2011 round up: Part four: Transgender and intersex rights

Anna Grodzka image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

I'm rounding up the year in a series of posts - in which no doubt I've missed something, so please let me know what I've missed in the comments!


Transgender and intersex rights

One of the world's most progressive transgender equality laws was passed in Argentina's parliament and in the UK a plan for comprehensive changes to ensure equality for trans people was announced. Chile also passed an anti-discrimination based on gender identity law as did California and Massachusetts. But in Puerto Rico a roll-back of legal protection was proposed.

The Pole Anna Grodzka became the first transsexual MP in Europe and only the second trans parliamentarian in the world.

Germany removed the surgery requirement for legal gender change, as did Kyrgyzstan.

Pakistan's Supreme Court created a 'third gender' category, but authorities have been slow to implement it. This caused real problems for trans people during the flooding which hit the country this year as did a similar failure to follow through on legal change in Nepal.

The first trans rights rally took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and new trans and intersex groups appeared in Russia and in Africa and the African groups came together to meet in Uganda.

Turkey jailed trans activists for 'insulting police' but an activist won a case against police at the European Court of Human Rights. Attacks on trans people by police in Albania drew protests.

The death of trans activist Aleesha Farhana in Malaysia after courts refused to change her gender on official documents sparked mass protests and a government concession and also increased, sometimes bizarre, coverage in local media.

The first intersex mayor in the world was elected in Australia. In September, the world's first International Intersex Organising Forum took place in Brussels.

Figures released in October showed that one transgender person is murdered somewhere in the world at least every other day.

Related articles

• A Day in the Life of the Rainbow Identity Offices in Botswana (mask.org.za)
• UK Government Launches Plan for Trans Equality (care2.com)

Video: The invisible refugee: Intersex, persecution and protection

Advocates for Informed Choice Founder and Executive Director Anne Tamar-Mattis discusses the legal, medical and survival challenges that intersex refugees encounter in their cross-border searches for safe haven.

This lecture was delivered as part of Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration's Second Annual Lecture Series held June 24, 2011, in San Francisco, CA.

Related articles

• First Ever International Intersex Forum Held in Belgium (mask.org.za)

Video: Transsexual and intersex refugee issues in South Africa

Liesl Theron speaking at the 'LGBT Identities, Governance, and Asylum' session at the 13th conference of the International Association for Studies in Forced Migration (IASFM) held in Kampala, Uganda, July 3-6.

Related articles

• Conference hears how Uganda is generating LGBT refugees (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Heterosexual Africa? Notes from the struggle for sexual rights (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: Landmark documentary on intersex people

Source: OII Australia

A long-awaited documentary about the experiences of a number of intersex people around the world, 'Intersexion (Is He Or Isn’t She?)', has been made available online at YouTube. The film was made for New Zealand television broadcaster TV One by Grant Lahood with the assistance of Wellington-resident intersex activist and counsellor Mani Bruce Mitchell.

A number of members of Organisation Internationale des Intersexués (OII) were interviewed for Intersexions including David Iris Cameron, Gina Wilson, Hida Viloria, Jim Costich and Yann Bradbury. Non-OII people also included are non-intersex academic Alice Dreger and Bo Laurent aka Cheryl Chase, both formerly of the Intersex Society of North America (ISNA).

Part one


Part two

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In Uganda, transgender and intersex Africans meet, strategise

Source: Behind the mask

By Betesta Segale

A meeting attended by Transgendered and intersex African activists recently resolved to act on the issue of the treatment of sexual minorities in Uganda. The activists came to the decision during the recent Transgender, Intersex African Exchange programme held from May 9 to 14 2011, when they declared that it was high time to speak out on the issue that has gripped the international LGBTI community since the so-called Bahati Bill promoting the imprisonment and killing of gay people was revealed in late 2009.

During the exchange programme, participants from outside Uganda experienced the challenges of LGBTI activists in Uganda who have to work underground in an environment where they feel their mere existence is illegal.

Homosexuality in the country is criminalised under the ‘unnatural offences’ provision of Section 145 of the Penal Code Act of Uganda Cap 120.

The activists questioned how policy makers could claim to hate something that they do not know, and argued that homosexuality is not unAfrican.

Amongst those who were gathered for the exchange programme were 15 LGBTI activists from Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Of these 10 were transmen, four were transwomen and one was an intersex person who identifies as a man.The activists were supported by the two organisations which organized programme, Gender Dynamix (GDX) from Cape Town whose director is Liesl Theron and Support Initiative for People with atypical Sex Development (SIPD) from Uganda whose programme director is Julius Kaggwa.

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Austria preparing to remove Turkish trans asylum seeker

Poster showing murdered Turkish trans activist Ebru Soykan

By Paul Canning

Austrian transgender group TransX reports that a trans-woman from Turkey is being threatened with removal by the Austrian authorities.

Her case was being advocated for her by the Austrian Association for Human Rights (Verein Menschenrechte Österreich). TransX are calling for it to be reviewed on the basis that her application for asylum to the Austrian Ministry of Interior was "messed up" by the Association.

Yasar Öztürk came from Turkey and asked for asylum in Austria in September 2009. She was abused by police and beaten by "transphobic rowdys" in Turkey. In a knife attack, she was seriously injured by a lung puncture. The police refused to accept her complaint. The attack has left her blind in one eye.

Yasar is at risk of being murdered (“honour” killing) by her family. In Turkey, she had to go into hiding, says TransX, and if she is removed and her family finds her she will be murdered. Some of Yasar's close friends were assassinated in recent years, they say.

Yasar has lived as a woman for many years. During puberty she developed female forms and there is strong suspicion that she is actually intersex.

