Around the World

BY ALEX COOPER

A man runs with a rainbow flag during a FIFA World Cup match in Qatar

QATAR

QATAR RECENTLY HOSTED the World Cup — the event is the biggest sports event in the world with countries competing to take home the global soccer title. However, the tournament has been mired in controversy surrounding Qatar’s human rights record, including its criminalization of homosexuality. While organizers said Qatar’s World Cup would be inclusive, there were reports of people wearing rainbow items being turned away from games by security, as well as anti-LGBTQ+ remarks from Qatari officials. A pitch runner ran with the rainbow flag across the field in a game in December. He was banned from other matches and had to leave the country. The global soccer governing body FIFA also banned team captains from wearing a “OneLove” armband to show support for LGBTQ+ rights.

BARBADOS

THE HIGH COURT of Barbados struck down its law against consensual same-sex sexual activity. It’s the third country in the Caribbean that overturned anti-LGBTQ+ laws in 2022. Courts in Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis also struck down laws targeting LGBTQ+ people. Barbados agreed to legally recognize same-sex civil unions back in September.

HONDURAS

A TRANS AND intersex rights activist was killed in Honduras after she was deported from Miami, where she had lived for 20 years. Melissa Núñez was shot dead by hooded figures who rode by on motorcycle. It’s at least the 37th LGBTQ+ homicide in Honduras this year. Núñez had a large following on social media with more than 20,000 followers on TikTok.

RUSSIA

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN signed legislation in December that would expand on the country’s controversial so-called “anti-gay propaganda” law. That law, passed in 2013, banned minors from receiving information casting LGBTQ+ people or subjects in a positive light. It resulted in crackdowns on websites in Russia as well as public demonstrations in support of LGBTQ+ rights. The new law now bans such information from all ages. It also prohibits publicly displaying non-heterosexual orientations in media and marketing. Those found guilty of spreading such “propaganda” will face fines of more than $6,500. Nongovernmental organizations and similar groups will face up to $81,000 worth of fines if found guilty.

JAPAN

A COURT IN Tokyo ruled that the country’s lack of legal protections for same-sex couples is unconstitutional. However, the court found that the absence of marriage equality — as opposed to protections not called “marriage” — wasn’t against the country’s constitution and that the current ban on marriage equality wasn’t either. It’s the only member of the wealthy G7 nations to have such a ban. Some cities, like Tokyo, have allowed same-sex couples to enter what it calls partnership certificates. These certificates provide legal recognition related to housing and health care, but not for inheritance, adoption, or spousal visas.

Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade

PAKISTAN

THE FILM JOYLAND by Saim Sadiq has caused controversy in Pakistan. The Pakistani film, which depicts a young cisgender man falling in love with a transgender woman, was banned by the federal government in November. However, after much backlash, the film — executive produced by Nobel-prize winner Malala Yousafzai — was given the greenlight. The film was still banned in the country’s Punjab province. The film was the first-ever Pakistani entry into the Academy Awards and won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Human Rights Watch notes that since September 2021 at least 18 trans people have been killed in the country, even while the country continues to pass protections for transgender people.

(L to R) Rasti Farooq, Saim Sadiq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani and Ali Junejo attend an October screening of Joyland in London

ITALY

AN ITALIAN COURT ruled that same-sex parents have the right not to be labeled “mother” or “father” on the ID paperwork of their children. A judge in Rome ruled in favor of a lesbian couple who had launched a legal challenge against the regulations for IDs for minors. Parents or legal guardians must be referenced in those documents and until 2019 they were identified as “parents.” However, when the new far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the interior minister, the rule was changed to require a listing for “father” and “mother.” In the Rome case, one of the women had given birth to a girl who was adopted by the woman’s partner. They were both legally recognized as the girl’s parents. The judge said it didn’t make sense that one had to be listed as the “father.”

Pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators in St. Petersburg, Russia