Africa
Uganda: Brutal Killing of Gay Activist
Amid Attacks, Officials Threaten Death Penalty for LGBT People Update: On October 12, a government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, tweeted that the government “does not intend to introduce any new law with regards to regulation of LGBT activities in Uganda because the current provisions in the penal code are sufficient.” Before President Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality… Read more »
Uganda: Brutal Killing of Gay Activist
Amid Attacks, Officials Threaten Death Penalty for LGBT People Update: On October 12, a government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, tweeted that the government “does not intend to introduce any new law with regards to regulation of LGBT activities in Uganda because the current provisions in the penal code are sufficient.” Before President Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality… Read more »
Gay man in Rwanda notes ‘intense pressure’ after coming out
Kigali, Rwanda — A Rwandan gospel singer who recently came out as gay says he has quit his day job as an accountant after “intense pressure” from colleagues. Albert Nabonibo says he felt alienated and no longer a part of the beverages company that employed him in the capital, Kigali. He says that after he… Read more »
Gay men seen dying from AIDS due to Africa’s homophobic laws
Nairobi (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Thousands of gay men in Africa are likely dying from HIV-related illnesses every year due to homophobic laws that stifle their chances of being tested and treated, said researchers behind a study published on Monday in The Lancet HIV journal. A study of the data of 45,000 gay men in… Read more »
Reclaiming South Africa’s Townships Through Queer Culture
The settlements can be dangerous places for queer people. The subjects of photographer Lee-Ann Olwage’s #BlackDragMagic want to change that. Shakira Mabika moved to Cape Town, South Africa, from her native Zimbabwe to escape homophobia—the country’s late president, Robert Mugabe, considered gay people “worse than dogs and pigs”—only to encounter similar prejudice, compounded by xenophobia,… Read more »
Rwandan gospel singer comes out as gay, to country’s shock
Kigali, Rwanda — Friends of Albert Nabonibo, a well-known gospel singer in Rwanda who recently came out as a gay man, do not want their names revealed. It is too shameful, one says. Another says he is anguished because his family knows he often used to socialize with Nabonibo. Nabonibo shocked many Rwandans in August… Read more »
Progress for gay rights in Africa still isn’t inevitable
Johannesburg (CNN) – It was Pride Month no less. On June 11, high court judges in Gaborone struck down colonial-era sodomy laws from the rule books. The judgment was comprehensive, and LGBTQ activists in Botswana were overjoyed. It was a significant win in a protracted fight for equality. For a moment, progress seemed inevitable, but… Read more »
Zambia president won’t budge on gay rights even for international aid
There will be no discussion on gay rights’ The president of Zambia said he would not impose ‘gay rights’ on his citizens in exchange for international aid. Edgar Lungu made the comments during a visit to the State House by the outgoing Swedish ambassador to Zambia, Henrik Cederin. During the visit, Lungu said he could… Read more »
Egypt releases trans teen activist after four months
Police conducted a forced anal examination and put Malak al-Kashif in a male prison when they arrested her in March Egypt released a 19-year-old transgender LGBTI rights activist on Tuesday (16 July), four months after police arrested her over an anti-government demonstration. Authorities previously subjected Malak al-Kashif to a forced anal examination. They also kept… Read more »
Eden Bleu Hotel review: An LGBTI-friendly Seychelles showstopper
Gay sex was legalized in 2016. But what’s life really like for Seychelles’ LGBTIs? As a top hotel reaches out to queer tourists, GSN visits to find out Location 4/5 Think Seychelles, think huts on stilts. At least that’s the image that used to spring to my mind: little flecks of loveliness among uncomplicated sea/sand… Read more »
Malawi police arrest two leading LGBTI activists
It comes a week after they lead protests against the Malawi Electoral Commission Police in the east African state of Malawi have arrested two of its most prominent LGBTI campaigners. Authorities arrested Gift Trapence on charges of fraud. Trapence heads the LGBTI organizaton, the Center for Development of People (CEDEP). They also arrested Anglican priest… Read more »
LGBTI refugees stoned and beaten after unlawful eviction
It has been described as one of the worst situations ever seen by refugee advocates A landlord evicted a group of 76 LGBTI refugees in Kenya with no notice. Locals beat and stoned one man who tried to leave. The refugees known collectively as Great Lakes were living in the Kangemi area informal settlement in… Read more »
