Lies about transgender and nonbinary youth are the basis for the fountain of new laws making it increasingly difficult to access lifesaving pediatric gender-affirming healthcare. While the lies and the laws get most of the attention, TransFamily Support Services founder Kathie Moehlig helps the targeted kids and their families navigate the nightmare (interviewed by David Hunt). https://transfamilysos.org/
And in NewsWrap: Ghana’s version of a “no promo homo” law withstands Supreme Court challenges on grounds that they are premature, third Japanese appellate court rules that denying same-gender couples’ access to civil marriage is unconstitutional, the Australian Bureau of Statistics gleans initial estimates about the LGBTQ+ community from the results of four recent health surveys, the U.S. Senate approves a bill that bans access to gender-affirming healthcare for the children of military families, a policy that would prevent Montana trans people from changing the gender marker on their government documents is blocked by a judge pending litigation, Sir Elton John gladly accepts a new title from Stephen Colbert, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by David Hunt and Melanie Keller (produced by Brian DeShazor).
All this on the December 23, 2024 edition of This Way Out!
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Complete Program Summary
for the week of December 23, 2024
Lies and Laws vs. Trans Kids and Families
NewsWrap (full transcript below): Ghana’s Supreme Court rejects two challenges to the West African nation’s “no promo homo” bill on a legal technicality, while its constitutionality has yet to be decided … the Fukuoka High Court becomes Japan’s third appellate-level court to rule that denying access to civil marriage to same-gender couples is unconstitutional, while recent parliamentary elections may have improved chances for the passage of a marriage equality bill … initial data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that one in 20 citizens over the age of 16 is queer, with other first-look analysis … the U.S. Senate approves a must-pass annual Defense Spending Bill with a “poisonous” amendment inserted by Christian nationalist Speaker of the House Mike Johnson blocking gender-affirming healthcare for children of military families before it passed his chamber, and President Joe Biden will probably be forced to reluctantly sign it … a Montana district judge blocks enforcement of a state policy that prevents trans people from changing the gender marker on their identifying government documents while its constitutionality is being challenged … Sir Elton John’s two-word response to a comment by the host of CBS-TV’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert brings the house down (written by GREG GORDON and LUCIA CHAPPELLE, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR, reported this week by DAVID HUNT and MELANIE KELLER).
Feature: Lies were the primary currency of Donald Trump’s campaign for the U.S, presidency, and much of that currency was forked out in lies about transgender and nonbinary youth. Lies are the basis for the fountain of new laws making it increasingly difficult to access lifesaving pediatric gender-affirming healthcare. Those treatments are a crime in more than half the U.S. states, where legislators have been unswayed by the scientific research or the endorsements of professional medical associations. While the lies and the laws get most of the attention, the founder of a transgender social service agency helps the targeted trans kids and their families navigate the nightmare. (with comments by Kathy Moehlig, who leads TransFamily Support Services, and music by EMME).
[TransFamily Support Services - https://transfamilysos.org/]
Feature: AUSTRALIA’s THERAPY SISTERS offer our traditional holiday season greetings (’tis a short and sweet snippet).
NewsWrap
A summary of some of the news in or affecting
global LGBTQ communities
for the week ending December 21st 2024
Written by Greg Gordon and Lucia Chappelle,
reported this week by David Hunt and Melanie Keller,
produced by Brian DeShazor
Ghana’s version of a “no promo homo” law has withstood the Supreme Court challenges brought by two human rights lawyers. The December 18th ruling is based on a legal technicality, not the substance of the bill.
Lawmakers unanimously approved the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values” measure in late February. It had been promoted by a coalition of Christian, Muslim and Ghanaian traditional leaders. President Nana Akufo-Addo has refused to sign it into law until the high court rules on its constitutionality. Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson explained, “Until there’s presidential assent, there is no act.” Speaking for the seven-member panel in a televised announcement, he said both premature challenges were “unanimously dismissed.”
Those convicted under the law would face up to five years in prison for “the willful promotion, sponsorship, or support of LGBTQ+ activities.” That means it affects both queer activists and their allies. The West African former British colony continues to criminalize private consensual adult same-gender sex, which is punishable by up to three years behind bars.
It's unclear if Akufo-Addo will take action before his term expires. President-elect John Dramani Mahama takes office on January 7th. He has expressed support for the bill, but its constitutionality is yet to be determined.
A third Japanese appellate court has ruled that denying same-gender couples’ access to civil marriage is unconstitutional. On December 13th the Fukuoka High Court followed High Courts in Tokyo and Sapporo that came to the same conclusion earlier this year. The Fukuoka high court is the first to declare that a ban on same-gender marriage violates the constitutional protection of the “pursuit of happiness.” It also said that the prohibition violates sections in the Constitution that guarantee equality, individual dignity and the essential equality of both genders.
