[Bill] The Sex and Gender Rights Act

[Nathan II]

IN THE FRENZY OF THE BOVIC EMPIRE
12 Butterary 1676

Mr. Eiiard Darkroot of Ziegeland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for consideration
________________________

A BILL
To enhance the protections of all Natopian people.

Be it enacted by the Representatives of the Bovic Empire in Frenzy assembled,

Section 1
This Bill may be referred to as the Sex and Gender Rights Act.

Section 2
The Caprine Code of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation shall be updated to include a new chapter defining the protections promised by the Imperial Government to all citizens of the Natopian Nation.

Chapter XV - Sex and Gender Rights

1. The age of consent for sexual activity shall be set at 18 years, except in cases where both parties to the sexual act are under 18, unless the act is deemed to be forced upon an unwilling partner, then the aggressor shall be tried in a court of law as an adult.
2. The Imperial government, nor any demesne government, shall not make any law to make same-sex sexual activities between consenting adults illegal.
3. Rape, sexual harassment, and sexual assault shall be punishable as Imperial crimes in situations where no demesne laws exist or are ineffectual.
4. No laws shall be made to prevent a person from dressing or presenting as another gender.
5. No business, private or public, or government agency, or the military, may terminate an individual's employment solely based on that person's sexual orientation, gender-identity, or gender-expression.
6. The practice of "conversion therapy," conducted by a doctor, counselor, or therapist for either sexual orientation or gender identity is punishable as an Imperial crime and the credentials and licenses of the doctor, counselor, or therapist may be revoked as part of the punishment.
7. The practice of marriage, where allowed for in Imperial and demesne law, shall be open to same-sex, mixed-sex, and opposite-sex couples, triads, and quads.
8. Any person, regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, may legally adopt a child; pending background checks and approval from the adoption agency and the demesne of the child's residence. Marriage status, sexual orientation, and gender identity may not be used to deny an application for adoption.
9. The Natopian Defense Force, and all demesne defense forces, shall not prevent the enlistment, commissioning, or promotion, of any person or officer based solely on marriage status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
10. A person shall not be prevented from changing their legal name and/or gender on their identification and legal documents.
11. The processes of in vitro fertilization and the Hergon-Zygoat cloning method, shall be available to anyone regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
12. No one shall be prevented from donating their own blood to organizations or hospitals. All donated blood must be subjected to bloodborne illness screening.
13. Medications that prevent the spread of blood and sexually transmitted and incurable infections, such as HIV, shall have their patents bought out by the Imperial government and freely distributed to people who request it and maintain a trimonthly STD and HIV testing schedule.
14. Surrogacy shall remain a contracted service between the surrogate and the parents. Surrogates shall be paid a living wage by the parents for the duration of the pregnancy.
15. The government shall not infringe on a person's right to identify as a third or fourth gender other than man or woman. Individuals identifying as non-binary, genderfluid, genderqueer, or other gender identities, shall be given all due legal consideration and all reasonable accommodations shall be granted to them.

OOC: If I have mis-used any terms or written these laws in such a way to be offensive or dismissive or if I am unaware of any other serious concerns other LGBT people experience, please let me know and I will change it quickly. My intention is to be as inclusive as possible with this law. Imperial Natopian law is sadly silent on all of these things, and so is demesne law probably. In this day and age, I would really like Natopia to lead by example in setting the standard for explicitly laying out our LGBT track record on Micras and not just being the gay meme nation.

[Ernesto de la Cruz]

I support this legislation, I believe this is a great step forward for Natopia.

[Li Naomiai]

Herr Eymund Skarpdalen (N&H, Normark):

Lord Speaker

The bill before us aims to put into law the current way of looking at things here in Natopia.

We are proud that Natopia is a safe haven for members of the LGBT community. We in Normark pay especial tribute to one of the community's perhaps most famous members, Saint Elijah, whose memory and remains we guard and protect in his eternal shrine in Elijah's Rest.

That said, I fear the bill is at some points ill written. It also brings about a matter which has not been discussed previously, surrogacy, the concerns of which are strong among the N&H community.

I shall begin with the first aspect:

1. The age of consent for sexual activity shall be set at 18 years, except in cases where both parties to the sexual act are under 18, unless the act is deemed to be forced upon an unwilling partner, then the aggressor shall be tried in a court of law as an adult.


Protecting children is admirable. Surely, "unless the act is deemed to be forced upon an unwilling partner, then the aggressor shall be tried in a court of law as an adult" means that there is no consent and therefore redundant, as the matter refers to consenting sex. There is a second concern with this phrasing too. If a two-year old forces himself upon a seventeen-year-old's sexual organs, then by this phrasing, he should be tried as an adult. This is ill advised. Let the clause simply say:

1. The age of consent for sexual activity and marriage shall be set at 18 years, except in cases where both parties to the sexual act are under 18.

