LGBTQIA+ - The African Mirror

Jun

09

2024

Two women in Comoros detained on gay sex charges after marriage bid

LGBTQIA+

POLICE in Comoros detained two women on charges of engaging in same-sex sexual activity after they asked an Islamic preacher to marry them, a public prosecutor said. Gay sex is illegal in Comoros, a Muslim-majority archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean which has a population of 870,000. Public prosecutor Ali Mohamed Djounaid said the women were being held in pre-trial detention at a prison in the capital, Moroni, after a court appearance in which they were charged with having "unnatural sex". "They are accused of acts that are contrary to good morals and against nature," Djounaid said. If convicted, the…

Jun

05

2024

By The African Mirror

Rights violations for Uganda’s LGBTQ community escalating – pressure group

LGBTQIA+

UGANDA'S sexual minorities face escalating human rights violations, with over 1000 cases recorded in the last nine months involving arrests, torture and house evictions among others, according to a report by a pressure group. Members of Uganda's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community have faced increasing rights violations since early last year when Uganda's parliament started considering an anti-homosexuality law. The legislation, called the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was eventually enacted in May last year. Under the law among other tough penalties same-sex intercourse is punishable by life in prison while so-called aggravated homosexuality attracts a death sentence. In a report…

May

30

2024

By GODFRIED ASANTE

Ghana’s anti-LGBTIQ+ bill is being challenged in the Supreme Court. Why the decision to broadcast it live matters

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, LGBTQIA+

GHANA’S Supreme Court is live televising its proceedings on the country’s controversial anti-LGBTQI+ bill. This was on the request of Ghana’s attorney general, who cited public interest and transparency. The country’s parliament passed the bill in February 2024 amid global furore and local outcry. The bill criminalises not only LGBTQI+ relationships but also those who support queer rights. After it was passed, two citizens filed a case before the country’s highest court, to restrain the president of Ghana from making the bill law. They have asked the court to rule that the bill contravenes aspects of Ghana’s constitution and should…

May

21

2024

By JACKSON OKATA

Once beaten, twice evicted: LGBTQ+ Ugandans flee for safety

LGBTQIA+

EVICTED from her business. Thrown out of home. Then pummelled by family. That was enough to persuade Cindy to flee a surge in anti-LGBTQ+ violence that is sweeping her native Uganda. It is one year since President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA), one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws ever enacted globally and a measure that has legalised a swathe of homophobic abuse. Not least forced evictions - which have more than doubled under the AHA as landlords, families and neighbours oust LGBTQ+ Ugandans from their homes or businesses with full legal backing. The year-old act made it illegal to rent property to LGBTQ+ people…

May

21

2024

By SADIYA ANSARI

LGBTQ+ Namibians await landmark court ruling on gay sex law

LGBTQIA+

NAMIBIAN LGBTQ+ advocates hope a High Court ruling next month will decriminalise gay sex by overturning the colonial-era sodomy law, offering a ray of hope even as parliament tries to crack down on same-sex relationships. "The courts (are) our last hope and our beacon of liberation," Omar van Reenen, who is co-founder of the rights group Equal Namibia, told Context in an interview. LGBTQ+ advocate Friedel Dausab brought the appeal against Namibia's long-standing sodomy law, arguing the criminalisation of sodomy and related offences was unconstitutional. Arguments were heard in October and the court is expected to rule in June. The court decision…

May

18

2024

By CAIO SIMÕES DE ARAÚJO

Angola’s untold history: archive project explores LGBTIQ+ lives and struggles

LIFESTYLE, LGBTQIA+

AS I write these lines, I mourn the passing of Carlos Fernandes, a leading queer activist and organiser in Angola. Carlos was found dead in his home earlier this year under circumstances that are still being investigated. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people everywhere, there has commonly been a profound connection between remembrance and mourning. It’s not a coincidence, for example, that queer archives flourished in the 1980s and 1990s at a time when the HIV epidemic brought with it the lived experience of loss. Since then, there have been a growing number of institutions committed…

May

12

2024

By SADIYA ANSARI

How new anti-LGBTQ+ bills in Africa expand crackdown on rights

LGBTQIA+

DESPITE the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in Mauritius in 2023, rights groups warn that new laws being considered in several African countries risk eroding LGBTQ+ rights by creating new offences and targeting new groups. Many of the new bills resemble Uganda's draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was signed into law last May and which includes the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality". Sexual minorities in the east African nation say they have faced a wave of abuse since then, with a prominent LGBTQ+ rights activist stabbed in an attack in January. In a January report, Amnesty International described a "barrage of discriminatory laws stoking hate against…

May

12

2024

By NELSON CHIGOZIRIM

‘I had been set up’: LGBTQ+ Nigerians battle dating app traps

LGBTQIA+

WHEN Acho Kenneth was asked to meet his Grindr date at the other man's home in Lagos, it didn't ring any alarm bells as discretion is the norm for gay men dating in Nigeria, where same-sex relations can land you in jail. Kenneth was, however, a little taken aback when he arrived to find his date, who said his name was Ugo, hanging out with four friends. But the other men soon left, and he and Ugo moved to the bedroom to make out. Soon after, the four men rushed back in and as he fended off blows, Kenneth realised he…

May

10

2024

By ENRIQUE ANARTE LAZO

Exile offers little respite for LGBTQ+ Ugandans who fled abuse

LGBTQIA+

A year after Uganda enacted one of the world's harshest anti-gay laws, many LGBTQ+ exiles are struggling to start over, facing a host of new hurdles alongside some of the same old threats that forced them out. From Canada to Kenya to Germany, their new homelands have not proved the sanctuary that many LGBTQ+ Ugandans hoped for. Finding work, a home, safety and acceptance have proved elusive for many who felt forced out by Kampala's tough anti-homosexuality laws. Yet even this new half-life is better than the old one. "Every queer person would love to leave Uganda," said Henry Mukiibi,…

May

10

2024

By NITA BHALLA

Kenya LGBTQ+ dating app blackmail cases go to court

LGBTQIA+

JOE smiled nervously from behind his shades as he emerged from the cramped wood-panelled magistrate's court in Kenya's capital Nairobi. The slim 24-year-old man, wearing black track pants and a grey hoodie, had just testified how he and his friend had been beaten and robbed by a man they had met on Facebook last year. "The perpetrator and the three friends who attacked us thought we wouldn't go to the police because we are gay," said Joe, who asked not to be identified by his real name, as he stood outside Milimani Law Courts last month. "If we are one…