JOBURG GAY COUPLE HUMILIATED BY AIRPORT OFFICIAL
A Johannesburg gay couple of almost five years say they were harassed, intimidated and humiliated by an O.R. Tambo immigration official when leaving the country for an overseas holiday. On 18 September, Gareth Cantrell and Shaun Loots arrived at the airport to board a flight to their island destination of Reunion. When they reached passport control, […]
SA’S LGBTI COMMUNITY LOSES A TRUE HERO
The general public may not have known of the late Gerald Kraak, but he had an extraordinary impact on South Africa’s LGBTI community – including the country’s landmark adoption of marriage equality. Kraak, 57, passed away in Johannesburg on Sunday after a battle with cancer, shocking LGBTI organisations and individuals who benefited from his considerable […]
AFRICAN BISHOPS BLOCK GAY-AFFIRMING VATICAN DOCUMENT
African bishops have been blamed for watering down the final version of what could have been a ground-breaking gay-affirming Catholic document. Last week, a preliminary report from a two-week long meeting on the family by senior Catholic leaders made headlines for stating that gay people have “gifts and qualities” to offer Christianity, and calling for […]
SA CARDINAL & VATICAN BACKTRACK ON PRO-GAY STATEMENT
The Archbishop of Durban is among conservative Catholic leaders who are backing out of a ground-breaking Vatican statement on gays and lesbians. On Monday, the Church’s Synod on the Family released an interim report stating that “homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian community” and calling for flexibility when dealing with divorce, homosexuality, […]
NIGERIAN ARCHBISHOP BACKTRACKS ON ANTI-GAY LAW
Nigerian Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has made a remarkable about-turn on his country’s anti-gay law, saying that he does not support jailing gay people. Earlier this year, Kaigama, on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan for signing the draconian bill into law. The law outlaws any kind of same-sex relationships […]
VICTORY FOR TRANSGENDER HUNGER STRIKER!
The South African transgender woman who embarked on a hunger strike to protest the Department of Home Affairs’ three year delay in correcting her ID has won her battle for equality. On Sunday, Home Affairs confirmed to Nadia Swanepoel, who began her transition four years ago, that her name and gender identity have been changed to female […]
HOME AFFAIRS DRIVES TRANS WOMAN TO HUNGER STRIKE
Alleged incompetence and discrimination by the Department of Home Affairs has pushed a transgender Gauteng woman to the point of being prepared to end her life. Nadia Swanepoel from Florida, who began her transition four years ago, has embarked on a food and liquid hunger strike to protest the department’s alleged continued refusal to change […]
COURT REJECTS FIRED LESBIAN MINISTER’S APPEAL
The Supreme Court of Appeals in Bloemfontein has dismissed an appeal by a fired lesbian Methodist minister and has ruled that courts should not be expected to decide on internal religious matters. Ecclesia De Lange has been fighting for more than four years to have her job reinstated after she was dismissed by the Methodist […]
SOUTH AFRICA VOTES ‘YES’ FOR GLOBAL LGBT EQUALITY
The South African government has stuck to its constitutional commitments and voted in favour of another ground-breaking resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). On Friday afternoon, the country was the only African nation in Geneva to say “yes” to resolution A/HRC/27/L.27/Rev.1, condemning violence and discrimination on the […]
GROUPS SAY SA GOV MUST BACK UN LGBTI RESOLUTION
Human rights groups have written to the South African government insisting that it support a pending resolution on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity at the 27th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. The resolution, sponsored by Chile, Uruguay, Colombia and Brazil, is a follow-up to the landmark 2011 resolution […]