November, 2020 - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Biden rekindles American Dream for Africa’s LGBT+ refugees

NITA BHALLA JOE Biden's electoral victory has revived the American Dream for scores of African LGBT+ refugees who fled persecution at home only to languish in Kenya when President Donald Trump denied them a fresh start in the United States. Trump is due to leave office in January, with his Democratic successor promising to open the door wider to migrants and lead a more LGBT+-friendly administration. Under his presidency, Trump lowered the cap on refugee admissions every year, culminating in an all-time low of 15,000 for the fiscal year 2021. Biden has pledged to increase annual refugee admissions to 125,000.…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

With Twitter pronouns and victory speech, Biden-Harris signal new era for trans rights

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE WITH vice president-elect Kamala Harris including her pronouns in her Twitter bio and president-elect Joe Biden thanking trans supporters in his victory speech, trans-Americans have already won exceptional backing from the incoming U.S. administration. Harris describes herself not only as a wife and auntie but also "she/her" on Twitter, signalling that one of the world's most powerful politicians is an LGBT+ ally who recognises the need to respect trans people by addressing them correctly. "It normalises the practice of stating pronouns," Zeke Smith, a trans U.S. writer and former reality TV star, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Aspiring U.S. trans soldiers call on Biden to end military ban

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH AS Joe Biden began his first full day as U.S. president-elect, a group of transgender military aspirants and campaign groups insisted that one of his first priorities must be to overturn a ban on new transgender personnel serving in the U.S. military. Biden captured the presidency on Saturday as voters narrowly rebuffed Republican incumbent Donald Trump's tumultuous leadership and embraced his promise to fight the coronavirus pandemic and fix the economy in a divided nation. Former Democrat President Barack Obama in 2016 allowed trans people to serve openly and receive medical care to transition genders, but in April…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Transgender couple wed in Hungary, land of growing homophobia

LGBT+

BERNADETT SZABO and BALAZS KAUFMANN THE wedding of Hungarian transgender couple Tamara Csillag and Elvira Angyal looked just like any other, with the nervous pair dressing up and heading off to the rural Hungarian courtroom where their marriage would be sealed. But in the world of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, this was special as Orban, increasingly hostile to LGBT+ people, has outlawed legal recognition of transgender identity. Ironically, that made the wedding possible, as Csillag was stuck with male documents while Angyal had already completed her transition and had the documents to prove it. "Our dream has come true.…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

New Yorkers Torres, Jones become first gay Black men elected to U.S. Congress

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES TWO New Yorkers this week became the first gay men of colour elected to the U.S. Congress, making strides for LGBT+ rights while the U.S. presidential candidates were locked in a close national contest. Democrats Ritchie Torres, an openly gay Black and Latino man from New York City's Bronx borough, and Mondaire Jones, an openly gay Black man from a New York City suburb, won seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. "A wise person once said, 'If you don't have a seat at the table, then you're probably on the menu,'" Torres told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

LGBT+ candidates surf rainbow wave to victory in U.S. elections

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH LGBT+ candidates have surfed a rainbow wave to victory in the U.S. elections with a series of historic wins, including Sarah McBride becoming the first openly transgender person to win a State Senate seat. At least 35 of a record 574 LGBT+ candidates on the ballot were estimated to have won as of early Wednesday, including Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones, respectively the first out gay Afro-Latino and Black men elected to Congress. "Tonight's wins for LGBTQ people of colour and transgender Americans across the country are historic and long overdue," said Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

OPINION: It is time to recognize LGBT+ people in conflict areas

LGBT+

SAHAR MOAZAMI and DAINA RUDUSA | OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER 29, 2020, marked 20 years since the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325, thereby recognizing the unique impact conflict has on women. This was the first document to draw attention to sexual and gender-based violence in conflict areas and to call for the inclusion of women in peace and security work. Twenty years on, inclusion of LGBT+ people in peace and security work is still sorely lacking, or even purposefully excluded despite growing visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people by multilateral organisations, and big strides having been taken…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Vatican moves to clarify pope’s comments on civil union laws

LGBT+

PHILIP PULLELLA THE Vatican says comments by Pope Francis on civil union laws in a documentary last month were taken out of context and did not signal a change in Church doctrine on homosexuals or support for same-sex marriage. The documentary, "Francesco", which premiered at the Rome film festival on October 21, made headlines for a comment in which the pope says that homosexuals have a right to be in a family and that civil union laws covering homosexuals are needed. The pope's comments as portrayed prompted praise from liberals and calls for urgent clarification from conservatives. Last week, the…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Biden, in LGBTQ interview, vows to pass Equality Act in first 100 days

LGBT+

DANIEL TROTTA DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised to put top priority on passing the LGBTQ rights legislation known as the Equality Act, hoping to sign what would be a landmark civil rights law within 100 days, should he win Tuesday's election. Biden, a leading voice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer rights as vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, also pledged in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News to expand queer rights internationally by making equality a centrepiece of U.S. diplomacy if he assumes office in January. Although he has championed the Equality…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Bedouins go back to their roots in Egypt as COVID-19 hits tourism

COVID-19

MENNA A. FAROUK FOR years, Um Saad has been urging fellow Bedouins to tend their orchards and vegetable patches in the mountains of Egypt's South Sinai. It took a pandemic for them to listen to her. Tourism, her community's main source of income, has been wobbly for years - rattled by militant attacks and political unrest. But COVID-19 has decimated the sector, encouraging many Bedouins to go back to the livelihoods of their ancestors. "This is one good thing about the coronavirus," said Um Saad, 75, sitting outside the house where she has lived for decades near the town of…