Caleb Orozco, the activist in Belize who successfully challenged and overturned his country’s anti-gay law, has been selected as the 2017 winner of the David Kato Vision and Voice Award. In memory of murdered Ugandan LGBT activist David Kato, the award is presented annually to an exemplary LGBT rights activist. Continue reading
By Kikonyogo Kivumbi and Colin Stewart Supporters of human rights for LGBTI people gathered today in Kampala, Uganda, to honor inspirational Ugandan activist David Kato on the fifth anniversary of his murder. Kato was killed in his Kampala home in January 2011, a few weeks after helping to secure a court injunction against a Ugandan … Continue reading
Press release, modestly edited: London Pride 2015 The African LGBTI organisation Out and Proud Diamond Group celebrated African LGBTI Heroes during London Pride 2015. The group honored people who have stood up against anti-gay environments and regimes in Africa. Some of these heroes lost their lives during the struggle to liberate us and others against … Continue reading
On the same day when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all states must recognize same-sex marriages, the progressive U.S.-based Episcopal Church is considering whether to extend its work for justice to LGBT people in Africa. The church’s General Convention, now under way in Salt Lake City, Utah, will decide whether to authorize not only … Continue reading
Philadelphia film/video festival selects ‘Outed: The Painful Reality’ The Ugandan film “Outed: The Painful Reality” has been selected for this year’s qFLIX film and video festival in Philadelphia. The qFLIX festival, founded last year, is the successor to the QFest festival, which presented American and international lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer independent film in … Continue reading
East African tabloid newspapers returned last week to their hateful tradition of outing alleged and actual LGBT citizens, this time with a front-page article that listed alleged lesbians in Uganda. The article in the Hello tabloid of May 29 came less than two weeks after a Kenyan tabloid listed that country’s “top” 14 gays and … Continue reading
Ugandan film director Hassan Kamoga, also known as Miracle, has created a drama about LGBT people who are killed after newspapers label them publicly as gay, as happened to activist David Kato in 2011. The movie, titled simply “Outed,” was greeted warmly at its Ugandan premiere in February, Kuchu Times reported. Kamoga explained that the … Continue reading
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
Perseverance. Fear. Difficulties. Threats. Tolerance. Leadership. Those are some of the themes of an interview with Clare Byarugaba, who until this summer was co-leader of Uganda’s Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which led the opposition to that country’s now-overturned Anti-Homosexuality Act. Byarugaba was interviewed before starting a human rights fellowship this … Continue reading
“The Red Pepper is despicable” is today’s simple comment from LGBT rights activist Maurice Tomlinson. That comment comes in response to today’s front page of the Red Pepper tabloid, dominated by the blaring headline “Homos Vow to Kill Kadaga.” Rebecca Kadaga, the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, is preparing for a new vote on the … Continue reading
