By Che Nuñez.
The struggle against bigotry and the overt repression of persons of the LGBT+ community has been the cutting edge of social progress during the past 50 years. However, in the United States, recent legislation seeking to repress the LGBT+ community has emerged both nationally and at the state level.
Just a brief summary of various countries around the world show that progress for the LGBT+ community is advancing. Reactionary, bigoted attacks against those of the LGBT+ persuasion seems to be in retreat in several societies.
Denmark
Danish Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights are some of the most extensive in the world. In 2023, ILGA-Europe ranked Denmark as the third most LGBTQ-supportive country in Europe. Polls consistently show that same-sex marriage support is nearly universal among the Danish population.
In Denmark, same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1933. Denmark was the first country in the world to grant legal recognition to same-sex unions in the form of registered partnerships in 1989.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was entirely prohibited in 1996.
The Act on Prohibition of Unequal Treatment in the Labor Market adopted in 1996, defines “discrimination” as follows: discrimination means any direct or indirect discrimination based on race, color, religion, political opinion, sexual orientation or national, social or ethnic origin.
Cuba
The LGBT+ movement in Cuba has made significant strides in recent years. In 2022, the country voted to legalize same-sex marriage through a national referendum, making it one of the most progressive Latin American countries in terms of family law. However, historical discrimination and homophobia still exist, and there is work to be done to achieve equal rights for all. Cuba stands as a beacon of hope in the region, enshrining the most progressive Family Code in the world in its own constitution and working tirelessly to fight reactionary sentiment towards LGBT+ people.
As many scholars suggest, the Cuban Government treats trans rights and sex reassignment surgeries as a health issue. Cuba operates under the idea that healthcare is a right to all, allowing trans people access to gender-affirming public health care.
In 1979, the Ministry of Public Health (MIN-SAP) established the Multidisciplinary Commission for Attention to Transsexuals to provide both specialized health care and social services. Mariela Castro Espín describes it: “specialists in the care of transsexual persons … adopted internationally approved diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, which were incorporated as services offered free of charge by the [National Public Health System], along with courses to train sex therapists.”
England/UK
Since the turn of the 21st century, LGBTQ rights have increasingly strengthened in support. Some discrimination protections have been in place for LGBT people since 1999, but they were then extended to all areas under the Equality Act 2010. A ban on LGBT+ individuals serving openly in the armed forces was officially lifted in 2016, though a policy of non-enforcement had been in place since 2000. The age of consent was equalized at 16, regardless of sexual orientation, in 2001. Having been introduced in the 1980s, Section 28, which prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality” by schools and local authorities, was repealed in 2003. Transgender people have had the ability to apply to change their legal gender since 2005. That same year, same-sex couples were granted the right to enter into a civil partnership, a similar legal structure to marriage, and also to adopt in England and Wales. Scotland later followed on adoption rights for same-sex couples in 2009, and Northern Ireland in 2013. Same-sex marriage was legalized in England and Wales, and Scotland in 2014, and in Northern Ireland in 2020.
In ILGA-Europe’s 2015 review of LGBTI rights, the UK received the highest score in Europe, with 86% progress toward “respect of human rights and full equality” for LGBT+ people and 92% in Scotland alone. However, by 2020, the UK had dropped to ninth place in the ILGA-Europe rankings with a score of 66%. The executive of ILGA-Europe also expressed concern about a “hostile climate on trans rights fueled by opposition groups”. By 2023, the UK’s ranking had fallen further to 17th place, with a score of 53%, falling behind Ireland, Germany and Greece. Anti-trans rhetoric has been described as “rife” in the UK media landscape. Meanwhile, 86% of the UK agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center poll, and a 2017 poll showed that 77% of British people support same-sex marriage.
Vietnam
The LGBT+ movement in Vietnam has gained momentum in recent years, with activists pushing for legal recognition and acceptance. The Viet Pride movement and the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage have made Vietnam a phenomenon in the global movement for LGBT rights.
The right to change gender was officially legalized in Vietnam after the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Civil Code in 2015.
Vietnam’s first annual gay pride parade took place in Hanoi on 5 August 2012. In 2017, pride parades were held in around 34 other cities and provinces.
On November 24, 2015, Vietnam passed a landmark law by a vote of 282–84, enshrining rights for transgender people in a move which advocacy groups say paves the way for sex reassignment surgery.
On April 10, 2023, lawmaker Nguyễn Anh Trí put forward a proposal to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly to create the new Gender Affirmation Law (formerly known as Gender Identity Law). He said the law would show that Vietnam values protecting vulnerable communities and “leaving no one behind in its policies”. The proposed law would allow people the right to change gender identity, request a different gender identity to the one assigned at birth, the right to choose a medical intervention method for gender-reaffirming surgery, and strictly prohibit any form of discrimination and false information against transgender individuals, their families and relatives. In a feedback document the day before presenting the proposal, Trí said the government had outlined its support for the proposed legislation. In May 2023, the bill has been accepted by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly.
In August 2022, it was reported that within Vietnam conversion therapy became legally banned and it was declared that LGBT+ individuals “are not diseased” and should never be treated as such according to the Health Ministry.
South Africa
LGBTQ people in South Africa have the same legal rights as non-LGBTQ people. South Africa has a complex and diverse history regarding the human rights of LGBTQ people. The legal and social status of between 400,000 to over 2 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex South Africans has been influenced by a combination of traditional South African morals, colonialism, and the lingering effects of apartheid and the human rights movement that contributed to its abolition.
South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution was the first in the world to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2006, South Africa was the fifth country in the world and the first in Africa to legalize same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples can also adopt children jointly and also arrange IVF and surrogacy treatments. LGBTQ people have constitutional and statutory protections from discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services and many other areas.
In 1994, during his inauguration speech as president, Nelson Mandela stated the following:
In 1980s the African National Congress was still setting the pace, being the first major political formation in South Africa to commit itself firmly to a Bill of Rights, which we published in November 1990. These milestones give concrete expression to what South Africa can become. They speak of a constitutional, democratic, political order in which, regardless of color, gender, religion, political opinion or sexual orientation, the law will provide for the equal protection of all citizens.
The Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill was passed by the National Assembly in March 2023 and by the National Council in November 2023, and signed into law by President Ramaphosa in May 2024.
The Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act allows people to apply to have their sex status altered in the population registry, and consequently to receive identity documents and passports indicating their gender identity. The law requires the person to have undergone medical or surgical treatment, such as hormone replacement therapy.
In 2021 the Department of Home Affairs announced plans to introduce gender-neutral identification on South African IDs, the first for an African country (after Kenya, which is only standardized for Intersex people only).
USA
Where does this leave the USA? Will it join progressive mankind in eliminating sexual bigotry, oppression, and second-class citizenship status of LGBT+ people? From Cuba to Vietnam to Denmark to England to South Africa, a progressive wind is blowing throughout the globe. At the same time, bastions of reaction and backwardness that have been empowered by the MAGA movement around Donald Trump and his right-wing backers. Such forces have become so widespread that it has even infected groups on the political Left.
Bigotry, like racism, is a social disease. Like most social diseases bigotry flourishes in environments where economic stability is faltering, and societal roles are being challenged. Forces on the right have historically used such periods to intensify social divisions and scapegoat minority groups in order to gain political power. Such forces were prominent in the recent US 2024 elections. The Peoples LGBT+ United Society (PLUS) must join with other progressive forces in confronting these backward views.