Uplifting News

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/22745826

Michigan has outlawed the so-called gay and trans panic defense, which allows criminal defense attorneys to use a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense argument.

Michigan is now the 20th state to prohibit this type of defense, according to Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. Last year, Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., and Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., reintroduced the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act, which would ban such defenses in federal court.

The highest-profile example of the “gay panic defense” was perhaps the attempt to use it in the murder trial of Aaron McKinney, one of the two men accused of fatally beating 21-year-old gay student Matthew Shepard in Wyoming in 1998. The defense was unsuccessful, and both men were sentenced to life in prison.

I usually avoid politics on this community but thought this article kinda fit

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/11543700

A 60-year-old German man with HIV, nicknamed the "next Berlin patient," appears to be cured after receiving a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. This is a significant development because:

It's the 7th reported case of HIV cure globally, but the 1st where the donor lacked a specific genetic mutation previously thought essential. This broadens the potential donor pool for future treatments. The man's remission lasted nearly 6 years after stopping HIV medication, which is highly suggestive of a cure. However, there are limitations:

The bone marrow transplant procedure is high-risk and not suitable for most HIV patients. Researchers aren't 100% certain all traces of HIV are gone, but the patient feels well and is contributing to research. Overall, this case offers promise for a wider HIV cure in the future, potentially without requiring the specific genetic mutation in donors.

Mozambique is designating Mount Mabu, a remote mountain with an old-growth forest atop it, as a community protected area free from logging and mining. 20 years ago, Mabu was a secret to all but the locals. It was 'discovered' for the outside world by Prof Julian Bayliss in 2004 on a satellite image.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.run/m/[email protected]/t/553659

A decline in fossil fuel power is now ‘inevitable’, the report's authors say.