NIGERIA: 38 GAYS FACE DEATH PENALTY
Amidst news that Nigeria has enacted one of the worst anti-gay laws in the world, it’s been reported that at least 38 people accused of being gay have been arrested in Nigeria’s northern Bauchi state. According to AP, police are believed to have extracted the names of 168 suspected homosexuals by torturing four men. They […]
ZIM GAY GROUP COURT VICTORY
A Zimbabwe High Court judge has ordered the Ministry of Home Affairs to return property confiscated by police in a raid on the offices of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ). The group’s Harare offices were raided twice in August 2012, and documents, pamphlets and computers were seized by the police. The raids led to […]
LAUREATES, HOBBIT STAR CONDEMN RUSSIAN LAW
Twenty seven of the world’s most brilliant minds have spoken out against Russia’s gay propaganda law in a letter to President Vladimir Putin. The open letter was written by scientist Sir Harry Kroto and acclaimed actor and LGBT activist Sir Ian McKellen (The Hobbit) and was signed by 27 Nobel Prize winners who have changed […]
BRAZILIAN DIVER LEAPS OUT THE CLOSET
Top Brazilian diver Ian Matos has revealed that he was inspired by British diver Tom Daley’s coming out video to also open up about his sexuality. The 24-year-old Brazilian 3-meter champion was born in the city of Belém, but now lives in Rio de Janeiro where he is pursuing his diving career. “From a young […]
SHOCK: NIGERIA TO JAIL ALL GAYS
Africa continues to slide further into a dark age for sexual minorities as the continent’s most populous nation enacts one of the world’s most oppressive anti-gay laws. On Monday, it was revealed that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition and other Related Matters Bill, aptly dubbed the “Jail All the […]
AUSSIE STATES TO CLEAR GAY CONVICTIONS
Two Australian states are expected to expunge the criminal records of men who were convicted of homosexuality before it was legalised. The state of Victoria was the first to announce the news on Sunday when Premier Denis Napthine launched the 26th Midsumma Festival, an annual celebration of queer culture in Melbourne . “This is only fair, this […]
ISRAEL’S 1ST GAY HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
The first Israeli memorial in honour of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who were killed by the Nazis was unveiled on Friday in a Tel Aviv park. The triangular concrete plaque proclaims in English, Hebrew and German: “In memory of those persecuted by the Nazis regime for their sexual orientation and gender identity”. […]
FORMER GAY PRISONER ALLOWED TO DIE
Cameroonian Roger Jean Claude Mbede survived brutal imprisonment and torture for being gay but he couldn’t survive his family’s cruel condemnation. On Friday, the 34-year-old passed away after his family took him out of hospital, where he was being treated for a hernia, apparently because they believed he’d be better off dead than be gay. […]
GAY MARRIAGE FOR LUXEMBOURG
Is Luxembourg set to become the world’s most gay friendly country? The small European nation, which is already led by an openly gay prime minister, is planning to legalise same-sex marriage later this year. The President of Luxembourg’s Parliamentary Committee on Justice, Viviane Loschetter, has told RTL that a same-sex marriage bill is a priority […]
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 […]