Africa
BTM Hosts Round Table On The State Of Human Rightrs In Malawi
Two human rights defenders from Malawi were recently in Johannesburg to brief South African colleagues on the situation for the LGBTI in that country. The two, Undule Mwakasungula, executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and rehabilitation (CHRR) and Gift Trapence the Director of the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) met with… Read more »
Kenya: Blackmail and extortion of gay men on the rise
When Patrick Muiru* met George* on a Facebook dating page, little did he know this was the start of his problems that will leave him naked, sexually assaulted, beaten and humiliated. Patrick is a 26 year old closeted gay man who has fallen prey to blackmailers and extortionists targeting gay men. Patrick who lives in… Read more »
Thabo Mbeki’s Pro-Gay Statement Boosts Gay Rights Defenders In Uganda
Former South African president, Thabo Mbeki has criticized Uganda’s anti homosexuality bill, saying sex between consenting adults “is really not the matter of law.” Kampala’s Daily Monitor newspaper reported on Monday that the visiting former head of state’s comments will come as “a boost to the crusaders of gay rights in Uganda.” Fittingly, Mbeki’s comments… Read more »
They Will Say We Are Not Here
These are fragments of David Kato, glimpses of a Ugandan activist and friend who – one year ago today – was brutally murdered. These moments offer a perspective on the inner world that David shared with us, a world teeming with passion and relentless determination, good humor and vivid daydreams. During our first days in… Read more »
Nigerian Human Rights Group Channels Aid To Sirra Leonean LGBT Activists
LGBT Rights activists in Sierra Leone have received aid from an LGBT human rights defender fund coordinated by the Nigeria human rights organization, The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs). In November 2011, George Freeman, the leader of WhyCantWeGetMarried.Com, an LGBT human rights group in Sierra Leone, reported a homophobic occurrence that members of the group… Read more »
Zulu king’s alleged anti-gay comment to be investigated
Anti-gay comments reportedly made by the king of the Zulu people are set to be investigated by South Africa’s Human Rights Commission. The Zulu people are mainly geographically located within the relatively pro-gay African state. The royal family dismissed the comment that gay relationships were “rotten” as a mistranslation by South Africa’s Times newspaper. A… Read more »
Kenyan Teen Drama Shuga: Gay Rights from the Ground Up
Over the past few years, the issue of gay rights in Africa has become particularly heated with presidents, preachers and global petitioners all wading in. Kenya has been no exception to this trend. Incidents of sexual abuse and ‘corrective rape’ in Nairobi are on the increase and 2010 saw mass attacks against gay men. Meanwhile,… Read more »
Four Youths Arrested in Cameroon Accused of Homosexuality
Continuing arrests and torture of young people in Cameroon, accused of homosexual relations, the indifference of the international community. This time the detainees are four students, reported by another man who demanded money and being denied his request led neighbors to assault the men. The next day, the brother of Raphael, one of the four… Read more »
French travel alert hurts Mauritania economy (non-gay story)
In the Mauritanian province of Adrar, the once-booming tourism industry has come to a halt after the French foreign ministry issued a warning against travelling to the area. Mauritanian Tourism Minister Bamba Ould Dramane has recently criticised the French government’s reports on security in northern Mauritania, describing them as “unfounded”. The 2010-2011 reports “are not… Read more »
Ex-South African president: Ugandan anti-gay bill makes no sense
The former president of South Africa, Thabo MBeki, has criticised Uganda’s infamous anti-gay bill, saying it “doesn’t make sense” to intervene. Mr Mbeki was taking questions at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) in Kampala when he was asked about the draft legislation and specifically what he would say to its sponsor, the Daily… Read more »
Zulu king: Gays are rotten
Zulu king: Gays are rotten Most of the Zulu people remain in South Africa Update: The Zulu royal family has said the comments attributed to the king are the result of “reckless mistranslation”. Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, King of the Zulu people, has reportedly said gay relationships are a new invention and are “rotten”. The African… Read more »
Tunisian Interior Minister in a gay sex video scandal
