Hermine Ngo Ndaptie, the drop-in center manager for Alternatives Cameroon, was released on bail while awaiting trial on homosexuality-related charges, per Erasing 76 Crimes. The judges granted her provisional release on the bases of her ill health and weak evidence. Three other detainees—Alternatives psychological counselor Denis Watonawa, and peer educators Oumarou Ousmanou and Fotie Zidane—are still being held at New Bell Prison in Douala, Cameroon, also pending trial on same-sex-related charges. The four were among 13 people arrested and detained during a police raid at the Alternatives Cameroon office in Douala on Sept. 30; the other nine have either been freed without charges or released on bail, pending trial.
Rosie Millard—the chair of the BBC’s Children in Need organization—resigned after reports surfaced that she protested over grants awarded to an LGBTQ+ youth charity whose former chief had previously been involved in a child-abuse scandal, the BBC reported. Millard objected to funds being awarded to LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), whose former chief, James Rennie, was convicted in 2009 of child sex assaults. The grants from Children In Need began seven months later, when the organization had new leadership in place. Children in Need suspended grants to the charity in May 2024, after Millard said she alerted them to his case; it withdrew funding around three months later, following a review.
Cape Town recently secured enough votes to host WorldPride in 2028—marking the first time the event will take place in Africa, The Washington Blade reported. The bidding process, which started in late October, took place in Medellín, Colombia, where the Guadalajara (Mexico) Pride and WorldPride Cape Town bidding teams competed for the rights to host WorldPride. In 2022, Kaohsiung, Taiwan won the bid to host WorldPride 2025, but the local planning committee withdrew it amid a dispute with InterPride; WorldPride 2025 will take place in D.C. during May 17-June 8, 2025.
An annual Pride march in Buenos Aires drew thousands of participants, with speeches and banners targeting the policies of far-right President Javier Milei that the group said are discriminatory, per the Caledonian Record. Under the slogan “There is no freedom without rights,” marchers paraded down the boulevard from the Plaza de Mayo square. Demonstrators criticized budget cuts they said affected HIV treatment and reproductive rights, denounced what they said was a hostile attitude from the government and demanded passage of a comprehensive anti-discrimination law.
Also in Argentina, residents living with HIV/AIDS and medics say spending cuts under President Javier Milei are hurting treatment of the illness and could lead to more cases, with fewer condoms for prevention and fewer tests to catch the virus early, Reuters reported. Milei is pushing for a major austerity drive to cut back the size of the state and overturn a deep fiscal deficit he inherited—resulting in budgets being frozen or capped for many public-sector services. The budget for free HIV/AIDS treatment decreased 67% in real terms in 2024 and is set to fall 46% in 2025.
Out Scottish pop star Jimmy Somerville criticized the LGB Alliance for the “unapproved misuse” of one of his songs, The Herald noted. The former lead singer and lyricist of Bronski Beat and The Communards posted a clip on social media telling the campaign group, which has been accused of transphobia, not to use 1984 hit “Smalltown Boy” in an upcoming documentary. Describing the group as “anti-trans”, Somerville said, “It has come to my attention that the LGB Alliance is using ‘Smalltown Boy’ in a film called Generational Gay. LGB Alliance is anti-trans. I would never allow anything of mine to be used by such a group. We will do everything we can as soon as possible to have ‘Smalltown Boy’ removed from this film. How dare you? How f*****g dare you?” LGB Alliance confirmed to The Herald that it has since removed the song from its video.
Under a new law in Belgium—the first of its kind on the planet—sex workers will be entitled to official employment contracts, health insurance, pensions, maternity leave and sick days, the BBC reported. Sex work was decriminalized in Belgium in 2022 and is legal in several countries, including Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey. However, critics say the trade causes trafficking, exploitation and abuse, which this law will not prevent. But for many sex workers, the job is a necessity, and it could not be passed soon enough.
In Canada, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that Emo, its mayor and two of its councillors violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by refusing to proclaim June as Pride Month, per the National Post. The town was also cited for failing to fly “an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag,” despite the fact that it doesn’t have an official flagpole. The dispute began in 2020, when the township was approached by the group Borderland Pride with a written request to proclaim June as Pride Month. Although symbolic proclamations are standard in larger municipal governments such as Toronto or Hamilton, this didn’t happen all that often in Emo, a township of about 1,300 people that borders Minnesota. The Human Rights Tribunal ultimately ordered the Township to pay $10,000 to Borderland Pride, and for Mayor Harold McQuaker to personally pay the organization another $5,000. Doug Judson—a lawyer in Fort Frances and one of the directors on the board of Borderland Pride—said Borderland is elated to have finally brought it to a close, calling the ruling a significant victory for the organization, per CBC.ca.
