NOTE: This week’s column contains graphic details of a crime.
In Kenya, LGBTQ+-rights organizations criticized the fact that a family-values meeting will take place at a five-star Nairobi hotel that the Kenya Red Cross Society co-owns, The Washington Blade noted. Guest speakers from the United States, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland will preside over the Pan-African Conference on Family Values that will take place May 12-17 at the Boma Hotel. The LGBTQ+ groups that have criticized the Kenya Red Cross include Upinde Advocates for Inclusion, the Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, and the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya—and the coalition has launched an online signature collection drive to compel the Kenya Red Cross to withdraw the hotel from hosting the “Promoting and Protecting Family Values in Challenging Times”-themed conference.
In Cameroon, a court sentenced psychological counselor Denis Watonwa to five years in prison on charges of homosexuality and assault on a minor, per Erasing 76 Crimes. Watonwa was among 13 people arrested on Sept. 30 in a raid on the headquarters of the anti-AIDS/queer-rights advocacy group Alternatives Cameroon; the other 12 arrestees have been set free, but he was sentenced because he had been in a consensual sexual relationship with a 17-year-old client of the organization. Watonwa’s sentence is the maximum allowed for homosexual activity under Article 347-1 of the Cameroonian penal code.
Irin Jahan Esha Sheikh, widely known as the “Lady Biker,” has been imprisoned in Khulna, Bangladesh, per Erasing 76 Crimes. The France-based human-rights organization JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) stated, “It has become increasingly evident that Esha was not detained based on any credible evidence of criminal activity, but was instead targeted because of her identity as a lesbian and her consensual romantic relationship with another woman. This case represents yet another tragic instance of the criminalization of same-sex relationships and the systematic persecution of sexual minorities in Bangladesh.” Robert Simon, prominent LGBTQI+ rights activist in France and Chief Adviser to JMBF, stated, “This is a blatant case of state-backed homophobia. Esha’s arrest is not about justice. It’s about moral policing. Love is not a crime.”
The Uganda-based LGBTQ+-rights organization the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) has issued concern over the plight of queer refugees in Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Isingiro District in southwestern Uganda, Erasing 76 Crimes noted. In January and February, HRAPF documented growing cases of homophobic attacks ranging from actual violence to arrests and evictions in Africa’s oldest refugee settlement. In one of the attacks, a transgender woman was raped by three men who were unknown to her; they reportedly forced themselves on her while hurling homophobic slurs at her and accusing her of promoting homosexuality in the area. She reported the matter at the Nakivale police station; investigations were still ongoing and no person had been arrested by the time the report was published.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo—one of the cardinals who might be in the running to succeed Pope Francis—has described homosexuality as an “abomination,” per The Washington Blade. Besungu made the comment in a Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar statement in response to Francis’s 2023 decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples. Also, Besungu, who is president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, in 2024 said homosexuality “does not exist” in Africa outside of “a few isolated cases.” The French publication La Croix reported that he made the comment during a rally that took place outside of Kinshasa.
On a related note, Monday, May 7, has been slated as the start date for the conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor, delaying the secret voting for two days to help Catholic cardinals get to know one another better, the AP reported. “There is the hope of unity,” Argentine Cardinal Ángel Sixto Rossi (who was made a cardinal under Pope Francis) told reporters. Many cardinals cited the desire to continue Francis’ pastoral focus on people who are marginalized and against war; however, conservatives may want to revert to core doctrines emphasized by St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, rather than continuing Francis’ social-justice focus and his outreach to marginalized groups.
In the UK, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has been criticized for avoiding a firm answer when asked if he believed trans women are women, after the UK Supreme Court’s decision that the legal definition of women refers to “biological women” and that “sex” refers to “biological sex,” PinkNews noted. Asked to clarify his position on Radio 4’s Today program, Ramsay said the court’s decision provided “some clarity in terms of the Equality Act”; when pressed regarding if he believed trans women were women, he only replied, “The important thing here is not to get hung up in divisions, in definitions.” Ramsay’s hesitancy to provide a straight answer appeared to contrast the stance of fellow co-leader Carla Denyer, who has often voiced her support for the trans community.
Trans minors referred to gender clinics in the UK will allegedly be “screened” for autism and ADHD under planned National Health Service (NHS) guidance, according to PinkNews. The guidance—which will reportedly be released for public consultation before being rolled out later this year—will request that practitioners analyze “key areas” of a patient’s life, including social, cognitive and physical growth, according to documents seen by The Telegraph. The reported change in guidance comes as part of the continued implementation of the Cass Review, an independent report about youth gender clinics in England and Wales; the report made more than two dozen “holistic” recommendations in the provision of healthcare for trans minors.