Tunisia’s new interior minister, Ali Larayedh, has been embroiled in controversy and scandal as a leaked video allegedly shows him in a gay prison sex video. This scandal has outraged and inflamed public opinion regarding homosexuality which was already jittery due to the electoral political tactics that used sexuality in order to discredit various opponents.… Read more »
The Crime of Being Gay (and Having to Hide It)
The dream of the AIDS-free generation will never be realized as long as there remain countries in the world that kill and imprison people for being gay. Same goes for countries that won’t even acknowledge homosexuality exists within their national boundaries and therefore fail to provide targeted HIV prevention and treatment services. Such are the… Read more »
Uganda Gay Rights Advocate Calls For Scrapping Of Anti-Prostitution Laws
A Ugandan advocate for sex workers and homosexual rights, Busingye Kabumba has said prostitution and anti-abortion laws should be repealed to encourage the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young women. Kabumba, a lecturer at Makerere University’s Faculty of Law in Kampala also said there is a “Need to streamline the Ugandan legal framework… Read more »
Frank Mugisha, Ugandan Gay Activist, Receives Death Threats, Fears For His Life
A Ugandan gay activist who wrote a New York Times op-ed piece in December, speaking out against homophobia in his country enforced by the government and the police, has received threats and says he fears for his life, afraid to even go shopping alone or eat in a restaurant for fear of being poisoned. “Just… Read more »
Liberian Speaker rules out gay rights bills
The Speaker of Liberia’s House of Representatives has said no gay rights bills will make progress during his tenure. Alex J Tyler, a member of the Unity Party, told the Truth FM Breakfast Show that any law enshrining equal rights for gays would be immoral, All Africa reports. Tyler was recently re-elected for a second… Read more »
Uganda: New Complaint Lodged In Homophobic Smear Conspiracy Case
The Chief Registrar of Uganda’s Courts will on January 18 rule whether the magistrate handling the landmark homophobic smear conspiracy case against three Christian anti–gay preachers is biased against the accused. In a letter dated December 15, 2011, seen by Behind the Mask, the accused preachers claim that the trial magistrate, John Patrick Wekesa has… Read more »
Senegal: Double Sentence — AIDS in a Local Prison
From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Though Senegal’s HIV rate of less than 1 percent is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, vulnerabilities remain in this majority-Muslim country. Some 22 percent of Senegalese men who have sex with men (MSM) are HIV-positive. And the country’s prisons are a high-risk environment for HIV transmission… Read more »
Is life for gay people in Tunisia better since the revolution?
The revolution in Tunisia has brought with it many changes. Under the old regime, for example, being homosexual had always been a problem. So one year on from the fall of former president Ben Ali, RFI talked to a number of gay people in Tunisia, to see if things have changed for them. by Marine… Read more »
Islamic Groups Protest LGBT Rights in Sierra Leone, Promise Biweekly Demonstrations
Anti-gay groups in Sierra Leone are promising bi-weekly protests in reaction to growing pushes for LGBT rights in the region and efforts by Western politicians to enforce the human rights of LGBT people in African nations, Africa Review reports: Close to 1,000 protesters thronged the streets at the east end of Freetown attracting scores of… Read more »
Oral and Anal Sex Practices among high school youth in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Background: Understanding the full range of sexual behaviors of young people is crucial in developing appropriate interventions to prevent and control sexually transmitted infections including HIV. However, such information is meager in developing countries. The objective of this study was to describe oral and anal sex practices and identify associated factors among high school youth.… Read more »
Homophobia hurting anti-AIDS campaigns in Africa
When Commonwealth countries met in Perth in October, there was a call to decriminalise homosexuality, which is still illegal in Commonwealth nations including India and Sri Lanka. The move ultimately went nowhere, but it did put some pressure on countries that outlaw same sex relations. Asian nations have mixed policies on homosexuality, while in Africa… Read more »
Tanzania: Africa, Want Aid? Recognise Gay Rights!
