10
Lesbian Pride on Full Display in Soweto
Lesbians marched through the streets of the Soweto township in South Africa for Soweto Pride Day in an environment where they are often victims of sexual violence, IOLNews reports.
Thousands of black lesbians were due to take to the streets of Soweto today to celebrate their sexuality and humanity at the annual Soweto Pride Day.
Soweto Pride, which was initiated in 2004 by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW), aims to promote tolerance of sexual diversity in the township.
The event will also commemorate and honour Soweto’s fallen victims and survivors of crimes motivated by prejudice – including migrants facing xenophobic violence and other minority groups that are stigmatised and discriminated against.
Soweto Pride is held every year on the Saturday closest to Heritage Day, and includes a lively protest march from the streets of Zone Two Meadowlands and through the residential and business areas of Soweto.
A political programme at the end-point is followed by a cultural programme to celebrate the struggles and victories of black lesbians, as the broader women’s movement and as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
Community, religious and political leaders have been invited to denounce hate crimes in their speeches at the event. These were to be followed by various activities, including an exhibition and voluntary counselling and testing.
Soweto Pride is also an occasion for the lesbian community to continue to create a political and social space for its visibility and to amplify its voice.
According to FEW’s programme co-ordinator, Phindi Malaza, the event is an opportunity for the broader community to express its solidarity and support of lesbians.
“The goal of Soweto Pride is to ensure that lesbians residing in the township no longer fall victim to homophobic attacks or any other crime. We want lesbians to feel safe and protected during this day and beyond,” says Malaza.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
UPR Kenya United Nations Human Right Council Geneva
UPR Kenya United Nations Human Right Council Geneva
15th Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Statement by
Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD)
Mr. President,
ACPD with Minority Women in Action, the Coalition of African Lesbians and Pan Africa ILGA, wishes to stress the following points in relation to the Universal Periodic Review of Kenya:
We welcome the State’s support on various recommendations including the promise to review national laws to fully uphold the principle of non-discrimination, eradicate the use of torture and ill-treatment by public officials and take effective measures to safeguard the work of human rights defenders. We also recall the State’s ratification of various international and regional human rights instruments including the protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of women in Africa.
However, we express disappointment that the Kenyan government has rejected recommendations to take measures to provide for the protection and equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. The criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct encoded in Sections 162 and 165 of the Penal Code fuels stigma, discrimination and violence against sexual minorities. Human rights are universal, inalienable and inherent. These principles apply to all citizens of Kenya including lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Kenyans.
The importance of human rights was emphasized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in a high-level panel at the current session of the Human Rights Council who said:
“No doubt deeply rooted cultural sensitivities can be aroused when we talk about sexual orientation. Social attitudes run deep and take time to change. But cultural considerations should not stand in the way of basic human rights.”
LGBTI Kenyans are repeatedly discriminated against and continue to face threats and violence as well as torture, ill-treatment and harassment at the hands of public authorities simply because of who we are and who we love. We regret the silence of the State in the face of these violations, such as in the highly publicized attach on 12 February, 2010 in Mtwapa targeting homosexual individuals that saw organized physical violence, life threats and hate speech.
In this dawn of a new constitutional dispensation, we urge the State of Kenya to seize this moment and respect, protect and fulfill the rights of all Kenyans including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Our rights, the rights of LGBTI people, are human rights.
15th Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Statement by
Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD)
Mr. President,
ACPD with Minority Women in Action, the Coalition of African Lesbians and Pan Africa ILGA, wishes to stress the following points in relation to the Universal Periodic Review of Kenya:
We welcome the State’s support on various recommendations including the promise to review national laws to fully uphold the principle of non-discrimination, eradicate the use of torture and ill-treatment by public officials and take effective measures to safeguard the work of human rights defenders. We also recall the State’s ratification of various international and regional human rights instruments including the protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of women in Africa.
However, we express disappointment that the Kenyan government has rejected recommendations to take measures to provide for the protection and equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. The criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct encoded in Sections 162 and 165 of the Penal Code fuels stigma, discrimination and violence against sexual minorities. Human rights are universal, inalienable and inherent. These principles apply to all citizens of Kenya including lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Kenyans.
The importance of human rights was emphasized by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in a high-level panel at the current session of the Human Rights Council who said:
“No doubt deeply rooted cultural sensitivities can be aroused when we talk about sexual orientation. Social attitudes run deep and take time to change. But cultural considerations should not stand in the way of basic human rights.”
