Africa

 

 

 

Homosexual students under threat

Walking with a spring in her step, her left hand thrown around the waist of another woman, Ressina Chimuka, a student at Midlands State University in Gweru, walks around the campus. They draw the attention of onlookers. The lovers pretend to not notice the glaring, though it does make them uncomfortable “Belonging to a sexual… Read more »

South Africa’s first gay rugby team smash homophobic stereotypes

The Jozi Cats are South Africa’s first openly inclusive gay rugby team. After starting up in early 2016, the team began their campaign in the world of rugby with a photoshoot that was designed to challenge masculine stereotypes that surround the sport. The shoot presents the players in provocative poses in front of images that… Read more »

Tunisia: Attack targets LGBTQ activist from Shams

Physical attack against LGBTQ rights defender Bouhdid Belhedi Tunisia, 29 April 2016 — On 27 April 2016, a group of three young men brutally assaulted LGBTQ rights defender Bouhdid Belhedi in his hometown of Hammamet, after the group recognized his affiliation to Shams LGBTQ rights association. Bouhdid Belhedi is a defender of the LGBTQ community… Read more »

Pressures over homosexual rights

Donor agencies want Malawi to respect gay rights, but the Catholic Bishops and other religious leaders – including Muslim Sheikhs – have warned President Peter Mutharika against including such rights in the constitution. The Archbishop Thomas Msusa of Blantyre has told President Mutharika that this controversy is “alien to Malawi”. In his eyes, foreigners are… Read more »

Introducing Miss Woubi, Ivory Coast’s unlikely cross-dressing pageant

With a gay scene unrivalled by other west African countries, Abidjan plays host to an empowering celebration of gender fluidity On a warm Saturday night, an events space usually reserved for weddings and baptisms was overtaken by men in flowing gowns and rainbow hair extensions as Ivory Coast’s gay community celebrated the most raucous night… Read more »

Victims of homophobic attack freed from prison in Morocco

A court has released two men convicted of homosexuality after they were attacked and slashed in their own home. A Moroccan court has released two men convicted of homosexuality, after they were attacked and dragged out into the street naked. The court also jailed two men convicted of attacking the couple, in a case that… Read more »

Nigeria launch investigation into ‘gay’ Swiss Ambassador

The Nigerian Government is to investigate claims that Switzerland’s Ambassador to the country is living with his husband. Eric Mayoraz arrived in Nigeria last year and – according to local newspaper, the Daily Trust – did so with his husband, a Brazilian man known as Mr Carlos. Akinremi Bolaji, a spokesman for the Ministry of… Read more »

Mozambique’s enduring discrimination leaves gay men untreated for HIV

Despite a veneer of progressive policymaking, bias against the rising number of men with HIV remains commonplace in Mozambique, deterring many from seeking treatment In June, Mozambique dropped a colonial-era law criminalising homosexual activities. The change passed relatively quietly in the southern African country. After all, no one had ever been convicted. A few weeks… Read more »

Making sense of Homosexuality in Tanzania

Could you please begin by explaining the legal situation regarding the rights of homosexuals? In Tanzania homosexuality is punishable under the Penal Code which states that, homosexuality is considered an unnatural act punishable under the Penal Code, Cap. 16 R.E. 2002, section 154 of which provides that any person who (1) has carnal knowledge of… Read more »

Mozambique’s enduring discrimination leaves gay men untreated for HIV

Despite a veneer of progressive policymaking, bias against the rising number of men with HIV remains commonplace in Mozambique, deterring many from seeking treatment In June, Mozambique dropped a colonial-era law criminalising homosexual activities. The change passed relatively quietly in the southern African country. After all, no one had ever been convicted. A few weeks… Read more »

Malawi Catholic Church demands government resumes jailing gays

Malawi’s Catholic bishops want the government to end its moratorium on prosecuting sexually active homosexuals The Catholic Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi have publicly called on the Malawian Government to resume criminalizing members of the LGBTI community and end its moratorium on prosecuting those accused of indulging in gay sex. The government, under… Read more »

Mob trash university in hunt for ‘gay’ man

A mob in Senegal have “burned” and “ransacked” buildings at a university in search of a gay student. The crowd formed last Tuesday at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, after one student accused another of hitting on him in the showers. Amateur footage showed the group going around various buildings of the institution, shouting… Read more »

When rumours spread that a male student had hit on a classmate in the showers of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, all hell broke loose. A mob formed to track down the suspected homosexual, causing serious damage to buildings on the campus. The events took place last Tuesday on the campus of Dakar’s main… Read more »

