Category: Southern Africa
Abandoned by the U.S., African HIV fighters must revise their strategies
By Steeves Winner
The Trump administration's freeze on American foreign aid has forced people who work to take care of Africans' health to reth [...]
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 [...]
Joy in Namibia as court decriminalizes gay sex
This article originally appeared on Rob Salerno's LGBT Global Newsletter, a free email newsletter charting progress on LGBT rights around the worl [...]
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 [...]
Open letter: S. Africa must demand human rights in Uganda and Ghana, not just in Gaza
Seventeen social justice organizations have issued an open letter to South Africa's international relations minister, urging him to condemn violat [...]
Hope for HIV vaccine falters as Africa-led project ends vaccine trial
An African-led, European-supported HIV prevention study, PrEPVacc, announced today that it is halting its tests of a potential HIV vaccine.
T [...]
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 [...]
Number of nations with laws against gay sex falls to 66
The number of nations with laws against gay sex has fallen to 66, continuing the slow, decades-long progress toward recognition of the human right [...]
African island nation Mauritius overturns anti-sodomy law
The Supreme Court of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius today overturned the Mauritian law against consensual sexual intercourse between [...]
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 [...]
Namibian officials balk at Supreme Court’s approval of foreign same-sex marriage
Home Affairs minister says he's awaiting further instructions after the Supreme Court ruled that Namibia must recognize the marriage of Guillermo Delg [...]
African Human Rights Commission affirms intersex people’s rights
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The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, [...]
Pope says homosexuality not a crime
Pope Francis this week called for the repeal of laws against homosexuality.
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Activists launch website to document trans and intersex African history
A group of activists has launched an initiative to document and preserve the history of trans and intersex Africans and their struggle for equal right [...]
Zambia: Archbishop’s anti-LGBTQ+ appeal comes under fire from all sides
LGBTIQ+ rights advocates in Zambia fear that a recent anti-LGBTQ+ proclamation by the local Roman Catholic archbishop will escalate the ongoing anti-g [...]
In a first for Lesotho, trans candidate seeks seat in parliament
An Oct. 7 election in the South African country of Lesotho will decide whether the nation will get its first openly trans member of parliament.
[...]
Commentary: Sex test of Zambian footballer is a human rights violation
The international governing body for football/soccer has ruled that a Zambian woman cannot play on the Zambian women's team based on sex testing proce [...]
Another attack in South Africa, a land of pro-gay laws and anti-gay violence
A 24-year-old Durban man remains in hospital almost a week after he was beaten by three men in a brutal anti-LGBTIQ+ hate crime.
From the Afr [...]
High Court in Eswatini blocks recognition of LGBTQ rights group
The High Court in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) last week rejected an appeal for legal recognition by the local LGBTQ rights group Eswatini Sexual &am [...]
South Africa president praises his nation for embracing gay rights
South African President, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa has praised South Africa for creating a conducive environment for homosexuals to practice same-sex m [...]
Another South African LGBTQIA+ activist stabbed to death
A South African LGBTQIA+ activist was stabbed to death on Sunday, March 20, allegedly because she spurned a man who proclaimed his love for her.
[...]
South Africa, stop the murders of LGBTI people
Global human rights organisation Human Rights Watch has formally written to the South African government about killings and assaults on LGBTI people " [...]
Botswana’s president meets LGBT activists, supports their work
In a landmark meeting with representatives of the LGBT rights group LEGABIBO, Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi vowed to protect LGBT persons' huma [...]
Namibia High Court rules against same-sex couples
A High Court in Namibia has ruled against two same-sex couples who were seeking to have their foreign marriages recognized for immigration purposes, c [...]
Namibia Pride seeks repeal of nation’s anti-LGBTQ law
The LGBTQ community in the southern African nation of Namibia recently held its biggest-ever Pride celebration, which included appeals for the repeal [...]
Archbishop Tutu boosts Bible guide promoting love for queer Africans
Does the Bible condemn homosexuality? Not according to a The Bible and "Homosexuality," a new guide book from South Africa's Inclusive and Affirming M [...]
