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Guatemala Should Do More for LGBT People

Strengthen Protections against Violence and Discrimination

“We know where you live, we’re going to kill you.” Those words echoed in Ale’s mind long after she left Guatemala to seek asylum. The men who threatened her had phoned to extort her nearly every day for two months in 2018, calling her homophobic slurs…
Protest against the “Life and Family Protection” bill in Guatemala City, May 1, 2019.
News

A Boost to Same-Sex Marriage in Japan

Judge Calls Current Laws ‘Discriminatory’

It was quite something to see a district court judge break into tears as she read her verdict declaring the denial of marriage registration to same-sex couples in Japan unconstitutional. It’s a significant and emotional moment in Japan for a court…
Lawyers and supporters hold rainbow flags and a banner outside Sapporo District Court in Sapporo, Japan, March 17, 2021. 
News

When Lawmakers Bully Trans Children, Everyone Loses

  As some state lawmakers search for new battles in the culture war, they have introduced bills to exclude transgender children from playing sports with their classmates. Lawmakers in North Dakota should reject these cynical attempts – and…
Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on Oct. 8, 2019. 
News

Human Rights Watch Submission to the South Africa Department of Home Affairs

Draft Official Identity Management Policy

Introduction Human Rights Watch is an independent non-governmental organization dedicated to protecting and defending human rights around the world, including those related to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)…
News

A Small Victory for Transgender Rights in Hungary

Law Banning Gender Change Still Rife with Discrimination

Transgender and intersex people in Hungary recently won a small victory amid rampant discrimination when the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that a legal ban on changing gender, introduced last year, does not apply retroactively. The ruling…
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center right, speaks during a plenary session in the House of Parliament in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2020.
News

Turkey: End Probe of Women Over Shouted Slogans

Arrests of Activists and Anti-LGBT Stance Mars Women’s Day Celebrations

(Istanbul) – Turkish authorities should immediately put a stop to the criminal investigation opened into women’s rights activists for shouting slogans at a March 8, 2021 International Women’s Day assembly in central Istanbul and ensure that judicial…
Women and the LGBTQI community celebrate the upcoming International Women's Day in Istanbul, Turkey on March 6, 2021.
News

Condemnation of Egypt’s Abuses at UN Rights Body

Overdue Action is a Step Forward

(Geneva, March 12, 2021) – Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world expressed their strong support today for a joint declaration by UN member states condemning the human rights situation in Egypt, which was delivered at the 46th…
Egyptian security forces cordon off roads during curfew hours in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 29, 2020
News

French Minister Rightly Shocked by Poland’s Anti-LGBT Zones

France and Other EU States Should Act Decisively to Protect Rights in the EU

“I will go to an ‘LGBT-free zone’ in Poland,’” said Clément Beaune, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, in a December interview in which he also publicly came out as a gay man. But when he asked to visit Kraśnik, authorities denied him…
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News

Tunisia: Harassment, Arbitrary Detention of LGBT Rights Activist

Failure to Address Complaint Against Police

  Update: On March 17, 2021, the Court of Appeal in Tunis ordered Rania Amdouni released. The appeals judge confirmed Amdouni’s conviction but suspended her six-month sentence, and increased the fine from 18 dinars ($6.5) to 218 dinars ($78…
Rania Amdouni, 26, at the office of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women, on October 27, 2020.
News

Panama: Bill Bars Same-Sex Couples from Adoption

President Cortizo Should Veto Discriminatory Provisions

(New York) – Panama’s National Assembly passed a bill on March 3, 2021, that includes a discriminatory prohibition on adoption by same-sex couples, Human Rights Watch said today. Bill No.120, which aims to protect children and adolescents from…
Panama's President Laurentino Cortizo delivers his first State of the Nation speech at the National Assembly in Panama City, July 1, 2020. 
News

Anti-Trans Laws Would Risk Georgia's World Cup Dreams

The state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta have always had global sports ambitions. From the time the country’s first NCAA D1 football stadium was built there in 1913, to the 1996 Summer Olympics and three Super Bowls, Atlanta has sought to be an…
Transgender and non-binary individuals and their allies stroll through Atlanta’s Midtown district during Pride’s Transgender Rights March on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019.
News

Japan: Adopt LGBT Equality Act Before Olympics

Experts Urge Tokyo Organizing Committee to Support Anti-Discrimination Law

(Tokyo) – The Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) should support LGBT nondiscrimination legislation to protect everyone in Japan from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, seven members of…
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News

Malaysia’s Highest Court Strikes Down State Gay Sex Ban

Discriminatory Federal, State Laws and Policies Remain in Place

Malaysia’s Federal Court on February 25 ruled that a state law banning consensual same-sex conduct was unconstitutional. While the ruling leaves intact a federal statute criminalizing same-sex relations, it does bring relief to those who have faced…
LGBT Rainbow Flag
News

Global Trends in LGBT Rights During the Covid-19 Pandemic

It’s impossible to evaluate what the year 2020 looked like from the perspective of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s rights without recognizing how Covid-19 put a spanner in the works and made for an especially tumultuous year, including…
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News

Poland Breaches EU Obligations Over LGBT, Women’s Rights

For 30 days, beginning January 17, European Union commissioners received daily Twitter notifications linking to personal stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Poles who have been harmed  by the  so-called “LGBT Ideology…
People take part in a gay pride parade in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 8, 2019.
News

Tunisia: Police Arrest, Use Violence Against LGBTI Activists

UN Experts Should Investigate

(Beirut) – Tunisian security forces have repeatedly targeted protesters, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) activists at protests, Human Rights Watch said today. The targeting involved arbitrary arrests, physical…
Protesters gather in Habib Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis, Tunisia on February 6, 2021.
News

Japan Hair Controversy Highlights Harmful School Policies

Rules Regulating Appearance Put Many Students, LGBT Teens at Risk

A recent case in Osaka, Japan, about hair color, highlights the risks of imposing social conformity. Many schools in Japan have strict policies around hair color, dress, and other appearance, and students can face harsh consequences if they fail to…
High school students wearing face masks walk in Tokyo, January 16, 2021.