GAY FORMER SKATER GIVES PUTIN FASHION MIDDLE FINGER
American figure skating commentator Johnny Weir is giving Russia’s anti-gay law the middle finger by wearing flamboyant outfits as he presents live from Sochi. Weir, who is an openly-gay former figure-skating world champion, has been criticised for taking on the job of commentating at the Winter Olympics for the NBC network and not speaking out […]
PJ POWERS: “I DON’T DEFINE MYSELF BY MY SEXUALITY”
PJ Powers, the South African music legend, is coming out the closet (kind of) in her new one-woman show – not just as a gay woman but also as a recovering alcoholic. With a singing career that began in the late 1970s, Powers has recorded 16 albums. She had Nelson Mandela as a fan and […]
VATICAN SILENT AS CATHOLIC BISHOPS BACK ANTI-GAY LAW
It appears the Vatican has stood by as Nigeria’s Catholic Bishops have shamefully congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan for signing his country’s draconian and inhumane anti-gay bill into law last month. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said that the law was “a right step in the right direction for the protection of the dignity […]
IS JOBURG PRIDE BROKE?
The organisers behind last year’s Johannesburg Pride continue to be embroiled in controversy, with the event’s finances and management now being questioned. Mambaonline has learned that the venue at which the event was held, the Sandton Sports Club, is in debt to one of its suppliers, apparently because Joburg Pride has not paid its bills […]
ARCHBISHOPS CALL FOR GAY TOLERANCE
In the wake of extreme anti-gay sentiment in a number of African countries, the Archbishop of Canterbury has urged Anglicans on the continent to show love and care for LGBT people. Appallingly, Anglican churches in Africa have been among the most vociferous supporters of recent anti-gay legislation passed in Nigeria and Uganda. Now, the Archbishop […]
SA ADVOCATES SLAM GOV FOR SILENCE ON NIGERIA
The body that represents South Africa’s advocates, The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB), has criticised the government’s continued silence on recent draconian anti-gay laws in Africa. In a media statement, the GCB’s Chairperson Ishmael Semenya SC, said that South Aftica’s constitution “which entrenches human dignity, the achievement of equality and the […]
UGANDA: MEN IN SEX & THE CITY ARREST
Two men in Uganda have been arrested on charges of homosexuality, apparently after watching a Sex and the City movie in Kampala. LGBT rights group Spectrum Uganda reported on Tuesday that Steven Dhont, a Belgian man, and his as yet unnamed Kenyan friend were at Dhont’s home watching the comedy when, at around 12am, there […]
NIGERIA: AIDS AGENCY REJECTS GAY LAW CONCERNS
Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) has dismissed concerns that the country’s recently signed anti-gay law will impact on providing HIV services to men who have sex with men (MSM). “A perusal of the Same Sex Marriage Act 2013, makes clear that the provisions thereof do not have any negative effect on the […]
AFRICAN ‘GAY PANIC’ JOURNALISM
An article published by Kenya’s The Star newspaper warning of “rampant” homosexuality is another example of the dangerous sensationalism that’s often found in African reports on LGBTI issues. The story deals with comments made by Anisa Menza, the Education and Development Association Coordinator in the coastal town of Malindi. Menza states that the number of […]
THANK YOU NELSON MANDELA
As the nation and the world mourn Nelson Mandela’s death, we remember some of the highlights of this icon’s relationship with the LGBTI community. It is undoubtedly thanks to Mandela’s support for gay and lesbian equality at the dawn of our democracy, that we live in a country that constitutionally protects our rights – ensuring […]