In government buildings in Yukon Canada, all single person bathrooms are not being labled male or female but rather just being labeled with a toilet. The idea is attributed to Scott Milton the assistant deputy who is looking to make the government move gender inclusive. Local LGBT groups are happy about this as it is very helpful for transgender, nonbinary and twospirit peoples.
Yukon gov’t designates gender neutral washrooms in public buildings
Five years ago, the son of the Campana family, Rocky, who was gay killed himself. His mother and father were devastated by his death but they decided to make the best of the situation that they could and use his death to help young members of the LGBT community. They every year since his death have held a Run for Rocky, raising money for the LGBT community, with a five year total of over 380,000$(can). They are being given an award by the Governor General for exceptional deeds.
Campana family to receive national award from Governor General for work in LGBT community
Lesbian Faith Grace, just lost one of her customers, a mother who hired her for maternity photos, for that reason because she’s a lesbian. This occurred in Alabama, which not to generalize people in the state has many people who are homophobic, and in general having a very negative opinion of the LGBT community. This person was truly directly discriminated against for being a lesbian. The woman found out after seeing an LGBT flag, (the article does not specify whether it was the rainbow flag or another) and immediantly fired her.
Yesterday, December 10th in the town of Malda in Bengal India, three judges who looked at more than 900 cases that day, were added. Unlike normal additions to the court, these for the first time were three individuals who identified as members of the LGBT community. These three members were excited and honored to be members of the court, one of them saying that being on the court and being called “sir” by the other judges was “unforgetable.” They see this as a turning point for LGBT equality in India.
In a first, Bengal LGBT trio joins National Lok Adalat – Times of India
A LGBT film festival that was scheduled to run for 2 days in Uganda was shut down on its first day, after police were tipped off to it. The police went to even being held in an abandoned warehouse equipped with AK-47s with the intent to kill or arrest those in attendance. Luckily while the event was shut down there has been no report of arrest and everyone in attendance seems safe, this is however unconfirmed that no one was arrested.
This week after the vote legalizing same-sex marriage in Australia, an Australian field hockey team posed and created a nude calendar. They money that the calendar makes is going to be spent in trying to get rid of homophobia and transphobia in sports. (The linked article has a link to purchase the calendar if you were looking to buy it)
Australian Field Hockey Players Strip Down to Fight Homophobia in Sports
The United Nations gave out awards for Human Rights Day, to LGBTQ people and leaders in an award of Advocate of the Year to Tatiana Vinnichenko, chair of the Russian LGBT Network who fought heavily to save LGBTQ Chechen Russians in danger. And more importantly the United Nations in Adopting adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which give inalienable rights, such as the right to marriage to all people including, LGBTQ people.
Human Rights First Commemorates Human Rights Day with Advocates & Allies of the Year Awards
The Pride walk, was the same as the annual walk in its celebratory nature, with hundreds of people walking with painted faces and holding signs. However, there was a note of disappointment to it in response to the new Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, which violates India’s National Legal Aids Service Authority. More importantly according to the Indian LGBT people is its negative definition of transgender.
16th Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk: Amend or scrap Transgender Bill, participants tell Centre
The Bermudian Parliament is currently in the process of passing a bill that would ban all same-sex marriage, it has already passed in the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Bicameral Congress of Bermuda. This comes after the Bermudian supreme court ruled that denying marriage went against the Human Rights Act, as it treated people different on the basis of sexual orientation. While there are people against it in Parliament it still looks like it will be passing. This law will not be enacted Post Facto however, and any marriages that happen previous to the passing will be valid.
Bermuda is set to be the first country to end marriage equality
Earlier this year in June, the Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas had to issue birth certificates equally to opposite-sex and same-sex parents, which went against their previous policy which demanded that the biological father in all situations being put on the birth certificate. However after 5 months this change had still not occurred, Tim Fox, who originally heard the case that went all the way to the Supreme Court that created that policy, shut down all birth certificates being given to anyone. Less than two hours later the governor, with the state legislature mandated that all counties must follow the rule set forth by the Supreme Court.
This Arkansas judge got tired of waiting for equality, so he shut things down
Queer Math 