Uganda: “Where Do We Go for Justice?”

A report on the criminal justice system was issued today by Chapter Four in Uganda. Titled: Uganda: “Where Do We Go for Justice?” The Abuse of the Rights of Sexual Minorities in Uganda’s Criminal Justice System.  “UGANDA’s criminal justice system should cease the practice of intrusive, non-consensual and dehumanizing anal/rectum examination of persons of different sexual … Continue reading →

Nigerian safe house might close without your help

  A safe house for persecuted LGBT people in Nigeria needs financial help — specifically, US $2,000 to pay the annual rent for the shelter, which has been operated by the gay-friendly House of Rainbow Fellowship for the past three years.  If the safe house has to shut down, its five current residents would have to … Continue reading →

Uganda interview helps launch LGBTI refugee support group

A new European ally for African LGBTI rights activists — International LGBTI Support  (ILS) — will soon launch its Ugandan support program at the European Parliament in Brussels.  As the group prepares to unveil its  International Support Uganda (ISU) project, the executive director of ILS  interviewed long-time Ugandan activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, founding editor of “Bombastic” … Continue reading →

Video: The human cost of Russia’s anti-gay campaign

Russia’s “concerted, government-run anti-gay propaganda campaign” is the focus of this week’s video in the “Quorum” series of 11 discussions of international LGBTI issues. In the latest Daily Beast video, activist Anastasia Smirnova, who was arrested in Russia for posting an LGBT banner at the Sochi Olympics, talks with Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen.  Although Smirnova … Continue reading →

Turkish police beat 2 gay Iranian refugees

In a country that LGBT Iranian refugees are finding increasingly hostile, two gay Iranian men were severely beaten on Jan. 26 by a police officer at the police station in a town (name withheld to protect the men) in southern Turkey. The two men are same-sex partners, in their 30s. They had asked the police officer … Continue reading →

New U.S. strategies for combating anti-gay laws

United States officials are pushing two relatively new strategies for promoting the human rights of LGBTI people worldwide. Over the opposition of Global South politicians and others who complain of neo-colonialism whenever the U.S. tries to dissuade homophobic nations from persecuting their sexual minorities, LGBTI advocates are promoting these two endeavors: 1. Using free-trade pacts … Continue reading →

Challenging the criminalisation of LGBT people

This is a Policy Brief, issued by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, reprinted here with permission, with some reformatting.  The Alliance is one among many advocacy organisations that are challenging the criminalisation of LGBT persons.: Policy Brief – Challenging the criminalisation of LGBT people: Recommendations for governments, multilaterals, companies and NGOs “The criminalisation of sex between men will remain … Continue reading →

Video: ‘Laws are great,’ but LGBTI struggle must go further

Laws guaranteeing human rights for LGBTI people have their limits. “Laws are great, but they don’t make you full. They don’t stop you from being raped. Economic empowerment and poverty alleviation is what we need. Stand by us,” says Jabu Pereira of South Africa in this week’s video from the “Quorum” series of 11 discussions … Continue reading →

HIV-positive straight ally in Zimbabwe wins Kato Award

Zimbabwean women’s and LGBTI rights activist Martha Tholanah is the winner of this year’s David Kato Vision & Voice Award, which honors people working for the human rights of sexual minorities worldwide, especially in homophobic societies. Tholanah, a straight, HIV-positive activist “risks her life every day to support [LGBTI] people across the country. Her activism … Continue reading →

Ugandan anti-gay law is dead, but court challenge lives on

A legal battle continues against Uganda’s now-defunct Anti-Homosexuality Act, led by the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), a gay-friendly legal advocacy group in Uganda. HRAPF will not be joined in the case by the UHAI East African Sexual Health and Rights Initiative (UHAI-EASHRI) or the Health Development Initiative-Rwanda (HDI-Rwanda), because the East African … Continue reading →