Malawi bishops attack government over homosexual acts

Catholic bishops in Malawi have attacked the government for placing a moratorium on ‘harmful’ homosexual laws. In a letter to parishioners, the bishops condemned homosexuality and the government’s actions. They said that although the homosexual “condition is disordered but not sinful in itself”, if a person was to act on their feelings and have sex… Read more »

Tunisia’s brave LGBT community is battling homophobia and anal ‘exams’

Ian Duncan MEP writes about meeting brave LGBT activists from Tunisia – and how the country can overcome its colonial past. The democratic uprisings that we know today as the Arab Spring, began in Tunisia. In short order the protests of the Jasmine Revolution had spread through much of North Africa and the Middle East.… Read more »

Malawi Court Annuls Government Suspension of Anti-Gay Laws

Blantyre, Malawi — A high court in Malawi has ordered the annulment of a government moratorium issued in 2012 that suspended a law criminalizing homosexual acts. The government had suspended enforcement of the anti-gay laws pending parliamentary review after rights campaigners said the laws were unconstitutional. The court’s order to enforce the anti-gay laws comes… Read more »

Gay imam helps young Muslims balance religion, sexuality

Marseille, France (AP) — Growing up in Algeria, Shaira had almost everything a young man could wish for. But he also had a big secret. In a land where homosexuality is still a crime and a sin, he was forced to live a secret life, hiding that he was gay from everyone — even his… Read more »

The War on Homosexuality: A look to Botswana

The war on homosexuality has been raging for decades. With people on opposite sides of the debate often fixated on whether homosexuality is inherent or learned behaviour, whether homosexual people are fully human, whether the world should rest on the face of this “scourge” of homosexuality which supposedly causes global warming, and whether the punishment… Read more »

Two more men jailed for being gay in Morocco

The men tried to escape police after they were caught together. Two Moroccan youths have been jailed for one and a half years and fined 2,000 dirhams (£375) each on charges of homosexuality. The sentence was handed down by a court in the southern town of Tiznit on Monday (February 1). The two men –… Read more »

Forbidden Love: a student’s struggle for LGBT rights in Tunisia

Tunisia is supposedly the success story of the Arab Spring, but LGBT people still face violent oppression. One Tunisian LGBT activist speaks about his personal and political struggles. Comment “I had to leave my family for I couldn’t face the harassment, the threats any longer.” Ramy Ayari is a 22 year-old computer science student from… Read more »

11 Arrested for Being Gay in Senegal—Is President Obama to Blame?

Is a recent mass arrest evidence for a continent-wide backlash against American policies? Not so fast. Reports from the West African nation of Senegal say that the government has arrested 11 people accused of homosexual acts. If convicted, those accused—who were rounded up at a “celebration of a gay marriage”—face up to five years in… Read more »

Senegalese Police Arrest 11 Accused of Homosexual Acts

Residents in the Senegalese town of Kaolack say police have arrested 11 people accused of homosexual acts. Boukhari Ndiaye said the arrested were among 20 people attending a celebration of a gay marriage at a school in the town about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of the capital, Dakar, on Friday. He said the 11… Read more »

U.S. Support of Gay Rights in Africa May Have Done More Harm Than Good

Lagos, Nigeria — Suspicious neighbors and landlords pry into their private lives. Blackmailers hunt for victims on the social media sites they use to meet others of the same sex. Police officers routinely stop them to search for incriminating images and chats on their cellphones. Since an anti-gay law went into effect last year, many… Read more »

Malawi drops gay sex charges against men after international outcry

Malawi has dropped charges against two men who were arrested under gay sex laws, after pressure from the US and UK. The country’s government, which is heavily reliant on support from NGOs and Western aid money, had confirmed last year that it would no longer arrest people for same-sex sexual acts – an agreement first… Read more »

Born This Way

About The Film Synopsis There are more arrests for homosexuality in Cameroon than any other country in the world. With intimate access to the lives of four young gay Cameroonians, Born This Way steps outside the genre of activist filmmaking and offers a vivid and poetic portrait of day-to-day life in modern Africa. Lyrical imagery,… Read more »

Six men sent to jail for three years for gay sex acts

The group of men were also banned from returning home for five years. Six young men have been sentenced to three years in prison for gay sex acts, according to an LGBT group in Tunisia. The court also ruled that the men would be banished from their native city for a further five years –… Read more »

