Cameroon ordered the suspension of four non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—including the LGBTQ+-friendly Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (REDHAC)—for alleged financial misconduct, according to Erasing 76 Crimes. Attorney Alice Nkom—a prominent defender of LGBTI people’s rights and president of the REDHAC board—broke the seals that the government had placed on REDHAC offices, LeBledParle.com reported. She said that the government failed to comply with the necessary procedures for suspending an organization that were legally established in 1990. Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji ordered the suspensions on Dec. 6, also including the NGOs Reach Out Cameroon, Nanje Foundation INC and the Association Charitable Socioculturelle.
Reacting to the growing anti-LGBTQ+ movement spreading across Africa, pro-LGBTQ+ leaders gathered recently in Cape Town to inaugurate the South African arm of the Queer & Allied Chamber of Commerce Africa (QACC Africa), LGBTQ Nation noted. Founded in 2022 in Kenya, QACC Africa aims to foster economic inclusion for queer-owned businesses, entrepreneurs and allies to unleash the potential of Africa’s LGBTQ+ economy. The launch coincided with another LGBTQ+ milestone event: the first ILGA World Conference to take place in Africa. The “pink economy” in Africa is valued at more than 250 billion South African rand (about $14 billion U.S.) annually.
New Ways Ministry released the results for Bondings 2.0’s poll for the Best and Worst Catholic LGBTQ+ News of 2024. The item that garnered the most votes (55%) in the “worst” category involved Ghana’s Catholic bishops endorsing an anti-LGBTQ+ law and supporting the use of “conversion” therapy. The story coming in second (54%) was that the Synod on Synodality closed after four years—but the final report did not mention LGBTQ+ people or issues; and Pope Francis condemning “gender ideology” came in third (49%). The most popular good news (66%) involved the Vatican staying firm on non-ritualized blessings of same-gender couples despite criticisms and bans from some quarters of the church. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the author of the late-2023 document on those blessings, Fiducia supplicans, nonetheless emphasized at the time of its release that the blessings were intended to signify “pastoral closeness,” not liturgy, and that each bishop should be given leeway to interpret the rule as appropriate for their congregations. Pope Francis also met in 2024 for almost 90 minutes with Catholic intersex individuals, transgender people and allies at the Vatican (51%).
Gay politician Lord Peter Mandelson was confirmed as the UK’s next ambassador to the United States, per PinkNews. Mandelson, who was called “The Prince of Darkness” during his years as New Labour’s spin doctor, served ministerial roles under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown prior to taking up a life peerage in the Lords. Mandelson, who supports trans rights, succeeds Dame Karen Pierce, whose service in D.C. is expected to end in early 2025. However, Mandelson—who is married to Brazilian-born translator Reinaldo Avila da Silva—has strikes against him: During his career, he resigned twice as a minister and he has faced criticism for his ties to the late disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein. Similar to other senior Labour figures, Mandelson has a record of criticizing Donald Trump, once describing him as “little short of a white nationalist and racist,” per the BBC.
The BBC named Ugandan LGBTQ+- rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera to its list of this year’s “100 inspiring and influential women from around the world,” according to Erasing 76 Crimes. The list also included “stranded astronaut Sunita Williams, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, actress Sharon Stone, Olympic athletes Rebeca Andrade and Allyson Felix, singer Raye, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, visual artist Tracey Emin, climate campaigner Adenike Oladosu and writer Cristina Rivera Garza.” In part, the BBC said of Nabagesera, “As an openly gay woman, she has made a profound impact campaigning against LGBTQ+ stigma across Africa. Nabagesera has successfully sued newspapers and the Ugandan government for anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric: she has twice challenged anti-homosexuality laws in Ugandan courts and is currently challenging a 2023 act.”
In Russia, authorities in the republic of Sakha (Yakutia) detained staff at a nightclub after officials accused the venue owners of hosting performances featuring trans entertainers from Thailand, according to The Moscow Times. The raid, conducted at the club Number One, was prompted by a complaint from the Yakutsk Administrative Commission. Commission head Felix Antonov told SakhaDay.ru that the raid did not uncover the alleged transgender performers; however, police detained the club’s manager, bartenders and waitstaff, although it remains unclear if they face charges.
In India, a couple in Andhra Pradesh’s Nandyal district died by suicide after their 24-year-old son decided to marry a transgender person, according to NDTV. Authorities said Subba Rayudu (45) and Saraswati (38) had repeated arguments with their son Sunil over his association with the local transgender community for about three years now, the news agency PTI noted. Sunil was adamant about marrying a transgender person he was in a relationship with, police said, adding that, earlier, he had tried to die by suicide.
In South Africa, activists applauded the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court’s decision to set a trial date for the seven men accused of being part of the so-called “Grindr gang,” according to Mamba Online. The court confirmed that the trial will take place Feb. 24-27, 2025. The men have been in custody since September 2023, charged with the kidnapping and brutal assault of a Johannesburg student who was reportedly lured to a meeting through Grindr. The victim was rescued and the men arrested after one of the alleged perpetrators was caught attempting to withdraw ransom funds from an ATM; the student was so badly assaulted that he was in the ICU for several days. Three other men are facing similar charges in Cape Town in connection with several “Grindr gang” attacks targeting queer men in that city.
