LGBTQ - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

Corporate giants say anti-LGBT law would hurt Uganda’s economy

A coalition of international companies, including Google and Microsoft, denounced anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by Uganda's parliament last week, warning it would damage the East African country's economy. The Open for Business coalition said the legislation, which criminalises identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, would curb investment flows and deter tourists. The bill imposes the death penalty for those who commit so-called aggravated homosexuality, defined as same-sex relations with people under the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV positive, among other categories. It awaits President Yoweri Museveni's signature. The White House said last week the bill was concerning and…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda bill one of the world’s most extreme anti-LGBTQ laws

NEWS

UGANDA'S anti-gay bill passed is concerning and represents one of the most extreme actions taken against the LGBTQ community in the world, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said. Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuesday making it a crime to identify as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Legal hurdles faced by LGBT+ people in Africa

NEWS

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:…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda passes tough anti-gay law

NEWS

UGANDA'S parliament passed a law that criminalises identifying as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target Ugandans who already face legal discrimination and mob violence. More than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to the rights group Human Rights Watch. Supporters of the new law say it is needed to punish a broader array of LGBTQ activities, which they say threaten traditional values in the conservative and religious East African nation. In addition to same-sex intercourse, the law…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Uganda considers bill to criminalise LGBTQ

NEWS

UGANDA'S parliament took up a bill that would criminalise identifying as LGBTQ, with lawmakers saying the current ban on same-sex relations does not go far enough. The anti-LGBTQ sentiment is deeply entrenched in the highly conservative and religious east African nation, with same-sex relations punishable by up to life in prison. More than 30 African countries ban same-sex relations, but Uganda's law, if passed, would appear to be the first to criminalise merely identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), according to Human Rights Watch. The proposed Ugandan law was introduced as a private lawmaker's bill and aims…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

First transgender model of colour poses for Sports Illustrated

BEAUTY AND FASHION

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER HER name is Leyna Bloom and she has made history. As March continues to celebrate International Women’s Month, Leyna Bloom made history as a cover star for Sports Illustrated magazine, set to be released in July, making her the first transgender model of colour to do so. Bloom, a South Chicago native, told The New York Times that one of her biggest goals as a rising model was to be seen, not just for her curves or her looks, but to be seen as a someone who was as deserving to be featured in a magazine as…

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…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Hope is thin as LGBT+ activists join Belarus protests for change

LGBT+

NATALIE VIKHROV LGBT+ activists in Belarus hope mass protests for democratic rule in Belarus will also help deliver long-awaited gay rights and rid the former Soviet state of homophobia. But they concede such hopes might be far off in their deeply conservative country, with no anti-discrimination laws to protect LGBT+ people. Even some of their fellow protesters are homophobic, they say, expecting a long fight before glimpsing equality. President Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in for a sixth term at a secret ceremony on Wednesday, sparking new demonstrations by a restive population protesting his claim on power. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko…