By Melanie Nathan, Oct 24, 2025 When governments criminalize identity—whether via immigration policy or sexual orientation laws—they coerce people into the shadows to flee danger, yet the underground offers no safety at all—only a stopgap for immediate survival. Under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns, thousands of immigrants, and even U.S. citizens of color, live under the constant threat of racial profiling, unlawful detentions, arbitrary arrests and deportation. Raids,

By Melanie Nathan, Oct 24, 2025.   This week, Ghana’s opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), took to national television to announce that the controversial bill known as the Proper Human Rights and Family Values Bill had mysteriously disappeared from Parliament. The bill had appeared on the official Order Paper (Parliament’s agenda) for debate—then suddenly vanished. The bill, commonly referred to as the Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (originall

True solidarity starts in Africa — confronting the laws, hate, and hypocrisy that still criminalize and kill our own - rendering boycott foolish, cruel and counter-productive. By Melanie Nathan, Oct 22, 2025 Johannesburg Pride, Africa’s oldest Pride celebration, is under attack, not from the usual homophobes or politicians, but from local activists. Several organizations are calling for a boycott of this year’s Pride because one of its sponsors, Amazon, is accused of supporti

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Melanie Nathan 🌍 A Global Emergency — And a Shared Responsibility As Americans debate their own culture wars—and as democracies across the world teeter—a quiet crisis continues to unfold across Africa, one that reflects our own. From Uganda to Ghana, LGBTQI+ people are being hunted, imprisoned, tortured, and silenced under so-called “morality” laws. But these laws are not home-grown. They build on colonial-era penal codes and are fueled by U.S.