I added "and marriage", so that we will not have more child marriages here.

6. The practice of "conversion therapy," conducted by a doctor, counselor, or therapist for either sexual orientation or gender identity is punishable as an Imperial crime and the credentials and licenses of the doctor, counselor, or therapist may be revoked as part of the punishment.

This clause legalises conversion therapy for any professional who is not a "doctor, counselor, or therapist". That is ill advised. Normark moves for a full ban of this evil in all its forms.

Further, the bill as it is written only bans discrimination (outside the severance of employment) for members of the LGBT community within the NDF. Normark would be happy to extend the non-discrimination clause to all aspects of public and work life in the Natopian Empire.

Finally, Normark is concerned with the clause on surrogacy.

Surrogacy is buying the services of a woman's sex organs for the purpose of gaining a child. There are several issues here that Normark, as a family friendly place, find difficult. The perspective of the child is not included in the reasoning here, only the prospective "legal" parents, with a "living wage" for the host mother.

As a country that works hard to avoid the sexual exploitation of women and minors – we have seen far too well what that happens on our ground – in Uppland and many other places, Normark would prefer that the matter of surrogacy is removed from this bill, pending greater investigation and legal protections.

Although the N&H in Normark is against the idea of surrogacy out of principle (more on this later) – it removes a child from a person with whom he or she shares a great hormonal and genetic bond without regard for whether this act would be in the child's best interest. In adoption, we take the view that an adoption is only possible if it's in the child's best interest. But here, we have a child, not even created yet, for whom a person makes a contractual obligation to give the child, should it be conceived and born, to another person for a wage.

This is so easy to exploit both women and children here. Children are not tradeable objects, nor should women's bodies be indentured.

There are no safeguards here, no regulations. What happens if the biological mother changes her mind during the process, due to the chemical bonding she makes with the fetus during pregnancy? What if the prospective legal parents change their minds?

We are lacking the child's perspective here.

And having seen the terrors of what happens when we do not take the child's perspective in matters first-hand (I have worked in Uppland, Vanic Elwynn, and indeed, visited Stormark), I am scared.

Normark realizes that surrogacy is a matter of great interest for many parties, and that in many cases, it goes exactly as planned without any bad feelings, with children reared being happy. As such, Normark will not, indeed, cannot, stand in the way of it completely. We simply wish to regulate it heavily so that neither children nor women are exploited or traded for their bodies.

But this bill is not the place for that. Therefore I move to strike the clause on surrogacy.

[Nathan II]

Mister Speaker,

I thank the Normarker Representative for pointing out some errors. I have made some adjustments. A more broad non-discrimination clause is found in Chapter VIII "No person, nor persons, organization, government, group, or other legal entity, may cause harm to another within the Empire, whether to a Citizen or a foreigner, by means of the following: [...] 8. Discriminating against another based on sex, race, age, gender identity, religion, orientation, or residency status within the Empire"

IN THE FRENZY OF THE BOVIC EMPIRE
12 Butterary 1676

Mr. Eiiard Darkroot of Ziegeland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for consideration
________________________

A BILL
To enhance the protections of all Natopian people.

Be it enacted by the Representatives of the Bovic Empire in Frenzy assembled,

Section 1
This Bill may be referred to as the Sex and Gender Rights Act.

Section 2
The Caprine Code of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation shall be updated to include a new chapter defining the protections promised by the Imperial Government to all citizens of the Natopian Nation.

