In the wake of the massive earthquake in Nepal, activist Sunil Pant sent the following message on behalf of Blue Diamond Society, Nepal. In addition, the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation is collecting United States tax-deductible donations that will be sent to the Blue Diamond Society. To donate, visit the foundation’s donation page and … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: April 2015
Profile of a busy queer Ugandan sex worker activist
Ugandan anthropologist and social science researcher Stella Nyanzi writes here about Frank Kamya (Kanobana Mwanje Franco), a queer sex worker activist who has been a driving force behind two activist organizations fighting HIV in Kampala’s poorest neighborhoods, the Youth on Rock Foundation and the Come Out Post-Test Club. She wrote this commentary in advance of … Continue reading
Great generosity aids Caribbean fight vs. anti-gay hatred
On April 25, Canadian philanthropist and businessman Salah Bachir received this year’s Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art award, worth $25,000. He immediately donated it to lawyer/activist Maurice Tomlinson to support his LGBTI rights work in the Caribbean. THANKING SALAH By Maurice Tomlinson Last Saturday night Salah Bachir silenced me with his generosity, and I think … Continue reading
Court orders Kenya to register LGBTI activist group
Kenya’s High Court has ruled that the government cannot refuse to give official recognition to LGBTI organizations on the basis of Kenyan law prohibiting same-sex intimacy. The April 24 ruling came in a case brought by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC). The news was announced in this press release from NGLHRC: … Continue reading
LGBTI news briefs: Russia, Jamaica, Egypt, Nigeria, India, more
News briefs about countries with anti-gay laws, excerpted from the Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI-related news: The UN Human Rights Committee has recommended to Russia that it consider the “hate motive” when investigating crimes of possible homophobic or transphobic nature. Lawyer Kseniya Kirichenko said this is of “truly historical significance” as the recommendation acknowledges LGBT people as … Continue reading
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Tolerance 101: From the mouths of teenagers
Comment posted in this blog about anti-gay repression: Dear Colin Stewart, My name is Dawson Wright. I am 14 and i just don’t get why we argue over such things like this. It should be legal everywhere because it is just how that person is and we should not discriminate them because of that. Personally … Continue reading
African-American pastors’ Africa tour seeks end to anti-gay bias
Excerpt from the Equal Eyes recap of worldwide LGBTI-related news: US: Black pastors launch African tour to counteract Rick Warren’s anti-gay movement Spearheaded by The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Bishop Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder and Bishop-Elect Pastor Joseph Tolton, the organization’s international outreach ministry has launched a month-long tour of key African nations where LGBTI … Continue reading
Us vs. them (Egypt): Deport me!
Second of two articles about the challenge of breaking through emotional barriers that people erect between themselves and victims of persecution who act or look unlike them. This article, by activist/commentator Scott Long, focuses on the difficulty keeping relatively affluent Westerners’ interest in non-white victims of repression, particularly in news coverage of Egypt. The previous … Continue reading
Us vs. them (Caribbean): ‘If they only knew …’
First of two articles about the challenge of breaking through emotional barriers that people erect between themselves and victims of persecution who act or look unlike them. This article, by activist lawyer Maurice Tomlinson, focuses on affluent gay men’s barriers to understanding poor LGBT Jamaicans, Trinidadians, and themselves. The following article, by activist/commentator Scott Long, … Continue reading
Cameroon: Human Rights Defenders Day proposed for July 15th
We publish the call to associations and peers in the struggle for human rights and in particular for the rights of LGBTI people, by the CAMFAIDS team in Cameroon inviting all human rights defenders to commemorate July 15th as Human Rights Defenders Day. Dear colleagues and peers in the struggle for human rights and in … Continue reading