LGBTI Kenyans are repeatedly discriminated against and continue to face threats and violence as well as torture, ill-treatment and harassment at the hands of public authorities simply because of who we are and who we love. We regret the silence of the State in the face of these violations, such as in the highly publicized attach on 12 February, 2010 in Mtwapa targeting homosexual individuals that saw organized physical violence, life threats and hate speech.
In this dawn of a new constitutional dispensation, we urge the State of Kenya to seize this moment and respect, protect and fulfill the rights of all Kenyans including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Our rights, the rights of LGBTI people, are human rights.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
MCROBE KILLING GEL FOR USE DURING VAGIANL INTERCOURSE
A microbe-killing gel for use during vaginal sex developed by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) has been praised by experts at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna as a breakthrough that may lead to similar products being developed for use during anal sex.
The gel contains 1 percent of the antiretroviral drug Tenofovir and was found to reduce a woman’s risk of being infected with HIV during vaginal intercourse by 39 percent, as well as being 51 percent effective in reducing her risk of catching genital herpes.
The more the women in the trial used the gel, the greater the protective effect, with women who used it in 80 percent of sex acts more than halving their chances of becoming infected with HIV.
The results were cheered by members of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) group, a network of people trying to develop an effective anal microbicide for use in combating HIV.
“The positive results from the CAPRISA 004 study represent a very significant milestone in HIV prevention research and they increase optimism that we can develop safe and effective antiretroviral rectal microbicides,” IRMA’s scientific vice-chair Dr Ian McGowan said.
Dr McGowan said anal intercourse was a common human sexual behaviour, practised by up to 10 percent of the world’s population, including both heterosexuals and men who have sex with men.
“As with vaginal microbicides, safe and effective rectal microbicides are urgently needed by millions of people,” he said.
Unprotected anal intercourse is said to be 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV transmission compared to unprotected vaginal intercourse, because of the thin and porous nature of the rectal lining.
IRMA chair Jim Pickett said internationally, gay men and others who practised anal intercourse had been largely ignored.
“There is a paucity of data regarding anal intercourse, homosexual and heterosexual, due to politics, stigma, criminalisation, and outright denial,” he said.
The gel contains 1 percent of the antiretroviral drug Tenofovir and was found to reduce a woman’s risk of being infected with HIV during vaginal intercourse by 39 percent, as well as being 51 percent effective in reducing her risk of catching genital herpes.
The more the women in the trial used the gel, the greater the protective effect, with women who used it in 80 percent of sex acts more than halving their chances of becoming infected with HIV.
The results were cheered by members of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) group, a network of people trying to develop an effective anal microbicide for use in combating HIV.
“The positive results from the CAPRISA 004 study represent a very significant milestone in HIV prevention research and they increase optimism that we can develop safe and effective antiretroviral rectal microbicides,” IRMA’s scientific vice-chair Dr Ian McGowan said.
Dr McGowan said anal intercourse was a common human sexual behaviour, practised by up to 10 percent of the world’s population, including both heterosexuals and men who have sex with men.
“As with vaginal microbicides, safe and effective rectal microbicides are urgently needed by millions of people,” he said.
Unprotected anal intercourse is said to be 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV transmission compared to unprotected vaginal intercourse, because of the thin and porous nature of the rectal lining.
IRMA chair Jim Pickett said internationally, gay men and others who practised anal intercourse had been largely ignored.
“There is a paucity of data regarding anal intercourse, homosexual and heterosexual, due to politics, stigma, criminalisation, and outright denial,” he said.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
IDAHO 2010: STATEMENT BY QUEER ALLIANCE NIGERIA
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF PRESS
NIGERIA
International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia 2010
A Statement by Queer Alliance Nigeria.
We are here today as citizens of Nigeria to add our voice against homophobia and transphobia and to remind our government, religious bodies, media, people and society that they may run us out of their churches, mosques, homes, jobs and neighborhood, but they cannot run us out of this nation nor reduce the love of God that includes us. This year’s International Day against Homophobia and transphobia is on the theme: Religions, homophobia, transphobia.
We are gathered here today as active players in the social and political development of our great nation. As activist and pressmen we share a lot in common and we have responsibility and a honorable tradition in promoting human rights for all Nigerian citizens. We therefore have come together to raise our voices using your platform to address against a particular and peculiar form of discrimination and violence against a vulnerable sub population. It is speaking out for our lives and rights: International Day against Homophobia and transphobia.
