African LGBT activists praise, mourn Nelson Mandela

Posted on December 6, 2013 by

Memories, mourning and inspiration

Gathering during the ongoing ICASA anti-AIDS conference in South Africa at one of many Nelson Mandela memorials.

A gathering during the ongoing ICASA anti-AIDS conference in Cape Town, South Africa, at one of many Nelson Mandela memorials. (Photo courtesy of Frank Kamya)

The death of South African liberator Nelson Mandela on Dec. 5  brought sadness and words of deep appreciation from African LGBT activists.

“Nelson was a person who fought against discrimination in all its forms,” said Dominique Menoga, president of Camfaids (the Cameroonian Foundation for AIDS).

Ugandan LGBT rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera said:

Goodbye, son of freedom. Your inspiration will forever live on. You deserve rest now. You are at peace. …

Many freedom fighters of today got the courage and hope from Madiba [the clan name by which South Africans refer to Mandela]. He showed us that it’s not only arms that can bring about change.

I remember when I was 10 years old, when they called assembly to announce his release date. That was my turning point and since then I have been following him, watching his struggle, reading books and watching films. He inspired me so much and today I can proudly say he lives within me and us in our struggle for equality and freedom. RIP.

Desmond Tutu, Anglican archbishop emeritus of Cape Town and long-time activist, wrote in AllAfrica:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Photo via WikiCommons Media)

Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (Photo via WikiCommons Media)

The world is a better place for Nelson Mandela. He showed in his own character, and inspired in others, many of God’s attributes: goodness, compassion, a desire for justice, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. He was not only an amazing gift to humankind, he made South Africans and Africans feel good about being who we are. He made us walk tall. God be praised.

Frank Kamya of the anti-AIDS pro-LGBT rights Youth on Rock Foundation in Uganda said Mandela was “my diva — a man who had equal sympathy for humanity regardless of anything like colour, race, gender or sexual orientation. He inspired a lot of people to stand up for their own rights and the rights of others.”

Earlier this year, LGBT activist Phumi Mtetwa described how important Mandela was in making South Africa a beacon of justice for LGBT people in Africa. Mtetwa, co-founder of South Africa’s National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE) and former executive director of the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, recalled how Mandela’s words and example inspired about 70 lesbian, gay and human rights organisations to launch the NCGLE  in Johannesburg in 1994.

Sir Ian McKellan, Phumi Mtetwa, Nelson Mandela and Simon Nkoli at Luthuli House in 1995. (Photo courtesy of NCGLE)

Sir Ian McKellan, Phumi Mtetwa, Nelson Mandela and Simon Nkoli at Luthuli House in 1995. (Photo courtesy of NCGLE)

“This significant moment in the history of gay and lesbian organising in South Africa had its roots in the anti-apartheid struggles, in which many openly gay and lesbian people were active,” he wrote. He added:

A coalition delegation (Simon Nkoli, British actor Sir Ian McKellen and myself) met President Mandela in February 1995, at the ANC’s then headquarters, to acknowledge the organisation’s commitment to equality, and to reiterate the importance of ensuring that it lived up to that commitment and presented the aspirations of many lesbian and gay people, organised as the NCGLE.

Mandela’s presidency was one of constitutional and legal reform. In 1996, when the final Constitution was adopted, we could continue to celebrate the equality clause and the Bill of Rights.

The NCGLE, until it was disbanded in 1999, then the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project, and then the LGBTI Joint Working Group and their member organisations, worked on legal reforms such as the recognition of same-sex partnerships and marriage. This latter campaign was successful in 2006, when Parliament passed the Civil Union Bill. That is one instance of widely celebrated processes and results attributable to Mandela’s vision of South Africa as the “rainbow nation”.

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A new anti-homosexuality law in Nigeria

Posted on December 5, 2013 by
Location of Katsina State in Nigeria. (Map courtesy of Wikipedia)

Location of Katsina State in Nigeria. (Map courtesy of Wikipedia)

The legislature of Katsina State in northern Nigeria added to that country’s patchwork quilt of anti-gay laws on Dec. 3, passing a law providing for 14 years in prison for same-sex relations between either men or women.

The same state law also applies to anyone convicted of same-sex sexual harassment of students, job-seekers, employees and others, the Nigerian Daily Post reported, citing the News Agency of Nigeria.

Federal law in Nigeria already provides for 14 years imprisonment for such “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature.”

Osun State also has its own anti-homosexuality law under which two men were charged in October.

