By Georgie Kane Rapid Response Fund at the International HIV/AIDS Alliance Within the first two months of its launch, a new emergency fund has already issued 24 grants in nine countries, keeping threatened HIV clinics open and protecting the activists that run them. Today, on the eve of World AIDS Day, the International HIV/AIDS … Continue reading
An Indonesian militant Islamist group raided a weekend gathering in Jakarta that the group claimed was a homosexual “sex party.” Police responded to the scene, questioned 13 men and released them yesterday after concluding that they had broken no laws. The local LGBT rights group Our Voice said police should have charged the raiders from … Continue reading
A total of 47 countries have repealed their anti-LGBT laws since 1982, leaving a total of 73 countries with such laws in place, according to a new publication from United Nations human rights specialists. Continue reading
Authorities in Marrakesh, Morocco, should drop charges against two teenage girls suspected of same-sex conduct, according to an appeal from Human Rights Watch and the Aswat Group for Sexual Minorities, a Moroccan group. The two girls, ages 16 and 17, face up to three years in prison for allegedly kissing each other. Continue reading
It’s too bad that so many Nigerians believe the sort of nonsense packed into a recent article in the Nigerian magazine Realityz. The article is titled “Sure cure for homosexuality and lesbianism.” The baseless article is written by one Sophilia Obire, who clearly does not even understand what it means to be gay. For starters, … Continue reading
From Jamaica, activist Maurice Tomlinson describes an encouraging incident on the long road toward fair treatment for Jamaica’s LGBTI citizens: Am I married? Recently I went to renew my Jamaican passport in Kingston and I was pleasantly surprised at the conversation with the customer service agent. It is reproduced below: Passport Officer: “So, are you … Continue reading
Tanzania’s anti-gay crackdown is starting to harm anti-HIV efforts, as predicted. The Washington Post reports: Last month, the minister of health announced that Tanzania will ban HIV/AIDS outreach projects aimed at gay men, pending a review. That forced the closure, at least temporarily, of U.S.-funded programs that provide testing, condoms and medical care to gays. About 30 percent … Continue reading
African opponents of equality for LGBT people and women will have to change their tune, at least a bit, now that racist, anti-LGBT and anti-female forces in the United States have succeeded in electing Donald Trump as president. Ugandan researcher/ activist Stella Nyanzi explains: By Stella Nyanzi When we advocated for the rights of … Continue reading
Caribbean leaders recently made it clear that there’s a long way to go before LGBTI people achieve full acceptance, as noted in UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI news. But there’s good news embedded in two of the following news items: A church leader in Grenada spoke against that country’s anti-gay law and … Continue reading
The U.N. General Assembly today rejected a plan to undo the U.N. Human Rights Council’s June decision to hire a watchdog to investigate violations of LGBTI rights. Among the countries supporting the LGBTI rapporteur were South Africa, which had earlier indicated support for the anti-LGBTI proposal; Sri Lanka and Kiribati, two countries that still … Continue reading
