The Russian embassy in Canada has sparked outrage after tweeting a photo of the pride flag with a red symbol prohibiting it and writing: “family is a man and a woman and children”.
Posted on Friday (25 November), following Russia adopting a “gay propaganda” law prohibiting the promotion of homosexuality the day before, the tweet has been condemned by many who have demanded response and action from the Canadian government.
“It is all about family. Family is a man and a woman and children,” the tweet states.
In response to backlash the embassy has released a statement: “Canada and a range of other States-supporters of the neoliberal agenda are deliberately distorting the reality by conflating the concepts of individual sexual preferences and universal human rights.
“Fortunately, there are no universally acknowledged international documents in place that would establish such a status for any relations that are different from a traditional family structure (a kind reminder that we are considering a natural family of procreation, which refers to a social unit of two male and female parents and their potential children).”
One Twitter user pointed out the reference to “individual preference” against “universal rights”.
They wrote: “Open homophobia by the official Russian embassy handle in Canada. Note the reference to “individual preference” vs “universal rights” – it’s key to what Putin & Xi mean by “multipolarity” – a rejection of universal standards of human rights.”
The statement goes on to claim there is “no discrimination in Russia with respect to the rights of sexual and other kind of minorities”.
It adds: “Individual sexual preferences of adults and details of their relations should remain strictly personal. It should not become a political matter, especially international relations’ agenda topic.”
Montreal city councillor Serge Sasseville said the tweet was “unacceptable”, and “it should be condemned, publicly”.
“I expect that since it’s been issued by an embassy in Ottawa that our minister of foreign affairs Melanie Jolie, and our prime minister Justin Trudeau, will publicly condemn that tweet and reiterate their support for the LGBTQAI+ community because we’re in 2022 and we cannot live in a society where such a publication goes without a reaction from our government.”
Lawyer and former vice president of Pride Montreal, Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, accused the embassy of Russia in Canada of “bullying the LGBTQ community”.
Boudreault said the post was “frustrating”, “disheartening” and he urged Canada to react.
“You probably have LGBTQ Russian people that are seeing this and saying the motherland is saying this against us and that’s probably one of the reasons they left Russia to come to Canada, so we need to think about the LGBTQ community, we need to defend the LGBTQ community and we need to remember that human rights are very fragile,” Boudreault said.
The prospect of another Donald Trump presidency would pose a “serious risk” to LGBTQ+ rights, but queer advocates say they’re “battle-ready”.
On Tuesday (15 November), Trump announced he would be running for president in 2024, making him the first president in history to be attempting another presidential bid following impeachment.
As the most anti-LGBTQ+ president in modern history, he couldn’t help including a transphobic dig in his announcement from Mar-a-Lago, insisting that if elected, he would not “let men… participate in women’s sports”.
During the torturous four years that Trump was in office, he relentlessly attacked the LGBTQ+ community, stripping discrimination protections, banning trans people from serving in the military, and erasing LGBTQ+ language, data, and resource pages from government websites.
But, since he left the Oval Office, anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has continued to escalate in US politics, meaning that a second Trump presidency could be even more disastrous than the first.
Human Rights Campaign interim president Joni Madison said: “We in the LGBTQ+ community have watched over the past seven years as Donald Trump’s hateful language and discriminatory policies have emboldened waves of bigotry, disinformation and violence.
“Even as Republican voters have become increasingly supportive of LGBTQ+ people – registering majority approval of nondiscrimination projections and marriage equality – he and his extremist MAGA supporters have worked tirelessly to try to slander and demonise us, our relationships, and our families.
“His time in office saw a relentless onslaught of unconscionable executive orders that made it harder to live as an LGBTQ+ person in this country.”
Madison noted the “rainbow wave” seen in the US during the midterm elections, and the fact that Trump-backed candidates underperformed spectacularly, and urged voters to “stand together in opposition to his candidacy, and to ensure Trump forever remains a one-term president”.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis reflected on the more than 200 attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by the Trump administration, tracked by the organisation’s Trump Accountability Project, and said: “It was an administration defined by anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric, and policy that empowered white supremacists and fueled racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and misogyny.”
