Category: Central Africa
U.S. halts anti-HIV drugs for LGBTQ Africans, risking deadly AIDS rebound
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has banned the use of American funds to pay for HIV prevention drugs for LGBTQ people, men who have sex with men (M [...]
Fight against HIV in Africa put in jeopardy by suspension of U.S. funding
Anti-AIDs workers panic as Trump regime puts millions of lives at risk.
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
In Cameroon alone, workers at about [...]
2024 LGBTQ rights update: Progress and reversals in Africa
In this article, LGBTQ rights journalist Rob Salerno, an editor for RightsAfrica and Erasing 76 Crimes, surveys the 2024 status of same-sex marriage a [...]
‘I am not afraid’, says LGBTI rights attorney accused of financing terrorism in Cameroon
Veteran LGBTI rights attorney Alice Nkom has come under attack for allegedly "financing terrorism" -- a charge leveled by a Cameroonian [...]
Cameroon: Like LGBTI people, albinos also must fight against prejudice
LGBTI people and albinos have two important facts in common. Both groups live in a society that's prejudiced against them. Both groups are fig [...]
Cameroon tries to shut down LGBTI-friendly human rights group
Cameroon has ordered the suspension of four non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for alleged financial misconduct, including the LGBTI- [...]
Congo activist wants to de-Westernize the LGBT struggle
The struggle for the rights of sexual minorities is too frequently dominated by ideas, voices, and stories from the global North and West, says Co [...]
Cameroon court has released 12 of 13 arrested in Sept. 30 raid
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
The court in Douala, Cameroon, has now released all but one of the 13 people who were arrested on homosexuality-relat [...]
Readers’ donations set free two imprisoned lesbians in Cameroon
By Steeves Winner
After six months without a trial, the young imprisoned lesbian couple Yane and Hage were set free through the inter [...]
Cameroon: Malnourished gay detainees get food delivery from Project Not Alone
This is the second article in a three-part series on the treatment of four prisoners at New Bell Prison in Douala, Cameroon, who are awaiting trial af [...]
Cameroon: Four gay men forced to undergo anal exams after their arrest
This is the first article in a three-part series on prisoners currently at New Bell Prison in Cameroon after a Sept. 30 raid on the offices of the ant [...]
Cameroon’s SOS Solidarity launches sexual health and legal services project
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
SOS Solidarity Rights and Health Association (SORIH) launched a new project last month in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to fight a [...]
Readers’ donations set free 4 gay prisoners in Cameroon
Four young gay men in southern Cameroon are trying to get their lives on track now that readers' donations to Project Not Alone have paid their fi [...]
Cameroon’s lesbian First Daughter: ‘Let my story change the law’
The lesbian daughter of Cameroon's president wants her nation to stop jailing homosexuals.
In an interview with the French publication "Le Parisi [...]
Will Cameroon repeal anti-LGBT law after First Daughter came out as a lesbian?
LGBTI rights activists say the need to repeal Cameroon's anti-homosexuality laws has become obvious, now that the daughter of longtime Cameroon Pr [...]
Cameroon: Donations free 3 innocent lesbians from prison
By Steeves Winner
Prison is a jungle where the law of the strongest reigns. That's the lesson that three innocent lesbians -- Chrison, Amso and [...]
Study finds less anti-LGBTI violence in Cameroon. Is it accurate?
COMMENTARY
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
Has Cameroon become a much safer place for LGBTI people?
It's a question raised by the publication of [...]
A decade of failure at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights
COMMENTARY
Back in 2014, it sounded so good: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) passed a resolution opposing human rig [...]
Good news for LGBTQ prisoners: You did it! Project Not Alone hits goal in a week.
Generous donors have contributed $9,447 in the seven days since Project Not Alone announced its 2024 fund drive on May 3. That surpassed the goal [...]
LGBTQ health and rights advocacy group expands in Cameroon
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
The capital of Cameroon has gained a new health and human-rights center serving LGBTQ people and others most at-risk [...]
Congo lawmaker wants jail, not slavery, for LGBT people
Congolese member of parliament and former presidential candidate Constant Mutamba is standing by his bill that would criminalize gay sex for the f [...]
The story of a lesbian couple imprisoned in Cameroon
PROJECT NOT ALONE
The story of Martha and Sally has a happy ending.
Sort of.
A lesbian couple, they had been living together peacefully i [...]
Cameroon: A merciful principal confronts two lesbian students
By Jean Jacques Dissoke
Youth Day is a festival held on Feb. 11 each year in Cameroon to celebrate the potential of the nation's young citizens [...]
Lesbian couple walks out of prison thanks to donors to Project Not Alone
Couple in Cameron spent 11+ months in prison without a trial.
Two women in Cameroon spent nearly a year behind bars without a trial after they [...]
