Sweden: Eurovision crowns Queer contestant in historic first during politically charged contest
Swiss singer Nemo won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night with "The Code," an operatic ode to the singer's journey toward embracing their identity.

Their victory in the Swedish city of Malmö, the first for a Nonbinary person, followed a turbulent year for the pan-continental contest, which saw large street protests against the participation of Israel, tipping the feel-good musical celebration of Europe's varied musical tastes — and forum for inclusiveness and diversity, with a huge Queer following — into a chaotic pressure cooker.

Hours before the final, Dutch competitor Joost Klein was expelled from the contest over a backstage threat he made to a female photographer.

Nemo bested finalists from 24 other countries, who all performed in front of a live audience of thousands and an estimated 180 million viewers around the world.

Ghana: Supreme Court suspends televised hearing on anti-Queer legislation
The Supreme Court of Ghana agreed to televise hearings on two challenges to the country's proposed anti-Queer law, then promptly adjourned proceedings for a week, GhanaWeb reported.

The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act would outlaw all forms of same-sex sexual relations as well as those between humans and animals, and calls for prison sentences for people identifying as Queer and those forming or funding Queer groups. Parliament passed the bill in February, but President Nana Akufo-Addo has refused to sign it until the Court resolves the current legal challenges.

The lawsuits before the Court were filed by broadcaster and lawyer Richard Sky and concerned citizen D. Amanda Odoi, who claims the law is unconstitutional on multiple grounds. In addition to the claim that the law violates fundamental human rights enshrined in the constitution, the process by which the law was passed and the expenditure of public funds required to implement the law have been challenged.

Ghana is facing widespread international condemnation and potential financial devastation over the bill, with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris notably supporting Queer rights while visiting Ghana in March 2023.

Argentina: Queer community sounds alarm on far-right president
In the wake of decades of Latin America's most socially progressive measures, Argentina's far-right president Javier Milei has alarmed the country's Queer community with an agenda seen as hostile to their rights and safety.

Since taking office in December, Milei has jumped into Argentina's culture wars with an "anti-woke" agenda, in which he has shut down the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity, banned the government's use of gender-inclusive language, and closed the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism. Milei has also revoked a quota law that promotes the inclusion of Transgender people in the workforce.

Decrying what he calls "gender ideology," Milei has prompted Argentina's Queer community to take to the streets in protest, in opposition not only to his social agenda but his populist "shock doctrine," entailing steep austerity measures, which they view as disproportionately affecting them.

Australia: New South Wales to formally apologize for historic criminalization of homosexuality
The New South Wales government will formally apologize to people convicted under laws criminalizing homosexuality in a move the premier hopes will bring closure to those who have been affected.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality, NSW will become the last Australian state to issue an apology after all five others did in the last decade. The apology will come months after a scathing report found that Gay hate bias was a likely factor in 25 of 32 suspected homicides between 1970 and 2010.

Announcing the apology on Saturday morning, the premier, Chris Minns, acknowledged that words can't remedy the discrimination those affected were subject to.

Former premier Neville Wran decriminalized homosexuality in NSW in 1984. Victoria and South Australia formally apologized in 2016, while Tasmania, Western Australia, and Queensland did in 2017, and the Northern Territory followed suit in 2018.