WHO Issues joint statement condemning forced, coercive and involuntary sterilization

The World Health Organization report begins by acknowledging that sterilization is the most-used contraceptive method and fully acceptable by consenting adults who choose it freely.

There in lays the problem. According to Transgender Europe 21 countries in Europe require forced sterilization for identity recognition of a trans person.

In the age of enlightenment TWENTY ONE countries!

RED Sterilization Required
Grey Legal Gender Reconiztion 
Blue Sterilization Not Required

Source World Health Organization (WHO):

Like any other contraceptive method, sterilization should only be provided with the full, free and informed consent of the individual. However, in some countries, people belonging to certain population groups, including people living with HIV, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, and transgender and intersex persons, continue to be sterilized without their full, free and informed consent .

Other individuals may also be at risk of coercive sterilization, such as persons with substance dependence.While both men and women are subject to such practices, women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted.

Sterilization without full, free and informed consent has been variously described by international, regional and national human rights bodies as an involuntary, coercive and/or forced practice, and as a violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to health, the right to information, the right to privacy, the right to decide on the number and spacing of children, the right to found a family and the right to be free from discrimination. Human rights bodies have also recognized that forced sterilization is a violation of the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

International human rights bodies and professional organizations have explicitly condemned coercive population policies and programmes, noting that decisions about sterilization should not be subject to arbitrary requirements imposed by the government (36–38) and that states’ obligations to protect persons from such treatment extend into the private sphere, including where such practices are committed by private individuals, such as health-care professionals. Coerced and/or forced sterilization of women has also been characterized as a form of discrimination and violence against women. Any form of involuntary, coercive or forced sterilization violates ethical principles, including respect for autonomy and physical integrity, beneficence and non-maleficence.

This statement aims to contribute to the elimination of forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization. It reaffirms that sterilization as a method of contraception and family planning should be available, accessible, acceptable, of good quality, and free from discrimination, coercion and violence, and that laws, regulations, policies and practices should ensure that the provision of procedures resulting in sterilization is based on the full, free and informed decision-making of the person concerned. It highlights guiding principles for the prevention and elimination of coercive sterilization and provides recommendations for legal,

Eliminating forced, coercive and otherwise involuntary sterilization - An interagency statement

CRPD United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
OHCHR Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
WHO World Health Organization

Referendum effort FAILS in Maryland. Transgender people to keep citizenship rights

Standing at the Secretary of State's office in Annapolis at midnight key leaders in the effort to pass the law were overjoyed when no one appeared to submit signatures.  Therefore, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act will go into effect as planned on October 1.

Immediately, after the Fairness for all Marylanders act was passed ultra-right wing delegate Del. Neil Parrott announced that he would try to repeal it.

The specter of having a majority vote on a minority's right is daunting enough. Added to that PETITION. MD had a slick online process with which they had previously collected enough signatures to force votes on progressive legislation.

But this time the public wasn't taken in with their hate mongering, dismissing the fears that were trying to instill in them by warning of predictors who were actually men, but in their minds thought they were a woman (sic) Transgender woman, who would use the "Bathroom Bill" to prey on children.

Having lived in Maryland this was personal. In 2011, I was a part of coalition of transgender people who fought tooth and nail against Equality Maryland. We opposed a trans bill supported by them and HRC that was stripped of public accommodations provisions, resulting with the implosion and subsequent rebuilding of EQMD.

This year they got it right and besides a little inconsequential sour grape by wannabe stars, the whole community got behind this.

The tension increased with every tick of the clock as May 31, 2014 as Midnight was the cutoff for Petition.Com to submit the required signatures.

Source HRC Blog:

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Midnight in Annapolis: Opponents of Fairness for All Marylanders Act Fail to Send Law to Ballot

May 31, 2014 by Marty Rouse, National Field Director.

Pictured right: Delegate Luke Clippinger, Senator Rich Madaleno, Carrie Evans and Keith Thirion of Equality Maryland.

In May, Governor Martin O'Malley proudly signed the Fairness for All Marylanders Act that added gender identity and expression to Maryland's non-discrimination law. However, an opponent of the law, Delegate Neil Parrott, launched a signature collection effort to put the law on the November ballot.

The deadline to submit the first third of the required signatures to the Secretary of State was midnight last night, May 31.

Standing at the Secretary of State's office in Annapolis at midnight key leaders in the effort to pass the law were overjoyed when no one appeared to submit signatures. Therefore, the Fairness for All Marylanders Act will go into effect as planned on October 1.

HRC was proud to be a leader in the effort to pass the bill along with Equality Maryland and others. We also recognize the strong and strategic support from Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegate Luke Clippinger.

P.S. On a personal note it was very special to be standing in Annapolis at midnight with others for whom the fight for LGBT equality is more than just politics; it is personal. Why else would we all be standing outside the Secretary of State's office at midnight? For years, it has been my pleasure and honor to get to know Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegate Luke Clippinger. Their personal commitment to and leadership on marriage and transgender equality has helped make Maryland a national leader on equality. They are dedicated public servants.

Carrie Evans, Executive Director of Equality Maryland, and a former colleague at HRC, has fought hard and smart for LGBT equality for well over a decade. Her personal commitment and political savvy has helped make history in Maryland and beyond. I'm honored to be standing alongside such leaders, no matter the hour.

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