LGBT+ - The African Mirror

Oct

28

2021

Soccer-Cavallo becomes first active A-League player to come out as gay

LGBT+

ADELAIDE United midfielder Josh Cavallo became the first active A-League player to come out as gay on Wednesday, saying he was done with feeling ashamed about his sexuality and the exhaustion of trying to live a "double-life". "I'm a footballer and I'm gay," the 21-year-old said on a video posted on Adelaide's social media, drawing support from fellow professionals across the world. "All I want to do is play football and be treated equally." Few elite male soccer players have come out as gay during their careers. Andy Brennan became the first former A-League player to come out in 2019…

Oct

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana president calls for tolerance as parliament considers anti-LGBT+ law

LGBT+

GHANAIAN President Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday emphasised the need for civil debate and tolerance as parliament works towards a vote on a controversial bill that would make it a crime to be gay, bisexual or transgender. The so-called family values bill has dismayed the local LGBT+ community and prompted U.N. human rights experts to warn it could establish a system of state-sponsored discrimination and violence. Gay sex is already punishable with up to three years in jail in Ghana, where homophobic persecution is widespread, but the draft law would criminalise being LGBT+ or advocating for LGBT+ rights, and impose longer…

Oct

15

2021

By The African Mirror

FEATURE-Lithuania’s ‘gay propaganda’ law looms over fight for same-sex unions

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE AS the target of constant homophobic abuse as a teenager, Rimas Prokopovicius rarely heard anything positive about gay people when he was growing up in a provincial city in northern Lithuania. Like many young LGBT+ people in the Baltic state, a member of the European Union since 2004, he blames the country's "gay propaganda" law. While the 2009 legislation has not been enforced in recent years, LGBT+ rights campaigners say it legitimises homophobic attitudes, curbs free speech and is hampering their fight for same-sex civil partnerships to be legalised. "I'd really like to see the law (overturned) ...…

Oct

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Botswana appeals ruling allowing gay sex, court delays judgment

LGBT+

BOTSWANA judges have postponed ruling on a case in which the government is seeking to overturn a 2019 ruling that decriminalised gay sex, saying the matter needed more research and debate. The case was initially brought by a university student, Letsweletse Motshidiemang, whose representatives argued then that the government should do away with the law in light of a changed society where homosexuality was more widely accepted. Gay sex has been punishable by up to seven years in prison. Representing the state, Sydney Pilane told the Court of Appeal there was no evidence that people's attitudes had changed. "People don't…

Sep

25

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya film board bans gay documentary

LGBT+

AYENAT MERSIE Kenya has banned a documentary about a gay Kenyan man's struggle to be accepted by his family and country, saying it was blasphemous and an affront to the constitution. The Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) announced a prohibition on the exhibition, distribution, possession or broadcast of "I am Samuel," on Thursday. "We knew it was possible... but you hope for the best. When I made this film, I made it with African audiences in mind," Peter Murimi, the movie's director, told Reuters. "We will try and appeal but I am really disappointed because I was looking forward to…

Sep

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Conversion therapy thrives globally as bans gather pace

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE DOCTORS once prescribed long, hard bike rides and testicular transplants to cure gay men of their "sexual abnormality". More than a century on, fear and controversy still dog the secretive world of conversion therapy. From injections to electric shocks, prayer to rape, myriad methods are peddled by medics, counsellors and moralists to try and change or suppress the sexual desire or gender identity of LGBT+ people. Interviews with practitioners and people who have been through conversion therapy reveal a deep divergence over practices that dozens of medical associations have condemned as ineffective and harmful. In Egypt, a young…

Jun

17

2021

By The African Mirror

EXCLUSIVE-Hungary could be sanctioned over anti-LGBT+ law, warns EU equality chief

LGBTQIA+, LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH THE EU could impose funding restrictions on Hungary over legislation that bans the dissemination in schools of content deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change, the bloc's equality chief told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Tuesday. Speaking shortly before Hungary's parliament approved the ban, European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli said Brussels was prepared to take measures similar to those imposed on Polish regions that had declared themselves "LGBT-free". "The message is that if you don't uphold the values of democracy or equality of the European Union, you are not entitled to take money for your project," Dalli said in…

Sep

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Lil Nas X takes top prize at Video Music Awards

LGBT+

JILL SERJEANT RAPPER Lil Nas X and pop star Justin Bieber won the top prizes at MTV's annual Video Music Awards (VMA) show on Sunday, in a ceremony packed with surprise appearances, live performances and thousands of masked fans. Newcomer Olivia Rodrigo and K-pop band BTS were also among the big winners at the first major awards shows in New York to be held with a full audience of fans and celebrities since the coronavirus pandemic Bieber, 27, returned to the VMA stage for the first time in six years and took home Moon Person statuettes for artist of the…

Jun

04

2021

By The African Mirror

LGBT+ conversion therapy: banned on Facebook, but thriving in Arabic

LGBTQIA+, LGBT+

AVI ASHER-SCHAPIRO and MAYA GEBEILY WHEN he was growing up in a small Egyptian town outside Cairo, Omar began feeling sexually attracted to other men. Too afraid to talk to family or friends, he turned to Facebook for help, shielding his identity with a false name. Scouring social media for information and advice is a common recourse for young men and women who think they may be gay and live in socially conservative Arab societies. But it can lead them to therapists, spiritual leaders and influencers promising to "cure the affliction" of homosexuality through so-called conversion therapy - practices that…

Sep

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Making queer stories universal: ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ premieres in London

LGBT+

MINDY BURROWS STARS and cast members walked the pink carpet in London on Monday for the premiere of the film adaptation of the musical "Everybody's Talking About Jamie." The musical is based on the true story of Jamie Campbell, a 16-year-old boy from the small British town of Sheffield who dreams of becoming a drag queen. Central to the storyline is Jamie's strong relationship with his mother. Newcomer Max Harwood plays the titular role and told Reuters he felt it was important for queer representation that the story be told around the world. "It's important that queer stories also become…