Despite neither candidate winning her race, the LGBTQ+ community is still celebrating two trans individuals as a leap for representation since no out trans woman has run for office in the country before, per LGBTQ Nation. Honey Maharjan and Mouni Maharjan are both members of the People’s Socialist Party-Nepal; the former candidate ran for mayor of Kirtipur while the latter competed for ward chair in the same locale. “Elections are important because it creates awareness about the candidate,” Maharjan told The Washington Blade. “Otherwise, everyone would think that transgender community is engaged in sex work only [and] that is not true.”
In fall 2024, security forces in Belarus—the former Soviet republic—raided the home of a gay couple in the Belarusian capital of Minsk and brutally beat them, LGBTQ Nation noted, citing the AP. “They slammed our heads against the door frame, threatened to report us to the university, and said that this was just the beginning,” said Andrei, one of the victims. Security forces demanded that Andrei and his partner Sasha unlock their phones and reveal the names of “gays in Minsk and Moscow.” The state-sanctioned attack happened as the country’s authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, pushes legislation outlawing “LGBTQ+ propaganda” based on similar laws passed in Russia at Vladimir Putin’s urging.
In South Africa, the 2025 edition of the Cape Town Pride Parade and Mardi Gras is set for March 1—and details have been released, per Mamba Online. Cape Town Pride aims to unite Africa’s queer community, celebrating the diversity of the city and its people under the 2025 theme of “Rainbow ID.” Mardi Gras will feature live performances and DJs as well as a Pride Village Market offering LGBTQIA+ merchandise, food stalls, bars, refreshment stations, a children’s area and chill-out spaces. Also, the Mr. & Miss Cape Town Pride Pageant will take place on Feb. 8 at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in Athlone.
Israeli pop singer Eden Hason recently came out on Instagram, revealing that he is in a steady relationship, per The Jerusalem Post. “This is more about a need to let go than a song, and it comes from my most personal place,” posted Hason. “I was fortunate to write it … capturing so many emotions, from painful to fulfilling.” Hason is following in the footsteps of other notable Mizrahi singers who have come out, such as Sarit Hadad, who came out as a lesbian in 2021. Hadad was among those expressing support for Jason, commenting, “Proud of you, my dear. You’re brave and amazing, and this step will help so many people live in peace with who they are.”
NBC News ran a piece on Los Frikis—a film set in early 1990s Cuba in which hundreds of young, disenfranchised Cubans inject themselves with HIV during the early years of the AIDS epidemic, hoping to escape political repression by going inside government-run clinics, or sanitariums. Incredibly, this movie is based on true events. “I grew up in Miami, I have Cuban family, Cuban friends, but I didn’t know this story specifically, so it was very important for me to tell it,” said one of the movie’s leads, Puerto Rican/Guatemalan actor Adria Arjona.
President-elect Donald Trump chose gay businessman/philanthropist Bill White—a former Obama and Clinton donor—to serve as U.S. ambassador to Belgium, per The Advocate. White will represent the United States in Belgium, a key European ally and home to NATO headquarters, if the U.S. Senate confirms him. On Truth Social, Trump announced White’s appointment, calling White “a highly respected businessman, philanthropist, author, and advocate for our Nation’s Military, Veterans, and First Responders,” and highlighting White’s work raising more than $1.5 billion for wounded service members and their families. White and husband Bryan Eure, moved to Georgia in 2018, where White quickly became a fixture in Republican donor circles. In 2010, White stepped down from his post leading New York’s Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum amid a probe launched by New York’s then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into a state pension scandal, Politico noted.
Carey Mulligan, Sarah Lancashire and openly gay actor Stephen Fry were among the stars to receive recognition in King Charles III’s New Year honors list, according to Deadline. Fry has been knighted for his environmental, charity and mental health work, while Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) and Lancashire (Happy Valley) were made Commanders of the British Empire for their services to drama.
The Outing Festival—the world’s only LGBTQ+ matchmaking and arts festival—will take place over Valentine’s weekend, Feb. 14-16, at The Inn at Dromoland, on the grounds of the iconic Dromoland Castle in Ireland, a press release noted. This year’s festival will be hosted by the “Queen of Matchmaking,” Eddie McGuinness, alongside co-hosts Paul Ryder and Victoria Secret. Highlights of the 2025 program include workshops and discussions, drag performances, themed parties and more. McGuinness said, “We’re thrilled to welcome guests from the USA, Canada and South America to experience this extraordinary celebration of queer joy, love, and creativity in the heart of Ireland.”
The Universal vehicle Wicked overtook the studio’s own Mamma Mia! to become the biggest stage musical adaptation of all time worldwide, Deadline noted. Through Dec. 29, the global take for the Cynthia Erivo/Ariana Grande film was an estimated $634.4 million, of which $424.2 million was from domestic and $210.2 million from the international box office. The top five overseas markets to date are the UK, Australia, Korea, Germany and Mexico—and the movie won’t be released in Japan until March 7.
In Argentina, a judge confirmed charges against five people in connection with the death of ex-One Direction member Liam Payne, per CBS News. Also, the judge ordered preventive prison (a type of pre-trial detention) for two of them for having supplied Payne with drugs. Last October, Payne fell from his room’s balcony on the third floor of his hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires. His autopsy said he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding.