As 2008 came to a close, 66 member countries of the United Nations General Assembly voiced support for a document that asserts that international human rights protections should include sexual orientation and gender identity. While lesser UN actions have moved toward this in the past, most notably the development of the Yogyakarta Principles, this marks the first such statement within the General Assembly itself. France and the Netherlands began the push for this, which drew support from diplomats across five continents.
Canada signed the document. The United States refused.
This was not without backlash. 60 other member nations drafted a document to protest the statement, and the Pope issued a scathing condemnation of homosexuals, transsexuals and anyone who violates the established “norms” of gender or reassesses gender theory (which would also include much of feminism, if one takes the statement to its logical conclusion). Burundi passed a law criminalizing same-sex acts specifically in protest.
As we go into 2009, it is interesting to take note of how societies around the world handle trans issues, which sometimes run concurrently with gay issues, and sometimes run contrary to them. While I am concerned about GLB situations around the world, I am not as versed in them, so will be mostly focusing on trans-related situations except in those instances where the needs and situations coincide or conflict. Please also note that I don’t mean to say that Canada doesn’t have any skeletons in its own backyard. This is a nation, after all, which does not have protections for trans people against discrimination or hate crimes specifically written into law (aside from the NorthWest Territories), and the sole MP who has been putting forth Private Members’ Bills to try to do so (Bill Siksay) does not even have any expressions of support from his own party, the NDP. Canada has made fewer strides in terms of trans protections and recognition in recent years than our counterparts in George W. Bush’s America, transsexuals are still housed in Canadian Correctional institutions according to their genitalia (leaving transwomen subject to regular rape), and a few psychiatric clinics continue to use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a curative measure. Canada’s expression of support means little when the most widely-touted clinic dealing with transgender issues in Eastern Canada continues to repeatedly violate the Yogyakarta Principles regarding issues of gender identity (although it does not similarly resort to ECT).
The situation in the US is much-publicized, of course. Amnesty International has recorded police abuse, ill-treatment and even torture, including but not limited to the housing of transgender inmates according to birth sex. In Memphis, Tennessee during 2008 alone, two transwomen were murdered - including one who initiated a lawsuit against the Memphis Police department after a brutal and unprovoked attack on her by two of its officers found its way to the media. A third was shot in the face and remains in critical condition, and the Memphis P.D. is still fielding criticism over a previous unsolved murder where police officers were the last known people in contact with the transfemale victim, and all pertinent documentation of the encounter has been inexplicably destroyed. This is all on the heels of the trial of someone who had shot yet another transwoman, who had been released on bail indefinitely following his arrest for her murder, and two years later now faced new charges for killing his own daughter. Memphis is an extreme example, but highlights the indifference with which the murders of transgender people are regarded, even by the authorities.
In Africa, some of the most violent government-sanctioned acts have occurred, and at the same time, there has been a particular spark of progress. Trans activists from Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe met in an event sponsored by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and Gender DynamiX, the continent’s sole trans organization. Kenya, meanwhile, was forced to reassess some of its handling of gender issues when faced with a detainee born Intersex. Kenya’s reassessment may or may not result in long-term changes, but each new precedent is a positive step. In Uganda, the beatings and arrests of GLBT activists continues.
The IGLHRC has also documented the way in which sodomy laws in Africa and elsewhere, other legislation and prejudice denies rights to GLBT persons, and can even criminalize outreach to affected groups, during an age in which the HIV pandemic is decimating homosexual and heterosexual populations alike.
Baltic states remain among the most staunchly anti-GLBT, and Bosnia’s planned first pride festival was cancelled because the severity and volume of threats made it impossible to guarantee the safety of attendees.
At the beginning of 2008, the Kuwaiti government put into place a new law criminalizing people who “imitate the appearance of the opposite sex.” There have been nearly a hundred detainees over the past year, many who have reportedly been beaten, and none of whom are known to have been given access to legal representation. As I’ve been writing this, a news article has arrived in my inbox detailing how some Central Prison workers were arrested for attempting to smuggle makeup to some of the detainees. Similar actions have been taken in the United Arab Emirates (with Dubai being particularly draconian), and other Arab nations. Saudi Arabia continues to execute all GLBT persons. In Egypt, Human Rights Watch documented a major crackdown on homosexual conduct, though it is not clear if transgender people and gender transition are also considered to be part of “homosexual conduct” (which is not to say that the operation would be any less heinous).
In Iran, Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) is sanctioned and funded by the state, following an edict set decades ago, after a transsexual’s petition to treat the condition according to established medical standards of care. While a victory for transsexuals, it has put gays and lesbians in the horrific position of having to choose between living a life in which they may love a chosen partner (their sexual orientation) and living a life that fits their personal identity (gender identity). Homosexuality is still punishable by death in Iran, so for the past several decades, many gays and lesbians have turned to GRS to allow them to escape discovery and punishment. As a consequence, this has resulted in people replacing one problem (the threat of death) with another (disconnection from and discomfort with one’s own body).
Iraq emerged as one of the most serious areas of concern, due to the moral cleansing that has been taking place since the war began. There have been over 80 known GLBT casualties, while activist Peter Tatchell estimates that there could be over 300, based on the number of missing persons with known or suspected homosexual or transsexual histories. Iraq may have a higher-than-typical transgender population due to its proximity to Iran - in a sickening irony, many who fled oppression in Iran now face death in Iraq.
