Mika X sentenced for his part in sexual abuse case
Well-known kiwi performer, singer, and arts producer Mika X has been sentenced to 11 months of home detention after pleading guilty to two charges of attempting to dissuade an assault victim to drop his case against the perpetrator.
The case involved a rich-list businessman who was convicted of assaulting three men at his home in separate incidents between 2000 and 2016. Lawyers acting for the business man, who currently has name suppression, said he will appeal the convictions.
Justice Geoffrey Venning took time off Mika X’s sentence for his guilty plea, and also removed name suppression off two of his co-conspiriators Jevan Goulter and Alison Edmonds. Goulter and Edmonds both gave evidence agains the rich-list businessman in return for immunity from prosecution.
Bank of England to honour Alan Turing
The design of a new £50 note due to enter circulation in the UK this June will feature the image of computer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing. Turing was instrumental in decoding German naval messages during the Second World War. In 1952 Turing was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ after having an affair with another man. He was forced to take female hormones as an alternative to prison. He died at the age of 41 from suicide. In 2013 Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon for the conviction. Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England said they are honouring Turing who was a leading mathematician, biologist and pioneer in the field of computer science. He also said: “He was also gay and was treated appallingly as a result. By placing him on our new polymer £50 banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the value he symbolises.”
Lil Nas X writes a letter about coming out
Rapper Lil Nas X has written a letter to his younger self about coming out publicly as gay. In the letter he writes about a promise he made never to acknowledge his sexuality and do die without sharing the secret. Fans have rallied round the singer. Lil Nas X first made references to being gay in 2019 but said he was always worried how his fans would react to him coming out.
Tennessee governor signs anti-trans law
Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed a law that requires students to prove their sex at birth in order to play sports in middle and high schools. The governor says he signed the bill to preserve women’s athletics and to ensure fair competition. Similar laws have been passed in Arkansas and Mississippi. A spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in the US said that the bill is discriminatory adding: “Transgender kids are kids. Excluding and discriminating against them does great harm to them and it weakens the communities in which these children feel excluded and marginalised.”