LGBT+ - The African Mirror

Apr

2021

Cameroonian LGBT activist champions imprisoned transgender women

CHRISTOPHE VAN DER PERRE and JOSIANE KOUAGHEU COMING from Cameroon where letting it be known that she was a lesbian could lead to prison time, activist and social media influencer Bandy Kiki struggled to adjust to her newfound safety after emigrating to Britain a decade ago. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in Cameroon, punishable by up to five years in prison. "I kept thinking, 'Aren't the police going to show up and arrest everybody?'" she said about gatherings she would attend with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Manchester. "My friends kept saying, 'Kiki, it's…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Anchorwoman: Bangladesh’s first trans newsreader hopes to foster acceptance

LGBT+

NAIMUL KARIM BANGLADESH'S first transgender news anchor hopes her regular appearances on national television will help other trans people gain greater acceptance in a country where they often face discrimination and live in poverty. Tashnuva Anan, a rights activist who previously worked with NGOs supporting transgender people and migrants, read her first daily news bulletin for a private television channel on Monday, International Women's Day. "This could be revolutionary and create a new dimension in people's thinking," said Anan, 29, who received several weeks of intensive training at Boishakhi TV after being selected for the job in auditions. "The biggest…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Spate of attacks, arrests LGBT+ people in Cameroon

NEWS

NITA BHALLA THREE murders and more than 20 arrests targeting LGBT+ people in Cameroon this month have raised fears of an upswing in homophobic persecution in the Central African country, rights campaigners and lawyers said yesterday. Same-sex relationships are illegal across much of Africa, but few countries are as assiduous in applying penalties as Cameroon, where gay sex is punishable with up to five years' imprisonment, according to LGBT+ organisations. Police have failed to record or investigate the Feb. 6 murder of a gay couple in their home in the capital, Yaounde, or the Feb. 22 killing of a gay…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Anti-gay uproar shuts Ghana first LGBT+ centre

LGBT+

ANITA BHALLA ANTI-GAY outcry has forced Ghana's first LGBT+ community centre to temporarily close to protect its staff and visitors three weeks after it opened, its founder said yesterday. Church groups, politicians and anti-gay rights organisations have called on the government to shut down the centre, run by local charity LGBT+ Rights Ghana, and arrest and prosecute those involved. "We did not expect such an uproar," said Alex Kofi Donkor, director of LGBT+ Rights Ghana, which hosted an opening event on January 31 attended by European and Australian diplomats. "We expected some homophobic organisations would use the opportunity to exploit…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Trans model Munroe Bergdorf urges social media giants to tackle abuse

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE WITH online abuse pushing her to quit Twitter, transgender model Munroe Bergdorf has called for social media companies to act faster to tackle racism and transphobia on their platforms. The Black trans model, who said she regularly receives threats and waits hours for racist comments about her to be deleted, called on social media firms to invest in minorities to design algorithms to better protect themselves from abuse. "If you can censor a nipple and a picture gets taken down with a nipple on it straight away ... then why can't you develop an algorithm that targets transphobic…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Black, gay and happy: is Hollywood ready for that?

LGBT+

HUGO GREENHALGH DIRECTOR Lee Daniels says he's "a little ghetto, a little homo" and worries the world might not be ready for his next big idea. "I really want to do a gay superhero movie," the Oscar-nominated director told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. And then a gay love story - only one that ends well, too. "I want the guy and guy to walk off happy at the end," the 61-year-old said via a video call from his home in Los Angeles. "I want it to end beautifully," he said. "Some of the major Hollywood gay love stories that have…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

From trans rights to the Olympics: 10 LGBT+ issues in 2021

LGBT+

FROM the United States to Japan, the list of countries mulling legislation that impacts LGBT+ rights in 2021 is lengthy, encompassing issues from gay sex to so-called conversion therapy to same-sex marriage. Conversion therapy will be a major theme in 2021 with potential national bans being considered in Britain, Israel and Mexico. Gay sex is still illegal in 69 U.N. member states, according to LGBT+ rights group ILGA World, but advocates hope countries such as Kenya and Singapore will follow the lead of Bhutan and Gabon last year in decriminalising same-sex relations. LGBT+ advocates also hope that U.S. president-elect Joe Biden will overturn a ban on new transgender military personnel,…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Soccer-Rapinoe questions her inclusion in FIFA team of year

LGBT+

WOMEN’S World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe has said her inclusion in FIFA’s “Women’s World11” team of the year despite playing so little is a sign that the women’s game needs more visibility and exposure. Rapinoe, who was named best player at the 2019 World Cup and finished top scorer, said she appreciated being included in the team of the year but pointed out she had not played since March when the coronavirus pandemic disrupted global sport. The winger said on Twitter she appreciated being chosen by her fellow professionals but other players deserved more recognition this year. “We have so…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Hundreds of global faith leaders call for ban on LGBT+ conversion therapy

RELIGION

HUGO GREENHALGH ALMOST 400 global religious leaders, including anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu and Britain's Bishop of Liverpool, called on Wednesday for countries to overturn bans on same-sex relations and end LGBT+ conversion therapy. Sixty-nine United Nations member states still outlaw gay sex, according to the 2020 State-Sponsored Homophobia report released by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) on Tuesday. Only Brazil, Ecuador, Malta and Germany have instituted forms of nationwide bans on conversion therapy, which aims to alter a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Organised by the Ozanne Foundation charity, the declaration has been signed…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

New Zealand, Britain ease rules on blood donations by gay men

LGBT+

RACHEL SAVAGE NEW Zealand and Britain have become the latest countries to ease rules on blood donations by gay and bisexual men, as supply concerns caused by COVID-19 increase scrutiny of AIDS pandemic-era restrictions that LGBT+ rights advocates say are homophobic. New Zealand's government cut the celibacy period for gay and bisexual men to give blood from a year to three months, regardless of whether or not they had used condoms, the New Zealand Blood Service said on its website on Monday. In Britain, which previously had a three-month deferral period, a behaviour-based policy will be used from mid-2021, meaning…