‘Political pawns’
Mayor Annise Parker, president and CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, said that “another Donald Trump presidency presents a serious threat to our nation’s LGBTQ community which continues to face rampant homophobia and transphobia fueled by his divisiveness”.
Parker continued: “Donald Trump and those who wish to follow in his footsteps continue to use our community – and LGBTQ kids in particular – as political pawns in their quest for power.
“When our fundamental rights are challenged, our kids’ safety and wellbeing are threatened and our leaders are terrorised, going back is not an option.
“Donald Trump is one of the most bigoted leaders of our time and his continued anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and actions are dangerous and unqualifying… The next presidential election is an opportunity for voters to break from candidates who promote the politics of hate and instead choose a leader who supports fairness and equality for all Americans.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed 424 legal actions against the Trump administration during the four years of his presidency, and ACLU executive director Anthony D Romero said that the organisation is ready to keep fighting.
“Trump appointees on the federal bench have done their best to gut abortion rights, limit voting rights, and strip immigrants and LGBTQ individuals of their basic rights,” Romero said.
“Even as we are engaged in those battles today at all levels of government, the ACLU will be battle-ready for a second Trump administration.
“If Donald Trump believes that a second term would allow him to continue with the unconstitutional and un-American policies of his first term, the ACLU will be ready to fight back at every turn.”
Actor Kevin Spacey is to be charged with a further seven sexual offences after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said Spacey will face charges over alleged offences against one man between 2001 and 2004.
The charges include three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police allowed for further charges against the 63-year-old to be authorised. Spacey has pleaded not guilty to a string of allegations that stretch back 17 years.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, clarified the charges against the House of Cards actor in a statement, adding that officials had “also authorised one charge of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent”.
“The authority to charge follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” Ainslie added. “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
Earlier legal action dismissed
Spacey is already facing five charges of sexual offences in the UK, including four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing penetrative sexual activity without consent.
He is set to begin the trial for these charges in June 2023.
“I will voluntarily appear in the UK as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence,” he said following the initial charges.
The actor was dropped from his role in House of Cards shortly after allegations against him were made in 2017 by actor Anthony Rapp and was ordered to pay $31 million in lost revenue.
Rapp initially accused Kevin Spacey of making sexual advances towards him in 1986 – when Rapp was 14 years old.
After filing a legal action in September 2020, Rapp testified that he had decided to go to a bedroom during a party at Spacey’s Manhattan apartment, when Spacey walked into the room, seemingly intoxicated.
Rapp then alleged that Spacey touched him inappropriately, claiming he put him on the bed and climbed on top of him.
“It felt very wrong,” Rapp said. “I didn’t want him to do it, and I had no reason that made any sense of why he would do it. I felt like a deer in headlights.”
The case was later dismissed by the New York court after the jury found that Rapp did not sufficiently prove his claim that Spacey made the unwanted sexual advances.
A young gay couple in Armenia tragically took their own lives because of “intolerance towards them”, according to an LGBTQ+ group.
The couple, reportedly named Tigran and Arsen, posted a series of Instagramphotos of themselves on Thursday (20 October) before their tragic deaths.
The photos showed the two kissing and appearing to show off engagement rings.
“Happy ending. The decisions about sharing the photos and our next steps were made by both of us,” the harrowing caption read.
The two then ended their lives in the country’s capital, Yerevan, reports Armenian LGBTQ+ group Pink Armenia.
The post has since been flooded with tributes and kind words to the pair.
Pink Armenia said in a statement: “The young men still had many years of life ahead of them, but because of intolerance towards them, they took such a tragic step.
“LGBT people are very familiar with the feeling of isolation and misunderstanding of family and society. This tragic incident proves once again that LGBT people in Armenia are not safe and not protected by society or the state.”
The organisation added that it provides professional support for LGBTQ+ people in crisis.
