Just in time for Father’s Day, Red Letter Days released its first-ever report documenting a decade of change in acceptance and legal protections for same-sex parents around the world.
Ten years makes a difference. A decade ago, acceptance of, and legal protections for, LGBT families around the world only encompassed 4% of 169 countries. Today, 27 (16%) of those countries accept queer families, according to Red Letter Days’ June 3 news release.
Red Letter Days is a U.K.-based gift experience company.
Researchers noted that while much progress has been made, the fight for LGBT family rights is far from over.
That was demonstrated last week when U.S. Democratic lawmakers — 20 senators and 80 members of the House of Representatives — sharply urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reverse policy denying citizenship to Americans born abroad through assisted reproductive technology, reported the New York Times. In two separate letters, Democrats called the longstanding policy “cruel,” “offensive,” and “deeply disturbing,” particularly relating to same-sex families.
Earlier this year, the Bay Area Reporter noted that a federal district court ruled in favor of American-Israeli gay couple Andrew Dvash-Banks, an American citizen, and Elad Dvash-Banks, an Israeli citizen, whose 2-year-old twins Aiden and Ethan had two different citizenships.
The Dvash-Banks family was one of two binational families represented by Immigration Equality and pro bono counsel Sullivan and Cromewell, LLP. A federal judge ruled last month that lesbian American-Italian couple Allison Blixt and Stefania Zaccari’s case could move forward.
The study analyzed data from several reports including United Nations Birthrate Data and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association’s report “State-Sponsored Homophobia 2017: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: criminalization, protection and recognition.” Researchers focused on countries that accept and have laws in place for same-sex marriage and unions and adoption rights for same-sex couples to create the chart.
To read the study, visit www.redletterdays.co.uk/born-every-minute.
Originally published by the Bay Area Reporter.
Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-517-7239, or Skype: heather.cassell or oitwnews@gmail.com.
