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 →

Gambia: Life Sentence for ‘Aggravated Homosexuality’

We are republishing the entire news release from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on the worsening situation for LGBTI in Gambia.  New Law Threatens LGBTI Community (Dakar, November 21, 2014) – Gambia’s recent passage of a homophobic law puts the already persecuted lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community at even greater risk of … Continue reading →

Gambia must stop wave of homophobic arrests and torture

Editor’s Note: Amnesty International issued this important news release on the Gambia on 18 November 2014.  We republish a very slightly edited version here.  The unedited news release may be viewed here. By Amnesty International Press Office in London, UK. The arrest, detention and torture of eight people since the beginning of the month as part … Continue reading →

Uganda strategy joins gay rights to women’s rights, health

Amnesty International is pushing for an end to repression in Uganda through a welcome strategy of including LGBTI rights issues in the context of that overall  human rights violations, abuse of women, and limitations on freedom of assembly and access to health services. It’s a strategy that aims to avoid the misinterpretation that seeking LGBTI … Continue reading →

Iran’s top judge denies executions for being gay

The head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadeq Amoli Larijani, has disputed the accuracy of frequent reports that Iran executes people for being gay. That accusation by Western human rights activists “is no more than a lie,” Larijani told a convention of Iran’s diplomatic corps in Tehran on Aug. 12, according to The Iran Project, a pro-Iran … Continue reading →

Scenes from global protests against Uganda’s anti-gay bill

Protesters in Africa, Europe and the Americas joined yesterday’s Global Day of Action against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The demonstrations, requested by LGBTI activists and Ugandan civil society groups, called on President Yoweri Museveni to reject the bill. Scenes from some of the protests are below: For news and photos of many more protests, see the Global Day … Continue reading →

Puny response to 68 arrests in Nigeria’s anti-gay war

As many as 68 suspected homosexuals have been arrested in oil-rich Nigeria in connection with the new anti-gay law imposed there early this month. Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, as well as human rights organizations, the European Union and the United Nations, had quickly condemned the law, which provides prison … Continue reading →

Call for probe: Family let Mbede die to exorcise gayness?

Grieving friends and allies of gay rights icon Roger Mbede are calling for an investigation into his family’s role in his death on Jan. 10. After Mbede, 34, left a hospital in Yaoundé last month, he was reportedly denied access to health care and was confined by his family to one room in their home … Continue reading →

Homophobia victim Roger Mbede dies in Cameroon

Roger Jean Claude Mbede, 34, the Cameroonian man who was sentenced to three years in prison for sending an amorous text to a male acquaintance, died today in his home village after running out of money to pay for medical care. During 16 months in prison, Mbede was the focus of an intense international push … Continue reading →

Honors for LGBT defender Alice Nkom of Cameroon

The German branch of Amnesty International announced last week that it will award its Human Rights Prize to attorney Alice Nkom of Cameroon, who continues to battle for the rights of LGBT people there. The award will go to her and her organization ADEFHO (Association for the Defense of Homosexuals) in a formal presentation in … Continue reading →