In addition, 12 northern Nigerian states, including Katsina, have adopted Islamic sharia law, which at least on paper provides for up to the death penalty for male-male sex and whipping and/or prison for lesbian sex.

Both the Senate and House in Nigeria have passed slightly different versions of legislation that would provide up to 14 years in prison for same-sex marriages, as well as up to 10 years in prison for witnesses and assistants at same-sex weddings, members of gay-rights organizations, and those who make a “public show of same-sex amorous relationships directly or indirectly.”

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First conviction under Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ law

Posted on December 4, 2013 by

Two LGBT activists were convicted and fined on Dec. 3 in a Russian lower court on charges of promoting “non-traditional” relationships. It was the first such conviction under the country’s new “gay propaganda law,” BuzzFeed reported, citing The Moscow Times.

As BuzzFeed reported:

Nikolai Alekseyev (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

Nikolai Alekseev (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

Nikolai Alexeyev, the founder of Moscow Pride, and Yaroslav Yevtushenko were each fined 4,000 rubles — or $120 — for holding a banner reading “Gay propaganda doesn’t exist. People don’t become gay, people are born gay” near a library in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. …

The law, strongly supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been criticized across the globe and has led to boycotts of Russian products and campaigns to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Previous “gay propaganda” convictions in Russia have imposed fines for  violations of similar local laws, not the national law passed in June.

Alexeyev said he would appeal the conviction to Russia’s Constitutional Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights.

On the same day, the Constitutional Court dismissed Alexeyev’s legal challenge of St. Petersburg’s local “gay propaganda” law. The court said that the law is not discriminatory because it applies to everyone.

Alexeyev is a controversial character among LGBT activists. He has criticized plans for an Olympics boycott as well as Russian LGBT asylum-seekers. In the summer, he weirdly spoke positively about the possibility of re-criminalizing homosexuality in Russia, because it would “make lazy Russian gays fight for their rights.”

For more information, see the full BuzzFeed article, “Leading Russian Gay Activists Fined Under Country’s Federal Anti-LGBT ‘Propaganda Law.’ “

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Jamaican police seize, burn donations to LGBT youths

Posted on December 3, 2013 by
No place like home: LGBT youths forced to live in the sewers. (Photo courtesy of Michael Forbes)

LGBT youths forced to live in the New Kingston sewers. (Photo courtesy of Michael Forbes)

Jamaican police on Dec. 1 seized and burned food and clothing that concerned citizens had donated to LGBT youths who have been living in the sewers of New Kingston, activists say.

The youths moved into the sewers after being evicted first from their families’ homes and then from abandoned buildings.  The donations were part of an effort to help the men, with the goal of providing them with housing and basic social services.

The destruction of the donated goods occurred during a police crackdown that resulted in the arrest of eight homeless young men on robbery charges.

A human rights activist who spoke by telephone with one of the arrested youths on Dec. 1 reported the following information, provided by Rick (not his real name):

Maurice Tomlinson (Photo courtesy of Macalester.edu)

Maurice Tomlinson (Photo courtesy of Macalester.edu)

Police burned their clothes, as they had also done on a previous raid, including clothes that LGBT rights activist Maurice Tomlinson had given to them.

Police also burned canned food that was donated to them last week.

The youths only remaining possessions are what they were wearing and what they carried in their bags.

Although the Jamaica Observer reported that police recovered several items of stolen property, Rick said he saw no such goods and heard no such claim from the police.

When the group came out of the gully, on orders from police who raided the site, they were met with television cameras and reporters from television stations and from the Jamaica Star.

Police then took the youth to Half-Way Tree police station where the police photographed the youths, took their names, their parents’ names, and their parents’ addresses.

The youth were then told that the gully [also described as the sewers] was now a forbidden area, and if they were found in the gully they would be locked up.

Police told them that it was the holiday season, so more people would want to be in New Kingston, but  the presence of the youth was scaring people away.

Police told them to go back home to their parents [who previously threw them out because of their sexual orientation].

Rick and about 10 or 11 others were on the road , and they are likely to have little choice but to return to the gully.

Concerned citizens are seeking donations to Dwayne’s House, which is the name of the shelter that they hope to provide for the homeless LGBT youths.

To contribute online, go the website of the gay-friendly Open Arms Metropolitan Community Church; indicate that your donation is for “Dwayne’s House.”

To see distinctly different responses to this news, see the comments section below. One commenter believes that the seized goods were all stolen, not donated, and expresses relief that the homeless youths will leave the gully (whether that is likely to occur or not, since the youths have essentially been told to leave everywhere they have ever stayed).