opinion Many will agree with me that the one statement that drew the most ire from Tanzanians, as well as from the rest of Africa, as the year came to a close, was David Cameron’s call to African countries to recognise gay rights as a prerequisite to receiving aid from the UK. He said this… Read more »
Zambia’s Religious Leaders Upset Over Tying Aid To LGBT Rights
It should not be surprising that many churches and church organizations in Africa are angry over the decision by the US Government to tie foreign aid to assurances of LGBT rights. Homosexuality is illegal in almost every African nation, and some have extremely stiff penalties for those who are convicted of being gay. In Zambia,… Read more »
Gay and Vilified in Uganda
When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced this month that the United States would use diplomacy to encourage respect for gay rights around the world, my heart leapt. I knew her words — “gay people are born into, and belong to, every society in the world”— to be true, but in my country they… Read more »
Nigerian health minister says bisexuals “pose a challenge” to HIV efforts
The report found an increase in HIV rates among men who have sex with menThe report found an increase in HIV rates among men who have sex with men Nigeria’s health minister has warned that bisexual men pose a “challenge” to efforts to tackle the spread of HIV in the country, as the prevalence of… Read more »
Kenyan men trafficked as sex slaves to Gulf states
A Kenyan gay magazine has exposed male sex trafficking between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Identity magazine says that gay and bisexual Kenyans are being lured from universities with promises of jobs only to end up as sex slaves. The prestigious Kenyatta University is being particularly targeted, the magazine found.… Read more »
Julius Kaggwa – 2010 Human Rights Award Honoree [video]
Born and raised in Uganda, Julius Kaggwa is an advocate for the human rights of sexual minorities in Uganda and throughout Africa. He is a leader in the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law and directs the Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development (SIPD). Kaggwa has led the fight against… Read more »
Identity Magazine
Check out the latest issue of Identity Magazine Source – Issuu
Gay rights at center of Zimbabwe’s constitutional debate
Robert Mugabe condemned gays in 1995, but many have stood up for their rights. Harare, Zimbabwe — “Pigs and dogs” he called them, and that was just the beginning of President Robert Mugabe’s campaign of abuse of gays. This year, 16 years after his searing attack, his sentiments about gay people are back in the… Read more »
Gay marriage: Nigeria can do without foreign aids – Mbagwu
A host of Nigerians have criticised the threat of United States of America President, Barack Obama, and his European Union counterparts’ threat to stop giving grants and aids to countries that are opposed to same sex marriages including Nigeria. To Chief Cliff Mbagwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), management consultant and chairman… Read more »
Sex workers to hold peaceful march
Maseru- Lesotho tomorrow joins the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The brainchild of American doctor, Annie Sprinkle, the event has been observed on December 17 since 2003, and brings together sex workers, their advocates, friends, families and allies. The Day calls attention to AIDS, hate-crimes… Read more »
UN’s Navi Pillay Warns Nations To Stop Discriminating Against Gays
The United Nation’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has called on nations to abolish discriminatory laws against gay men and lesbians, the AP reported. Pillay’s plea came Thursday in a 25-page report to the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council. The report arrives on the heels of a memorandum signed by President Barack Obama… Read more »
Somali Gay Community
Somali Gay Community was established in 2005 by a small group of Somalian guys who, apart from sharing the same culture and background, acknowledge the fact that we are homosexuals living in the UK. The aim of starting this group is to create a space and medium for somalian gay and lesbians to access information,… Read more »
‘Visionary’ Jamaican rights activist announced as recipient of inaugural David Kato Award
Global award honouring murdered human rights activist to be presented to Jamaican lawyer, Maurice Tomlinson in London David Kato, the human rights activist murdered in his home in Kampala, Uganda on 26 January 2011, is representative of the millions of individuals worldwide who daily struggle against hostility and persecution simply because of their sexuality. Inspired… Read more »
Kenya’s David Kuria Leaves LGBTI Activism To Pave Way For The Next Generation
The Kenyan LGBTI activist David Kuria has announced his exit from mainstream LGBTI activism after a decade of involvement and leadership. During the 10 years that he was active in the struggle for LGBTI rights in Kenya, Kuria became well-known as one of the public faces of the country’s gay community, daring to show his… Read more »
Ghana’s education ministry “optimistic” it can stop homosexuality
A spokesman for Ghana’s Education Ministry has told the Accra Mail he is confident a programme in which teachers warn students of the “adverse consequences” of being gay will make it “a thing of the past”. Paul Krampah, a Public Relations Officer, said his department’s HIV/AIDS Secretariat had been training teachers to educate students on… Read more »
Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV in Senegal
Abstract Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV in Senegal, with a prevalence of 21.5%. In December 2008, nine male HIV prevention workers were imprisoned for “acts against nature” prohibited by Senegalese law. This qualitative study assessed the impact of these arrests on HIV prevention efforts. A purposive sample… Read more »
Out Well-Being Sets Groundbreaking Precedent In Hate Crime Case
On Friday, December 9, 2012, OUT, represented by Webber Wentzel Attorneys, was successfully admitted as amicus curiae in the sentencing phase of a hate crimes trial in the Germiston Magistrates Court. The success of OUT’s application is ground breaking on at least two fronts, firstly OUT is the first organisation to be successfully admitted as… Read more »
Botswana LGBTI Mark Human Rights Day With Calls For An End To Discrimination
The Botswana Network on Ethics Law and HIV/AIDS (Bonela) commemorated International Human Rights Day with a colourful event and a call for an end to discrimination against LGBTI. The celebration in Gaborone began with a march from the national stadium to Main Mall where Phenyo Butale, the national director of the Media Institute of Southern… Read more »
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