DIVA Debrief: New LGBTQIA laws from around the world

As the world continues to debate queer equality, DIVA takes a look at the LGBTQIA legislation that made headlines week, the good and the bad.

Good: Brazil high court rules homophobic hate speech a hate crime

This Tuesday (22 August) a Brazilian high court ruled 9-1 that homophobia should be punished with a prison term of 2-5 years, giving it the same weight as other hate crimes such as racism. 

Brazil is the country that has recorded the highest number of LGBTQIA-related murders per year for over a decade. According to Stonewall’s Global Workplace Equality Index, Brazil is currently a Zone Two country, meaning that “sexual acts between people of the same sex are legal but no clear national employment protections exist”, so this ruling marks a big step forward for the country.

Bad: New proposed bill could see LGBTQIA Iraqis face the death penalty

Ranking 152 out of 197 countries in the LGBTQ Equality Index, Iraq is not known for protecting its queer citizens. This week, nonprofit group Human Rights Watch, called on the Iraqi government to withdraw a proposed law that, if passed, would punish same-sex relations with the death penalty or life in prison. The same law would also criminalise “promoting homosexuality” with a fine and a minimum of seven years in prison, and “imitating women” with a three-year maximum sentence.

Condemning the proposed bill, Human Rights Watch said: “If adopted, the bill would violate fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) in Iraq.”

Read the full article here.