American Embassy Plays Host For Gay Pride Event

NAIROBI - On Tuesday, the U.S. embassy in Kenya's capital hosted a gay pride event, believed to be the first of its kind in the country.  The event is as part of the Obama administration’s policy to fight prejudice against lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. 

On Tuesday morning the embassy presented what is thought to be the first LGBT Pride celebration in Kenya, where homosexual acts are punishable by law.  Similar events are being held at U.S. embassies around the world.  The push to promote global LGBT rights follows several victories for gay rights advocates in the U.S. over the past year.

David Kato's Murderer Sentenced.

 

Sidney Nsubuga Enoch (L) the man suspected to have murdered Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato has been sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the crime. Photo by Johnson Mayamba  

Mukono High Court has on Thursday sentenced Sidney Nsubuga Enoch, 22, the man suspected to have murdered a gay rights activist in January this year, to 30 years in prison.

The 30 year sentence was passed by Justice Joseph Mulangira after Nsubuga admitted to have murdered David Kato 46, on 26th January 2011. This verdict was passed based on the evidence produced in court by the lead state prosecutor, Ms. Loe Karungi.

Ugandan gay activist wins RFK Human Rights Award

A gay rights activist in Uganda, where a bill that would punish gays with prison or death has stirred worldwide outrage, is poised to receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington on Thursday.

Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the former U.S. attorney general, is to be joined by Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry in presenting the award to Frank Mugisha at a ceremony on Capitol Hill. It is the first time the award is being bestowed on an activist working for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

"It gives me more courage to continue doing the work I'm doing," Mugisha told The Associated Press ahead of the award. "It sends out a message, not only to my country but to other countries that criminalize homosexuality."

The 29-year-old Mugisha leads an underground group whose members routinely shift locations in Uganda for their safety. Uganda, a conservative East African nation, is one of more than 70 nations that have imposed laws against being gay.

Tsvangirai changes view on gay rights

Zimbabwe’s beleaguered gays got a boost from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who reversed his position and voiced his support for gay rights. Gay rights should be enshrined in a new constitution for Zimbabwe, said Tsvangirai, in an interview with the BBC. He said that gay rights are a “human right” that conservative Zimbabweans should respect. Last year, Tsvangirai joined President Robert Mugabe in opposing homosexuality. But in the new interview he staked out an opposing position.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change has been in a controversial power sharing government with Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party. The two leaders have promised political reforms ahead of next year’s elections. Zimbabwe is in the process of drafting a new constitution, which will be put to a referendum ahead of the elections.

 Homosexual acts are currently illegal in Zimbabwe, as in most African countries where many people view homosexuality as un-Christian and un-African. Mr Tsvangirai said there is a “very strong cultural feeling” against homosexuality in Zimbabwe, but he would defend gay rights if he became president. “It’s a very controversial subject in my part of the world. My attitude is that I hope the constitution will come out with freedom of sexual orientation, for as long as it does not interfere with anybody,” said Tsvangirai. “To me, it’s a human right,” he said. Zimbabwe’s long-time leader Robert Mugabe — a practising Catholic — once said gays were “worse than pigs and dogs,” sparking international condemnation.


 In March 2010, Tsvangirai said gay rights was not up for discussion in Zimbabwe. ”I totally agree with the president,” he said at the time. Tsvangirai’s dramatic change suggests that he is now courting votes from Zimbabwe’s more liberal, educated parts of society. Also he is hoping to maintain support for the human rights community. He now wants Zimbabwe to adopt a liberal policy, similar to that of neighboring South Africa. He will face strong resistance from Mugabe, who will exploit Tsvangirai’s U-turn to drum up support for himself in the run-up to the election, correspondents say. It will be Zimbabwe’s first general election since

Tsvangirai’s MDC party formed a unity government with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF after polls in 2008. Those elections were marred by widespread violence and rigging, with Tsvangirai boycotting a run-off vote. The coalition — formed under pressure from regional leaders — has stabilized the country, but tension has been rising ahead of next year’s vote. The two parties have not yet to agreed on political and security reforms to guarantee a free and fair poll. Nor has a draft of a new constitution been agreed upon. Several public meetings on a constitution have been disrupted by angry Zanu-PF demonstrators.

Top judge slammed for view on gays.

Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. Photo: Reuters

JOHANNESBURG: The South African President, Jacob Zuma, has brushed aside criticism from gay rights and women's groups and appointed a conservative Christian as the new Chief Justice, a move that will have an impact on the country's judicial system for at least a decade.

Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who told a judicial panel last weekend he believed God chose him to head the Constitutional Court, is a member of the Winners Chapel, which believes homosexuality is a disease and ''curable''.

He has been criticised for decisions that threw out jail sentences for men convicted of marital rape or assaulting their girlfriends and reduced the sentences of men convicted of raping children.

