Category: East Africa
Stella Nyanzi: In memoriam for my intersex son
Grace was born intersex, with both male and female sexual characteristics -- a variation from traditional gender norms that his parents tried to corre [...]
Uganda issues corrected national ID document for trans woman
The Ugandan government has issued a national Identification document to Cleopatra Kambugu, a transgender woman, clearly identifying her as a woman, in [...]
Activists want Kenyan gays’ rights on agenda when Biden meets Kenyatta
A section of Kenyan human rights defenders want US President Joe Biden to raise the issue of safety and security of homosexuals in Kenya when the two [...]
Uganda, US faith leaders discuss LGBTQI rights in Africa
Faith leaders from the United States and Uganda called upon churches in Africa to open their doors to LGBTQI persons at a virtual conference organised [...]
Introducing 7 African LGBTQ+ activists working for change
Vogue Magazine published an article last month profiling seven outstanding activists fighting to improve LGBTQ+ rights across Africa
The articl [...]
Uganda’s Constitutional Court begins hearing challenge to HIV criminalization law
The Constitutional Court of Uganda has begun hearing a landmark case on the right to health, in which LGBT and human rights defenders sued the state f [...]
Ugandan President sends new anti-gay bill back to Parliament
Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni has declined to assent to the Sexual Offences Bill (2021) passed by Parliament in May, which included stiffer pena [...]
COVID-19 complicates access to TB, HIV services for Uganda MSM
Activists in Uganda are saying that men who have sex with men face increased difficulties in accessing essential health services like tuberculosis (TB [...]
Senior Uganda government health rights ally Prof. Anthony Mbonye has died
Prof. Anthony Mbonye, the former Director General of Uganda's Health Services who has been instrumental in advocating for healthcare access for homose [...]
Times are changing in Uganda: Parliament gets a progressive clerk
In what appears to be a positive shift in state policy thinking, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Adolf Mwesige, a liberal and progress [...]
Trans Ugandans issue desperate food appeal as lockdown bites harder
Transgender rights defenders in Uganda have issued a desperate appeal for food for the transgender community amid the ongoing COVID-19 countrywide loc [...]
AIDS conference organisers silent as violence sweeps host South Africa
Organisers of the 2021 International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) have remained silent about prospects for [...]
Ugandan clinic denies using donor funds to offer ‘conversion therapy’ to gays
A Ugandan clinic at the center of accusations of covertly using donor funds to offer "conversion therapy" to turn homosexuals straight has issued a st [...]
Uganda lockdown hampers rural LGBT access to life-saving HIV/AIDS drugs
Gay rights activists in Uganda are reporting difficulty in delivering life-saving anti-retroviral drugs to HIV-positive community members during the o [...]
Anti-gay “conversion therapy” at African clinics run by aid-funded groups
Staff at health clinics funded by the US and international donors in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania offer secret "conversion therapy" that attempts to "c [...]
Gay Ugandans warned to abide by Covid-19 restrictions
Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the umbrella LGBTIQ+ entity in Uganda, wants its community members to protect themselves from Covid-19 by following a [...]
Uganda court OKs bail for 42 arrestees
A Ugandan magistrate yesterday approved release on bail for 42 people arrested May 31 at a party that police thought was a gay wedding.
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IDAHOT 2021: Foreign missions express solidarity with LGBTQI+ Ugandans
Diplomatic missions of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations came out strongly in support of LGBTQI+ people as Uganda and the i [...]
Uganda police arrest 44 at alleged gay wedding
Responding to a report of an alleged gay wedding under way yesterday, police in Kampala, Uganda, raided a party at the Happy Family youth shelter [...]
Uganda: LGBTQI access to health services remains problematic
A study by Uganda's Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) has revealed that LGBTQI persons in Uganda continue to face barriers in accessi [...]
Homophobic leader Rebecca Kadaga dropped by Uganda Parliament
The homophobic Speaker of Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has been dropped by her ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party and replaced by [...]
Activists endorse tactics for fighting Uganda’s new anti-gay bill
Gay rights activists in Uganda have issued an advisory on how local and international supporters of LGBTQ+ rights should work to blunt the effects of [...]
U.K. plans global conference to fight anti-gay bias worldwide
The United Kingdom has scheduled a global conference for next year to "tackle" inequality facing LGBT people around the world. The conference chair sa [...]
Ugandan President Museveni hints he may not sign new anti-gay bill
Amid pressure from the United States and the United Nations, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has reportedly hinted that he may reject the recently p [...]
Convicted homosexuals to be included in Uganda sex offender registry
Ugandans convicted of having sex with people of the same sex would be included in a new sex offender registry, following the passage by Parliament of [...]
Uganda gay activists urge president to reject new anti-gay bill
LGBT human rights defenders in Uganda want President Yoweri Museveni to refuse to sign into law the Sexual Offences Bill 2019, which Parliament passe [...]
