World of Politics

Tunisia: An openly gay candidate is running for president, a milestone for the Arab world

Lawyer Mounir Baatour officially announced his candidacy for the Tunisian presidency Thursday, becoming the first known openly gay presidential candidate in the Arab world and heralding a major step forward for LGBT rights in a country that still criminalizes gay sex.

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US: More than 7,000 Americans have gender X IDs, a victory for transgender rights. Is it a safety risk, too?

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Three years ago, no one in the USA was legally recognized as neither male or female. Today, thousands of people can point to a gender-neutral marker on state driver's licenses and identification cards, according to records obtained by USA TODAY.

India: Transgender citizens “integral part of India” that may have been shortchanged by its parliament

All of this seems to suggest that the push for transgender rights by the government was never about empowering the 440,000 transgender Indians, but a publicity stunt to showcase inclusive nationalism to the world at large.

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France drafts law to extend IVF to lesbians, single women

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 Single women and lesbians in France no longer would have to go abroad to get pregnant with a doctor’s help under a proposed law that would give them access to medically assisted reproduction at home for the first time.

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Barbados: ‘Stand firm’ on anti-gay laws – church leaders

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Several evangelical church leaders are calling on Government not to change the country’s Sexual Offences Act, despite a human rights challenge to those laws filed by trans woman Alexa Hoffmann, and two other Barbadians, a lesbian and a gay man.