Botswana celebrates historic decriminalisation of gay sex
Botswana’s High Court announced its decision this morning (June 11) to decriminalise gay sex, and people are rejoicing the “life-changing” decision. Scenes of celebration are flooding social media, after this historic victory for LGBT+ people in Botswana and worldwide. Anna Mmolai-Chalmers, CEO of Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) said in a press release:… Read more »
Gay rights in Kenya: ‘Why our fight isn’t over’
Kenya’s High Court has ruled against campaigners seeking to overturn a law banning gay sex. But there is much to be proud of in the fight for equality despite this setback, writes Kevin Mwachiro. Thirteen years ago, I would never have thought that Kenya could get to this point – that our LGBTQ community would… Read more »
Kenya’s High Court Upholds a Ban on Gay Sex
Nairobi, Kenya — Kenya’s High Court on Friday upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, declining to join the handful of nations that have recently abolished a prohibition imposed by Britain during the colonial era. The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the court, announced in a courtroom packed with activists who wanted to see… Read more »
Kenya upholds law criminalising gay sex
Kenya’s High Court has ruled against campaigners seeking to overturn a law banning gay sex. The three judges rejected claims that the colonial-era law violated the new constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy. The penal code criminalises “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” – widely understood to refer to anal intercourse between men.… Read more »
Kenya: Court Upholds Archaic Anti-Homosexuality Laws
Activists Plan to Appeal (Nairobi) – Kenya’s High Court on May 24, 2019 upheld laws criminalizing homosexual acts between consenting adults, a step backward in the progress Kenya has made toward equality in recent years, Human Rights Watch said today. The court was addressing a petition filed in 2016 by three Kenyan organizations that work… Read more »
Binyavanga Wainaina: Kenyan author and LGBTI rights activist dies
He was named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people for his advocacy Kenyan LGBTI activist Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina died yesterday (21 May) at the age of 48. Tom Maliti, the chairman of the Kwani Trust which Wainaina founded, told The Associated Press the journalist died Tuesday night in Nairobi after an illness. Born in… Read more »
Human Rights Watch call for the end of LGBTI persecution in Tunisia
Rights group calls for changes to mark the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia Human Rights Watch (HRW) have called on the Tunisian authorities to cease their discrimination of LGBTI people. HRW joined with the Civil Coalition for Individual Freedoms in Tunisia in issuing a statement advocating for LGBTI rights in the country. The… Read more »
In one week’s time, we will know whether Kenya is the next country to decriminalize gay sex.
The law has impacted LGBTI people living in the eastern African country for decades. Voices of Kenya, put together by All Out, gathers some of their experiences of discrimination and persecution. ‘The aim is to show that the question of legalisation is not a technical, purely legal, matter. Real people are getting hurt and suffer… Read more »
A Queer Film Festival in Tunisia — Where Being Gay Is Illegal
For four days in March, a sanctuary for queer and trans people sprung up in Tunisia — a country where being gay is illegal. Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival, in its second year, differs significantly from other film festivals: some participants wear badges that read “No Photos;” attendees were invited through a private Facebook page and… Read more »
Almost 90% of people in Ghana don’t want LGBTI people meeting
Most Ghanians think LGBTI should be excluded from work or school LGBTI groups have come together in Ghana. They want to create a plan of how to overcome violence and discrimination in the African country. Sisters of the Heart in partnership with Alliance for Dynamics Initiative came together to discuss how to protect the rights… Read more »
Tunisia invokes sharia law in bid to shut down LGBT rights group
Judicial harassment and rise in arrests under anti-sodomy law add to climate of tension and fear One of the Arab world’s most visible advocacy groups defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people is facing closure following legal threats by the government. Association Shams has been officially operating in Tunisia since 2015,… Read more »
What’s it like to go on the run after your boyfriend is jailed for being gay?