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Progress in Uganda: Catholics’ first-ever AIDS day

Posted on December 3, 2013 by
J.P. Conly meet with Maxensia Nakibuuka in Uganda (Photo courtesy of San Diego Gay & Lesbian News)

J.P. Conly meets with Maxensia Nakibuuka in Uganda (Photo courtesy of San Diego Gay & Lesbian News)

In another sign of how Pope Francis is leading the Roman Catholic Church away from homophobia, the church in Uganda has recognized World AIDS Day for the first time.

Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga invited Catholic lay leader Maxensia Nakibuuka to coordinate the event.  An HIV-positive mother of four and a widow for the past 16 years, since her husband died of AIDS, she is a human rights activist who founded and runs the Lungujja Community Health Caring Organisation in Kampala.

Nakibuuka is a supporter of the LGBT-friendly Good Samaritan Consortium, which comprises 14 organizations working to improve health services for LGBT, men who have sex with men, IV drug users and sex workers. One of its programs is a sensitization and stigmatization-reduction training aimed at challenging the pervasive homophobia of health-care workers and others in Uganda.

J.P. Conly of San Diego attended the church’s World AIDS Day event at the end of a month of nursing volunteer work in Uganda. He said:

Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga (Photo courtesy of Instablogs.com)

Roman Catholic Archbishop Cyprian Archbishop Kizito Lwanga (Photo courtesy of Instablogs.com)

The church was full. The archbishop spoke about harassment and how it needs to stop, that everyone has basic human rights and one of them is being free of harassment. He has advised the local police of this but also stated they must also be obedient of the president.

The archbishop stood in front of the congregation, holding a  candle, and we each lit ours off of his. Maxensia then stood at the microphone and called us up. We stood in front of the congregation as members  the Good Samaritan Consortium.  She introduced each one of us.

In a strong voice, she announced the message of this year’s event was “Zero discrimination, zero stigma and zero HIV.”

Afterwards we ate outside where a cake was presented to the Good Samaritans of  Maxensia’s church.  They then fed the poor and provided gifts to the poor from different parishes.

LGBT rights supporters were delighted at the Catholic service, although it wasn’t exactly as they would have wished.   For one thing, instead of the standard “ABC” approach to fighting HIV/AIDS — abstinence, be faithful, and use condoms — Lwanga proposed an alternative “ABC” approach — abstinence, be faithful, and be Christ-like.  The church remained opposed to condom use.

In addition, several LGBT members of the consortium did not attend the service, apparently unsure of how they would be received.

In her preparations for the World AIDS Day service,  Nakibuuka gave credit to the  Good Samaritan Consortium. Before the service, she said:

Maxensia Nakibuuka

Maxensia Nakibuuka (Click image for a 2012 video by Nakibuuka about her life and the importance of the work of the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.)

What is outstanding is the Consortium and its networks have been working hard to build a relationship with the Catholic Church. This will be the first time Worlds AIDS Day is commemorated in the Diocese. I was personally requested by the Archbishop to organize the entire event. I could not do it alone and that is why the consortium members have been instrumental in getting it done. …

This success is a result of our clear and forthright communications with the church and demonstrating how our organizations can provide services to the marginalized.

The Rev. Albert Ogle, a supporter of the consortium and president of the St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation, said:

The church’s change of attitude towards LGBT people, led by Pope Francis, is undoubtedly having a global impact, even in places where the faith community has historically pushed for greater punishment and even criminalization, like in Uganda.

For the past four years, the faith community in Uganda has been embroiled in a culture war against the LGBT community and the recent statements by the Pope to be more inclusive in the church’s pastoral response to LGBT people has been heard most of all by the country’s Catholic leadership. The Church has 13 million members in Uganda and a network of schools, hospitals and clinics, so the Archbishop’s invitation for dialogue and to discover ways the church can serve the most marginalized is a tangible step where Pope Francis reforms are being heard.

For more information, see Ogle’s column “RGOD2: Uganda’s Archbishop: We will not discriminate.”

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8 arrests, not help, for homeless Jamaican LGBTs

Posted on December 2, 2013 by
Homeless LGBT youths sleeping in Jamaican sewers. (Photo courtesy of Micheal Forbes)

Homeless LGBT youths sleeping in Jamaican sewers. (Photo courtesy of Micheal Forbes)

Police in New Kingston, Jamaica, arrested eight homeless men on robbery charges  Dec. 1, even as concerned Jamaican citizens and activists work to help LGBT men forced to live in the sewers.

