Category: East Africa
Uganda: Queer-themed magazine focuses on mental health
Kuchu Times Media Group, a Ugandan LGBT media advocacy enterprise, has launched the fourth edition of its powerful queer-themed "Bombastic" magazine. [...]
Kenyan refugee leader threatens hunger strike; 20 still in jail
Mbazira Moses, leader of the Refugee Flag Kenya advocacy group, threatened today to wage a hunger strike until 20 jailed LGBT refugees have been relea [...]
LGBT refugees protest Kenya arrests and jail time
LGBT refugee activists gathered outside a Nairobi courtroom today to protest the mistreatment of 20 LGBT refugees who were arrested at an earlier prot [...]
20 gay refugees protest, then are jailed in Kenya
Twenty LGBTQ refugees who fled from anti-gay violence in Uganda are being held in Nairobi-area jails after they protested against mistreatment by Keny [...]
Kenyan court rejects anti-gay, anti-lesbian appeal
The Kenyan Court of Appeal today rejected a government attempt to block registration of an LGBT advocacy group, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rig [...]
Gay bishops, not gay spouses, welcome at Anglican meeting
Several African churches are protesting the decision by the top Anglican archbishop to invite gay bishops to an upcoming worldwide gathering of the ch [...]
Cost of Kenyan homophobia: $1.3 billion per year
Discrimination against LGBT+ people in Kenya costs the nation 18 billion to 130 billion Kenyan shillings (U.S. $180 million to $1.3 billion) per year, [...]
Kenyan court delays decision on anti-gay law
Kenya's High Court in Nairobi today delayed a much-anticipated ruling on a lawsuit challenging the nation's anti-gay laws. From the African Hum [...]
Trump official’s push for gay rights focuses on Iran, not Africa
The 33 African nations with anti-gay laws seem to be a side issue for U.S. ambassador Richard Grenell, who has announced a worldwide campaign against [...]
Gay refugees suffer in Kenya’s UN-enforced squalor
Living conditions for gay refugees in Kenya remain terrible after the U.N. refugee agency's decision to move about 200 of them from the Kakuma refugee [...]
Gays welcome at new Uganda church
Uganda's new LGBTQ-affirming church had its first service on Dec. 23. From the African Human Rights Media Network Kuchu Times reports: LG [...]
Christmas in prison for outspoken Ugandan gay ally
Political activist, gay ally and devoted mother Stella Nyanzi will spend Christmas in prison, still awaiting court action stemming from her Nov. 2 arr [...]
Gay refugees escape Kakuma’s dangers, reach Nairobi’s squalor
The U.N. refugee agency has moved more than 200 gay refugees from dangers of Kakuma refugee camp to safety in crowded, unsanitary quarters in Nairobi. [...]
Anglican Church must pay Kenyan priests it said were gay
A Kenyan court has ordered the homophobic Anglican Church of Kenya to pay U.S. $67,000 to three priests whom it ousted in 2015 on unproven allegations [...]
Gay arrests in Malawi: More mixed signals on gay rights
The southeast African country of Malawi remains torn about homosexuality -- unwilling to repeal its anti-homosexuality law, but also unwilling to enfo [...]
Cutting aid to Tanzania: It worked (somewhat)
Cutting off foreign aid to homophobic countries can work, but only as a weapon that's used with discretion. That seems to be the moral of the story of [...]
U.N. plan for gay refugees: same abuse, new location?
Will the U.N., Kenya, the U.S. and other Western countries stop mistreating and shunning LGBT+ refugees in Kenya now that the agency overseeing the Ka [...]
U.N.: We’re moving LGBT refugees out of unsafe Kakuma Camp
The U.N. refugee agency announced today that it is moving LGBT+ refugees to safe houses in Nairobi, evacuating them from Kenya's huge Kakuma Camp wher [...]
Violence greets protesting LGBT refugees in Kenya
LGBT refugees protesting dangerous and inhumane conditions at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya were attacked yesterday by armed men at the UN Refugee Agen [...]
Canadian plea: Don’t cut aid to Tanzania
Tanzania's anti-gay crackdown is a time to boost support for LGBT Tanzanians, not a reason to cut foreign aid, say the Canadian gay-rights advocat [...]
2019 goal: Eliminate two more countries’ anti-gay laws
Botswana and Kenya will be the next two countries to overturn their anti-gay laws, if court challenges there succeed. From the African Huma [...]
Welcome, Kevin Hart and other formerly anti-gay converts
COMMENTARY: The Kevin Hart case shows the LGBTQ community how it SHOULD NOT respond to reformed homophobes, says Edwin Sesange, African gay rights act [...]
Commentary: Help LGBT Africans by cutting aid to anti-gay Tanzania
Many African LGBT activists urge Western donors not to cut off aid to Tanzania or other homophobic African nations, even when those countries launch a [...]
Commentary: Withholding aid to Tanzania is a bad idea
LGBT+ Tanzanians will lose out and become scapegoats if donors cut aid, says Anthony Oluoch, program manager for the LGBT+ rights organization Pan Afr [...]