“Remember, you are not alone,” it said.
No protection from discrimination in Armenia
Homosexuality has been legal in Armenia since 2003, however as of 2022 the country is still sitting close to the bottom of the annual Rainbow Map ranking the best nations for LGBTQ+ rights in Europe.
At the bottom along with Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia was considered to have scored just an eight per cent safety score for LGBTQ+ people, with the scale considering equality, hate crime, legal gender recognition, and more.
As of 2022, there is no legislation protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in Armenia.
ILGA Europe, which conducts the Rainbow Map, said: “There remain significant gaps in terms of fundamental protection against discrimination and violence in nearly half of the countries.
“Currently, 20 countries out of 49 still have no protection against hate crime based on sexual orientation, while 28 countries have no protection against violence based on gender identity.”
Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255, or The Trevor Project which provides 24/7 crisis support, 365 days a year. Text START to 678-678, or call: (866) 488-7386.
Growing up gay in Rwanda was like “living in prison” for Innocent.
As a child, he was singled out by children and adults alike because he was seen as “feminine”. Teachers who should have tried to put a stop to homophobic bullying instead encouraged it, saying Rwandan culture didn’t accept queer people.
Innocent fled Rwanda and arrived in the UK as a refugee. He’s built a new life for himself as an openly gay man. For the first time, he feels free.
That’s why he was so shaken when he heard that the UK government is planning to deporting asylum seekers it deems “illegal” to Rwanda. The plan, launched by previous home secretary Priti Patel, has been denounced as unnecessary, inhumane, racist, and a recipe guaranteed to result in the deaths of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
It has been met with legal challenges – including those that grounded the first scheduled deportation flight – but a change in leadership hasn’t stopped ministers from pushing ahead. Patel’s successor Suella Braverman has been slammed for saying it’s her “dream” and “obsession” to get the plan up and running.
It’s a bitter pill to swallow for LGBTQ+ Rwandans like Innocent – his experience of growing up in the country proved to him how dangerous it can be for queer people.
You feel like no one cares about your life – even God doesn’t like you, even God doesn’t love you.
Innocent knew he was gay by the time he was 13.
“Emotionally it was really challenging because all I wanted was just to change it,” he explains.
As a teenager, Innocent went to a priest to seek guidance about his sexuality. He hoped he would get support, but the response he received was “devastating”.
“At church they were preaching that God is love. I was naive and I was thinking, if God is love and this is a man of God, he’s going to be able to accept it – to at least see me as a human being.”
LGBT+ campaigners join Gay Liberation Front (GLF) veterans to mark the 50th anniversary of the first UK Pride march in 1972. (Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty)
But the priest had the “opposite reaction” – he told Innocent that his feelings were sinful and that he must change if he wanted to avoid burning in hell.
“You feel like no one cares about your life – even God doesn’t like you, even God doesn’t love you. I felt powerless.”
At that time, Innocent was still reeling from the trauma of living through the Rwandan genocide. Over just 100 days in 1994, around 500,000 to 662,000 people – mostly from the Tutsi minority ethnic group – were murdered – Innocent’s parents were among them.
Because he was an orphan, Innocent was eligible to go to the UK as a refugee at the age of 16. He knew moving away would give him the chance to live openly as a gay man – something he would never be able to do in Rwanda.
“When I arrived in Europe, it was like getting out of hell,” he says.
Innocent has built a life for himself in the UK – he is now an out and proud gay man. He still keeps his sexuality from some of his relatives back home because he knows that attitudes have not changed.
That’s why he was “horrified” when he discovered the UK government was planning on deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“I was just wondering how that could happen,” he says.
“There’s a lot of evidence that sexual orientation and gender identity is still taboo and the government doesn’t want to do anything about that.
“People are still being bullied, being put in prison, being tortured almost, and rejected by the community wherever they go. That is how it is now for LGBT people who live there.”