Nine courts have ruled on the issue since 2019, and eight of them have favored equality. The Osaka and Nagoya High Courts are expected to issue their own marriage equality rulings in March. It’s not clear if the issue will reach Japan’s Supreme Court. The lower court rulings have all said that it is up to Japan’s lawmakers to open the civil institution to gay and lesbian couples.
Prospects for legislative action may have improved. Elections in October seated a majority in Parliament that favors marriage equality, according to Mainichi Shinbum. The leading Liberal Democratic Party remains generally opposed, but its losses have forced it to form a minority government. More progressive M.P.’s may finally make it yield to the public’s overwhelming support for marriage equality.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has signaled his support for marriage equality, according to the Associated Press. He told a parliamentary session last week that he will not just “sit back and do nothing,” but it’s not clear whether he can overcome the resistance within his party.
More than 200 local municipalities across Japan have enacted some form of recognition to same-gender couples, although they are often more symbolic than substantive.
Japan is the only major economic power without marriage equality.
Four and a half percent of Australians 16 years and older are willing to declare that they are queer – this according to initial estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The A.B.S. collated information from almost 45,000 people who responded to one of four recent Bureau health surveys. The younger generation led the way with almost 10 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds identifying as LGBTQ+. Compare that to only 1.4 percent of Australians over the age of 75 declaring themselves LGBTQ+. One in three queer Australians is married or in a de facto relationship. Based on the four surveys, close to 179,000 Australians identify as trans or gender diverse – that’s about 1 per cent of the population. Less than half a percent reported being intersex, about 63,000 people.
Most queer advocacy groups appreciated the December 19h release of initial data, but press statements stress that the estimates are rough. Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said, “We now know that LGBTIQ+ people live in every part of Australia, in regional, rural, metro and remote areas, and this means local councils, service providers and government agencies will be able to better serve the needs of our communities.”
CEO of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia Nicky Bath is not forgetting the uphill struggle to get the government to specifically count LGBTQ communities in the official Census in 2026 at all. She’ll grant that there will be questions related to sexual orientation and gender in that tally, while she laments that “the opportunity to capture reliable data on intersex people and the gender of people under 16 years has been missed.”
The United States Senate has approved a bill that bans access to gender-affirming healthcare for the children of military families. It’s a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the Pentagon for the next fiscal year. The vague wording of the measure makes it unclear if it just forbids surgeries, or if it also prohibits treatments like reversible puberty blockers and hormone therapies.
Lesbian Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin charged Republicans with “poisoning” the bill to score “cheap political points” using pediatric trans healthcare. Only 20 fellow Democrats supported her effort to remove the provision, however. The “Act” passed by a vote of 85 to 14.
The Human Rights Campaign’s press release quoted President Kelley Robinson saying, “We entrust our nation’s safety and freedoms to those who serve in the military. We ask them to make incredible sacrifices in defense of this country. In exchange, they deserve to be treated with respect and trusted to make decisions about their own families’ health care needs. A majority in the Senate failed those families today.”
None other than Christian nationalist Speaker of the House Mike Johnson inserted the anti-trans provision, which has already passed his chamber. Although outgoing President Joe Biden has promised to veto any last-minute anti-queer legislation, he will have no choice but to sign the vital Defense Department spending bill.
A policy that would prevent Montana trans people from changing the gender marker on their government documents is being blocked. District Judge Mike Menahan disagrees with the government’s claim that discrimination against transgender people is not sex discrimination, so he’s stopping enforcement of the law while its legality is being challenged.
Gender-marked birth certificates, driver’s licenses and/or state IDs are required to get almost all other government documents, from passports to marriage licenses — even for exercising the right to vote in some states.
Two trans women challenged the policy in April, charging that it breached constitutional equal protection guarantees. They’re represented in the district court by the ACLU and the ACLU of Montana. A trial date has not yet been announced.
Finally, a quick and clever queer quip from Sir Elton John brought the house down this week on CBS-TV’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:
[SOUND: Colbert and John]
Colbert: You weren't always Elton John, you were born Reginald Kenneth Dwight …
John: Yes
Colbert: … which is also a lovely name.
John: It's a s*** name. [laughter] And as soon as I could change it um by deed poll I did.
Colbert: Well Reginald is the male version of uh Regina, right? Which means queen.
John: Thank you. (cheering)
NOTE: This is the last NewsWrap of 2024.
The crew returns on our week of 13 January 2025 This Way Out.
Special newly produced programming will fill our next two shows.
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