What’s Current: Scottish Greens MSP Andy Wightman resigns over ‘intolerance’ to discussion on trans issue

Embed from Getty Images

  • High-profile Scottish Green MSP Andy Wightman resigns from the party, citing its “intolerance” to open discussion on conflicts between women’s and transgender rights. Wightman told Hollyrood

“It has become evident to me that the sort of open-minded public engagement I would like to see take place on this topic is incompatible with a party that has become very censorious of any deviation from an agreed line.”

  • A Japanese town voted its sole female councillor out of office after she accused the mayor of sexual assault. Shoko Arai says she was “punished” for her claims, highlighting criticism of the way Japanese authorities handle sexual assault allegations.
  • In a historic first, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Rep. Deb Haaland to lead the Department of the Interior. If confirmed by the Senate, Haaland would be the country’s first Native American Cabinet secretary.
  • Chinese singer Tan Weiwei’s latest song, “Xiao Juan,” which details the epidemic of violence against women, is met with widespread praise.
  • A former mayor from Mexico’s Chihuahua state is arrested for “complicity” in the 2017 murder of journalist Miroslava Breach.
Meghan McCarty

Meghan McCarty is an undergraduate student and aspiring journalist living in the United States.