Out Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina recently competed in the WTA Finals with girlfriend Natalia Zabiiako watching courtside in Saudi Arabia—where homosexuality is criminalized, Outsports noted. Kasatkina took on second seed Iga Swiatek in Riyadh as an alternate following the withdrawal of U.S. player Jessica Pegula because of injury—and lost 6-1, 6-0. Last year, Kasatkina voiced concerns about possibly playing in Saudi Arabia, although she added that “money talks” when it comes to making decisions on where tournaments are held. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have been among those to openly criticize the WTA’s decision to stage its season-ending tournament in the country.
The winners of the 2024 RDS Visual Art Awards were announced at the annual ceremony on Nov. 22 in Dublin, per Yahoo! News—and among the honorees was queer artist Ava Lowry, who won the R.C. Lewis-Crosby Award. Lowry is a visual artist who works with combined media, focusing primarily on watercolor and oil paint on canvas. As described in her own words, she paints “queer female-centric naked pieces that both aim to work within and against the traditional nude genre and ideas of conventional viewership and the male gaze, while employing traditional methods of painting.”
Indian fashion designer Rohit Mal recently died at age 63 after a long illness, the BBC reported. One of India’s first designers, Bal popularized fashion designing as a glamorous profession in the 1990s, and he was lauded for his deep understanding of Indian textiles and meticulous attention to detail. Bal’s designs reached many, with Hollywood actresses Uma Thurman and Pamela Anderson as well as supermodels Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell wearing his creations. Bal also diversified into the restaurant business and designed the interiors of one of Delhi’s posh restaurants, Veda. Bal was also openly gay, with his same-sex relationships garnering attention from publications such as The Times of India.
Voices of the Fallen Heroes and Other Stories, with items by the late Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, will be released through Penguin Random House on Jan. 14, 2025, per a press release. (Jan. 14, 1925 was Mishima’s birthdate.) The description of the forthcoming book, according to the publishing house’s website, says, “A new selection of Yukio Mishima (author of Spring Snow and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea) short stories from the 1960s—his final decade—Voices of the Fallen Heroes offers a unique glimpse into the mind of one of Japan’s greatest writers.” In one story, Mishima recalls the true story of the time an obsessed fan broke into his home at dawn, insisting on meeting the author and urging him to “tell the truth.” The book will be available in English for the first time, with a team of experts translating Mishima’s text. Several organizations and websites, such as Making Queer History and Queer Portraits in History, have written that Mishima was part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Bisexual Argentine field hockey player Nico Keenan is now engaged to Rob Jetten, the leader of Dutch political party D66, according to Outsports. They jointly posted to their Instagram accounts with photos confirming they are “Soon to be Mr & Mr.” Jetten also gave an exclusive interview to website LINDA.nl about the couple’s happy news; he proposed at home just before they sat down for a romantic meal together. Since 2017, Keenan has played for Netherlands club side Klein Zwitserland, which is based in The Hague; however, Jetten said his fiance will soon be jetting off to play in India.
U.S. conservative pundit Candace Owens has been banned from New Zealand—just weeks after being prevented from entering Australia, according to PinkNews. Jock Gilray, a spokesperson for the immigration agency, said the work permit was refused because visas cannot be granted to those who have been excluded from another country. Australia rejected Owens—who has called LGBTQ+ people a “sexual plague on society”—in October because of remarks in which she denied Nazi medical experimentation on Jewish inmates of concentration camps during World War II.
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi’s new home in England has flooded, The Independent noted. The couple recently bought a house in the Cotswolds, which is around a two-hour drive from London; they moved to England after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. The flood was caused by the UK’s Storm Bert, which caused days of torrential rain and had wind speeds of up to 80 mph; during the storm, the River Thames broke its banks—which happened to be right next to DeGeneres and de Rossi’s 43-acre property.
