Brazilian musician Pedro Sampaio revealed that he dates men and women, Out noted. Sampaio has 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, more than 5 million followers on Instagram and several music videos with more than 50 million views on YouTube. Sampaio's most recent single, "Sal," is a collaboration with Brazilian drag superstar Pabllo Vittar.
U.S. News & World Report revealed a list of its top eight LGBTQ+ cruises for 2023. Companies involved as VACAYA (including its fifth-anniversary Caribbean cruise in February), Virgin Voyages (with an August cruise through Athens, Santorini and Mykonos, Greece, with special musical guests and LGBTQ comedians), Atlantis Events, Brand g Vacations (river cruises and land tours for a more mature crowd), Celebrity Cruises, Olivia, Royal Caribbean International and The Cruise With La Demence (with a party scene—'huge dedicated play areas," according to The Cruise's Thierry Coppens)—that caters to a primarily European crowd).
Elon Musk's decision to fire Twitter's human-rights staff in Africa could cause harm to Africa's LGBTQ+ community, according to a Worldcrunch item that cites OpenDemocracy. In Ghana, an anti-LGBTIQ+ bill currently puts the country's queer community and activists at risk of attacks in the forms of media disinformation, police raids and kidnappings. Online platforms like Twitter had become the safer alternative for rights organizations, but the community has still been dealing with threats and anti-LGBTIQ+ misinformation.
In Morocco, after a group of men attacked trans woman Haifa in Tangier, authorities say four people, "three minors and an adult, aged between 13 and 24" were arrested in connection with the assault—and there's been support expressed for the victim, Worldcrunch noted. The country's LGBTQ+ community has shown support for Haifa, with prominent figures such as trans activist Ghali Eden Ben Baki highlighting the hate crime and calling out Morocco's track records on LGBTQ+ and human rights.
In celebration of its one-year countdown to November 2023, Gay Games 11 Hong Kong 2023 (GGHK) opened two art exhibitions at the Hong Kong Arts Centre on Nov. 16: Gay Games 40th Anniversary historical exhibition "Beyond Strength" and "LOVE+: Awakening," per a press release. "Beyond Strength" conceptualizes the past four decades of the Gay Games as a procession towards a more inclusive world that Tom Waddell envisioned. The "LOVE+ Awakening" exhibition showcases 23 Hong Kong-born or based artists and includes their works—many unseen by the public—based on the curatorial keyword "awakenings" to celebrate Gay Games Hong Kong 2023.
Several LGBTQI+-rights groups in Uganda sharply criticized Deputy Parliament Speaker Thomas Tayebwa's assertion that an agreement between the European Union and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States has "hidden clauses" designed to promote homosexuality, The Washington Blade reported. Tayebwa made the remarks during the 42nd session of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly that took place in Mozambique on Oct. 29-Nov. 2. "It's not a surprise to me and most of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at large in Uganda that the deputy speaker of Parliament made such homophobic comments because the government he represents is homophobic, too," said Happy Family Uganda Executive Director Iga Isma.
Jenis av Rana—a politician in the Faroe Islands who's leader of a Christian Party—was fired from his position as minister of foreign affairs and culture over his anti-LGBTQ+ stance, per Worldcrunch. He recently said that he wouldn't support Danish politician Soren Pape Poulsen's candidacy for the role of prime minister because Poulsen is gay. A few days before, av Rana had also claimed that lesbian couples' children shouldn't carry the names of both their parents. The Faroe Islands are a North Atlantic archipelago island country and self-governing nation under the external sovereignty of Denmark.
In tennis, Jil Teichmann and reigning Olympic champion Belinda Bencic combined for singles wins to give the Swiss a win over Australia in a rematch of last year's Billie Jean King Cup (formerly known as the Fed Cup) semifinals, earning the coveted championship in Glasgow, Scotland, according to WTA Tennis. Bencic had a swift 6-2, 6-1 win over Ajla Tomljanovic to clinch the trophy. Seven-time champion Australia was seeking its first title since 1974.
Hugo Lloris of the French soccer team implied he was not going to wear a rainbow-colored armband with a rainbow heart design to campaign against discrimination during the World Cup games in Qatar, Worldcrunch noted. The French federation's president, Noel Le Graet, also said he would prefer Lloris not wear the armband because he did not want his country to lecture others. France is among eight of the 13 European teams participating in the World Cup who joined the "OneLove" campaign, which started in the Netherlands.
RuPaul's global drag-queen empire is expected to expand throughout Asia, per Worldcrunch. Emmy-winning production company World of Wonder has partnered with a third agent, Hong Kong-based distributor O4 Media, to develop RuPaul's Drag Race in new places around the world, including India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea along with a new season of already existing Drag Race Thailand.
Actor Kevin Spacey is facing seven more sexual offense charges in the United Kingdom, Deadline noted. The Crown Prosecution Service authorized the charges, added to the five he was charged with in June. The development after the two-time Oscar winner was found not liable in actor Anthony Rapp's high-profile sexual misconduct lawsuit.
