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

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.

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.
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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

Kenyan police raid 'gay wedding' and arrest five men

Police in Mtwapa, just north of the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, say they have arrested five men whom they accuse of being homosexuals.

District officer George Matandura said two of the men had been found with wedding rings, attempting to get married, in Kikambala beach resort.

The other three men were handed to the police by members of the public; two of them had reportedly been beaten.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya but arrests are extremely rare.

Crowds gathered outside the police station where the men were taken in protest at the presence of alleged homosexuals.

The wedding was reportedly due to take place at a private villa in the resort, but locals heard of the plans and alerted the police, who raided a house and arrested the men.

'Repugnant' behaviour

"We are grateful to the public for alerting the police. They should continue co-operating with the police to arrest more," Mr Matundura said.

"It is an offence, an unnatural offence, and also their behaviour is repugnant to the morality of the people."

We shall use all means to curb this vice
Sheikh Ali Hussein
Council of Imams and Preachers

The district officer said the five, aged between 20 and 35, would "undergo a medical examination before we charge them with homosexuality," the AFP news agency reported.

"We will move swiftly and close down bars which condone gays, lesbians, prostitution and drug abuse in their premises," Mr Matundura added.

A member of a Kenyan gay rights organisation condemned the arrests and said it had appealed to the Human Rights Commission to step in.

But the marriage allegedly planned was condemned by Muslim and Christian clerics.

"We cannot allow these young boys to ruin their future through homosexuality," Sheikh Ali Hussein of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya told AFP.

"We shall use all means to curb this vice."

Bishop Lawrence Chai, of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, said: "This is immoral and we shall not allow it, especially here in Mtwapa."

The five men are due to appear in court soon.

Media coverage

On Thursday, two other men abandoned their plans to get married at a seaside villa in the same area after local authorities complained.

The couple and their guests fled the coastal city when word spread that the police, government officers and members of the public were looking for them.

Apart from in South Africa, homosexual behaviour is illegal across Africa.

Four months ago a Kenyan gay couple married in London - an event which received wide media coverage inside Kenya.

UGADAN ANTI - HOMOSEXUALITY BILL: ANGLICANS AGAINST THE BILL

The country’s Anglicans yesterday added their voice against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Like the Catholics before them, the Church of Uganda officially rejected the Bill.

They proposed that instead of the death penalty for gays who seduce boys - as the Bill put forward by Ndorwa West David Bahati demands – the law should be changed to ensure that vulnerable boys are properly protected.

Archbishop Luke Orombi, in his first public comments on the controversial Bill, however said they do not recognise homosexuality as “a human right”.
“The Church of Uganda believes that homosexual practice is incompatible with the Scripture,” the prelate said in a statement issued yesterday, citing a resolution of the 1998 Lambeth Conference in Britain.

He added: “At the same time, the Church of Uganda is committed at all levels to offer counseling, healing and prayer for people with homosexual disorientation, especially in our schools and other institutions of learning.”

“The Church is a safe place for individuals, who are confused about their sexuality or struggling with sexual brokenness, to seek help and healing. As a Church; we affirm the necessity of appropriate amendments within the existing legislation...”

Mr Bahati, who tabled the Bill last year, yesterday insisted in comments to Christians and pastors fellowshipping at Christian Life Church in Bwaise, a city suburb, that he is not giving up.


“As a Member of Parliament, I have a constitutional right to move a Private Member’s Bill and will not be shaken by any external forces because I have the support from within my country,” he said, adding: “Many Ugandans are behind me and we have to fight this battle jointly.”

However, the latest foray by Church of Uganda, which until last year played host and spiritual home for breakaway conformist American clerics/Anglicans disenchanted over acceptance of homosexuals in the Episcopal Church, deprives MP Bahati of the second biggest bloc after the Catholic Church here earlier raised objections to capital punishment embedded in the Bill.

According to Mr Bahati, the Bill seeks to legitimise marriage only as a union between a man and woman, penalise homosexuals, prohibit and or disown pro-gay treaties and freeze licensing of promoter organisations.


Some provisions of the Bill, including the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, borderless jurisdiction and criminalisation of counseling of gays, have been criticised both locally and internationally, especially by human rights activists
US President Barack Obama, among other powerful western leaders, last week derided the Bill as “odious”, two months after President Museveni urged Parliament to go slow on it due to associated foreign policy sensitivity.

Sanctions plea
Yesterday’s statement sent to media houses by Church of Uganda’s Communications Director Amanda Onapito, specifically suggests changes to Sections 128-147 that variously touch on sexual-related offences such as indecent assault, homosexuality and defilement to ensure “proportionality” in sanctions.

“The ideal situation would be one where necessary amendment is made to existing legislation to also enumerate other sexual offences such as lesbianism and bestiality,” the statement, already endorsed by the House of Bishops, reads in part.

“This would not require a fresh Bill on homosexuality per se but rather an amendment to the existing provisions which would also change the title to something like: The Penal Code Unnatural Offences Amendment Bill.”

The Anglican Communion has in recent years stood on the edge of division on the issue of gays in the congregation with liberals backing their accommodation while conservatives detest the practice as “sinful and unbiblical”.Church of Uganda has sided with the conformists, helping organise the 2008 Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem after boycotting the Lambeth Conference in London over Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William’s perceived tolerance of gays.



Meanwhile, a man in Isingiro District in western Uganda was remanded in custody after being accused of sodomising a 13-year-old boy.

The prosecution told the court that the 27-year-old had waylaid the boy as he returned from grazing goats and threatened to stab him before forcing him into sex against “the order of nature”.
The magistrate in Mbarara said the evidence in the file was “too scanty to proceed” and he adjourned the hearing.

Ends

RWANDA PAVES WAY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS RESPECT FOR LGBTI

Rwanda paves the way for universal respect
of human rights in Africa by refusing
to criminalise homosexuality





In December 2009, the lower House of the Rwandan Parliament was set to vote upon a revised Penal Code, Article 217 of which would have made homosexuality a criminal offence for the first time in the East African nation.

Following a strong mobilisation from diplomats and human rights activists in the region, Tharcisse Karugarama, Minister of Justice, declared that the Rwandan government "cannot and will not in any way criminalize homosexuality", reaffirming that sexual orientation was "a private matter and each individual has his or her own orientation – this is not a State matter at all".

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-president of the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights, enthusiastically congratulated Rwandan authorities on their decision: "In a context increasingly repressive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in African countries, Rwanda did the right thing by refusing to criminalise homosexuality. This is yet another example of Rwanda being a role-model for African nations."

Mr Cashman further added: "With this courageous decision, Rwanda is paving the way for everyone's human rights to be respected in the region. The European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights calls on other African nations to follow the lead of Rwanda, and abide by Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights."

Homosexuality is currently a criminal offence in several African countries, and punished by death in Mauritania, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan, and potentially Uganda.