Human rights organisations have issued numerous reports on violence against transgender people in Turkey, including from police, and the lack of a response from the Turkish government. ILGA-Europe's submission to the European Community's 2011 Progress Report on Turkey said:

"Hate crimes target particularly transgender people in Turkey. It doesn’t therefore come as a surprise that amongst all 47 CoE member states, Turkey ranks first for trans murder cases. Only in 2010, 7 trans people were murdered in Turkey."

"Police harassment and abuse of transgender women is a widespread practice in Turkey. Physical violence, psychological abuse, rape and unjustified fines are common practice in the police forces against transgender women in Turkey." 

"While on a fact finding trip to Turkey, ILGA-Europe documented the case of police violence against 5 transgender women in Ankara on 17 May, 20102. After the incident the 5 trans women were charged with “resistance to police authority”. However, none of the police officers responsible for the violence were hold accountable." 

TranX held a protest in 2009 outside the Turkish Embassy in Vienna against hate crimes against transgender people.

Verein Menschenrechte Österreich managed her case with the asylum authorities. Her application for asylum was rejected at first instance. The legal representation of the Verein Menschenrechte Österreich missed the opportunity to appeal and, according to TransX, "messed up the resumption of the proceedings". TransX say that Yasar may not have told her whole story from the beginning, due to shame (which is common with LGBT asylum cases but is seen by authorities as effecting their credibility). A new legal advocate for her has just been instructed.

29 May Yasar was arrested in Vienna. An attempt to prevent deportation due to Article 3 ECHR (ban on refoulement) failed.

Her removal is due to take place 15 June.

TransX says:

"After all legal remedies have been exhausted, it is now necessary to bring the case to the public to generate as much pressure as possible. We will inform the press and also create pressure on officials."

They are organising a demonstration for 8 June at 5pm in front of the prison where Yasar is being held on Hernalser Gürtel / Breitenfelder Gasse, 1080 Vienna

Her case is being supported by RKL - Rechtskomitee LAMBDA, Jean-Pierre Garbade (Avocat, Genève), Trans Austria, Die Grünen andersrum and Im Kontex.

Federal Councillor Jennifer Kickert, LGBT spokeswoman for the Austrian Green Party said:

"A deportation to Turkey means Öztürk is in acute danger to life and limb. Here Austria has to respect non-refoulement bid that no one should be returned to a country where her / his life is endangered. I say clearly: Yasar Ozturk must stay." 

The Green Party MEP and co-chair of the LGBT Intergroup in European Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek, said:

"If Austria's agreement with the core values of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is ​​not only rhetoric, there must be no removal of Yasar Öztürk. Europe must ensure the protection of transsexuals and lesbians and Gays from persecution in their countries of origin through the right of asylum - no ifs and buts. Because, unfortunately, transphobic hate crime is regularly perpetrated in Turkey, Yasar must not be deported."

Protest-Mails can be sent to:

• Ministry of Interior: ministerbuero@bmi.gv.at (Attention of Johanna Mikl-Leitner)
• Fremdenpolizei (border police): bpd-w-frb@polizei.gv.at (Referent Ziegler)

Petitions can be sent to:

• President of Austria: heinz.fischer@hofburg.at (Dr. Heinz Fischer)
• President of the Austrian parliament: barbara.prammer@spoe.at (Attention of Barbara Prammer)
• Mayor of Vienna: michael.haeupl@spoe.at (Dr. Michael Häupl)

• Example protest letter (RTF)

For more information e-mail: jo@transgender.at Phone: +43 / 680 / 24 14 748

Related articles

• Video: Turkish film explores transsexual lives in Istanbul (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Austria deports African gay footballer (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Nigerian gay footballer deported by Austria has gone underground; Austrian police charge his counsellor with 'promoting an illegal stay' (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• New map of murders of transgender people around the world (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Intersex refugees not included in any nation’s LGBT refugee policy

Source: OII Australia

Our thoughts have recently been on the possible fate of our friends and allies in African nations where homophobic persecution is rife or about to be incorporated into law with the penalty for being born LGBTI being death. Intersex Africans are as numerous as they are in other parts if the world, perhaps more so if the findings of African genetic researchers are correct.

Intersex people living in countries where these laws and practices are in operation face the death penalty simply for being born different. In some, perhaps many, African nations intersex newborns are killed as a matter of course.

Yet, no country on Earth has included intersex people in its LGBT refugee asylum laws and this exclusion is, quite simply, unjustifiable.

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Kenya's landmark intersex case

Source: African Activist

A landmark court case filed by Richard Muasya, an intersex person, has been decided by Kenyan High Court judges Hannah Okwengu, Ruth Sitati and George Dulu. Richard Muasya has been awarded Sh500,000 for the inhuman and degrading treatment he experienced at Kamiti Maximum Prison. His request to have a third gender introduced into Kenya’s books of statutes has been rejected.

According to the Kenyan Jurist:

The case of Richard Muasya was decided under the now repealed Constitution. The Petitioner was born with both female and male genitalia. Due to his ambiguous gender, he was unable to secure a birth certificate, identity card or any travel documents. Without these documents he lapsed into a life of crime and was convicted of the offence of robbery with violence. He sought declarations from court that his status should be recognised under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, that he suffered discrimination in fact and that his conviction was as a result of his status.

If the case were decided under Kenya's new constitution, the outcome may be very different.

 This is not the end of this issue, under the present Constitution I am sure the outcome would be different. Article 28 provides that every person has inherent right to dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected. Such dignity includes a form of legal recognition. In the case, the court rejected the petitioners application to be recognised.

• Here is a copy of the judges' ruling.