Protesters from the LGBTQ+ group hold a banner during the demonstration at Home Office. (Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty)
If he had a chance to sit down with the prime minister and the home secretary, his message to them would be simple.
“The policy has to change,” Innocent says.
“You can’t do it. You can’t just send people to a place where they will face discrimination. They will be seen as criminals.
“What I would say is just do more research, understand how the LGBT community live in that country. Most of the people there – even some of my friends who are still there – they don’t exist. They live a lie, they get married, they have to lie to the police, they have to lie to their wives. You live a lie your entire life.”
He doesn’t think it’s right for asylum seekers to be sent away as part of the government’s wider effort to deter immigration.
“Even if it worked, do we really want to compromise human rights just to prevent people from coming to the UK? For me, that doesn’t sound like the UK values that I know.”
Rwanda refugee plan carries ‘disproportionately higher risk for LGBTQ+ people’
A spokesperson for Rainbow Migration, an LGBTQ+ asylum advocacy group, noted that the UK government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has been held up by legal challenges – but it is still planning flights for this year.
“We see that the risk is disproportionately higher for LGBTQI+ people, as Rwanda is a country from which people like Innocent flee and claim asylum because they are persecuted for their sexual orientation or gender identity,” the spokesperson said.
While homosexuality is no longer criminalised in Rwanda, same-sex sexual relations is still seen as a taboo issue – public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people are not kind.
Even the UK government’s own website acknowledges that homosexuality is “frowned on” by many in Rwanda and that LGBTQ+ people may experience “discrimination and abuse, including from local authorities”.
In June, a gay man from Uganda told Africa Newsthat he was “beaten terribly” in Rwanda for king gay, while a trans woman told the publication: “I cannot go anywhere or apply for a job. Not because I am not capable of that, but because of who I am.”
A spokesperson for Rainbow Migration said there is “not much of a screening process that takes place” within the Home Office when a person’s asylum claim is being considered.
“This creates a high risk that they could be sent to Rwanda if the plan is eventually allowed to proceed.”
When approached for comment, a spokesperson for the Home Office said its Rwanda scheme is a “world-leading” programme which will “see those who make dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK relocated to Rwanda”.
“Our assessment concluded that LGBT+ people did not face a real risk of persecution,” the spokesperson said.
“The overall findings were that Rwanda is fundamentally a safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers, including working with the UN Refugee Agency which said the country has a safe and protective environment for refugees.”
A New Jersey high school tried to cancel an adaptation of the LGBTQ+ musical The Prom due to “community concern” over its themes.
Officials at Cedar Grove High School in Essex County, New Jersey planned to cancel a student production of The Prom – which sees a lesbian student try to bring her same-sex date to a school prom – but were forced to backtrack after opposition from the community.
The district’s superintendent Anthony Grosso told those concerned in a Friday (14 October) statement that the play would not be cancelled, but that students would perform a “High School Edition” of the play.
“After further inquiry with the licensing organisation, we were informed that a High School Edition of The Prom just became available,” he said in a statement. “Therefore, Cedar Grove Public Schools fully supports producing the High School Edition.
Cedar Grove’s music department issued a statement on Instagram after administrative officials initially told them that the play would not be going forward due to vaguely described “community concerns.”
The department called on members of the community to voice their concerns in a future meeting with the district’s Board of Education on 18 October.
“For a program that has run for over 20 years under the same director and never had a question of content for any show in the past, this is a first,” the statement read.
“After seeing [The Prom] a few years ago and learning that it was now available for schools to produce, the students themselves chose this musical as our next production. We would actually be the New Jersey high school premiere!
“We secured the rights, paid for the materials, and announced the show to students but have now hit a bump in our normal road.”
Supporters of the post included The Prom actor Josh Lamon, who replied to the statement saying: “Whatever we can do, I’m here for it.”
He shared the statement on social media, adding that the cancellation was “infuriating and deeply homophobic,” and that there is “nothing inappropriate in or about the show.”
