Obama orders schools to respect trans students
US President Barack Obama has issued a directive to American school districts to respect trans students’ choice of washrooms, or face lawsuits or withdrawn funding. The order sets up a fight between the White House and some states that have tried to restrict trans rights this year.
Read more at The New York Times.
Japan’s slow march to marriage
Japan is a developed nation with no major conservative blocks to argue against same-sex marriage. So what’s taking so long? At BuzzFeed, J Lester Feder writes that the hesitance of Japanese gay couples to come out and demand marriage keeps social change at a crawl.
Bangladesh arrests suspect in gay activist murder
Police have arrested an Islamic militant in the murder last month of one of Bangladesh’s most prominent gay activists. Xulhaz Mannan, the editor of an LGBT magazine, was hacked to death in his apartment.
Read more from the Associated Press.
400 Irish gay couples have married
While gay rights campaigners in Ireland fought hard to win a referendum on same-sex marriage, surprisingly few people have taken advantage of the right. The Evening Echo reports that only about 400 couples have been married in a country of 4.5 million people.
Italy approves civil unions
After Italy’s prime minister called a confidence vote to force lawmakers into action, parliament finally passed a law allowing same-sex civil unions. Italy was the last major Western country with no legal recognition of same-sex couples.
Read more at the New York Times.
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