LGBTQIA+ - The African Mirror

Sep

29

2023

Queer film in Africa is rising – even in countries with the harshest anti-LGBTIQ+ laws

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, LGBTQIA+

A recent book, Queer Bodies in African Films, studies the growing LGBTIQ+ output from filmmakers around the continent, from Morocco to South Africa. In the process, it analyses what queerness is and means within the context of African countries. Its author, Gibson Ncube, is a lecturer and scholar who focuses his research on queerness in African cultural production – from literature to films. We asked him four questions. GIBSON NCUBE, Lecturer, Stellenbosch University Is there a growing queer representation in films from African countries? Yes, the last decade has seen a proliferation of these films. Nigeria’s Nollywood has produced a…

Jun

26

2023

By The African Mirror

Police detain 50 after Pride march in Istanbul

LGBTQIA+

TURKISH police detained at least 50 people after Istanbul's LGBT community held its annual Pride march. The government led by President Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party has toughened its stance on LGBTQ+ freedoms. Speaking after his election victory in a runoff last month, Erdogan accused opposition parties of being "pro-LGBT". On Sunday, police in riot gear prevented access to Istiklal Avenue, the traditional venue for Pride marches, as well as the central Taksim Square. Streets nearby were blockaded and public transport in the area was suspended. On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people carrying rainbow and transgender flags gathered…

Jun

23

2023

By AYENAT MERSIE and MUKELWA HLATSHWAYO

LGBTQ rights: Kenya to follow Uganda?

LGBTQIA+

MOHAMED Ali doesn't believe gay Africans exist. He says homosexuality is a Western invention imposed on the continent. Openly gay Africans are liars seeking visas to the West or money from rights groups, he adds. Ali is a member of Kenya's parliament. He is desperate to follow neighbour Uganda by unleashing a sweeping legislative crackdown on LGBTQ people. Even if he happened to be sick in intensive care, he would ask to be dragged to parliament to approve it. "I will ask them to take me to vote for that, to kick them out, kick LGBT people out of Kenya…

Jun

15

2023

By The African Mirror

Ugandan law widens Anglican Church rift over LGBTQ rights

RELIGION, LGBTQIA+

THE chair of a conservative group of Anglican church leaders accused the church's global head of perpetuating colonialism with his criticism of one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, introduced by Uganda last month. Justin Welby, the head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion's 85 million members, said last week he had written to Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba to express "grief and dismay" at Kaziimba's support for the law. The legislation imposes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts and a 20-year prison sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. It has triggered widespread Western criticism including threats by U.S. President Joe Biden…

Jun

09

2023

By The African Mirror

HIV alarm in Uganda as anti-gay law forces LGBT ‘lockdown’

LGBTQIA+

THE HIV/AIDS treatment centre in Kampala is almost empty, days after Uganda enacted one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on Earth. The usual daily influx of around 50 patients has all but dried up, say staff. Antiretroviral drugs pile up unused. Andrew Tendo, resident medical officer at the US-funded clinic, warned that new waves of HIV infections were forming even as vulnerable people stayed away from treatment centres, afraid of being identified and arrested under the new laws. "The LGBT community in Uganda is on lockdown now," he said. "They don't have preventive services. They cannot access condoms ...…

Jun

09

2023

By ELAINE LIES

Japan ruling on same-sex marriage disappoints but ‘a step forward’

LGBTQIA+

A Japanese court said a ban on same-sex marriage was constitutional but it raised concerns about the dignity and human rights of same-sex couples, a ruling short of activists' expectations but still seen as a step forward. The judgement by the Fukuoka district court came a week after another district court said it was unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriage, bolstering hopes for change among the LGBTQ community in Japan, the only Group of Seven nation without legal protection for same-sex unions. Five rulings on same-sex marriage have been handed down in Japan over the past two years - two concluding the ban…

Jun

02

2023

By The African Mirror

LGBTQ: Uganda digs its heels in

LGBTQIA+

UGANDA'S President Yoweri Museveni has defended signing one of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ laws, with punishments up to and including the death penalty, saying it was needed to prevent LGBTQ community members he said were "disoriented" from "recruiting" others. His comments were the first since he signed the bill into law, triggering widespread Western criticism including threats by U.S. President Joe Biden and others to cut aid to Uganda and impose other sanctions. "The signing is finished, nobody will move us," Museveni said while meeting lawmakers from his National Resistance Movement party, a statement issued by his office late on Wednesday showed. The law…

May

31

2023

By The African Mirror

Anti-LGBTQ law: Uganda accuses West of blackmail

LGBTQIA+

UGANDA condemned the Western response to the East African country's new anti-LGBTQ law, considered one of the harshest in the world, and said sanctions threats from donors amounted to "blackmail". The law signed by President Yoweri Museveni carries the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", an offence that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex. Its enactment, announced on Monday, drew immediate rebukes from Western governments and puts in jeopardy some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid the country receives each year. U.S. President Joe Biden threatened aid cuts and other sanctions, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the government would consider visa…

May

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Being queer in Africa: the state of LGBTIQ+ rights across the continent

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, LGBTQIA+

IN recent years several African countries have decriminalised same-sex relationships. But they’re not representative of the continent. In fact, queer rights at times appear to be eroding in much of the continent, with Kenya and Uganda most recently in the news for harsh laws and violence against members of the LGBTIQ+ community. We asked sociologist and queer studies scholar Zethu Matebeni five questions. Author ZETHU MATEBENI, South African Research Chair in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies, University of Fort Hare How would you describe the state of LGBTIQ+ rights? The state of LGBTIQ+ rights on the continent could be described…

May

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Reactions to new Ugandan anti-LGBTQ law

LGBTQIA+

UGANDA has implemented one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, drawing widespread Western condemnation and outraging activists at home. Below is some reaction: CLARE BYARUGABA, UGANDAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST "The Ugandan President has today Legalised State-Sponsored Homophobia and Transphobia. It's a very dark and sad day ... We shall continue to fight this atrocious legislation through the Judiciary until Human Rights for all are upheld. We shall win, because as Martin Luther King Jr reminded us, the moral arc of the Universe always bends towards Justice." U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE "We are appalled that the draconian and discriminatory anti-gay bill is now…