The world over, the influence of religion cannot be overstated. Religion is one single important aspect of our lives as human beings. It plays a very significant part in our everyday lives, choices and decision. And with all influence we cannot but also talk about the ills that are also associated with using the religion and its influence for the wrong purpose. Organized religion as we all know is a factor responsible for some of the world’s most dreaded atrocities. The Boko – Haram insurgence, the Jos Crisis, and many others are among the ills that its influence has brought about. In March 2009, during the public hearing on the Same Gender (Prohibition) Act, religion played a very prominent role through its leaders.
It is a sad situation in deed that religion which is supposed to be a rallying point for all irrespective of our differences is now a dividing bridge and a platform for the both state and non state orchestrated violence. It is also saddening to know that some religious leaders are behind the scene.
While religion is the main fuel for homophobia and transphobia, the reality is that our religious leaders in Nigeria and the African Continent have practically refused to explore to understand the concept of sexuality, orientation and diversity. We believe that sexuality is not a dark part of man’s life that must be shrouded in secrecy. But is a rare gift of life from the creator that must be expressed lovingly. Religious leaders could help explore this concept and its relation with religion and spirituality.
Nigeria’s constitution guarantees the right to association, freedom of speech and several other non alienable rights. Our country is also a signatory to international conventions, notably is Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the African Charter on Human Rights which protects sexual minorities, the ratification of which we are yet to witness locally. At this point in the history of our country, we are going through a period in which the decisive support for the rule of law, principles of freedom of speech, artistic and intellectual expression, association, religious liberty, an open society and the respect and recognition of the rights of sexual minorities’ in Nigeria have become an absolute necessity. It is our hope that our great nation through its religious leaders can provide support for all human rights that are entitled to all Nigerians without borders and also help develop it elsewhere. It is also our hope that our religious leaders can come to the table and dialogue with us.
As a country we do not need a religiously ordered society but a religiously and spiritually ordered mind that will propel us to love our neighbors as ourselves irrespective of our sexual and other differences. This in turn will then transpire out into the socially ordered Nigerian society that we all yearn for.
As we use today to call and clamor for the respect and recognition of sexual minorities’ in Nigeria, we look forward to the day that our rights as sexual minorities shall be upheld and protected constitutionally.
QUEER ALLIANCE NIGERIA
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Portugal to Sign Gay Marrialge Bill
Portugal’s top court gives gay marriage green light
There is something to celebrate for gay couples in Portugal.
Having won parliament’s backing for same-sex marriage, the Constitutional Court has now given its green light to the measure.
The signature of Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva is now all that is needed to make the bill law. He sent it to the country’s top court last month, after expressing doubts over whether it was constitutional.
But the tribunal’s president Rui Moura Ramos explained why no problems were found with the proposal. While it does not fit the traditional concept of marriage, as outlined in the constitution, he said this concept is open and can evolve.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has 20 days to either veto the legislation or sign it into law. If it is ratified, it would come into effect just ahead of a visit to the staunchly Roman Catholic country by Pope Benedict XVI.
There is something to celebrate for gay couples in Portugal.
Having won parliament’s backing for same-sex marriage, the Constitutional Court has now given its green light to the measure.
The signature of Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva is now all that is needed to make the bill law. He sent it to the country’s top court last month, after expressing doubts over whether it was constitutional.
But the tribunal’s president Rui Moura Ramos explained why no problems were found with the proposal. While it does not fit the traditional concept of marriage, as outlined in the constitution, he said this concept is open and can evolve.
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has 20 days to either veto the legislation or sign it into law. If it is ratified, it would come into effect just ahead of a visit to the staunchly Roman Catholic country by Pope Benedict XVI.
Monday, March 15, 2010
AFRICA AND HUMAN RIGHTS BY ARC. DESMOND TUTU
In Africa, a step backward on human rights
By Desmond Tutu
Friday, March 12, 2010
Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.
This Story
Love all God's children, straight or gay
How culture wars are won
It is time to stand up against another wrong.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God's family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.
Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.
These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.
Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.
And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God.
"But they are sinners," I can hear the preachers and politicians say. "They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished." My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?
The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.
The writer is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Desmond Tutu
Friday, March 12, 2010
Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity.
