Category: East Africa
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 [...]
LGBTI Ugandans prepare for Pride in refugee camp
LGBTI Ugandan refugees in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp are preparing to celebrate Pride on June 16, thanks to $1,500 worth of financial help from indiv [...]
Uganda: Anti-gay Pastor ‘Poo Poo’ is back, claiming he’s a victim
Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa is back on the warpath against gay rights. In a new video, he states that, after a sabbatical, he has returned to the fra [...]
Dear Ellen and Portia: Avoid East Africa’s anti-gay police
Good luck to TV personality Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi as they vacation in Kenya and Tanzania, which both have laws against same-sex [...]
65 groups protest Tanzania repression, LGBT arrests
A total of 65 civil society groups have challenged the government of Tanzania over "the worrying decline in respect for human rights,” citing persecut [...]
Scott Lively targeted him in Uganda. Now he targets Lively in U.S.
Arch-homophobe the Rev. Scott Lively was a driving force behind the passage of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014, which incited an anti-LGBTQ pa [...]
Ugandan: To win asylum, refugee must persuade Texas judge
The U.S.-based African Human Rights Coalition is raising money to provide expert testimony before an American judge in Texas who will decide whether t [...]
Uganda: Protests greet shutdown of LGBTI rights event
"We will not be intimidated," Ugandan LGBTI leader Frank Mugisha said in response to the May 17 shutdown of the country's celebration of the Internati [...]
IDAHOT day: Festivities but homophobic hate too
Celebrations, awards and inspiring statements marked today's International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia in many countries, although opponent [...]
Homophobes of the Week: Cameroon’s baton-swinging police
Gendarmes in Cameroon won the dishonor of being selected as Homophobes of the Week by launching a gay-hunting expedition that raided a bar and a movie [...]
Flooding endangers LGBTI Ugandan refugees in Kenya
LGBTI Ugandan refugees at Kakuma Camp in Kenya are coping with the life-threatening after-effects of recent floods. As if they didn't already have eno [...]
Homophobe of the Week: whipping advocate Irwandi Yusuf
Indonesian politician Irwandi Yusuf is the recipient of the Homophobe of the Week Award for deciding to continue whippings as a punishment for gay sex [...]