Chapter XV - Sex and Gender Rights

1. The age of consent for sexual activity and marriage shall be set at 18 years, except in cases where both parties to the sexual act are under 18.
2. The Imperial government, nor any demesne government, shall not make any law to make any sexual activity between consenting adults illegal.
3. Rape, sexual harassment, and sexual assault shall be punishable as Imperial crimes in situations where no demesne laws exist or are ineffectual.
4. No laws shall be made to prevent a person from dressing or presenting as another gender.
5. No business, private or public, or government agency, or the military, may terminate an individual's employment solely based on that person's sexual orientation, gender-identity, or gender-expression.
6. The practice of "sexual orientation or gender expression conversion therapy" is banned throughout the empire and in the demesnes.
7. The practice of marriage, where allowed for in Imperial and demesne law, shall be open to same-sex, mixed-sex, and opposite-sex couples, triads, and quads.
8. Any person, regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, may legally adopt a child; pending background checks and approval from the adoption agency and the demesne of the child's residence. Marriage status, sexual orientation, and gender identity may not be used to deny an application for adoption.
9. The Natopian Defense Force, and all demesne defense forces, shall not prevent the enlistment, commissioning, or promotion, of any person or officer based solely on marriage status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
10. A person shall not be prevented from changing their legal name and/or gender on their identification and legal documents.
11. The processes of in vitro fertilization and the Hergon-Zygoat cloning method, shall be available to anyone regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
12. No one shall be prevented from donating their own blood to organizations or hospitals. All donated blood must be subjected to bloodborne illness screening.
13. Medications that prevent the spread of blood and sexually transmitted and incurable infections, such as HIV, shall have their patents bought out by the Imperial government and freely distributed to people who request it and maintain a trimonthly STD and HIV testing schedule.
14. The government shall not infringe on a person's right to identify as a third or fourth gender other than man or woman. Individuals identifying as non-binary, genderfluid, genderqueer, or other gender identities, shall be given all due legal consideration and all reasonable accommodations shall be granted to them.

[Ernesto de la Cruz]

Mr. Speaker,

I would like to add the following provisions to this Bill somewhere as follows:

X. All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

X. All persons shall be entitled to be free, at any establishment or place, from discrimination or segregation of any kind on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, if such discrimination or segregation is or purports to be required by any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, rule, or order of a Demesne or Demesnial union or any agency or political subdivision thereof.

[Nathan II]

Mister Speaker,

I wholeheartedly accept the Chancellor's amendments as friendly.

IN THE FRENZY OF THE BOVIC EMPIRE
12 Butterary 1676

Mr. Eiiard Darkroot of Ziegeland introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary for consideration
________________________

A BILL
To enhance the protections of all Natopian people.

Be it enacted by the Representatives of the Bovic Empire in Frenzy assembled,

Section 1
This Bill may be referred to as the Sex and Gender Rights Act.

Section 2
The Caprine Code of the Bovic Empire of the Natopian Nation shall be updated to include a new chapter defining the protections promised by the Imperial Government to all citizens of the Natopian Nation.

Chapter XV - Sex and Gender Rights

1. The age of consent for sexual activity and marriage shall be set at 18 years, except in cases where both parties to the sexual act are under 18.
2. The Imperial government, nor any demesne government, shall not make any law to make any sexual activity between consenting adults illegal.
3. Rape, sexual harassment, and sexual assault shall be punishable as Imperial crimes in situations where no demesne laws exist or are ineffectual.
4. No laws shall be made to prevent a person from dressing or presenting as another gender.
5. No business, private or public, or government agency, or the military, may terminate an individual's employment solely based on that person's sexual orientation, gender-identity, or gender-expression.
6. The practice of "sexual orientation or gender expression conversion therapy" is prohibited.
7. The practice of marriage, where allowed for in Imperial and demesne law, shall be open to same-sex, mixed-sex, and opposite-sex couples, triads, and quads.
8. Any person, regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity, may legally adopt a child; pending background checks and approval from the adoption agency and the demesne of the child's residence. Marriage status, sexual orientation, and gender identity may not be used to deny an application for adoption.
9. The Natopian Defense Force, and all demesne defense forces, shall not prevent the enlistment, commissioning, or promotion, of any person or officer based solely on marriage status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
10. A person shall not be prevented from changing their legal name and/or gender on their identification and legal documents.
11. The processes of in vitro fertilization and the Hergon-Zygoat cloning method, shall be available to anyone regardless of marriage-status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
12. No one shall be prevented from donating their own blood to organizations or hospitals. All donated blood must be subjected to bloodborne illness screening.
13. Medications that prevent the spread of blood and sexually transmitted and incurable infections, such as HIV, shall have their patents bought out by the Imperial government and freely distributed to people who request it and maintain a trimonthly STD and HIV testing schedule.
14. The government shall not infringe on a person's right to identify as a third or fourth gender other than man or woman. Individuals identifying as non-binary, genderfluid, genderqueer, or other gender identities, shall be given all due legal consideration and all reasonable accommodations shall be granted to them.
15. All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
16. All persons shall be entitled to be free, at any establishment or place, from discrimination or segregation of any kind on the ground of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, if such discrimination or segregation is or purports to be required by any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, rule, or order of a Demesne or Demesnial union or any agency or political subdivision thereof.

[Nathan II]

Rep. Eiiard Darkroot moves to vote.

[Llyr Angus-Moonoak]

I second.

Aye.

[Ander Avon-El]

Skarpdalen: AYE

[Nathan II]

Eiiard Darkroot votes Aye

[Sprocket]

This has passed.