Parliament of Uganda passes new anti-gay bill
Uganda's parliament has passed a new bill aimed at restricting Ugandans' sexual activity.
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Meet the trans Ugandan activist fighting for rights on social media
“If you want to know that [Keem] is a man, just snatch away his phone and run,” taunted an Internet troll under Keem Love Black’s new profile picture [...]
Ugandan church launches ‘All Are Equal Before God’ campaign
Adonai International Ministries, a Uganda-based LGBTQI-led church, has launched a campaign dubbed “All Are Equal Before God".
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Trans Ugandans react to new UNAIDS film about tolerance
A new short film released by UNAIDS to promote tolerance and acceptance of transgender identities is earning high praise from trans Ugandans.
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Retired homophobic archbishop Ntagali apologises for adultery
The retired homophobic archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Ntagali, has publicly apologised for committing adultery, addressing his remarks to C [...]
Kenya: Anger and horror over death of LGBTQ+ arson victim
Activists and U.N. officials are mourning the death of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugee Chriton "Trinidad" Atuhwera, who died April 12 from burns he suffered a [...]
Uganda: Pop star Akon misses ‘200% opportunity’ to boost gay rights
Prominent Senegalese-American pop star Akon missed an opportunity to raise the issue of persecution and discrimination against LGBT people in Africa w [...]
Uganda: ‘LBQ Womxn’ need equal access to health
Freedom and Roam Uganda, a lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) organisation, is about to publish a book urging Ugandan human rights and health-care righ [...]
In documentary, Ugandan religious leaders preach love for LGBTQI people
The activist Ugandans at East Africa Visual Artists (EAVA Artists) have unveiled a video documentary featuring clerics from different faith traditions [...]
Human rights violations against queer and trans Ugandans on the increase
Violence, discrimination and other human rights violations against sex workers and queer and transgender people in Uganda increased in 2019, the lates [...]
Church of Uganda Bishop Senyonjo reflects on 20 years of LGBT rights advocacy
In 2000, Church of Uganda Bishop Christopher Senyonjo took in two LGBT youths who had been rejected by their own families, schools and communities bec [...]
Break-in at offices of Ugandan LGBT ally lawyer Nicholas Opiyo
Unknown people on Thursday, March 18, broke into the offices of Chapter Four Uganda and prominent gay rights ally Nicholas Opiyo, who leads that human [...]
Kenya: Victims of Kakuma arson attack airlifted to Nairobi hospital
In a rare change of heart, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has airlifted the victims of a March 15 homophobic fire attac [...]
Hope for change in Tanzania after death of homophobic president
Human rights activists expressed hope for change in Tanzania now that former vice president Samia Suluhu Hassan has been sworn in as the country's fir [...]
EU calls for urgent revision of Uganda’s anti-LGBTQI laws
The European Union strongly criticized Uganda’s harsh laws against homosexuality, calling for their urgent revision and a strategy to combat discrimin [...]
At Kakuma Camp, Kenya offers to guard LGBTQ+ refugees, but …
Officials of Kenya's refugee agency promised to deploy guards to protect LGBTQ+ refugees at Kakuma Refugee Camp after a meeting on Feb. 19 at which re [...]
Plea to U.N. agency: Save LGBTQ refugees from violent Kakuma Camp
Two LGBTQ advocacy organisations have called on the UN Refugee Agency to protect LGBTQ refugees experiencing violence in the Kakuma Refugee Camp.
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Controversial Ugandan ally Stella Nyanzi flees to Kenya
Ugandan LGBTQ+ ally, academic and controversial political activist Stella Nyanzi has fled to Kenya for safety, citing persecution by President Yoweri [...]
Uganda: Electoral defeat for 2 notoriously anti-gay officials
In the Jan. 14 election, Ugandan voters rejected two politicians who are notorious for homophobic attacks against the LGBT community.
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Uganda loses liberal judge who asked ‘What’s wrong with lesbian sex?’
A Ugandan high court judge who questioned hate and bigotry has passed on.
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10 years on: Celebrating David Kato, other LGBT Ugandans we’ve lost
Gay rights activists and human rights defenders in Uganda today marked the 10th Annual Kuchu Remembrance Day in memory of David Kato Kisule (RIP) and [...]
Ugandan archbishop banned; ‘adultery is as bad as homosexuality’
Stanley Ntagali, the homophobic retired archbishop of the Church of Uganda, has been banned from carrying out any priestly work following the revelati [...]
Homophobic Tanzanians hit with last-minute U.S. visa restrictions
Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used some of his last minutes in office to impose visa restrictions on Tanzanian officials "responsible f [...]
Ugandan activists dejected about homophobic Museveni’s grip on power
Ugandan human rights activists are trying to come to grips with the declaration that President Yoweri Museveni easily won re-election last week after [...]