Ryan Thorensen

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Dangerous Setback for Minority Rights in South Korea

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South Korea’s commitment to equal rights has suffered a dangerous setback with the appointment of Ahn Chang-ho as chairperson of the government’s National Human Rights Commission of Korea. A former Constitutional Court justice, Ahn has drawn widespread criticism for his opposition to antidiscrimination protections, particularly for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Ahn has taken several deeply troubling positions over the years, including opposing comprehensive sexuality education in public schools, claiming antidiscrimination protections spread HIV/AIDS and anal cancer, and suggesting that homosexuality could lead to a communist revolution. At his confirmation hearing, Ahn reiterated many of these views, casting minority rights as a threat to the viewpoints of the […]

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Namibian Court Rules It Cannot Require Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages

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Namibia’s High Court ruled last week that it could not require that the marriages of two same-sex couples conducted outside of the country be granted legal recognition. The couples, legally married in South Africa and Germany, had been unable to obtain a work permit and residency permit, respectively, for their non-Namibian spouses and so launched a court case against Namibia’s failure to recognize same-sex marriages. In its decision, the court expressed sympathy with the couples’ position and emphasized that discrimination based on sexual orientation is unacceptable under domestic and international law. Nevertheless, it concluded that the court was bound by a decades-old Supreme Court […]

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Biden Administration Confronts US Anti-Trans Violence

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To commemorate the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20, the Biden administration issued a report on violence and discrimination against transgender people in the United States. The report outlines positive steps the administration is taking to address the root causes of violence – but progress will be limited unless lawmakers enact laws that support them. Over the past two years, Human Rights Watch spoke with dozens of transgender survivors of violence, advocates, and service providers in the states of Florida, Ohio, and Texas about the forms anti-transgender violence takes. One of the key findings of that research was that socioeconomic marginalization, such as […]

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To Stop Anti-Transgender Violence, Lawmakers Must Address Its Roots

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As of early November, this year is the deadliest on record for transgender people in the United States, with at least 45 people killed. But their deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. Many other transgender people are subjected to violence and harassment, in public and at home. Our recent research focused on Florida, Ohio and Texas, three states where dozens of transgender people have been killed between 2016 and 2021. We found that anti-transgender violence is intersectional; risk is shaped by race, gender, class and other factors. During this period, at least 88 percent of the transgender people killed in Florida, 91 […]

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Oklahoma Wants to Make Gender-Affirming Care a Crime

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Oklahoma lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would make it a felony to provide gender-affirming medical treatment, other than counseling, to anyone under the age of 21. Such treatment can alleviate gender dysphoria and postpone puberty to give children time to explore their gender identity. The bill would punish doctors, parents, and even children themselves with penalties of up to life imprisonment. Oklahoma’s bill is extreme, taking autonomy away from young adults and imposing draconian punishments, and is part of a worrying larger trend. Across the US, state lawmakers are once again introducing a slew of bills that seek to block transgender children […]

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Toxic Homophobia Still Festers in America’s Schools

Over the past year, I’ve traveled around the United States interviewing students, teachers, and administrators about the issues that LGBT people face in schools. The stories I heard were sobering. Despite some progress in laws and attitudes, many LGBT students still encounter discrimination throughout the school environment, making them feel unsafe, excluded, and unable to learn. Last week, Human Rights Watch released that research in a new report, “Like Walking Through a Hailstorm”: Discrimination Against LGBT Youth in US Schools. Our research shows that although progress is being made, there’s plenty left to be done, and action is urgently needed. […]