Photos’ goal: Prove that being LGBTQ isn’t ‘un-African’

Photographer Mikael Owunna has a mission: to debunk the myth that it is “un-African” to be LGBTQ. To accomplish that mission, he photographs LGBTQ African immigrants and tells their stories. Continue reading →

Tally of LGBTI rights, wrongs in 29 sub-Saharan countries

Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made progress in recognizing the human rights of LGBTI people, but much work remains to be done in the region’s 29 countries that still have laws against same-sex intimacy. LGBTI rights in those African countries are the focus of the following excerpts  from the 2015 edition of the U.S. … Continue reading →

4 news briefs: Anti-gay laws undercutting AIDS efforts

In each of these four news items, the point is the same — countries’ anti-gay laws create problems for AIDS fighters. Each item was excerpted with slight modifications from UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI-related news: Speaking to Caribbean leaders in Barbados at a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted  … Continue reading →

Stop ignoring us, say young LGBTIQ Africans

At the Changing Faces Changing Spaces conference June 17 to 19 in Kenya, young LGBTIQ activists protested that they were often ignored by the LGBTIQ movement and left out of strategic decisions. They called for an end to attitudes that have “silenced the voices of young LGBTIQ Africans in the struggle for LGBTIQ rights in … Continue reading →

32 anti-gay African leaders, 32 smiling Obama photos

The issue of African countries imprisoning LGBTI people for their sexual orientation wasn’t on the agenda at this week’s United States/Africa summit in Washington, D.C. Instead, President Obama spoke about security, trade and economic development. Then, on Aug. 5, he and First Lady Michelle Obama posed for friendly photos with 32 leaders of countries with … Continue reading →

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 →

Anti-gay Ethiopia eases away from new crackdown

Ethiopia has backed away from the latest plans for intensifying anti-gay repression there. Plans for a large anti-gay rally in the capital on April 26 have been cancelled, the Associated Press reports. In addition, government spokesman Redwan Hussein said plans have been dropped for adding homosexual activity to a list of crimes ineligible for a … Continue reading →

Ethiopia: Anti-gay forces seek action against anti-HIV agency

Ethiopia’s one gay-friendly anti-AIDS agency,  Rainbow-Ethiopia HIV and Social Support Services, promotes public health, social justice and human rights in the country. In particular, it serves LGBT people as its clients, seeking health, social justice and human rights for them. That has angered powerful anti-gay forces in Ethiopia, as the affiliated Rainbow-Ethiopia HIV and Media … Continue reading →

In a small step forward, Ugandan pride parade is peaceful

UGANDA PRIDE 2013 VOA reports: KAMPALA, UGANDA — On Saturday, August 3, Uganda’s homosexual community stepped out of the shadows in red wigs and glittering stilettos. The country’s second gay pride parade, held on a sandy beach in Entebbe, drew over a hundred people eager to tell the world that they are out, they are … Continue reading →

View from Brazil: Anti-gay movement grows in Africa

This is a rough translation of an article published last month in the newspaper Estado of Sao Paulo, Brazil, which gives a sense of the degree of public awareness of LGBT rights issues there. The account is generally accurate, though the descriptions of the proposals in Uganda, Nigeria and probably Libya are inexact. The quotes … Continue reading →