Several users, including fellow Broadway stars, agreed with Lamon that this was “literally the reason they need to be doing this show!!” while others asked if they should “tell Stephen Colbert” since the talk show host is close by.
After the superintendent announced the change, department member Rebecca Altschul posted on Instagram thanking those who spoke out in support of the play.
Mexico’s senate has voted to ban all conversion therapy that aims to alter sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression – putting the UK to shame.
On Tuesday (11 October), 69 lawmakers voted for the bill, with two against and 16 abstentions. It will now head to Mexico’s chamber of deputies for a final vote.
The vote has been years in the making, with the bill first introduced by senators from the parties Citizen Movement, Morena and the Green Party in October 2018.
LGBTQ+ human rights organisation Yaaj Mexico said in a press release: “The eyes of the world are today on this historic advance in human rights, hoping that it will become an international benchmark.”
The group said that conversion therapy’s “main victims are young LGBTQ+ people, causing irreparable damage to their mental health throughout their adult life and in the worst cases, driving them to suicide”.
“For the survivors of these practices who have raised their voices, making the political personal, this legislative advance it means the integral reparation of the damage that was once done to them.”
In its press release, Yaaj noted that if the bill passes in the chamber of deputies, Mexico would join countries around the world in legislating against the abhorrent practice, including Germany, Malta, Canada, Australia and Ecuador.
One country notably not mentioned was the UK.
The Conservative Party had been promising a UK conversion therapy ban since 2018, and last year finally produced a consultation document.
However, the consultation was littered with red flags, comparing affirmative medical treatment for trans kids to conversion therapy, providing religious exemptions, and even stating that adults could freely consent to conversion therapy.
The comprehensive report was welcomed by the LGBTQ+ community, centering survivors in all areas, and laying out key principles for legislating against conversion therapy.
These included a future ban which must cover any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change, suppress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, expression of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and providing specific guidance on the experiences of LGBTQ+ people of colour – and survivors from minority ethnic faith groups.
A young gay man has been shot dead by the Taliban in Afghanistan because of his sexuality.
Hamed Sabouri, from Kabul, was killed in August, local activists have told PinkNews. He was just 22.
He was reportedly kidnapped by the Taliban and a video showing his murder sent to his family days later.
Bahar, another gay Afghan who knew the victim personally, told PinkNews Sabouri had dreams of becoming a doctor, but his hopes were stolen from him when the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
He described Hamed as a “shy” gay man with an infectious laugh.
“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan,” Bahar said.
“Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.”
Bahar, who is a member of Afghanistan’s growing LGBTQ+ organisation the Behesht Collective, deleted all the pictures and videos he had of Sabouri on his phone after he learned of his murder.
Protesters hold a sign that reads “stop killing Afghans” at a demonstration in Canada. (NurPhoto via Getty/ Sayed Najafizada)
Bahar lives in fear of being stopped and searched by the Taliban – he’s afraid that he would also be killed if they found out about his sexuality.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, PinkNews has spoken to a number of LGBTQ+ Afghans who have had their phones searched by the Taliban.
Many have resorted to deleting their social media accounts in a desperate bid to stay safe, while many others have crossed the border into Pakistan where they are less likely to be killed.
Taliban wants to ‘eradicate’ LGBTQ+ people
Nemat Sadat, an Afghan activist who is fighting to have LGBTQ+ people evacuated from the country, told PinkNews that Sabouri’s death is the result of inaction from western governments, many of which have failed to take in adequate numbers of fleeing Afghans.
Afghan activist Nemat Sadat. (Provided)
“The death of Hamed Sabouri is further proof that the Taliban will not stop until they eradicate all gay people from Afghanistan,” he said.
“His execution was deliberate and outside of any legal framework. I don’t understand how people in good conscience around the world sit idle while the Taliban continue to rule with a total disregard for human life.”
Sabouri’s killing is just the latest blow to Afghanistan’s embattled LGBTQ+ community.
Since the Taliban seized power, reports have circulated about queer people being beaten, raped and murdered as the regime ramps up its persecution of those who fall foul of Sharia law.