This 21-year-old college student left everything behind when his country, Egypt, started a homophobic crackdown Karim was holding his breath in the trunk of a car, the stale pungent air heavy in his lungs, when the officers came. He was already hundreds of miles from his home in Egypt. In his possession, he only had… Read more »
Opinion: Nigeria is a cold-blooded country for gay men — I have the scars to prove it
Editor’s Note: Richard Akuson is a Nigerian lawyer and founder of A Nasty Boy magazine which seeks to challenge conventional norms about gender and masculinity. Akuson is now based in New York. The views expressed here are solely his. (CNN) – In 2017, I started A Nasty Boy magazine to validate and affirm the lives… Read more »
Kenya’s refugee camp Pride will be back despite violence and death threats
For security reasons they’ll keep the location of the Pride parade secret until the last minute Organizers of the first Pride parade in a refugee camp will defiantly return despite violence after the inaugural event. Mbazira Moses and his organization, Refugee Flag Kenya, put together the 2018 Pride at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.… Read more »
Selly Thiam’s Digital Media Organization Is Committed To Documenting Stories of Queer Africans
In 2004, Selly Thiam was working as a teacher in Chicago when she read about the murder of Sierra Leonean lesbian activist FannyAnn Eddy. Thiam, a Senegalese-American, was shaken by the news and also by how little she knew about LGBT activism in Africa. Harsh anti-LGBT laws across the African continent have kept many LGBT… Read more »
Kenyan gay man wants to change minds with new collection of LGBTI stories
Gay activist Denis Nzioka finds way around Kenyan anti-LGBTI discrimination in new anthology book #RafikiZetu: Kenyan LGBTIQ Stories, As Told By Allies is an anthology book aimed to promote acceptance of the LGBTI community in Kenya. Same-sex sexual acts are illegal per Section 162 of the Kenyan Penal Code and punishable by 5 to 14… Read more »
Botswana’s High Court postpones decision in gay sex case
Garborone (Reuters) – Botswana’s High Court on Thursday postponed its ruling on a case challenging the criminalisation of gay sex, which is being scrutinised by campaigners hoping the law could be overturned. Judge Abednico Tafa told a packed courtroom in Botswana’s capital Gaborone that a decision would be handed down on June 11 after a… Read more »
Botswana is set to decriminalize homosexuality, here’s everything you need to know
‘There’s nothing at this point that can completely break us’ Botswana’s resilient LGBTI community is hopeful their years long fight to decriminalize same-sex relations will be successful soon. On Thursday (14 March) the High Court in Gaborone – Botswana’s capital city – will hear arguments on the law criminalizing ‘unnatural offences’. Section 164 of Botswana’s… Read more »
Tunisia: Effort to Shut Down LGBT Group
Move Comes after Court Upheld Group’s Legality (Tunis) – The Tunisian government should halt its attempt to fight a court ruling that gave an LGBT association the right to operate, Human Rights Watch said today. The Tunis-based Shams association has vocally advocated the repeal of Tunisia’s anti-sodomy law and has defended many victims prosecuted on… Read more »
Tunisian government is fighting to shut down an LGBTI rights group
They fight anti-LGBTI laws in the country The Human Rights Watch is calling on the Tunisian government to cease their efforts of shutting down an LGBTI rights group within the country. According to HRW, Tunisia is fighting a court ruling which granted the LGBTI group Shams the right to operate. The government is arguing that… Read more »
Kenya is close to legalizing homosexuality. What about the rest of Africa?
Nairobi — Across Africa and the world, LGBT communities are anxiously watching a court case in Kenya’s capital. The court is expected to either retain a colonial-era law that criminalizes homosexuality, or scrap it, which would put Kenya in a small group of African nations that give LGBT people equal legal rights. A ruling in… Read more »
Cameroon: Crowd kills ‘man of God’ caught in the act
A pious shopkeeper in northern Cameroon was caught having sex with his 17-year-old male lover. Outraged, his neighbors killed him in the town’s central marketplace, local activists report. Diallo (a pseudonym), a human rights activist in Maroua, reports: A homosexual couple was surprised in the midst of love-making one morning last October in a shop… Read more »
Angola decriminalizes homosexuality, bans anti-gay discrimination
Lawmakers in Angola last week approved a new penal code that decriminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations in the African country. The Angolan Parliament on Jan. 23 scrapped the law that had been in place since Portugal colonized the country. Lawmakers also banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Associação Íris Angola, an Angolan LGBTI advocacy group,… Read more »
Angola Has Decriminalized Gay Sex, Human Rights Watch Says
According to rights group Human Rights Watch, Angola has decriminalized gay sex. “Angola has finally shed the divisive ‘vices against nature’ provision in its law, widely interpreted to be a ban on homosexual conduct,” the group wrote. Human Rights Watch said that the provision prohibiting same-sex relations was a holdover from its Portuguese colonizers. On… Read more »
Angola Decriminalizes Same-Sex Conduct
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Banned Angola has finally shed the divisive “vices against nature” provision in its law, widely interpreted to be a ban on homosexual conduct. Taking things one step further, the government has also prohibited discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation. And so anyone refusing to employ or provide… Read more »
Botswana president speaks up for LGBTI rights
There is new hope for LGBTI persons in Botswana because the south African country’s new president is advocating for LGBTI rights. In November, when Botswana‘s new president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, gave a speech against violence on women and children, he also emphasized the rights of LGBTI people. He made it clear that LGBTI people should have… Read more »
Egyptian TV host jailed for interviewing gay man on his show
TV host Mohamed al-Gheiti has expressed his own anti-gay views in the past An Egyptian TV host has been jailed for one year for interviewing a gay man on his TV show. Host Mohamed al-Gheiti, who has expressed his own anti-gay views in the past, was sentenced on Sunday. He was also fined 3,000 Egyptian… Read more »
The Cape Town schools learning from transgender students
As an increasing number of young South Africans reveal that their gender identities differ from their sex at birth, schools are learning about the challenges these students face, writes the BBC’s Mohammed Allie from Cape Town. Three years ago, Alex* transitioned from a boy to a girl. Now eight years old, she wears her blonde… Read more »
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