Nepal registers its historic first same-sex marriage
Nepal has just become the first South Asian country to recognize a same-sex marriage after it formally recognized the marriage of Maya Gurung and Surendra Pandey who wed in 1997.
Courts
Japan’s Supreme Court strikes down sterilization requirement for trans people
In its decision, the court said that the requirement forces trans people to make the “cruel choice between accepting the sterilization surgery that causes intense bodily invasion and giving up important legal benefits of being treated according to their gender identity.”
Nepal’s constitutional bench halts ‘triple taxation’ on community forests
Nepal’s Constitutional Court has issued a stay on the laws that require community forest user groups to pay taxes to the local, provincial, and federal governments.
Community forest user groups manage about 34% of Nepal’s forested area under a participatory conservation model that has been praised for increasing forest cover and empowering local communities.
Judge overturns Galveston’s discriminatory electoral map in a voting rights victory
The court’s decision requires Galveston County to redraw its 2021 map by October 20. The revised lines must include at least one district with a majority of Black and Latino people among the four districts that elect representatives to the county’s commissioners’ court.
Mauritius decriminalizes gay sex in historic ruling
In 2016, Antigua and Barbuda, the archipelago nation that owns Redonda, launched an eradication campaign that cleared the island of rats. After that, they simply waited.
Indigenous community fighting a mine in The Philippines wins a milestone legal verdict
In a move celebrated as a victory by an Indigenous community that since 2005 has been fighting plans to mine nickel in a protected area, the Philippine Supreme Court issued a verdict mandating the company and government agencies involved in the project to address Indigenous concerns about forest destruction.
Brazil’s top court boosts Indigenous rights in landmark ruling
Six of the 11 justices have ruled in favor of restoring territory to the Xokleng people, from which they were evicted. The ruling sets a precedent for hundreds of Indigenous land claims and is expected to have widespread consequences for Indigenous land rights throughout the country.
Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion across country
Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.
Brazil makes homophobic hate speech punishable by prison
Brazil’s Supreme Court has ruled with a vote of 9-1 that homophobic hate speech is on par with racial hate speech and punishable with a prison sentence of two to five years.
Youth wins climate case against U.S. state of Montana in first-of-its-kind legal ruling
A landmark ruling found that Montana violated young people’s constitutional rights to a “clean and healthful environment,” marking the first time a U.S. court has connected the government’s fossil fuel promotion with harm to youth.