Some activists expressed doubt that police were targeting the right people. Others saw criminal behavior as a predictable outcome of unrelenting homophobic harassment that the men have endured. Many criticized newspaper coverage of the arrests.

What should be done?

One Jamaican activist wrote:

More Anti-Gay Reporting by the Sandals Resorts-Owned Jamaica Observer

Once again the homophobic Jamaican tabloid, the Jamaica Observer, which is owned by Gordon “Butch” Stewart of Sandals Resorts, seeks to demonize and vilify all gays through an inflammatory headline. Exactly why is the sexual orientation of these young men relevant? Are we going to start seeing headlines “heterosexual man murders his girlfriend?” Or ” straight pastor rapes female congregant?”

Some Jamaican gays were kicked out of their homes as young as 12 years old because of the country’s crushing homophobia. Some of them now engage in anti-social behaviour to survive. Should we as a society be surprised that some of these youngsters choose to steal from a society that so blatantly rejected them?

This is the Jamaica Observer’s story about the arrests:

8 homosexuals in custody for robbery

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Eight homosexual men believed to be involved in a series of robberies in the New Kingston area were taken into custody at the Half Way Tree Police Station Sunday [Dec. 1].

Police say the one-hour joint operation conducted by the New Kingston Police Post, the St Andrew Central Division and Delta Special Operations started at 12:00 pm on Antigua and Trafalgar Roads and culminated on Dumfries and Ruthven Roads.

The lawmen say they accosted and searched the men who reside in a close by gully and recovered several items of stolen property.

The police also listed five other men believed to be involved in the spate of robberies as ‘Persons-of-Interest’. The men, only known by their aliases, are ‘Marlene Malaboo-Forte’, ‘Michelle’, ‘Pebbles’, ‘Goodas’ and ‘Bat Man’.

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Cameroon appeal: Repeal laws that boost AIDS

Posted on December 1, 2013 by
Logos of four organizations appealing to the Cameroon government

Logos of four organizations appealing to the Cameroon government

Homosexual activity in Cameroon needs to be decriminalized in order to reduce the anti-gay stigma that bars LGBT people from health services and encourages the spread of HIV/AIDS.

That was the message sent to the Cameroonian government  on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) by four Cameroonian organizations fighting against the disease and for human rights.

Estimates of Cameroon’s overall HIV rate have dropped from 5.1 percent to 4.3 percent, but for the most vulnerable populations, including men who have sex with men (MSM), the rate is estimated at 24 percent in Douala and 44 percent in Yaoundé.  The four organizations stated:

The National Strategic Plan on AIDS 2011-2015 clearly indicates that workers, sex workers and men who have sex with men are considered persons at high risk for HIV / AIDS transmission. The criminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon makes it difficult to prevent and care for them.

Criminalization promotes an atmosphere conducive to risk-taking. It brings on not only increased risk of exposure to workers and sex workers, but also to their clients, to men who have sex with other men and to their families, particularly when their partners are women. …

The law can neither deny nor stay silent or do away with this reality. Beyond all controversy workers, sex workers and homosexuals in Cameroon only ask for one thing; the peaceful enjoyment of their citizenship without being troubled or harassed by the laws of a bygone era.

These organizations signed the statement (in English and French) calling for decriminalization:

CAMFAIDS (Cameroonian Foundation For AIDS).  An association created in May 2010 by Cameroonian students and workers concerned and wanting to curb the rapid spread of HIV among the MSM community in the city of Yaoundé and its surroundings. The creation of the association occurred due to findings of the continuing spread of HIV among the population, especially those who live in the university area (city of Soa) and are members of a very sexually active community. camfaids @ gmail.com

AIDS ACODEV. A non-profit organization that provides support and guidance to idle and vulnerable populations, including workers, sex workers and transgender persons, recognized since 2009 by the prefecture of Wouri.

ACODEVO OCEAN. An association created in 2012 by gays and sex workers in the city of Kribi with the primary objective of promoting human rights. It works to decrease the risk of infection by HIV / AIDS and for better health for all in the forthcoming future.

CAMEF (Cameroon Association for Empowerment Outreach Programs).  A registered non-governmental organisation for the defense of human rights. The agency advocates for socially disadvantaged community groups, without distinction for  religion, race or sexual orientation (LGBT community and sex workers). The organization was established in 2010 to provide information and HIV/AIDS prevention services to those without access to it.  camef.cameroon @ gmail.com

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