Botswana Court of Appeals unanimously upholds decriminalization of gay sex
In a unanimous decision, the Botswana Court of Appeals upheld the 2019 ruling that decriminalized gay sex in the southern African country, which had b [...]
Zambia’s new president sticks tight to homophobic traditions
Zambia's new president has made clear that he will not do what LGBTI rights activists hoped for and that homophobes feared: He will not recognize the [...]
Report: Covid-19 threatens LGBTIQ+ Africans and their organisations
Covid-19 has hurt LGBTIQ+ communities in east and southern Africa while also revealing weaknesses in the region's LGBTIQ+ advocacy organisations, acco [...]
Namibia court bans anti-gay discrimination in child citizenship case
A Namibian court has found that the constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, in a case that also found that the two-year-old chil [...]
Botswana court delays ruling on overturned anti-gay law
Botswanan judges said yesterday that they plan to spend extra time researching and discussing the Botswanan government's appeal to restore the nation' [...]
Anti-gay Zambians fear their new president will endorse gay rights
Homophobic Zambians fear that new President Hakainde Hichilema will establish gay rights in Zambia -- a fear that Hichilema has not encouraged. Last w [...]
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 [...]
Namibia justice minister announces plan to decriminalize gay sex this year
Namibian Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab has announced that scrapping the criminal prohibition on same-sex intimacy is among 31 pieces of legislation d [...]
UPDATE: Namibian government allows gay man’s infant daughters to come home
UPDATE May 19, 2021:
The Namibian government has issued travel documents to the twin infant daughters of a binational gay couple who were born in S [...]
Amplifying the voices of Eswatini’s LGBT people
Voices of Eswatini, a new project from Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM) and All Out, amplifies the voices of the small but strong LGBT com [...]
Namibia denies residency to infant daughters of gay citizen
A Namibian court ruled Monday against a gay couple demanding the right to bring their infant daughters home after being born to a surrogate in South A [...]
Protesters demand gay rights in Zimbabwe
Protesters marched to the Zimbabwean consulate in Cape Town, South Africa, on April 12 to present a petition calling for Zimbabwe to recognize the hu [...]
African churches: Why preach love, then imprison gays?
Why do people who preach love every Sunday want people put in prison for what they do in the privacy of their bedrooms? That was one of the questions [...]
U.S. election: Biden pledges to act against anti-gay nations
U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden says that, if elected on Nov. 3, he will "restore America's global leadership on LGBTQ+ issues and actively comb [...]
Zambia frees gay couple serving 15-year sentence
Zambia has freed two men who since 2018 have been serving a 15-year prison sentence for same-sex intimacy.
From the African Human Rights Me [...]
Activists fear for safety of 2 arrested Malawi dissidents
Human rights defenders fear for the safety of two prominent political dissidents and LGBTQ rights activists who were arrested March 8 for opposing Pre [...]
Report: U.S. recalls envoy who opposed prison term for gay Zambians
The United States has quietly recalled its ambassador to Zambia after President Edgar Lungu loudly declared him unwelcome in Zambia for protesting the [...]
Zambia demands removal of U.S. envoy for protesting anti-gay prison sentences
The president of Zambia wants the U.S. to recall its Zambian ambassador because he supports the human rights of homosexuals.
From the African [...]
Is Zambia ready for a gay pride march?
Behind Zambian politicians' loud public denunciations of homosexuality, the country is showing signs of tolerance of LGBT people. Some say it's even r [...]
Why is Zambian couple in prison? Because of King Henry VIII
Zambian politicians claim that Christian values are the basis for 15-year prison sentences imposed on a gay couple who were spotted having sex in a pr [...]
U.S. envoy to Zambia: Act like Jesus, not like bigots, if you’re a Christian nation
Zambian officials should stop lying about their relationship with the United States and should act like leaders of the Christian nation they claim to [...]
Zambia blasts U.S. envoy who protested 15-year sentence for gay couple
The government of Zambia plans to file an official protest against U.S. ambassador Daniel Foote for criticizing the 15-year prison sentences that a Za [...]