This Story
Love all God's children, straight or gay
How culture wars are won
It is time to stand up against another wrong.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people are part of so many families. They are part of the human family. They are part of God's family. And of course they are part of the African family. But a wave of hate is spreading across my beloved continent. People are again being denied their fundamental rights and freedoms. Men have been falsely charged and imprisoned in Senegal, and health services for these men and their community have suffered. In Malawi, men have been jailed and humiliated for expressing their partnerships with other men. Just this month, mobs in Mtwapa Township, Kenya, attacked men they suspected of being gay. Kenyan religious leaders, I am ashamed to say, threatened an HIV clinic there for providing counseling services to all members of that community, because the clerics wanted gay men excluded.
Uganda's parliament is debating legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment, and more discriminatory legislation has been debated in Rwanda and Burundi.
These are terrible backward steps for human rights in Africa.
Our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters across Africa are living in fear.
And they are living in hiding -- away from care, away from the protection the state should offer to every citizen and away from health care in the AIDS era, when all of us, especially Africans, need access to essential HIV services. That this pandering to intolerance is being done by politicians looking for scapegoats for their failures is not surprising. But it is a great wrong. An even larger offense is that it is being done in the name of God. Show me where Christ said "Love thy fellow man, except for the gay ones." Gay people, too, are made in my God's image. I would never worship a homophobic God.
"But they are sinners," I can hear the preachers and politicians say. "They are choosing a life of sin for which they must be punished." My scientist and medical friends have shared with me a reality that so many gay people have confirmed, I now know it in my heart to be true. No one chooses to be gay. Sexual orientation, like skin color, is another feature of our diversity as a human family. Isn't it amazing that we are all made in God's image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people? Does God love his dark- or his light-skinned children less? The brave more than the timid? And does any of us know the mind of God so well that we can decide for him who is included, and who is excluded, from the circle of his love?
The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.
The writer is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
VATICAN AND GAY SEX SCANDAL
The Vatican has been hit by a gay sex scandal after allegations that a chorister had procured male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.
The chorister, 29-year-old Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, was sacked after police heard him talking on a wiretap to Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness.
Papal gentlemen-in-waiting are called upon to act as ushers at the Vatican for major occasions.
Balducci, who was also a construction consultant to the Vatican, as well as being a senior government employee, is said to given Ehiem a description of the men he wanted and it has been reported that Ehiem may have procured a number of male prostitutes for him.
Balducci was being investigated by police over allegations of corruption when the claims of gay sex were revealed. He is alleged to have steered government contracts towards preferred bidders.
Excerpts of the wiretaps and police documents were published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
They showed that the pair had been in regular contact before Balducci was arrested last month and that they had discussed gay sex.
According to the newspaper, police said they were part of an organised male prostitution network and one of the men referred to was a student for the priesthood.
Baldacci remains in custody after being arrested last month. His lawyer has refused to comment and the Vatican has not released any statement on the claims.
A news magazine called Panoramas is due to publish an interview with Ehiem tomorrow. According to the Guardian, Ehiem will say: “”He [Baldacci] asked me if I could procure other men for him. He told me he was married and that I had to do it in great secrecy.”
The Catholic Church sees homosexuality as a sin and “intrinsically disordered”, while the Pope has spoken out against it a number of times.
The scandal is the latest to rock the Vatican, after investigations found endemic abuse of children in church-run institutio
The chorister, 29-year-old Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, was sacked after police heard him talking on a wiretap to Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness.
Papal gentlemen-in-waiting are called upon to act as ushers at the Vatican for major occasions.
Balducci, who was also a construction consultant to the Vatican, as well as being a senior government employee, is said to given Ehiem a description of the men he wanted and it has been reported that Ehiem may have procured a number of male prostitutes for him.
Balducci was being investigated by police over allegations of corruption when the claims of gay sex were revealed. He is alleged to have steered government contracts towards preferred bidders.
Excerpts of the wiretaps and police documents were published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
They showed that the pair had been in regular contact before Balducci was arrested last month and that they had discussed gay sex.
According to the newspaper, police said they were part of an organised male prostitution network and one of the men referred to was a student for the priesthood.
Baldacci remains in custody after being arrested last month. His lawyer has refused to comment and the Vatican has not released any statement on the claims.
A news magazine called Panoramas is due to publish an interview with Ehiem tomorrow. According to the Guardian, Ehiem will say: “”He [Baldacci] asked me if I could procure other men for him. He told me he was married and that I had to do it in great secrecy.”
The Catholic Church sees homosexuality as a sin and “intrinsically disordered”, while the Pope has spoken out against it a number of times.
The scandal is the latest to rock the Vatican, after investigations found endemic abuse of children in church-run institutio
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