Jake McKee

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Ghana set to pass anti-homosexuality law after legal challenge fails in Supreme Court

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Same-sex intercourse is already illegal in the West African nation, and is punishable by up to three years in jail. The Ghanaian parliament has been debating the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill for two years, with most MPs in favour of it.  It would criminalise same-sex relations, being transgender and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights (which alone is punishable by up to 10 yeas in jail under the bill), Reuters reported.  A legal challenge, filed by academic researcher Amanda Odoi, said the proposed legislation would affect donor aid and other financial support for the country, according to the news agency. However, the […]

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Delaware state senator Sarah McBride launches bid to be first trans member of Congress

The highest-ranking transgender elected official in the United States, Sarah McBride, has launched a bid to become Delaware’s sole member of the US House of Representatives. McBride is currently a senator in the Delaware state legislature and, if successful, would become the first trans person to be elected to federal office.  Lisa Blunt Rochester, the state’s current house representative, announced last week that she would be running at the next election to replace senator Tom Carper, who is retiring.  Speaking to Delaware Online, McBride said she was “certainly cognisant of the uniqueness of my candidacy, of the uniqueness that my voice would […]

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Malaysia seizes rainbow Pride-themed Swatch watches

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Pride-themed Swatch watches have been seized by authorities in Malaysia in raids of 11 of its stores, reportedly due to ‘LGBT symbols’ on the timepieces.  The raids happened between 13 to 15 May and around $14,000 (£11,347) worth of stock was seized, according to various media reports.  The watches were part of the brand’s 2023 Pride collection, launched on 4 May, which features six different watch faces in Pride colours. Each watch strap is made up of two bands containing colours that make up the full Pride flag.  As reported by local newspaper MalayMail, Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was questioned […]

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Slovakia’s cruel anti-LGBTQ+ bill condemned by European Human Rights commissioner

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The commissioner for The Council of Europe’s Human Rights is urging politicians in Slovakia to vote against proposed legislation that would effectively prevent trans people from having their gender legally recognised.  The bill, set to have its second reading next month, proposes only allowing someone to change their gender marking if they can prove, via genetic testing, it had been incorrectly determined.  In a letter to the Slovakia parliament, dated 19 April but released publically on 25 April, commissioner Dunja Mijatović said she was concerned that the bill would “effectively” mean trans men and women’s genders would not be legally recognised and […]

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UK to end mpox vaccination rollout despite warning from World Health Organisation

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that it still considers mpox a public health emergency of international concern, just days after the UK confirmed it would wind down its vaccination campaign against the virus.  Men who have sex with men have been disproportionately affected in the mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) outbreak that began in May 2022.  In an update about the virus on 24 March, Dr Rosamund Lewis, from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said this was still the case.  Almost 90,000 cases and 97 deaths across more than 110 countries have been recorded since May last year. […]

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LGBTQ+ suicide helpline inundated with harassment from conservatives, staff say

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Staff at The Trevor Project, one of the largest LGBTQ+ youth advocacy groups in the US, have said that they aren’t being adequately supported with regard to the homophobic and transphobic harassment they face.  Frontline staff, dealing with emotionally draining cases coming through its crisis support hotline, are said to be those suffering the most.  Last year, the hotline was swamped with fake calls, resulting in increased waiting times for those actually in need of help, Vice News has reported. This comes amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ moves taken by conservatives in the US, including Don’t Say Gay legislation and various attempts […]

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Brittney Griner faces violence, bigotry and threat of torture in Russian penal colony, experts say

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The 32-year-old was sentenced in August to nine years in a Russian penal colony after pleading guilty to drug charges. She was reportedly found at an airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.  At her sentencing, Griner told the court she had made “an honest mistake” and she “never meant to break any laws”.  In early November, Griner was moved from a detention centre to the IK-2 penal colony in Yavas, Mordovia – some 480 kilometres southeast of Moscow.  University of Helsinki sociologist Olga Zeveleva told The Guardian prisons in the area “are notoriously terrible, even by Russian standards”.  “It is a place any […]