News items in this recap mostly were excerpted with slight modifications from two published round-ups of the world’s LGBTI-related news– UNAIDS’s Equal Eyes and ILGA’s LGBulleTIn. Physical attacks and arrests Police arrested about 20 activists supporting the LGBTI community during the annual May Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia. Two days before the march, Meduza … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Youth on Rock Foundation
Nominations open for 2015 Ugandan human rights awards
Ugandan LGBTI and sex worker advocacy organizations are now accepting nominations for their 2015 Human Rights Awards. The awards being sponsored by Spectrum Uganda and Youth On Rock, two Ugandan organization that both fight Aids and seek recognition of human rights for LGBTI Ugandans and sex workers. Deadline for nominations is Nov. 29 via the … Continue reading
Hundreds gather for peaceful IDAHOT pride in Uganda
Ugandan LGBT and sex worker communities gathered on Saturday (May 16) for their second annual peaceful Pride celebration, sponsored by the grassroots anti-HIV, pro-LGBT Youth on Rock Foundation. The event was scheduled to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). It brought together 240 Ugandan LGBT and sex workers from a variety … Continue reading
Ugandan LGBTI solidarity celebration coming May 16
This is a revised and updated version of the article originally published on April 22. LGBTI and sex worker activists in Uganda are preparing for a celebration of solidarity, with an emphasis on developing self-sufficiency in their community. The local Youth on Rock Foundation is organizing the event in conjunction with the International Day Against … Continue reading
Profile of a busy queer Ugandan sex worker activist
Ugandan anthropologist and social science researcher Stella Nyanzi writes here about Frank Kamya (Kanobana Mwanje Franco), a queer sex worker activist who has been a driving force behind two activist organizations fighting HIV in Kampala’s poorest neighborhoods, the Youth on Rock Foundation and the Come Out Post-Test Club. She wrote this commentary in advance of … Continue reading
Germany’s fears block Ugandans’ trip to safety seminar
By Ruby Pratka Members of a Ugandan LGBT youth group will have to keep waiting to attend a security training seminar in Germany, due to visa difficulties. The four-day seminar was organized by the German activist group Helping a Minority in a Minority (HAMIAM) and was initially supposed to include 36 young Ugandans from … Continue reading
Kuchus’ Day Out: a time to celebrate despite anti-gay law
About 100 people gathered on a Ugandan beach last weekend to celebrate LGBT solidarity in an increasingly anti-gay country — and to have fun. The event, called Kuchus’ Day Out, was organized by the anti-AIDS and pro-LGBT rights advocacy group Youth on Rock Foundation. The word “kuchu” — Ugandan slang for “gay” — is a … Continue reading
The rotten roots of Uganda’s anti-gay celebration
LGBT rights activists in Uganda were rattled by the display of widespread anti-gay sentiment and the ill-informed homophobic speech given by President Yoweri Museveni during today’s Parade and Thanksgiving Celebration for the enactment of the country’s harsh new Anti-Homosexuality Act. In his speech, Museveni disregarded the broad scientific consensus that homosexuality is a natural phenomenon, … Continue reading
2 scary tales of Ugandan gay activists; you can help
On paper, the Anti-Homosexuality Law has not taken effect in Uganda, but its harsh effects are already being felt on the streets. Among many reports of arrests, harassment and one murder of LGBT people, here are accounts from two activists associated with the Youth on Rock Foundation and the Come Out Post Test Club, which … Continue reading
Will AIDS activist’s death boost HIV support services?
The Youth on Rock Foundation is working to improve its HIV education and support services in conjunction with a memorial for foundation member Abby Love (Abby Mukasa), who died April 24 of complications related to AIDS. Mukasa was an active member of the foundation, a community-based organization working on issues affecting the LGBT/sex worker communities … Continue reading
