South Africa’s shame: Votes against human rights in UN
South Africa has shamefully joined 13 mostly anti-gay countries in voting against an important UN resolution supporting human rights activists around the world. On Wednesday, countries at the UN voted 117 in favour and 14 against, with 40 abstentions, to send the Draft Resolution on Human Rights Defenders to the General Assembly. The resolution condemns […]
Third Joburg People’s Pride honours LGBTI activists
The Joburg People’s Pride movement held its third annual march through Hillbrow and Braamfontein on Saturday, remembering the activists who started South Africa’s LGBTI rights movement. The event was marred by a last minute cancellation of its post-march concert due to “unforeseen technical difficulties,” but nevertheless saw a spirited crowd of around 400 people taking […]
Constitutional Court throws out fired lesbian minister’s case
The Constitutional Court has refused to rule on fired lesbian minister Ecclesia De Lange’s claim that she was discriminated against by the Methodist Church. While the dismissal of De Lange’s appeal was largely based on technicalities, it was also a sign of the courts’ continued reticence in issuing a definitive ruling on if religious beliefs […]
South Africa’s defiant gay hate pastor: “Lock me up!”
Despite having signed a court order not to make anti-gay comments, Cape Town’s Pastor Oscar Bougardt shows no sign of letting up on his appalling homophobia. Over the last few months the cleric has contributed a host of shockingly hateful comments on Mambaonline articles. These include writing: “I won’t be surprised if Pope Francis is […]
NG Kerk decision: Gay people could still face rejection
The recent decision by the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) or NG Kerk to accept same-sex relationships has been met with a mix of praise and condemnation. Last week, the church’s General Synod voted in favour of allowing individual church councils and local pastors to choose to recognise same-sex relationships and non-celibate gay ministers. The decision, […]
Matt Damon lambasted for telling gay actors to stay in the closet
Oscar nominated star Matt Damon has tried to backtrack on comments he made about gay actors in Hollywood. The 44-year-old The Martian actor, who’s played gay in films like Behind the Candelabra, stirred up a hornet’s nest in a recent interview with the Observer. “I think it must be really hard for actors to be […]
Hundreds march in honour of Soweto hate crime victims
In a powerful retort to Robert Mugabe’s claim that homosexually is unAfrican, hundreds of proudly gay Africans demanded an end to LGBT hate crimes at Soweto Pride 2015 this past weekend. Activists, members of the LGBT community and their friends and families took to the streets of Meadowlands on Saturday for the eleventh edition of […]
Smart, young and full of spunk – Siya Khumalo
Here’s why you should get to know Siya Khumalo: He’s actively challenging notions of how queerness and Africanness intersect with religion and culture – and doing it with style. Siya has come out as a proudly LGBT black African man – not only to friends and family but to the world. This past year alone he’s participated […]
Hypocrisy of anti-gay clerk’s religious “values” laid bare
The woman who’s mounted a “moral” crusade against gay marriage in the US state of Kentucky on the basis of her Christian beliefs has been shown to be a hypocrite. It was already known that Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has been married not once, twice, or three, but four times. That effectively means she’s […]
Queer Christians: SA churches must stop firing LGBTI people
As an openly lesbian former minister takes the Methodist Church to the Constitutional Court this week, a group of queer Christians has urged churches to address LGBTI exclusion in the same way they were called to challenge Apartheid. On Friday, the court will hear the potentially ground-breaking discrimination case of Ecclesia de Lange, who was dismissed by the […]