GAY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CHARGED FOR KISSING IN PUBLIC
Six gay rights activists in Italy are being prosecuted for kissing during a demonstration in March. The activists were informed by the city of Perugia’s public prosecutor’s office earlier this month that they have been accused of “disturbing the peace.” According to Human Rights Watch, the three men and three women were charged after they […]
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, […]
NIGERIA: COURT REJECTS STRAIGHT MAN’S ANTI-GAY LAW CHALLENGE
Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja has thrown out an attempt to overturn the country’s new anti-gay law. Mike Enahoro Ebah, a UK-based straight Nigerian, challenged the constitutionality of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act. The law, signed by President Goodluck Jonathan in January, outlaws any kind of same-sex relationships with imprisonment as well as criminalising […]
74-YEAR-OLD LESBIAN WINS RIGHT TO BE BURIED WITH WIFE
A 74-year-old American Navy veteran has won her battle to be laid to rest with her late wife at a veteran’s cemetery. Earlier this year, Madelynn Taylor was told that her request to be buried with her love of 17 years, Jean Mixner, was impossible because the state of Idaho, where the cemetery is located, […]
RELIEF AS UGANDA LGBT DUO AVOID LIFE IN JAIL
A Ugandan gay man and a trans woman are finally free after a Kampala court dismissed the charges against them due to lack of evidence. Kim Mukisa, 24, and Jackson Mukasa, 19, were arrested in January after Mukisa was thrown out of his house and beaten by a mob, which included local council authorities, over […]
LGBT JAMAICANS FACE “INTOLERABLE” LEVELS OF VIOLENCE
A new report has revealed that gay and lesbian Jamaicans live in constant fear of physical and sexual violence. Human Rights Watch said in the 86-page report, Not Safe at Home: Violence and Discrimination Against LGBT People in Jamaica, that they are taunted, threatened, fired from their jobs, thrown out of their homes, or worse: […]
NAMIBIA: CHRISTIAN PARTY WANTS GAYS JAILED UNTIL THEY REPENT
Namibia’s Democratic Christian Voice (CDV) party says that gay people should be jailed until they “repent”. CDV vice-president Oswin Kampala told the Namibian Sun: “We will put them in prison, since they are polluting our nation.” He added: “Anyone who will repent from being homosexual will be set free from prison.” Kampala promised to change […]
ANTI-GAY CAPE TOWN PASTOR SETTLES HATE SPEECH CASE
Cape Town’s notoriously homophobic pastor, Oscar Bougardt, has come to an agreement with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in his hate speech case. Bougardt, a pastor in Mitchells Plain, was taken to court by the SAHRC following complaints about his vicious anti-gay statements. In April, Bougardt appeared before the Equality Court but the […]
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 […]
REPORT: LESBIAN COUPLE RAPED IN FRONT OF DAUGHTER
A lesbian couple have been raped by three men in front of their seven-year-old daughter. The Daily Sun reported last week that the unnamed women were attacked in their home in the rural Nkomazi area in Mpumalanga earlier this month. The criminals, who threatened the family with guns and knives, also stole DVDs, cellphones and […]