LGBTQ+ rights & well-being

Person touching pregnant belly with hands forming a heart

Aetna to start covering IUI in the U.S.

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Medical insurance company Aetna just announced that it’s going to be providing additional fertility coverage, specifically offering intrauterine insemination (IUI), to all policyholders regardless of sexual orientation or whether they’re partnered. This comes after a settlement agreement from a lawsuit earlier this year which stated that Aetna has to provide such care for LGBTQ+ people. The case, Goidel et al. v. Aetna, was filed in September 2021 and only came to a resolution in May after years of waiting and legal battles.

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China awards visitation rights to gay mom in historic first

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Since China abandoned its one-child policy in 2016 in the face of quickly declining birth rates, the courts are now inclined to protect the rights of children born outside the traditional heterosexual paradigm. Children born to unmarried couples and single and LGBTQ+ parents are experiencing a level of acceptance unknown in China in the past.

Kim Coco Iwamoto

Kim Coco Iwamoto to become Hawaii’s first trans lawmaker

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Iwamoto is known for her progressive stance, having been recognized by former President Barack Obama for her work. She’s also been supported by groups mirroring U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) politics. She supports the Green New Deal, wants to increase funding of public education in the state, promotes mass reform of the criminal justice system, and aims to invest in affordable housing.

Hands making hear shape over transgender flag in background

Mexico City passes law requiring harsher sentences for anti-trans murderers

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Mexico City, Mexico has passed a local law banning murders against transgender women, a practice referred to in the country as transfemicidio (transfemicide). Murderers convicted under the law would face between 35 to 70 years in prison. Nearly 600 trans people in Mexico have been murdered between 2008 and 2021. At least 10 trans women have been murdered this year in Mexico City alone.

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs bill banning “gay or trans panic” defense

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Gov. Whitmer signed a slate of 39 bills into law, including H.B. 4718. The legislation, sponsored by bisexual state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, states that in criminal trials, “evidence of the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of an individual’s actual or perceived sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation is not admissible” for the purposes of demonstrating “reasonable provocation.”

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South Korea’s top court upholds the rights of people in same-sex relationships in historic ruling

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The landmark ruling states that benefits from South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service can be claimed by people in same-sex partnerships and that treating same-sex couples differently than heterosexual ones is “an act of discrimination that… violates human dignity and the right to pursue happiness.” South Korea does not recognize same-sex marriage under the law, so the ruling is major progress in extending the protections and rights to same-sex couples.

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California passes first-in-the-nation law banning forced outings of queer students in state public schools

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The SAFETY Act prohibits “parental notification” policies in school districts that require educators to notify parents if their child requests to use pronouns and facilities different from the gender they were assigned at birth. The law, which goes into effect immediately, also protects teachers and administrators from retaliation if they choose not to follow district directives to out queer kids to their parents.

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Joe Biden to pardon thousands of American veterans convicted of having gay sex

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Biden said he was “righting a historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” calling the law “a great injustice.” This act of clemency means that thousands of military personnel who were convicted over six decades for engaging in consensual sexual intercourse with someone of the same sex would be able to apply for a certificate of pardon that would help them gain access to benefits that were previously withheld.

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Namibia’s High Court decriminalizes homosexuality

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The court’s ruling occurred in a case involving Friedel Dausab, a gay Namibian man, who argued that anti-gay sections of the country’s Immigration Control and Defense Acts constituted unfair discrimination and infringed on citizens’ fundamental rights. The court’s judges found that the laws unfairly discriminate between straight men, women, and gay men and were “based on prejudice and unfounded societal biases.”