Interfaith activists at last week’s anti-AIDS conference in Ivory Coast pushed for an expanded role for progressive faith-based groups in combating HIV and AIDS. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Cote d’Ivoire
Ivory Coast: Anti-gay vandals hit anti-AIDS conference
Anti-gay vandals at last week’s anti-AIDS conference in Ivory Coast temporarily disrupted the work of activists fighting AIDS among men who have sex with men. But “the conference was thronged with energetic African AIDS activists of all ages, and civil society participation was present in force,” scholar/activist Meg Davis reported. Continue reading
A gathering of LGBT-friendly faithful from 10 W. African nations
The goal: “a space in West Africa where persons from diverse faiths, cultures, class and sexual orientations can convene, work with faith leaders and communities to create a world in which everyone enjoys all human rights irrespective of class, religious belief, culture and sexual orientation.” Late last month, West Africa moved a step closer to … 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
Comment: Africa isn’t anti-gay, ‘just hopelessly confused’
An insightful commentary in the pan-African publication Mail & Guardian Africa notes not only that African countries are far from united in their attitudes toward homosexuality, but also that many individual countries have self-contradictory laws. An excerpt from the article “Forgive it. Africa is not anti-gay; the continent is just hopelessly confused”: In Cote d’Ivoire, … Continue reading
Africa / Americas / Commentary
U.S. vs. ‘Dictators’ Club’ of anti-gay African strongmen
While African leaders meet this week at a trade summit in Washington, D.C., it’s important to recognize that some of Africa’s most repressive (and mostly anti-LGBTI) leaders are gaining strength from each other by providing mutual support, writes Alyssa Rickard, program associate for Africa Programs at democracy watchdog group Freedom House. She argues that the … Continue reading
World health agency: Fight AIDS by repealing anti-gay laws
In an understated report, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this month that nations should work to stop the spread of AIDS by removing obstacles to HIV prevention efforts that are caused by laws against homosexual activity, transgender status, sex work and drug use. Those laws limit health care access for groups that are most … Continue reading
Ivory Coast rights defenders agree on gay rights
By Jean Marc Yao (Aussi publié en français) At the initiative of the Ivorian League for Human Rights (LIDHO), several Ivorian civil society organizations came together on June 26 at the U.S. Embassy in Ivory Coast for a breakfast debate on the theme: “Ivorian Civil Society and Gay Rights in Côte d’Ivoire.” The gathering came … Continue reading
Ivory Coast: Humiliating and degrading treatment
(Aussi publié en français) Although there is no law against homosexuality in Ivory Coast, our correspondent informs us there has been an increase in homophobic attacks in recent months. On January 22 and 23, 2014, the headquarters of Alternative Côte d’Ivoire, an LGBT NGO fighting against AIDS, was attacked by a homophobic crowd of some sixty people. … Continue reading
Ivory Coast: Activists under attack by anti-gay mobs
An angry mob this week shouted death threats, hurled rocks and garbage, and protested outside the new home of three LGBT rights activists who had just moved into an upscale neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Alternative Cote d’Ivoire, an advocacy group that fights for LGBT rights and against AIDS, reported that police intervened on Jan. … Continue reading
