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Ghana LGBTQ+ activists see church blessings as distant luxury

Ghana LGBTQ+ activists see church blessings as distant luxury

IN a country where religious leaders openly condemn homosexuality and gay sex is punishable with jail time, Ghanaian couple Kay and Naa Shika fear more for their lives and safety than whether a church will bless their same-sex union. They have lived together for eight months, hiding their relationship by pretending to be sisters, even as they face gossip that risks spilling into hostility due to suspicions about their sexual orientation. "We are not safe," said 27-year-old Kay, a lesbian woman who spoke to Reuters in the capital Accra on condition that she and her partner's real names were not…
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Pope says Africans are ‘special case’ when it comes to LGBT blessings

Pope says Africans are ‘special case’ when it comes to LGBT blessings

POPE Francis said in an interview published that Africans were a "special case" in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it. Blessings were allowed last month in a document called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), which has caused widespread debate in the Catholic Church, with particularly strong resistance coming from African bishops. "Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups," Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa. "A special case is Africans: for…
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LGBTQ rights: Kenya to follow Uganda?

LGBTQ rights: Kenya to follow Uganda?

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…
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UGANDA: Death-penalty-for-LBGTQ+ law passed

UGANDA: Death-penalty-for-LBGTQ+ law passed

UGANDA'S President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. "The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia," said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist. United States President Joe Biden called the move "a…
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Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa

Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa

Uganda's parlia UGANDA'S parliament passed a bill making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. Same-sex relations are legal in only 22 of Africa's 54 countries, and are punishable by death or lengthy prison terms in some, according to a global review by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA). Africa accounts for nearly half of the countries worldwide where homosexuality is outlawed, according to the review, which was last updated in December 2020. Here is the state of play on LGBT+ rights in Africa:…
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LGBT Ugandans face backlash as parliament launches schools investigation

LGBT Ugandans face backlash as parliament launches schools investigation

DAYS after Uganda's parliament ordered an investigation last month into the alleged promotion of homosexuality in schools, a video appeared online identifying Kampala resident Eric Ndawula as gay. Ndawula, 26, said his landlord showed him the video, which was posted by someone whose name he did not recognise. The landlord then issued him a notice of eviction, saying the building could not accommodate a gay person. "I am now a threat to the children around because I am going to recruit them into homosexuality," Ndawula told Reuters ironically. His experience is one example of a wave of discrimination and violence…
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What does the Bible say about homosexuality? For starters, Jesus wasn’t a homophobe

What does the Bible say about homosexuality? For starters, Jesus wasn’t a homophobe

POPE Francis was recently asked about his views on homosexuality. He reportedly replied: This (laws around the world criminalising LGBTI people) is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them … condemning a person like this is a sin. Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice. This isn’t the first time Pope Francis has shown himself to be a progressive leader when it comes to, among other things, gay Catholics. Author GERALD WEST, Senior Professor of Biblical Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal It’s a stance that has drawn the ire of some…
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Crimilising LGBT people is a sin and an injustice – Pope

Crimilising LGBT people is a sin and an injustice – Pope

PHILIP PULLELLA Pope Francis said that laws criminalising LGBT people are a sin and an injustice because God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction. Francis, who made his remarks in response to a reporter's question aboard the plane returning from a two-country trip to Africa, received the full backing of his comments from two other Christian leaders on the plane with him. "The criminalisation of homosexuality is a problem that cannot be ignored," said Francis, who then cited unnamed statistics according to which 50 countries criminalise LGBT people "in one way or another" and about 10 others have laws including the…
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“Qatar detains, mistreats LGBT people ahead of World Cup”

“Qatar detains, mistreats LGBT people ahead of World Cup”

SECURITY forces in Qatar arbitrarily arrested and abused LGBT Qataris as recently as last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday, in the run-up to hosting soccer's World Cup which has put a spotlight on human rights issues in the Gulf Arab state. Homosexuality is illegal in the conservative Muslim country, and some soccer stars have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling for the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against. A Qatari official said in a statement that HRW's allegations "contain information that is categorically and unequivocally false," without…
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Nigerian man sentenced to death by stoning for being gay

Nigerian man sentenced to death by stoning for being gay

ARDO HAZZAD AN Islamic sharia court in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi has sentenced three men to death by stoning after convicting them on charges of engaging in homosexuality, the leader of the religious police that arrested them said. Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim and the states in the region use sharia courts to punish residents for crimes ranging from adultery to blasphemy. Adam Dan Kafi, the head of the Hisbah religious police in the Ningi local government area of Bauchi said the three men were arrested on June 14 and charged in a sharia court. The men, including a…
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