Belize, the only Central American country with an anti-homosexuality law, may be moving slowly toward acceptance of LGBT people’s human rights. Here are a few of the events of 2012, as listed by the United Belize Advocacy Movement (Unibam): January 2012: Unibam files a legal challenge of the constitutionality of Section 53 of the criminal … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Arrest of LGBTI leader in Uganda
Uganda police have arrested LGBTI leader Joseph Kawesi on charges of homosexual activity and “recruiting youth into homosexuality,” gay rights activists say. Kawesi is founder of the LGBTI group Youth on Rock Foundation. His lawyers are seeking his release on bail, Identity Kenya reported. Under current Ugandan law, sexual intercourse (“carnal knowledge”) between two men … Continue reading
Plea for support for Ugandan whom UK seeks to deport
The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns is seeking support for Frank Zalwango, a Ugandan lesbian who wants to remain in the United Kingdom rather than be deported to Uganda, where she fears prosecution and imprisonment for her sexual orientation. The group asks supporters to send an email to Kenya Airlines, asking it to reject Zalwango … Continue reading
A night in hell, Zimbabwe style
In this year-end recollection, Miles Tanhira of the activist group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) describes last August’s police raid of GALZ headquarters, during which office equipment was seized and dozens of members were arrested. The organization has since closed its office. Police have not returned the property they seized. By Miles Tanhira I’ve … Continue reading
Uncategorized
‘Erasing 76 Crimes’: a statistical review of 2012
WordPress.com prepared a 2012 annual statistical report for this blog, which was launched early this year. Here’s an excerpt: 4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 53,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 12 Film Festivals. Click here to see the complete … Continue reading
Unpublicized religion: ‘Sex tourism of the Christian Right’
Multinational battles over LGBT rights — opposed by many conservative Christians and supported by progressive faith leaders — came in at No. 9 on a list of 13 under-publicized stories about religion in 2012. The list, published on the Religion Dispatches website, was compiled by Peter Laarman, executive director of Progressive Christians Uniting. Here’s what he … Continue reading
Pressure on Cameroon to halt human rights abuses
Activist groups are keeping up the pressure on President Paul Biya to halt Cameroon’s harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBTs). But so far he has made no response to their pleas. In October, Biya received a letter from a dozen anti-AIDS and pro-human rights groups in Cameroon, along with human rights organizations … Continue reading
LGBT world 2012: victories, setbacks, close calls
The idea that people should be thrown in jail for loving the wrong people fell out of favor in a few countries in 2012. But the battle for basic human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people raged from Singapore to Moscow and from sub-Saharan Africa to the Caribbean. During the year, advocates … Continue reading
From New Zealand, a view of world’s LGBT rights struggle
The battle against Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill has produced some positive results — and not just the failure of the bill to pass in this year’s parliamentary session, says the Rev. Canon Albert Ogle. In an interview on New Zealand’s “Gay Talk Tonight” online talk show with host Andrew Whiteside, Ogle says that in some … Continue reading
13-step plan to nudge Jamaica away from homophobia
The human rights advocacy group AIDS-Free World has filed a legal challenge against two Jamaican broadcasters that refused to air a paid announcement called “Love and Respect” advocating tolerance for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. But that is merely the latest in a series of initiatives by activists, including the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals … Continue reading
