Thirty-three current and former employees of an LGBTQ news website in the U.K. have accused its publisher and husband of sexual harassment and misconduct.

The BBC on Tuesday reported “several” former PinkNews staffers saw Chief Operating Officer Anthony James “kissing and touching a junior colleague who they saw appeared too drunk to consent” outside of a London pub after a company event.

James’s husband, Benjamin Cohen, founded PinkNews in 2005.

The BBC reported the current and former staffers with whom it spoke said “a culture of heavy drinking led to instances when” Cohen and James “behaved inappropriately towards younger male employees.”

Stephan Kyriacou, who worked at PinkNews from 2019-2021, told the BBC that Cohen slapped him on his butt at a Christmas party.

“I just shut down for a minute. I didn’t know what to say. I was in shock,” Kyriacou told the BBC. “I remember turning to my friends and saying, ‘What the hell just happened?'”

The BBC spoke with PinkNews staffers who said “they were shouted at and belittled by Mr. Cohen, and that there was a ‘toxic’ culture at the company. Others said they saw “misogynistic” behavior.

Neither Cohen, nor James spoke with the BBC. The Washington Blade has reached out to PinkNews for comment.

Media reports indicate Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS (National Health Service) Foundation suspended James, who is a doctor, from his job after the allegations against him and Cohen became public.

Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama from the opposition National Democratic Congress has won Saturday’s general elections, defeating current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party.

The NDC before the election had pledged its support for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which would further criminalize LGBTQ people and those who support them.

The bill, which MPs approved in February, has yet to be signed by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo because of a ruling the Supreme Court is expected to issue on Dec. 18. Richard Dela Sky, a journalist and private lawyer, challenged the law in March.

The NDC, NPP and other parties used recognition of LGBTQ rights to persuade Ghanaians to vote for them. Mahama during a BBC interview last week said LGBTQ rights are against African culture and religious doctrine.

Berinyuy Hans Burinyuy, LGBT+ Rights Ghana’s director for communications, said homophobic attacks and public demonstrations increased during the campaign.

“The passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill into law will institutionalize State-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, leaving little to no legal recourse for those affected,” said Burinyuy. “The climate of fear and uncertainty that has gripped Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated.”

“While the political atmosphere remains hostile, there is still hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of human rights and constitutional protections,” added Burinyuy. “Should the court strike down the bill, it will be a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights and a blow to the growing wave of homophobia that has swept the country.”

Awo Dufie, an intersex person and cross-dresser, said the LGBTQ community is going to be at increased risk under the NDC-led government because it supports anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.

“Mahama supported the anti-LGBT bill as well as the arrest and prosecution of human rights defenders,” noted Dufie. “Politicizing queer rights as a distraction actually started under Atta Mills (the-late president of Ghana) and the NDC government in 2011, and it was an NDC MP (Sam George) who furthered this in 2021 vocalizing support for the anti-LGBT bill.”

Dufie added Ghanaians “voted out a worse corrupt government who had no respect for human rights, and brought in a former corrupt president who has also promised to not respect human rights.”

Activism Ghana, another LGBTQ rights group, said the attacks against LGBTQ Ghanaians are a series of political ploys designed to win votes as opposed to accelerating development.

“Hate the gays, win the votes, and when they win and fail to deliver development and prosperity, they scapegoat the gays to take away attention from real problems,” said Activism Ghana.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday congratulated Mahama’s election, and noted Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will become the country’s first female vice president.

“The United States commends the Electoral Commission, its hundreds of thousands of poll workers, civil society, and the country’s security forces, who helped ensure a peaceful and transparent process,” said Blinken in a statement. “We also applaud Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for his gracious acceptance of the results.”

Mahama’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 7.

Advocacy groups continue to urge Akufo-Addo to veto the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill or amend sections that further criminalize LGBTQ people and allies.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation on Tuesday announced it has awarded grants to 18 LGBTQ rights groups around the world.

A press release notes the groups will receive up to $5,000 through its Global Small Grants program. The recipients include:

• LighT in Central Asia

• Más Igualdad Perú

• The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality

• XY Spectrum in Serbia

• Lesbian Intersex Trans and Other Extensions in Malawi

• Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO in Armenia

• The Blue Diamond Society in Nepal

• The Barbados LGBTQ+ Coalition

• Sin Etiquetas +593 in Ecuador

• Icebreakers Uganda

• Equal Ground in Sri Lanka

• The Equal Asia Foundation in Thailand

• The Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+) Hotline Association

• Key Watch Ghana

• South Trans Voice in Morocco

The press release notes this year’s grant priorities included “projects centering LGBTQI+ people who are racial, religious or ethnic minorities, have a disability, communities disproportionately impacted by climate change, or who have experienced displacement.” The HRC Foundation also “sought to assist programs working to focus on increasing trans and/or intersex leadership or advocacy and those generally creating more inclusive access to services or other institutions of daily life, including engaging employers/businesses or faith institutions as allies for equality.”

Sean Sih-Cheng Du of the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGBTQ+ Hotline Association said the grant will allow his organization to expand its campaign that seeks to make “workplaces in Taiwan more diverse and inclusive.”

HRC launched the Global Small Grants Program in 2020.

Tuesday’s announcement coincides with International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the U.N. General Assembly’s ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948.

President-elect Donald Trump’s election last month sparked concern among LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups in the U.S. and around the world. The incoming president has nominated U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as his administration’s secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. respectively.