Turkey, too, has been a volatile center of anti-gay and anti-trans sentiment. Earlier in the year, the GLBT advocacy organization Lambda Istanbul Cultural Centre found its offices raided, membership documentation confiscated, and regular harassment commenced, without warrants of any kind. Similar tactics occurred with Kaos GL in Ankara, and Labrys, an advocacy organization in nearby Kyrgyzstan.
Trumped up charges of prostitution are used to justify many of the raids. Later, the raids were tied to supposed connections with Ergenekon, an alleged terrorist group bent on assassination (in reality, Ergenekon is a network of people wishing to “reshape social thinking” in Turkey). One transsexual, Dilek Ince was murdered in a drive-by shooting in which government agents are suspected (ironically, while Ince was helping to prepare for a Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony; Ince was one of a few GLBT persons who has brought up charges against the government for the harassment).
Another transwoman, internationally-recognized singer Bulent Ersoy, was imprisoned for comments she had made regarding Turkey’s requirement that all young males must enter the military, and faced a possible charge of treason, which carries a death penalty.
There is much conflict in how the Turkish government and the judiciary handle cases regarding GLBT persons. Additionally, Turkey is a candidate country for membership in the European Union, and its human rights record is being scrutinized, with some EU nations making particular note of the raids. Turkey was the only EU candidate nation that did not support the United Nations declaration. However, some concessions, such as Ersoy’s acquittal in December, are seen as either part of the tug-of-war between judges and lawmakers, or actions taken to be mindful of the EU’s commitment to human rights.
South America has been the focus of severe violence, with Columbia recording 67 murders of GLBT people from 2006 to 2007. Brazil recorded 125 from 2000 to 2005, and in both cases, the numbers are thought to be only a partial figure. Transgender persons account for an average of approximately 2/3 of these statistics, which some attribute to visibility.
If Sweden is considered one of the most progressive states regarding transgender issues (Sweden, like most of Canada, funds GRS surgery because it acknowledges the medical necessity of the surgery as recognized by many medical bodies) it has also proven to be one of the most bewildering. On the positive side, it has declared that both Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestitic Fetish are bogus psychiatric diagnoses and removed them from medical treatment (along with consensual BDSM and other practices among adults). On the negative side, this action may have summarily removed transsexuals’ access to surgery and treatment of any kind, because nobody’s really sure at this point if they are still considered “medically necessary.”
Even more bizarre, Social Minister Goran Hagglund has been working on a draft proposal that requires full sterilization of transsexuals at the beginning of their transition, in response to the media frenzy triggered by “the pregnant man,” Thomas Beatie. Another twisted situation arises from the fact that Sweden will pay for female-to-male phalloplasty, but will not fund the implant needed to simulate typical phallic function, because regulations prohibit the use of taxpayer money to pay for anything deemed an aid for sexual performance.
Malta had shown some progress by legally recognizing a post-operative transwoman as female, but then proceeded to ban her from marrying her male partner anyway, arguing that it would still constitute a same-sex marriage.
Hong Kong began detaining persons who are transsexual or are suspected of transsexual history, particularly those from certain countries such as the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia, because the nation has chosen to equate transsexuality with the sex trade.
There have been arrests around the world, from Malaysia to the Dominican Republic, stemming around everything from the sex trade to trans beauty pageants. Thailand, considered a haven for transsexuals, has launched a crackdown on specifically the “ladyboy” sex trade, while advocacy organizations for “kathooeys” have made some strides in the mainstream for rights for transsexuals, though not acceptance.
Government restrictions have been implemented in Thailand requiring more medical and age documentation before GRS surgery can be performed. Thailand has been undergoing some political upheaval, and change seems likely, although it is too early to know if for good or bad.
In India, mass arrests were made of hijras (a term covering transgender persons, eunuchs and people who follow gender variant traditions - at one time, hijras were respected, but now they’re mostly ostracized save for specific ritual occasions) and a media and political campaign launched to accuse them wholesale of kidnapping male children and castrating them. India, too, has been undermining efforts to quell the HIV problem in its borders, causing the virus to continue to run rampant through both gay and straight populations.
And yet, there has also been progress. This year, Bangladesh is allowing hijras the right to vote for the first time, although there is some confusion how this is to be handled, as voting lines are organized as male and female.
In 2007, Nepal had become the first nation to recognize a transgender individual as a third gender for identification purposes (some nations already recognize intersex persons in this way), and has led a push for sweeping GLBT rights into 2008. For example, funding has been allocated for a shelter for homeless transgender people. Nepal’s ruling Maoist party has in the past been sometimes on the fringes of public support, so whether these changes will be permanent remains to be seen. Nepal was a signatory of the UN declaration.
Cuba has also established funding for GRS surgery, starting first with the Brazilian model and developing it into possibly the most comprehensive medical model of transgender care funding currently out there. GLB protections have also been suggested and more developments are likely.
This year, Mexico and Argentina both finally enacted legislation allowing transsexuals to change their identification to reflect their new gender. Following Spain’s example from the previous year, the identification change is not solely dependent on surgery - ID may be changed without surgery, provided other documentation establishing a person as transsexual and demonstrating a period of living as their identified gender is provided. South Korea ruled that a transsexual could legally change identification once corroborative medical papers establishing that GRS surgery has been performed have been produced.
Ireland, Australia and New Zealand all began a process of reassessing transgender rights within their borders and updating legislation accordingly. Canada... not so much.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch and the IGLHRC continue to remain vigilant, actively vocal and fully inclusive.
Mercedes Allen is a writer who blogs at http://dentedbluemercedes.wordpress.com/, has been featured on bilerico.com, PageOneQ and others, and has also developed the website at AlbertaTrans.org as a resource for transgender information and support.