Trans women in the Congo face new dangers during election campaign
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the campaign of presidential and local candidates kicked off on Nov. 20 and will continue until the ele [...]
Cameroon: Gay man flees after enduring an exorcism for his homosexuality
By Steeves Winner
“I am a homosexual, I am attracted to men and I feel good about that. I am like that and I have always been like that."
Wi [...]
Legal challenges to anti-LGBTQ laws are under way in at least 10 nations
Legal challenges to anti-LGBTQ laws are under way in Africa and in the Caribbean. In the map above, which shows the 66 nations with anti-homosexua [...]
Cameroon: She searches her husband’s phone and discovers he is gay
In Cameroon, homophobia + adultery = the end of a marriage.
Author Steeves Winner tells the tale:
By Steeves Winner
On Aug. 20, [...]
Cameroon: Homophobes keep targeting LGBTI community and defenders
Cameroon's LGBTI community continues to be the target of homophobic violence. Two incidents from early summer typify the ongoing problem.
By Gh [...]
LGBTQ+ refugees in Africa celebrate Pride safely, joyously, nutritiously
Refugees in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia celebrated Pride this month with nutritious, festive meals organized by the human rights advocates of the Afr [...]
Homophobic Cameroon blocks visit by French ambassador for LGBT+ rights
Throughout last week, a violent anti-French and LGBTphobic campaign on social networks led to the cancellation of a visit to Cameroon by Jean-Ma [...]
Four African nations’ battles against gay-themed films
Officials in Cameroon, Kenya, Egypt and Uganda take different approaches
Four scenes -- among many -- of homophobic African officia [...]
In the Congo, some hope to use anti-gay Uganda as a role model
Gift bags with rainbow colors spark protest at mining conference. Activist comments: 'In a world running out of ideas, LGBTphobia moves in where polit [...]
Cameroon LGBTI advocates want funders to focus on decriminalization
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By Steeves Winner
On the occasion of the Internati [...]
African Human Rights Commission affirms intersex people’s rights
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The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, [...]
Alternatives Cameroon trains LGBTI activists to access U.S. anti-AIDS funds
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By Steeves Winner
LGBT advocacy organization Alternatives C [...]
Plea for action against Congo machete attack, rapes, arson
LGBTI+ people in the eastern Congo remain at risk of murder and rape.
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Conference in Paris aims to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide
France's new ambassador for LGBTI rights lends his support to African activists.
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Congo: A neglected region with forgotten victims
LGBTI people face tremendous violence and discrimination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a sprawling country of more than 100 million people [...]
Imprisoned for being a lesbian, aided by donors, Octavia has been set free
Arrested for sending text messages to her girlfriend, then sentenced to seven months in a Cameroonian prison for homosexuality, 28-year-old lesbian Oc [...]
Attacks and arrests put LGBTI activists on edge in Cameroon
After a period of relative calm, the year 2023 began with anti-LGBTI arrests and assaults against LGBTI people and activists in Cameroon.
[...]
Pope says homosexuality not a crime
Pope Francis this week called for the repeal of laws against homosexuality.
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Attacks and arrests put LGBTI activists on edge in Cameroon
After a period of relative calm, the year 2023 began with anti-LGBTI arrests and assaults against LGBTI people and activists in Cameroon.
[...]
Congo: Targeted by homophobic attacks, LGBTI defenders work to help victims
LGBTI rights activists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo achieved some successes in 2022 and are hoping to protect LGBTI people from violence mo [...]
LGBTI rights activists compete to sharpen skills in Cameroon
Health Care Cameroon (HC²), an organization that serves men who have sex with men (MSM) in the city of Bafia, Cameroon, was crowned winner of the seco [...]
Cameroon: Honors for Michel Engama, ‘valiant soldier for human rights’
The Canadian embassy in Cameroon has honored the human rights work of Michel Engama, who is president both of both the LGBTI advocacy group Camfaids a [...]
European Union prepares to assist LGBTI rights groups in Cameroon
The coalition of Cameroon's 34 LGBTI rights organizations has signed a contract with the Delegation of the European Union in Cameroon to improve the g [...]
Burglars keep targeting LGBTI advocates in Cameroon
Again and again, LGBTI rights groups in Cameroon have been targeted by homophobic vandals and burglars. Complaints to police been met with indifferenc [...]
Cameroon nurse assaulted and evicted because he treats gays
By Courtney Stans
Because of his work with LGBTI people, last month a nurse in Cameroon was attacked at home by a neighbor who accused him of being [...]
Cameroon lawyers plan free legal aid for LGBTQI and HIV+ clients
By Ghislain J. Nkontchou
Eleven Cameroonian lawyers have formed a new organization, the Commission of Lawyers for the Assistance of Key and Vulnera [...]