The government of Nepal has announced that citizens will now have the option of designating “other” as their gender on an official ID, rather than stating “male” or “female.” The change will take effect in a few weeks.

From Advocate.com:

LGBT activists in the nation welcomed the decision, which implements a ruling made by Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2007, reports wire service Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It will help transgender people as well as others who suffer discrimination because their appearance does not match the gender listed on their citizenship cards, they said.

“Our community feels we are finally being granted an identity by the state, and my friends have told me they feel proud about it,” said Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal’s first openly gay legislator.

 Little steps like these are helping us break outside binaries. Good for Nepal. 

A measure that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions is making progress in Brazil.

The bill passed through a human rights committee in Brazil’s Congress, where it’s been held up for 16 years. The measure would change Brazil’s civil unions law from saying such unions are between a man and a woman to being between two people. 

This may pave the way for marriage equality in Brazil as well, as state courts have allowed some civil unions to become full-fledged marriages. The bill needs to pass other Senate committees before going to a full vote. 

Woo! 

President Joyce Banda, the new president of Malawi, announced recently that she planned to repeal national laws that criminalize homosexuality. But citizens of the country, especially those in religious and evangelical communities, are not thrilled by her stance. 

Many Malawians consider homosexuality unnatural and immoral, an opinion especially prominent among evangelicals. Those who support upholding the criminal status of “homosexual acts” say the president should consult with the people before taking any action.

“There is need for proper consultation before the law if referred back to the Malawi Law Society and then Parliament, says Mr. Mayaya. “Malawians need to be consulted. Over the years, the church has also made its stand on this sticky issue very clear. I feel Malawians have the right to discuss what constitutes different sexual orientations before a law is put in place.”

Officials from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, have announced that visitors to the city will now have equal access to same-sex marriages.

Marriage equality has been legal in Argentina since 2010, and now tourists who place a request five days in advance will also be able to share in that right. City officials recommend couples have a local lawyer help them with the paperwork. 

Anybody up for a quick trip to Argentina? Seriously, though, this is really cool. Imagine the photos from the destination weddings! 

The five binational same-sex couples who will serve as plaintiffs in a case against DOMA are featured in a new video explaining why we need federal marriage rights. 

From Advocate.com:

The immigration rights organization Immigration Equality filed Blesch v. Holder on April 2 on behalf of five married same sex couples who face forcible separation at the discretion of the U.S. government under the Defense of Marriage Act because one spouse is not an American citizen. The plaintiffs —Edwin Blesch and his husband Tim Smulian, Frances Herbert and her wife Takao Ueda, Heather Morgan and her wife Maria del Mar Verdugo, Santiago Ortiz and his husband Pablo Garcia, and Kelli Ryan and her wife Lucy Truman —discuss their difficult situations. 

Two men in the United Arab Emirates were sentenced to three months in prison because a woman allegedly saw them “fondling each other” in a car. The UAE limits PDA pretty strictly, and is known to be harsh to its LGBT community.

Here’s the Advocate’s summary of what happened:

The men, whose names aren’t being released, allegedly hooked up in a car near Jumeirah Beach. A 48-year-old woman who found the car “suspicious” began tailing the vehicle, which initially moved upon seeing her. When the woman caught up with the car, she claims she saw the men fondling each other, though conflicting reports exist on what exactly the 27-year-old and the 32-year-old were doing. Now, the men will not only face jail time but will be deported to their home nations of the Phillipines and Oman.

A priest in Denmark has refused to bury a deceased woman after discovering that she was a lesbian.

The priest refused to hold the funeral, making the absurd claim in front of the woman’s elderly partner of more than 30 years. The woman’s daughter watched this happen as well, and was rightly outraged.

“I thought, can it really be true that we should be ashamed of it?,” the deceased woman’s daughter, Kirsten Østergaard, told homotropolis.com. “I looked at my mother’s life partner and she was completely silent — and then I became really upset on her behalf. It’s a terrible situation to put her in.”

The priest has since apologized for his actions, but that doesn’t make up for the trauma he caused this family, not in the slightest. Remember back in February, when a priest in the U.S. refused a lesbian communion at her mother’s funeral? Why is this BS still happening in the world? 

On May 17 of every year, the International Day Against Homophobia serves to unite people under the common causes of fighting homophobia and embracing acceptance and love for all people.

The theme of this year’s campaign is “Sexual diversity in the workplace: it pays off!” The idea is that LGBT people live and work all over the world and deserve the same rights and respect as their heterosexual coworkers. 

The site linked above includes all kinds of background information about the day itself, the group in charge and resources you can turn to. Today’s a big day - make it count! 

On Thursday, Burma will have its very first public LGBT pride event as part of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Writers, artists and other speakers will discuss international LGBT rights at the event, which will take place indoors rather than in a parade format because of the climate toward LGBT people. Still, organizers are confident the event will send a positive message.

Asked if he is concerned about conservative backlash, Min insists that the Pride events will not be political. “This is just a celebration of a historic event, when homosexuality was removed from the list of mental diseases,” he told Gay Star News. “It’s just about the dignity of the LGBT people.”

“Our message is just to end homophobia,” he added.

How exciting! 

The Senate in Chile has passed the first-ever anti-discrimination law in the country, protecting against discrimination based on “race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, ideology, political opinion, religious beliefs, participation in organizations or lack thereof, sex, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, health, or disability.”

The bill was first introduced in 2005 and received little attention, but has come back into the public eye after a gay man was murdered by a group of reported neo-Nazis who beat him mercilessly before killing him. The incident was presumed to be a hate crime, and so gay rights activists and others pushed for stronger legislation against hate crimes. 

“The law will allow arbitrary acts of discrimination to be punishable by sanctions and/or fines and will further empower courts to rule against discriminatory actions that will now be illegal,” the paper reports.

Out of tragedy comes progress. It’s terrible that horrendous things have to happen before leaders take action, but at the very least, hopefully nobody will ever have to suffer this way again. 

Senators in Argentina yesterday approved a law that will let trans people get medical procedures like bottom surgery and hormone therapy as part of public or private health care plans. 

Details from the Washington Post, who will phrase it more eloquently than I:

It gives people the legal right to officially change their gender without having to go to court for a judge’s approval, and obligates health care companies to provide them with surgery or hormone therapy on demand.

Other countries, including neighboring Uruguay, have passed gender rights laws, but Argentina’s “is in the forefront of the world” because of these benefits it guarantees, said Cesar Cigliutti, president of the Homosexual Community of Argentina.

Treatments related to gender changes will be included in the “Obligatory Medical Plan,” meaning that both private and public health care providers will not be able to charge extra for the services.

This is pretty huge. Argentina was the first country in Latin America to legalize marriage equality, so this does seem like a valid next step. We’ll get there too.