgender man the right to change his sex in the civil registry on account of his own gender identification, marking a step toward granting trans persons legal recognition for their status.

Under Lebanese law, trans persons must complete gender reassignment surgery to petition for a change in status. An arbiter must then rule that the surgery was done to correct a hormonal or biological disorder to allow the amendment.

“The problem is requiring the surgery before the amendment. If someone wants to go through the operation, they’re not going to be able to afford it. Most likely their parents aren’t going to pay for them. They’re going to find it hard to find a job,” Zaydan said. Read more via Daily Star 

Tunisia: Advocates urge pressure on Tunisia to spare LGBT group

International human rights advocates at Front Line Defenders issued a statement today condemning Tunisia for ordering the LGBT group Shams to suspend activities. In the process, the statement clarified the context and background of this violation of Tunisian citizens’ rights to association and free speech. 

The Tunisian government had filed a complaint accusing Shams (‘sun’ in Arabic) of violating NGO laws which led to its 30-day suspension by the Tunisian Court of First Instance on January 4. Shams, which seeks the decriminalization of gay sex acts in the northern African country, is the first group of its kind to receive official authorization from the country’s interior ministry in May 2015.

Members of the group have however been subjected to systematic smear campaigns by conservative political groups and individuals, with some members receiving death threats following public appearances in the media. Read more via 76crimes