3 Min Read
SAO PAULO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A Brazilian lawmaker announced a bill on Friday that would require big companies to reserve 3% of their jobs for transgender employees, a step he said would help trans people escape poverty and marginalisation.
Neighboring Argentina passed a law last year reserving 1% of public sector jobs for trans workers, but the law drafted by congressman Alexandre Padilha would apply to all private firms with more than 100 staff that receive state aid or contracts.
Padilha, who served as health minister under former President Dilma Rousseff, said his initiative aimed to tackle the discrimination and hardship faced by trans Brazilians - many of whom are kicked out of home by their families as teenagers.
By Rachel Savage, Thomson Reuters Foundation
4 Min Read
LONDON, Jan 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Greece’s first openly gay minister said encountering homophobia in public life was “a given”, but hoped his appointment to the conservative government would make it easier for LGBT+ people to tackle discrimination.
Nicholas Yatromanolakis was named deputy minister for contemporary culture after being promoted last week in a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis aimed at boosting his government’s image as COVID-19 pummels the economy.
Yatromanolakis, 45, said he had often been discouraged from seeking elected office or prominent roles due to his “profile”, with some people saying the most he could aspire to was political consulting work.
Rachel Savage spent five hours making the creature at the Higher Common on Saturday. It came after she crafted a snow bear a few weeks earlier. Rachel, 19, said: This is out first year living here. When we lived in Leighton Buzzard our family made up a tradition of building snow bears. We made one of those about two weeks ago when it snowed, so when it snowed again this weekend we thought as we live in Wales, why not make a dragon?
Rachel Savage with the snow bear she made recently. All photos provided by Helen Crossland I love dragons. It got out of hand with how big it became and it took about five hours in the end.
Synopsis
The website update marks a departure from Donald Trump s administration, which banned transgender people from enlisting in the military and issued orders emphasising the importance of biological sex rather than gender identity.
Reuters
Biden also signed an executive order that said federal agencies must not discriminate on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity when implementing existing federal laws.
People can now select gender-neutral pronouns when contacting the U.S. government, as President Joe Biden signed a raft of executive actions on his first day in office, including an order tackling discrimination against LGBT+ people.
People who identify as non-binary - neither male nor female - can now select the gender-neutral title Mx on the White House website s contact page, which also added a drop-down list of personal pronouns, including they/them .
5 Min Read
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Joe Biden takes office as U.S. president on Wednesday with a long list of LGBT+ policy pledges - from scrapping Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military recruits to passing an anti-discrimination law.
The former vice president has promised to appoint a cabinet that “looks like America”, nominating former rival for the Democratic presidential candidacy Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay cabinet secretary, at the Transportation Department.
Activists said the incoming administration had spoken with numerous LGBT+ advocacy groups since the Nov. 3 election, expressing optimism that a Biden White House would move swiftly to make good on its policy pledges.