Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raúl Castro and niece of Fidel Castro, has given an unprecedented "no" vote in the Cuban parliament to a workers' rights bill she felt didn't go far enough to prevent discrimination against people with HIV or with unconventional gender identities. "This is the first time [there has been a "no" vote], without a doubt," said Carlos Alzugaray, a historian and former Cuban diplomat. Read More
Wake Up Call: Kenya’s ‘Stone The Gays’ Bill Stopped, for now
A draft bill went to Kenya's National Assembly that proposed foreigners who commit homosexual acts be stoned in public, while Kenyan nationals found guilty will be jailed for life. According to unconfirmed reports, parliament’s legal affairs committee rejected the Anti-Homosexuality Bill as it to came into conflict with international interests.
Kenyan gay rights activist Denis Nzioka, who has seen parliament reports, says it should be a wake-up call for LGBTIs: ‘We have seen a lot of anti-gay sentiment being brought out by people, politicians, religious leaders. People want to go the Ugandan way, Nigerian way. ‘I thought Kenya was a safe country, the best in the continent apart from South Africa for gay rights. But things have got out of our hands. It just shows how in an instant – things can change dramatically.' Read More
Uganda in Flux: Anti-Gay & Criminalizing HIV
Over 200 MPs vowed to bring back Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, while President Yoweri Museveni released a statement urging lawmakers to not ‘rush.’ Reportedly, Museveni said he backed the law's return, in a limited form.
"He wants the law back in the house but now says if two consenting adults go into their room and decide to be stupid, let them be," lawyer Bitekyerezo said. "What he said he doesn't want, and which we must even increase the penalties, is recruitment of children and exploiting financially vulnerable youths." In light of Museveni's recent movement criminalizing HIV, human rights activists should be wary. Read More
Ugandan President Museveni passes HIV Prevention and Control Act of 2014
Museveni has signed a bill into law to criminalize HIV transmission and impose other measures public health activists say will make it even harder to get Uganda’s severe epidemic under control. The law imposes a fine and a ten-year prison sentence for “intentional transmission of HIV” and five years for “attempted transmission of HIV.” The legislation also allows for compulsory testing in some cases, such as when a woman is pregnant, and would enable courts to order the release of individuals’ HIV status without consent.
Civil society organizations reacted harshly to Uganda‟s controversial HIV Bill. This law has been publicly criticized by officials leading the HIV response in Uganda, such as the AIDS Control Programme of the Ministry of Health and the Uganda AIDS Commission, entities that repeatedly told media that this Act would take Uganda,s AIDS response in "the wrong direction." Lilian Mworeko of ICW East Africa: “How can we achieve the AIDS Free Generation that government has committed to when Uganda adopts such a law?” Read More
With Nigeria’s anti-gay law, HIV care drops 10%-70%
The extent of the devastation that Nigeria’s anti-gay law is wreaking on Nigerian anti-AIDS efforts is coming into view.
Among Nigerian men who have sex with men, the number of people reached for HIV prevention has dropped drastically since the signing of the anti-gay “Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Bill” in January. According to a survey of five anti-AIDS organizations in five Nigerian states, HIV prevention contacts (using UNAIDS’s Comprehensive Minimum Prevention Package Intervention) are:
Down 40 percent in Lagos state
Down 30 percent in Rivers state.
Down 10 percent in Cross River state.
Down 30 percent in Abuja (Federal Capital Territory).
Down 70 percent in Kano state.
Why One of the Biggest LGBT Orgs Has Stopped Supporting ENDA: Hobby Lobby reverberates in the LGBT community
It’s not just about birth control. When the Supreme Court ruled last week that closely held corporations like Hobby Lobby wouldn’t have to cover the cost of contraception because of sincerely held religious beliefs, it didn’t take long for many to see the coming storm. If companies are allowed to treat women differently in access to health care, after all, what’s to stop them from discriminating against LGBT individuals based on the same religious grounds?
In the fight over LGBT rights, the Hobby Lobby decision is already beginning to do three things: embolden supporters of so-called religious freedom bills in several states; encourage the push for a religious exemption in executive protections for LGBT employees; and put backers of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) in a position where they feel they have to withdraw support. Read More
Pressure on South Africa to host talks to end gay persecution
Rights groups across the continent now accuse South Africa of stalling on the crucial meeting to follow up on a United Nations report titled Discriminatory Laws and Practices and Acts of Violence Against Individuals Based on Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. "It is essential for policymakers and gatekeepers to have a dialogue with civil society on this issue," says Tendai Thondhlana, spokesperson for African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (Amsher), based in Johannesburg. "In some countries, governments say violence against sexual minorities doesn't exist. It is up to us to show them the evidence." Read More
Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act struck down by court
The Constitutional Court nullified the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014 for having been passed by Parliament without the required quorum of at least one third of all legislators. In a unanimous ruling, the panel of five justices blamed the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga for acting illegally by abdicating her constitutional responsibility of ascertaining whether there was quorum in the House before the Bill was passed into law.
The ruling does not mean that the court nullified the content or substance of the law. The Bill can be easily returned to Parliament and passed again, with the required quorum. This petition involved a group of pro-gay activists who sued the government challenging the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Read more from Uganda
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LGBT activist confronts Nigerian president during Washington visit
A gay Nigerian activist who sought asylum in the United States confronted President Goodluck Jonathan over the country’s recently passed anti-LGBT law at a dinner in the president’s honor hosted by business groups in Washington on Wednesday. Micheal Ighodaro left Nigeria in 2012 after his ribs and hand were broken in an attack in the capital of Abuja and is now a fellow at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in New York. “If you think the law is unconstitutional, you have the right to go to court,” the activist says President Goodluck Jonathan told him. Read More
Nepal drafts new laws to recriminalize gay sex, stall same-sex marriage recognition.
It’s a dramatic reversal for Nepal whose Supreme Court ruled in 2007 to ensure broad protections for LGBTI people. Today, the LGBTI community faces fresh opposition as the law ministry under law and justice minister of the ruling Nepali Congress is seeking to enact punitive laws to recriminalize gay sex. Read more