In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party won the country’s federal election on April 28—a stunning turnaround in fortunes fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats and trade war, the AP reported. The Liberals appeared to be headed for defeat until Trump started attacking Canada’s economy and threatening its sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state. In a victory speech before supporters in Ottawa, Carney said, in part, “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons.” On the LGBTQ+ front, Carney has a mixed record, Yahoo! Life noted: He decreased former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s 37-member cabinet to 24 and, in the process, dismissed the Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth; among the others to go was the Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Disabilities. Also, Carney’s lack of public discussion of his family (including a trans daughter) is seen by some as avoiding discussing trans issues, while others see the fact that he has trans family members as a potential sign of allyship.
Out Spanish director Pedro Almodovar aired his thoughts about Donald Trump as he accepted the 50th annual Chaplin award from Film at Lincoln Center, according to Variety. He said, “I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic authority, who doesn’t respect human rights. Trump and his friends, millionaires and oligarchs, cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living, however much he may twist the words, claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do. Immigrants are not criminals. It was Russia that invaded Ukraine.” Almodóvar also spoke out about trans rights being threatened by the Trump administration and talked about the events of his early life that shaped him as a filmmaker.
Lux Pascal—the trans sister of actor Pedro Pascal and whose acting credits include Chilean dramas Veinteañero a los 40 and Juana Brava—recently talked about her brother while attending Madrid’s Platino Awards, according to Yahoo! “I’m incredibly proud,” Lux told The Hollywood Reporter. “But the thing is that I’ve always known that he is a superstar. It’s funny because people have been asking me, ‘Is he as kind as we think he is?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes!’” She added, “What makes him so fabulous is that [Pedro] wears all of his humanity on his sleeve, and he doesn’t hide who he is. And I think that’s refreshing, because usually we move around the world hiding who we are.”
In Canada, Regina’s RCMP Heritage Centre is hosting the “Love In a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purg”e exhibition until the end of May, CBC reported. Museum CEO Sam Karikas said the exhibit is important because it reminds visitors not to whitewash Canada’s past record regarding LGBTQ rights. She said, in part, that “the reality is there are also some very painful, very complex chapters in our history that need to be known. Human-rights conversations are important at all times, not just when there is a pressure or a risk of losing human rights, but whenever there is a new generation learning about the history of Canada.”
A major exhibition of the late gay Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace’s creations is set to be shown in London this summer, per the BBC. The show will feature more than 450 original pieces, including outfits worn by Princess Diana, Kate Moss, Sir Elton John, Naomi Campbell and George Michael. The Gianni Versace Retrospective will open at Arches London Bridge on July 16, with organizers saying it will “give visitors a kaleidoscopic view of the ‘90s.” The announcement of the exhibition’s London launch comes a month after sister Donatella announced she would be stepping down from being creative director of Versace.
Nicole Kidman will be celebrated at the Cannes Film Festival, where she will receive the Woman in Motion Award from Kering Chairman/CEO François-Henri Pinault, Cannes President Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Fremaux, per Variety. Launched in 2015 by Kering, an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, the Women in Motion program highlights the creativity and contribution made by women—on and off screen—in culture and the arts. Among the previous honorees are Jane Fonda, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, Isabelle Huppert, Gong Li, Salma Hayek Pinault, Viola Davis and Michelle Yeoh. Kidman recently won a best actress prize at Venice and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her daring portrayal of a CEO who’s having an affair in Babygirl; she was also the 49th recipient of the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award last year.
The trial of 10 people accused of robbing Kim Kardashian at a Paris hotel in 2016 began, per the BBC. The reality-TV star and businesswoman was tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury suite where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week. About $10 million worth of jewels were taken from her, including a $4-million diamond engagement ring from then-husband Kanye West. One of the defendants—71-year-old Yunice Abbas—said that he never had sympathy for his victims before the heist “but this time I do regret what I did. … It opened my eyes.” The court also focused on Gary Madar, 35, whose brother’s company provided transportation and taxis to the Kardashians for several years; he has been accused of feeding information to the gang about Kardashian’s location on the night of the heist.
BBC employees are keeping their jobs even when they have been the subjects of upheld sexual-harassment complaints, Deadline confirmed. The UK national broadcaster upheld five formal sexual-harassment grievances in the three years to March 2024, with another case being partially upheld—but only one employee was fired for wrongdoing during this period. Moreover, the BBC’s disciplinary record becomes starker when bullying and harassment figures are included; only 13 people were let go after 39 bullying, harassment and sexual-harassment complaints were partially or fully upheld. A BBC spokesperson said: “We take all forms of bullying, harassment and misconduct incredibly seriously. If a case is upheld, there are a range of potential sanctions available, including dismissal. These are considered on a case-by-case basis, in line with our policies.