Trans girl allowed female ID card
A trans girl in Argentina has been allowed a female identification card, and for her gender to be officially recognized in a landmark decision.
Luana, previously known as Manuel, is 6 years old, and identified as female since she was able to speak.
Preferring to be known as Lulu, she was granted the right to identify as her gender under a law passed in Argentina last year. She received her amended birth certificate and ID card on Oct. 9.
Gabriel, Lulu’s mother, thanked the authorities in Buenos Aires because they “trusted the identity of my daughter,” and because they “respected her rights.”
Having become the first country in South America to allow gay couples to marry, Argentina last May passed a bill giving transgender citizens the right to have their gender recognized by law. Hormone therapy and reassignment surgery have also become available for transgender citizens, who are now able to change their officially recorded gender without prior medical or judicial approval.
Lulu’s first application to officially change her gender was initially refused because of her age, but the Children, Youth and Family Secretary overturned the decision.
It is believed that the child is the youngest in the world to be granted official permission to determine his or her own gender identity.
Gay rally in Russia breaks up after scuffles
A gay-rights rally in St. Petersburg Oct. 12 ended in scuffles after several-dozen protestors were confronted by about 200 conservative and religious activists.
The police standing nearby waited until clashes broke out between the two groups before intervening. According to Russian news agencies, the police detained 67 people from both sides.
The scuffles started after antigay protestors tore a rainbow flag out of a woman’s hands.
The St. Petersburg government had sanctioned the rally despite the Russian government’s June passage of a contentious law outlawing gay “propaganda.’’ Gays in Russia have faced increasing pressure and threats of violence.
Pride revelers in Brazil pack Copacabana Beach
Rio de Janeiro’s famed Copacabana Beach has been packed with tens of thousands of revelers taking part in the city’s gay Pride parade.
A hot tropical sun beamed down on the flamboyant and loud procession Oct. 13.
Participants in Carnavalesque outfits danced as trucks outfitted with enormous speakers blasted driving electronic music.
Rio’s Pride isn’t Brazil’s largest. That distinction belongs to the event held in Sao Paulo. But the gathering was arguably the country’s wildest, taking place in a city that throws its arms open wide to any event offering a glitzy show.
Organizers say it’s not just a party, though. They want to raise awareness about violence committed against gays and to reinforce lessons about safe sex among those taking part in the parade.
Australian airline apologizes for ‘I am gay’ sticker
Australian budget airline Jetstar has apologized to a passenger who pulled his suitcase from a baggage carousel to find the message “I am gay” written on it with stickers.
The bag was first on the carousel and the imagery of the words was large enough for passengers to see.
“We are taking this matter very seriously and we have contacted the passenger to apologize for any distress caused,” a Jetstar spokesperson said.
Twitter user @aaronpp posted the picture on Oct. 13.
“Utterly disgusted to find my luggage front and center on the @JetstarAirways luggage carousel looking like this,” he wrote. “‘I am gay’ was not emblazoned across my luggage as a celebration. It was used as a pejorative. It was used to humiliate. It was used as a slur.”
— compiled by Larry Nichols