LGBT+ community - The African Mirror

Aug

2021

Ghana’s first openly trans musician fights homophobia with song

NITA BHALLA GHANA'S first openly transgender musician has released a song to boost the morale of the West African nation's LGBT+ community as it faces a crackdown by authorities and a rise in homophobic persecution. Hiplife and Afropop artist Angel Maxine said she wrote "Wo Fie", meaning "Your Home" in the Twi language, to comfort LGBT+ Ghanaians who were not only facing threats from authorities, but also a surge in verbal and physical attacks from the public. "The situation for the queer community in Ghana is very tense at the moment," Maxine, 35, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana court grants bail to 21 LGBT+ activists

NEWS

A high court in Ghana has granted bail to 21 gay rights activists arrested three weeks ago for what police described as an unlawful gathering, according to the prosecutor said. The 16 women and five men, who were arrested on May 20 at a hotel where they were attending a rights advocacy training, were released on a 5,000 Ghana cedi ($866) bail, the prosecutor said. The arrest has drawn condemnation as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face widespread persecution in the West African nation, where gay sex is punishable by up to three years imprisonment. Ghana has not anyone…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Dismay greets Vatican’s decree on same-sex unions

RELIGION

PHILLIP PULLELLA THE Vatican has decreed that priests cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not valid, in a ruling that greatly disappointed gay Catholics who had hoped their Church was becoming more welcoming under Pope Francis. In some countries, such as the United States and Germany, parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and there have been calls for bishops to de facto institutionalise these. But conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church have expressed alarm over these practices, particularly those in Germany where at least two bishops, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

From coronavirus crackdowns to court battles: 10 top LGBT+ stories in 2020

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH, RACHEL SAVAGE and ANASTASIA MOLONEY CORONAVIRUS dominated news around the world in 2020, creating particular challenges for the LGBT+ community in terms of mental health, access to HIV medication and scapegoating by religious groups seeking to apportion blame for the virus. The year provided the backdrop for both victories and setbacks for LGBT+ people, with the lifting of gay sex bans in Bhutan and Gabon countered by a rise in the incidence of hate crimes and attacks and crackdowns in countries such as Uganda. Here are 10 stories from a year of change for LGBT+ people. 1. The…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Trump woos LGBT+ Americans as polls hand gay vote to Biden

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES SUPPORTERS say Donald Trump is the most gay-friendly president in history yet U.S. policy experts point to his record and polls show much stronger LGBT+ support for Democratic rival Joe Biden. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have traditionally voted Democratic in greater numbers and polls suggest Tuesday's presidential election will be no different, despite efforts to woo the LGBT+ community with a run of "Trump Pride" rallies and gay-friendly speeches. Far more striking, analysts say, is the fast-rising acceptance among conservative Americans of LGBT+ rights, nudging the right to rethink its long-held views on sex, sexuality and…