Stella Nyanzi: A mom / activist’s writings from prison
In her writings from prison, longtime gay activist Stella Nyanzi proves herself to be a devoted mother as well as a fierce opponent of Ugandan Preside [...]
Uganda: Mom, activist, gay ally Stella Nyanzi imprisoned again
Political activist and devoted mother Stella Nyanzi, a strong gay ally, has been imprisoned again, this time for new online insults directed at Uganda [...]
Tanzania: 10 men released with ‘no evidence’ against them
Police in Tanzania say they found no reason to press charges against 10 men arrested Saturday in Zanzibar on suspicion of homosexual activity. The men [...]
Tanzania’s anti-gay purge vanished into thin air?
Many signs suggested that this week's threatened roundup of gay Tanzanians was a nightmare that had vanished with the light of day. That might still t [...]
Tanzania government disavows Monday’s anti-gay roundup
The Tanzanian government distanced itself Sunday from Dar es Salaam governor Paul Makonda and his plans for an anti-gay roundup starting today (Monday [...]
U.N. to Tanzania: Your duty is to protect LGBT people
As Tanzanian officials prepare for a threatened round-up of gay citizens, the United Nations' top human rights official reminded them of their duty to [...]
Tanzania plans anti-gay police state, not without opposition
The Tanzanian plan for a public surveillance squad and police round-up of gay Tanzanians ran into strong opposition today, even as reports circulated [...]
Tanzania hunts homosexuals, threatens ’round-up’
A Tanzanian official is threatening to launch a round-up of homosexuals starting next week. Paul Makonda, the governor of Dar-es-Salaam, said his anti [...]
Anti-gay law in Kenya might die in February
The Kenyan High Court in Nairobi has set Feb. 22, 2019, as the date when it will announce whether it will overturn the law condemning people convicted [...]
Gay rights? ‘Shut up’ says world parliamentary forum
A coalition of largely anti-gay nations has voted to block discussion of LGBT rights at a global forum of parliamentary governments. The Inte [...]
Kanye and Kim missed their chance to make a difference
Outspoken rapper Kanye West once urged the hip-hop community to switch off its homophobia, but on Monday he missed the chance to do the same to Uganda [...]
Create a safe place for LGBT Ugandans? Official refuses
A plan to create a safe gathering place for Uganda's LGBT community has run into opposition from Uganda's anti-gay ethics minister, who says the propo [...]
How can LGBTI activists avoid burnout and depression?
How can LGBTI activists working in a hostile environment such as Uganda combat the dangers of burnout and depression? To answer that question, Kikonyo [...]
Uganda honors the work of health-rights activist journalist
The Ugandan government has honored LGBTI right-to-health activist / human rights defender / journalist Kikonyogo Kivumbi “in recognition of his valuab [...]
Uganda: Homophobic archbishop will retire
The homophobic Anglican Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, has said he will retire on March 1, 2020. Local Ugandan media [...]
Protesters: Uganda must free tortured activist singer
Protesters in London are demanding an end to the torture and detention of Ugandan activist singer/politician Robert Kyagulanyi. The protest is schedul [...]
As Museveni wins peace prize, he wars against homosexuals
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni waged verbal war on homosexuality on Aug. 2, even as he accepted an international peace prize. He demanded that the [...]
LGBTI activists at risk of burnout; what can we do?
Last month's rejection of the LGBTI community by former LGBTI activist Val Kalende has shined a spotlight on disturbing flaws in how activists are tre [...]
Report reveals Ugandan anti-LGBT health care discrimination
A new report from the LGBT coalition Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) exposes the effects of discrimination that gender and sexual minorities still fac [...]
Ugandans flee anti-gay Kakuma, find worse in Malawi
Trouble was all that four desperate Ugandan LGBTI refugees found when they tried to escape from the homophobia and food shortages of Kenya's Kakuma re [...]
Uganda: Why Val Kalende ‘renounced lesbianism’
Longtime Ugandan activist Kikonyogo Kivumbi explores the background of former activist Val Kalende's decision to turn away from the LGBTI community. [...]
Popular Ugandan LGBT activist says she’s no longer a lesbian
Val Kalende, a popular Ugandan LGBT activist, has declared on national TV that she is no longer a lesbian and is withdrawing from further involvement [...]
Trans group serves trans youths? Ugandan landlord balks
An organization that advocates for the rights and equality of trans youth in Uganda has been forced to temporarily shut down operations after being or [...]
Now more than ever: We need LGBTQI allies to ‘come out’
Kenyan activist Denis Nzioka celebrates the courage of LGBTQI allies in the struggle for LGBTQI rights -- and asks that their voices be more widely he [...]
Kenya: Death threats follow refugees’ successful Pride
Last weekend's successful first-ever Pride at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya attracted hundreds, but the camp's LGBTI residents now fear for their lives [...]
Threats blocked Mauritius Pride; petitioners say ‘Enough!’
The organizers of the canceled Pride March in the offshore East African island nation of Mauritius are seeking international support to persuade their [...]