Most recently, it was reported that the Taliban had started using the monkeypox outbreak to harass and detain LGBTQ+ people.
Anthony Rapp testified in federal court about an “incredibly frightening” encounter, in which Kevin Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him when he was a teen.
Rapp, who is suing Spacey for $40 million in a civil trial over alleged sexual misconduct, described to the court on Friday (7 October) how he first became acquainted with Spacey as a teenager on the New York City theatre scene.
He testified that Spacey invited him to a party at the actor’s loft in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and the disgraced actor was 26.
Rapp, now 50, told jurors he decided to go because he was “honoured” to “join a colleague at a gathering” and was eager to show some independence from his mum.
The Star Trek: Discovery actor described feeling uncomfortable because he didn’t know the other guests, so he decided to go into a bedroom to watch TV. Rapp told jurors that Spacey later appeared in the doorway, seemingly intoxicated, and approached him.
“It felt very wrong,” Rapp said. “I didn’t want him to do it, and I had no reason that made any sense of why he would do it. I felt like a deer in headlights.”
Rapp testified that he was able to “wiggle” his way out from under Spacey and hide in a bathroom. Rapp recalled later running to the front door of the loft when Spacey stopped the teen and asked him: “Are you sure you want to leave?”
After the alleged encounter, Rapp said he contemplated how he would “recover from this incredibly upsetting and frightening experience” during his long walk home.
“I was this 14-year-old child, and I had no desire to have any kind of this experience in my life,” he said. “It was incredibly frightening and very alarming and totally antithetical to anything else that I had ever experienced.”
Anthony Rapp alleged he had an “alarming” encounter with Kevin Spacey at the older actor’s home in 1986. Spacey has denied the allegations against him. (Getty)
Kevin Spacey, now 63, has denied Rapp’s claims. His lawyer Jennifer Kelley claimed Rapp invented the incident as she said it resembled a scene in Precious Sons, a play that Rapp starred in at the time.
Kevin Spacey initially apologised on social media to Rapp for what he said “would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour” but said he “honestly” didn’t “remember the encounter”. He has since denied the allegations.
Rapp is one of several individuals who have come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against Spacey in recent years.
Rapp is expected to continue his testimony and then face cross-examination from Kevin Spacey’s lawyers when the civil trial resumes on Tuesday (11 October).
More than half of trans and non-binary people are misgendered in death by officials, new research suggests.
Research, published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, found that between 2011 and 2021, more than half of transgender and non-binary people who died during this time period were misgendered on their death certificates.
Kimberly Repp, chief epidemiologist for Washington County and one of the study’s authors, noted that this could impact the allocation of resources like social services and public health programs, which can change depending on a region’s vital statistics.
She said: “What we learned will likely alarm anyone who identifies as transgender or non-binary – or anyone who cares about the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
“When a population is not counted, it is erased.”
The HRC, which trans violent deaths of trans people, has often warned that many trans people are misgendered in death, and therefore go uncounted.
The research was conducted by public health officials from Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas, and focussed on the Portland, Oregon, metro area, and looked at the recorded deaths of 51 trans and non-binary people.
It revealed systemic gaps in coroners’ ability to accommodate trans and non-binary people.
The majority of medical examiner case management software does not include a field for gender identity, and there is no national requirement for death investigators to be trained about how to verify a deceased person’s gender identity.
Next-of-kin also have unilateral power to declare a deceased person’s gender and have it changed on a death certificate, which can lead to what the study calls “nonconsensual detransitioning” – when the next-of-kin rejects the deceased’s trans identity.
Kimberly DiLeo, chief investigator with the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office, said that while it has been “proactive in training our staff to record gender identity… without adequate tools to collect this data and changes at a national level, we are limited in what we can do”.
in 2019 the American Medical Association made attempts to tackle increasing violence among transgender people by establishing a more consistent way to collect data on trans identity.
Despite this, the report noted that no agency regularly collects information about gender identity at death.
