Bangladesh elects first trans mayor
A 43-year-old transgender woman was elected mayor of Trilochanpur, becoming the first trans elected official in Bangladesh. Nazrul Islam Ritu won with more than twice the number of votes as her nearest rival.
According to the New York Daily News, Bangladesh has 1.5 million transgender people.
Earlier this year, a transgender newscaster debuted on national TV in Bangladesh. And in a society where boys and girls generally attend separate school, the first school for trans students opened in the nation’s capital, Dhaka.
Canada’s lower house passes conversion therapy ban
Canada’s House of Commons voted unanimously to ban conversion therapy earlier this week. Also known as reparative therapy, the debunked practice tries to change someone’s sexual orientation. All professional medical organizations have condemned the practice.
The measure moves to the Canadian Senate, where the measure failed to pass before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a new election earlier this year.
Sotomayor says abortion case threatens LGBTQ rights
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the Mississippi abortion case the U.S. Supreme Court heard earlier this week threatens LGBTQ rights. She said Roe v. Wade has been settled law for almost 50 years. Revisiting it opens the way for states to challenge cases including the Obergefell marriage equality decision and privacy cases like Lawrence v. Texas that eliminated sodomy laws across the country.