A Malaysian High Court has dismissed an application by four transgender women who had sought to have an Islamic law that bars Muslim men from wearing women's clothes reviewed.
While the language of the judgement may sound “gay-friendly”, it does not necessarily mean the judges are leaning towards the merits of the case against 377A, says pioneer gay rights activist Alex Au. He also highlights that Tan Eng Hong, who filed the case, may face bankrupcy should an order of costs be made against him.
In a judgment that has taken nearly a year, Tan Eng Hong and his lawyer M Ravi are now one step closer to challenging the constitutionality of section 377A of the Penal Code that prohibits sexual relations between men.
Three years has passed since Delhi High Court’s 2009 ruling that legalised sexual relations between men, that decision is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court. A roundtable discussion was organised by UNDP India to discuss the issues surrounding the judgment. Fridae’s Asha Vakolawali has more.
The mothers of Chen Jing-hsueh and Gao Jhih-wei – a gay couple who filed a legal petition to seek legal recognition of their marriage – appeared in court on Wednesday with their sons for the first time, and spoke to the media about accepting and supporting their sons' sexuality and decision to be married.
A Taiwanese gay couple, who had unsuccessfully applied to the Department of Household Registration to be officially recognised as a household, has filed a petition for the case to be heard in court.
The Home Ministry on Thursday distanced itself from its court representative’s statement that homosexuality is “immoral” and clarified that it has decided not to challenge the Delhi High Court's 2009 decision to decriminalise homosexuality.
The country's Supreme Court has since Wednesday began hearing a batch of 16 appeals challenging the July 2009 Delhi High Court verdict legalising homosexual acts amongst consenting adults in private.
The Philippine's only political organisation for LGBTs has urged Catholic priests, who oppose the anti-discrimination bill, to "come out of their extravagant churches to see the reality – that some LGBTs are not hired to work, some are being harassed and violated and some 144 killed because of their sexual orientation and gender identity."