Gambia declared Islamic republic by President Yahya Jammeh

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has declared his Muslim-majority country an Islamic republic, saying the move marks a break with the colonial past. Mr Jammeh told state TV the proclamation was in line with Gambia’s “religious identity and values”. He added that no dress code would be imposed and citizens of other faiths would be allowed… Read more »

Gay Nigerians face beatings, harsh prison sentences, even death

Nigeria made same-sex marriage and gay rights activism illegal last January. Since then, gay Nigerians say abuse and extortion have become commonplace by state-sponsored vigilantes, police and public mobs. As part of a week-long series “Nigeria: Pain and Promise,” special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on the threats and violence that LGBT citizens face in that… Read more »

Govt clamps down on gays

Government has reportedly clamped down on foreign gays and lesbians attending the International Conference on Aids and STI’s in Africa (ICASA) in Harare and seized their workshop material at Harare International Airport, NewsDay has learnt. This came as suspected State security agents yesterday pulled down an exhibition stand mounted by the group to display and… Read more »

Pope Francis passes up chance to condemn Uganda’s anti-gays

Anglican and Roman Catholic 19th-century missionary martyrs honoured, but LGBT rights activists are left disappointed Pope Francis has preached a message of reconciliation on a visit to Uganda, calling on people to reach out to “those who might be unfriendly, even hostile, to us” within local communities and in the conflict-ridden region. On the fourth… Read more »

Uganda’s Gay Community Has High Hopes For Pope Francis’s Visit

Church leaders, however, are praying the pontiff will avoid LGBT issues. Kampala, Uganda (AP) — Gay activists are hoping Pope Francis will preach tolerance toward homosexuals, and even go so far as to condemn violent attacks against gays during his upcoming visit to Uganda. Church leaders, however, are praying he’ll avoid the issue altogether. The… Read more »

Liberia: Gay Practice On the Rise Here

A Montserrado County Senator has alarmed that the practice of homosexuality is on an unprecedented rise here, especially among young men. Sen. Doe Sherif indicated that some influential and economically powerful men and women in the Liberian society were using cash to induce young men to the practice gay and lesbianism. Speaking in Monrovia on… Read more »

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Says Gay Rights Are Not A ‘Pressing Issue’ For Kenyans

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday told CNN that Africans have more pressing issues to deal with than LGBT rights. On his recent trip to Kenya, President Barack Obama talked about such rights in a joint press conference with Kenyatta. “As an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of… Read more »

South Africa’s Safe House Offers Gay Community Refuge And Hope

“I decided to come here so I would be free. No one is going to threaten me because I’m gay.” Cape Town, South Africa (RNS) Sipping ginger beer at an outdoor restaurant in Gugulethu, one of South Africa’s murder hubs, Prince January said he feels safe. Across the train tracks at their shared home in… Read more »

Stop to the humiliation and the violation of privacy of the citizns

We, members of civil society and LGBTQI activists, you are sharing our news, legal advice, psychological expertise as well as the release of the National Council of the Medical Association of Tunisia in connection with the case Marwan young man who was arrested and convicted for homosexuality. The signatory organizations: – Tunisian ssociation defense of… Read more »

GALZ says 50 percent of gays HIV positive, pushes for action

AT least 50% of the country’s gay and lesbian community is HIV positive, a recent study conducted by the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has revealed. The results of the study confirm that this situation, if ignored, could erode the government’s achievements in HIV management over the past one and a half decades. “In… Read more »

Uganda’s President says new anti-gay laws ‘not necessary

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said he will not pursue further anti-gay legislation in the country. The long-standing leader has declared that he will not pursue further anti-gay legislation, after previous attempts to strengthen the country’s anti LGBT legislation were defeated. President Museveni signed the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill last February. The law called for repeat… Read more »

Tunisia’s lesbian community mobilises against deep-rooted prejudice

Stigmatised and even criminalised by draconian laws for more than a century, the Tunisian lesbian and transgender community is battling back Nawel was in Tunis’s city centre when it happened. “This guy came up to me from nowhere. He was dressed really religiously and, without any warning, he just slapped me across the face –… Read more »

Calls made for Senegal to release men convicted of homosexual acts

Calls have been made to release seven men arrested in July and sentenced to six months in prison for ‘homosexual acts’. A gay rights activist Djamil Bangoura, the president of Prudence, gay rights group, on Friday said Senegal must release the men arrested in July in Dakar. He said laws must be changed and that… Read more »