Many signs of progress, but also many instances of ongoing persecution of LGBTI people, are contained in the following round-up of the world’s recent LGBTI-related news, most of which was excerpted with slight modifications from the UNAIDS publication Equal Eyes: Human rights Activists in Odessa, Ukraine, convinced authorities to reconsider a last-minute ban that would … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Swaziland
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
Southern African Anglicans to LGBT people: Welcome
In sharp contrast to the Anglican churches of Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa is moving to welcome LGBT people as full members of the church. The Anglican Church of Southern Africa represents about 3 to 4 million people in South Africa and nearby countries. Most of those countries — South … Continue reading
LGBTI briefs: Stigma and HIV in Africa, India, Russia
News briefs about LGBTI-related health issues in countries with anti-gay laws, excerpted with slight modifications from UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI news. Involving LGBTI people in the fight against Aids In South Africa, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV brought together health workers, government officials, and advocates to discuss HIV needs … Continue reading
LGBTI news worldwide: From hope to troubles
News briefs about countries with anti-gay laws, excerpted with slight modifications from UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes recap of the world’s LGBTI-related news. Glimmers of hope In Russia, Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of state-controlled media, unexpectedly came out in favor of same-sex civil unions, despite previously expressing extreme anti-gay sentiments. Also in Russia, senator Konstantin Dobrynin suggests … Continue reading
New hope in AIDS fight: Gay, MSM Africans find their voices
Gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa have gained a potentially influential voice in decisions about how funding for HIV treatment and prevention is targeted in their local LGBTI communities. The change from excluding gay and MSM people to involving them in decision-making was demanded … Continue reading
Swaziland lesbian murdered in latest anti-gay attack
Excerpts from a report in the Thought Leader blog of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper by Jabu Pereira, director of the South Africa-based human rights group Iranti-org: Anti-gay attacks on the rise in Swaziland Kaylo Glover, a young lesbian from Nhlangano, Swaziland, stepped into a bar with her friends on the early hours of … 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
Anti-AIDS programs ignore LGBTs in Africa
While the LGBT community globally struggles to find funds for basic human services and HIV prevention, we are discovering disturbing trends in the allocation of United States funds to Christian fundamentalist organizations that are often in the front lines of encouraging the further criminalization of homosexuality. My recent visit to Uganda uncovered a disturbing trend … Continue reading
New video of protest about 76+ countries’ anti-LGBT laws
A new video about last month’s B.Right.On Festival provides glimpses of the festival’s protest against the anti-homosexuality laws that are on the books in 76-plus countries. Organizer/poet/activist Vince Laws said an estimated 400 people attended the protest, with 100 to 140 of them standing under a “Banned” banner with their faces painted with the names … Continue reading
