Activists score more legal wins in Kenya, where a Court of Appeals dismissed a case seeking to strike down the registration of a national LGBT rights organisation. The win comes amidst a wave of increased visibility of the rights of LGBT Africans.
“To understand my relationship with this symbol of masculinity, we’ll have to start with my journey of queerness I had no idea I had embarked upon until I was turning 28, the sleeves of my buba — the tailored Agbada shirt — all rolled up to my elbows and my fingers rubbing down on the clit of a girl I had only met a couple of times prior to that moment.”
“Rafiki” is an inconvenient love story for a country that wants to bury its queer history; present and past. But as history has proven so often, only one side of this story will be remembered: that of the victors.
LGBT rights groups in Kenya have taken their cause to the courts, arguing that the criminal laws used to target them are a violation of constitutional rights.
“Led by youth, a steadfast belief in legal justice, and their right to exist fully and wholly in a country whose mainstream rhetoric remains staunchly anti-gay, NGLHRC refuses to shy away from its mission: to promote and protect the equality and inclusion of LGBTIQ individuals and communities in Kenya.”
“It’s one of the hardest things most of us, as a community, will ever have to do and has the capacity to irrevocably change our lives… for better or worse.”
Arimah’s short story grapples with grief, immigration, neo-imperialism, and our never-ending obsession with defining ourselves by countries and borders; all the while telling a cross-continental African lesbian love story.
There’s just something about feeling inauthentic, impossible and insignificant that really makes life a burden, and that’s where I was for years. I was sick of living and wavered between a fear of and desire for death. I’m better these years; so far so good. I’m still here, I’m Rwandese, I’m queer and these are my mentors.
See, home isn’t for people like me — it is not for lesbians, or queers. I cannot return to a country that criminalizes and attempts to further oppress my personhood. One that publicly accepts psychological assaults on my being, while leaving no legal safeties or recourse for its state sanctioned actions.
The UK Border Agency has detained Ugandan asylum seeker Jacqueline Nantumbwe, placing her at risk of abuse and deportation unless she can “prove” she’s gay.
From India to Uganda, the legacy of British colonial sodomy laws live on today in many countries around the world. What can or should the Commonwealth do about this, if anything at all?
“We do not know who killed Eric [Lembembe], or why . . . but his friends suspect that in killing him, someone wanted to kill a movement. “
“Whether [President Banda] will be able to overcome centuries of entrenched homophobia and help Malawi become one of the few African countries without anti-gay laws remains to be seen, but her political savvy and credentials in the women’s rights movement make her a fairly strong candidate.”
“One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“I remember holding my breath during pivotal scenes in the movie. I wondered nervously if my brother saw then the direct parallels to his own sister’s life.”
Nigeria passes an appalling anti-gay law, Sara Gilbert & Linda Perry get together, TI thinks gay people are too sensitive and SO MUCH MORE!
Online petitions had over 1.4 million signatures as of yesterday afternoon, and the impending vote on Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” bill is temporarily called off.
Sign this petition, for starters.
The incredibly true story of my first two months in Kampala, Uganda, where I really can’t tell anyone that I’m gay.
The contempt, and rage, felt toward the lesbian community in South Africa is pretty devastating, and the meeting with the LGBTQ activists wasn’t the catalyst we’d hoped for…