Out British actor Ben Whishaw talked with Radio Times about playing a queer assassin in the Netflix spy thriller Black Doves. As for what attracted him to the part of Sam Young, Whishaw said, “I enjoyed that it trod a line between being vaguely ludicrous and thrilling and funny and dark. I liked that it has this combination of things. I was up for something fun—and a queer assassin had a certain interest for me. I wanted to read more.” Whishaw also noted that his paternal grandfather served in the German army during the Second World War—while working as a spy for the British government.
The son of a renowned Spanish actor has been jailed for life after he killed and dismembered a man on the Thai island of Koh Phangan last year, the BBC noted. Daniel Sancho Bronchalo—the son of television star Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre—claimed he killed Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in August 2023 in self-defense. At the time, Sancho, now 30, told Spanish news agency EFE he had been a “hostage” to Arrieta, who he claimed was obsessed with him. Sancho was found guilty of premeditated murder, concealment of a corpse and destruction of property. Sancho—a chef who has his own YouTube channel—was also ordered to pay 4 million baht ($118,000; £89,000) in damages to Arrieta’s family.
Oscar-winning actor/director Sean Penn made a call for people to dump political correctness and truly embrace diversity in thought and action as he received a career honor at the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco, according to Deadline. “I think it’s our job to exploit our diversity in positive ways, and to stand up for it, to embody it,” said Penn. As part of the tribute the festival played some of Penn’s films, kicking off with Gus Van Sant’s 2008 Milk, about the late California gay-rights activist Harvey Milk. The ceremony also screened a tribute reel celebrating highlights of Penn’s career spanning 74 acting credits such as Mystic River, I Am Sam, 21 Grams and Dead Man Walking; and directed films, including his recent Ukraine doc Superpower, The Crossing Guard, Into the Wild and Flag Day.
Australia approved a social-media ban for children younger than 16, Reuters reported. The law (which starts late next year, although a trial will commence in January) forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face fines of up to $32 million. Countries including France and some U.S. states have passed laws to restrict access for minors without a parent’s permission, but the Australian ban is absolute.
EU regulators in Brussels fined fashion-design firm Pierre Cardin and its largest licensee, Ahlers, a total of €5.7mn (or about $6 million U.S.) for breaking the EU’s antitrust rules by curbing cross-border sales of Pierre Cardin-branded clothing, Financial Times reported. The European Commission found that the French fashion house and Ahlers entered into “anti-competitive” deals between 2008 and 2021 and carried out “concerted practices” to protect Ahlers from rivals in the European Economic Area, which comprises the EU and three other countries. In particular, Brussels found that the actions were aimed at ensuring “Ahlers’ absolute territorial protection in the countries covered by its licensing agreements.”
UK author J.K. Rowling was on the anti-trans warpath again after Zambian soccer star Barbra Banda—who helped the Orlando Pride win the NWSL championship in the U.S.—was named the BBC’s women’s soccer player of the year, according to Them. “I am shocked and surprised to have this award right by my side,” Banda told BBC Sport, adding that “growing up in Zambia has never been easy, especially as a young girl,” and that it took a while for her mother to support her athletic dreams. But shortly after the BBC’s announcement, anti-trans people jumped on the story to peddle the false narrative that Banda is a “man” cheating to win in women’s sports—even though Banda is cisgender. These people included the Harry Potter author, who speculated that the BBC “decided this was more time efficient than going door to door to spit directly in women’s faces.”
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 has already smashed records as the fastest-selling edition of the tournament ever, a press release noted. More than 220,000 tickets have been sold to date; in the ticket application window, 90,000 tickets were secured by fans, building on the 130,000 sold during the pre-sale period. England 2025 will be the first Rugby World Cup hosted under a new joint-venture model (Local Operating Company) between World Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, with funding from the UK Government, which will aim to optimize efficiency and impact across the tournament. The opening match will be between England and the USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on Aug. 22, 2025.
British television host Gregg Wallace has been accused of making “lesbian jokes constantly” by a woman who worked on a travel show with him, the BBC noted. The woman, who the BBC is calling Anna, said he was “fascinated” by the fact she dated women and asked her the “logistics” of how it worked. MasterChef’s production company said Wallace is stepping away from presenting the show while allegations of historical misconduct are investigated. Other allegations the BBC has heard from more than a dozen women involve Wallace talking about spanking and threesomes in front of crew. Wallace later apologized for suggesting allegations made against him of inappropriate behavior came from “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age” after the UK government criticized him—but the network is pulling its MasterChef Christmas specials anyway, per Deadline.
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