Ghana’s Growing Gay Pride Faces Evangelical Backlash

 

On particular midweek nights, throngs of men and women gather at a few particular clubs to dance the night away to pulsating beats, and sometimes live music. The men dance provocatively close to each other, with reckless abandon. The few women around do the same with each other. Kisses are even exchanged.

 

Marchers demand action for murdered South African lesbian

 

Gay rights activists have marched on a police building in South Africa to petition for action over murder and corrective rapes in the east of the country.   Hundreds of gay rights activists marched to the Kwa-Thema police station to voice their frustration over the police’s “inaction” in Johannesburg’s East Rand townships, South Africa’s Mail & Guardian reports.

Egypt's gays gradually coming out of the closet

 

Pop star Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl was playing on speakers set around the dimly lit dance floor. Kholoud Bidak, a 33-year-old lesbian, leant against an old piano, scanning the entrance warily as guests paid $5.70 to get into one of Cairo's increasingly common underground gay parties.

Amnesty international urge Cameroon to release couple set for sexuality trial

 

Human rights charity Amnesty International are publicly urging Cameroon to release two men who are due to be tried for so-called sexuality crimes.    The local pair are due to stand trial for charges of homosexuality imminently. Currently in custody, they face up to five years behind bars if convicted.

 

MP and Ugandan bishop speak out for gay asylum seeker

 

A UK Liberal Democrat MP and a Ugandan bishop are calling for a gay asylum seeker to be given the right to stay in the UK. Mike Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, and Anglican Bishop Christopher Senyonjo say that 33-year-old Robert Segwanyi will face harassment and possibly violence if he is sent home.

Gay rights group fight back in Ghana

 

A coalition of gay rights activists, known as the Coalition Against Homophobia in Ghana (CAHG), has been formed to tackle ongoing anti-gay sentiment throughout the country.

“Round Up The Gays” Outrage as Ghana official Calls To Round Up Gays.

 

There is outrage after a vicious burst of African homophobia, a government minister in Ghana has drawn support after calling on the country's intelligence services to track down and arrest all gays and lesbians.  This call from Paul Evans Aidoo, the minister for the Western Region of Ghana, marks the latest in a series of expressions of officially condoned homophobia across the continent, which has previously been seen in Malawi, Uganda and South Africa.

Nigerian women's football team kicks out lesbians!

 

News Desk

According to Nigerian Sun Newspaper,  a local  women's football team has expelled a number of lesbians, just because they are lesbians.

Ghana AIDS Commission Update

 

The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) reported on Wednesday that it envisaged that the risk of the increase of activities of gays had initiated a series of focused surveillance activities for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

How one gay Tanzanian's asylum rejection shows the UK immigration system's unfairness

 

Eddy Cosmas (centre) at NUS LGBT conference

Special report By Paul Canning from LGBT Asylum News.

A gay Tanzanian activist has had his asylum case rejected at the first hurdle because he's not been accepted as gay. His case has been determined as one which can be quickly decided and he's therefore been placed in the 'fast track' process and immediately detained.

 

Kenya Report Claims Police Abuse Gays in Cells

 

Human rights rights issues are not always top of the agenda in some African nations, gay rights are even further down the list,  but a new report claims that gays are often abused and assaulted by police in Kenya.

International Day Against Homophobia

Anti-gay backlash threatens aid and rights in Africa

Many countries worldwide are marking International Day Against Homophobia – but in Malawi and Uganda gay rights are being eroded in a new climate of repression

• Guardian Newspaper reports

Uganda's anti-gay bill has been deemed out of time for the current sittings of parliament and its proponents are unlikely to be able revive it for some time. Photograph: Dai Kurokawa/EPA

Started six years ago, International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) now encompasses events in countries worldwide, including in China, Nigeria, Kenya and dozens in the UK. On 17 May 1970, homosexuality was removed from the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Uganda anti-gay bill 'shelved by parliament'

 

It’s confirmed that the Ugandan parliament has adjourned without debating a controversial bill which includes the death penalty for gays.  The Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been condemned by Western leaders and human rights groups, many of whom are still celebrating this "victory".

Is the Bill Dead?

 

Uganda’s parliament appeared Wednesday to have dropped plans to debate a controversial anti-gay bill after a global outcry from all over the world,  most notably the US and the UK.

This anti-gay bill was first proposed in 2009 but wasn’t debated until last Friday. The bill had been scheduled to be debated before the full parliament today  (Wednesday) but was dropped from the schedule.

Uganda gay death penalty rejected by Pastor Ssempa

 

 

Pastor Martin Ssempa is known for his fiery rhetoric against homosexuality rejects the gay death penalty bill.  However,  he wants tighter laws to prevent gays from having freedom.

 

• Ugandan gay activist wins award
• Uganda fear over gay death-penalty plans
• Obituary: Uganda gay activist David Kato