LGBT+ - The African Mirror

Sep

11

2020

Australian fights homophobia with World Gay Boxing Championships

LGBT+

SEB STARCEVIC Lying sick in hospital, Martin Stark was not only worried about his poor health - the gay boxer was also crushed by the news that boxing had been dropped from the 2022 Gay Games. So the 45-year-old Australian decided to create another LGBT+ sports festival to achieve his dream of competing on the world stage. "I was calling myself the future world gay boxing champion, I was going to go and win gold for Australia," Stark told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview. "I was in my hospital bed, and I thought, 'I can't stop this…

Sep

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Blackmailed with nudes, Nigerian lesbians find safety outside the closet

LGBT+

VINCENT DESMOND and RACHEL SAVAGE AFTER swapping nude photos with Blessing on WhatsApp, Chioma set out to meet her prospective lover but was accosted on the road by a man in military uniform who accused her of "lesbianism". The man told Chioma he was going to strip her naked and take her to the Nigerian police, as instructed by Blessing's father, a senior army official, as same-sex relations are a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail in the West African nation. "I started begging him and asking him what he could do to help me because I…

Sep

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Reports of racism, homophobia in UK football soar

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE REPORTS of racist and homophobic abuse at football matches in Britain soared to a record high in the last year, despite the disruption to the season from the coronavirus pandemic. Recorded discrimination in the 2019/20 season at professional games rose 42% to 446, with homophobic abuse almost doubling and reports of racism increasing by 53%, according to Kick It Out, an advocacy group that collates incidents. The rise comes amid global pressure over racism sparked by the Black Lives Matters protests, though advocates and LGBT+ fan groups said it was partly due to fans being more willing to…

Sep

03

2020

By The African Mirror

British boxer scores TV first with same-sex dance debut

LGBT+

SONIA ELKS 06BISEXUAL British boxer Nicola Adams will become the first person to compete with a same-sex dance partner in the hit show 'Strictly Come Dancing', the BBC announced on Wednesday, in a coup for LGBT+ representation on primetime television. "It's amazing to be a part of the movement for change, diversity and breaking boundaries in the entertainment industry," the double Olympic gold medal winner said in a statement. The long-running show pairs celebrities with professional dancers who teach them a routine each week, with varying degrees of success, and one couple is eventually crowned victor for prowess in everything…

Aug

31

2020

By The African Mirror

J.K. Rowling returns award over criticism of transgender stance

LGBT+

SONIA ELKS BRITISH author J.K. Rowling has said she will return a prestigious human rights award after the organisation that bestowed the prize criticised her posts on transgender rights. The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation gave the "Harry Potter" writer a Ripple of Hope award last year for her work to protect children's rights by highlighting abuse in the orphanage system. But this month Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert Kennedy and president of the U.S. organisation, criticised the author for "transphobic" online posts which she said served to undermine an already vulnerable group. "J.K. Rowling's attacks upon the transgender community are…

Aug

29

2020

By The African Mirror

With record wins, LGBT+ candidates celebrate ‘rainbow wave’ in U.S. election

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES AS the U.S. Democratic National Convention drew to a close, Pete Buttigieg, the party's first openly gay presidential candidate, took to the virtual stage to note the historic significance of his campaign. "The day I was born, close to where I'm standing here in South Bend, the idea of an 'out' candidate seeking any federal office at all was laughable," said Buttigieg, who came out in 2015 after being elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in 2012. "Yet earlier this year I campaigned for the presidency, often with my husband at my side, winning delegates to this very…

Aug

28

2020

By The African Mirror

Pride in Africa is for those who come after us

LGBT+

MARLINE OLUCHI SHARING about visibility, the struggles, the triumphs, the wellbeing and the needs of LGBT+ people in Africa is a creative struggle between emotions, sensibility, objectivity and the need to write from a deep place of hurt, layering down my vulnerabilities. It is first of all, an inner struggle to validate yourself, rationalize your feelings, and follow your passions, without having to worry about people frowning at your choices, to adequately capture what it means to be different from the acceptable societal norm our people have been preconditioned to expect, in a bid to promote bigotry, homophobia, transphobia, discrimination…

Aug

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Gay president 20 years off, says former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH THE United States will elect an LGBT+ president, but it might take another 20 years before the rainbow flag flies metaphorically over the White House, according to former Congressman and veteran civil rights campaigner Barney Frank. Attitudes toward the LGBT+ community have shifted "significantly" since he was first elected to Congress from the northeastern state of Massachusetts in 1981, Frank said. "The country has made it very clear – full legal equality wins and prejudice loses," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview. "I believe the fight for LGBT rights has been won (in the…

Aug

26

2020

By The African Mirror

LGBT+ conversion therapy survivors share stories on TikTok

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE WHEN Mike Dorn told his parents he was gay, aged 15, they tried to make him straight by sending him to a Christian camp in California for three months, where he was told he would go to hell, forced to dig holes and pushed around if he disobeyed orders. Dorn's trauma came to the surface when he was confined to his home for weeks during a COVID-19 lockdown in the United States in June and he decided to share his story on TikTok. "I was going through a pretty dark time being at home all the time and…

Aug

26

2020

By The African Mirror

Poland threatens to challenge EU funding block in LGBT+ row

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH POLAND has warned it could mount a legal challenge to the European Union's decision to withhold funding to towns accused of setting up so-called LGBT-free zones, in an escalation of a growing row over the issue. LGBT+ rights have become a divisive issue in Poland, whose ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) says their promotion undermines traditional values. President Andrzej Duda won re-election last month having pledged to ban same-sex adoption and school lessons that included discussions about sexuality or gender identity. That has led to tensions with the EU, which last month rejected six town twinning applications…