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Combating LGBTQ stigma in Africa

Activists share their experiences with the Blade

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Africa, gay news, Washington Blade
(Image public domain)

It is not based on hearsay that most African countries are against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex among others (LGBTQI+) community primarily because of the cultural beliefs that have been bestowed on them for centuries.

One would ask by whom? Who bestowed these cultural beliefs? Well to be honest that is a question that still has many experts scratching their heads. Some have sighted it is the missionaries who were on an escapade in Africa, preaching and teaching the Gospel of what was right and what was wrong.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem to answer the question of stigma wholeheartedly as back in the days, and unfortunately even now, in some African sects if someone gives birth to a person with Albinism or twins stigma automatically follows and at times even death, which is something the missionaries were not in support of but that is another topic for another day that also needs urgent attention today it will be about the LGBTQI+ community.

They are very few countries on the African continent that condone the existence of the LGBTQI+ community, such as South Africa, Mozambique and Angola, among others. However, regardless of it being legalized in those African countries, members of the LGBTQI+ community still continue to receive disparaging comments from the societies they reside in including from family and friends.

In many African communities if you are found to be a member of the LGBTQI+ community, punitive measures are taken which include indoctrination, exorcism and at times even death. To help in understanding why these opprobrious norms are still practiced in Africa I engaged with two LGBTQI+ activists from South Africa, Bruce Walker from Pretoria Pride and Ruth Maseko from Triangle Project and Umndeni.

“We are still staying in a society that takes us as sin or sinners that is why we are always tortured and killed and most of the time before we are killed we are raped because men believe they can make us women by raping us they don’t believe that a woman can love another woman that’s why they always make our lives very difficult,” said Ruth. “As for how we can combat this stigma as a continent? Africa needs more awareness, people need to be educated and taught that there is nothing wrong about same gender love, a man can love a man and a woman can love a woman and in terms of parents who later on find out that their child is gay or a lesbian we need to have parents support groups because some parents end up in shock when they get to figure out that their child is gay or a lesbian so parents need to be sat down with and be educated too.”

In addition, Bruce shared the same sentiment citing various governments throughout the continent need to do more to prevent the stigma that is currently perpetrated towards members of the LGBTQI+ community,

“There are no consequences if someone kills a member of the LGBTQI+ community nothing seems to happen, it is like okay fine it is just a gay person the police seem not to do much about it so we need to raise awareness and educate people that a gay child is just like a straight child there is nothing wrong,” said Bruce. “Us as an organization we try to highlight the injustices against the LGBTQI+ community regardless, we need to stand together as the LGBTQI+ community because if we don’t do that people will continue with these prejudicial acts.”

Nevertheless, communities across the continent are slowly acknowledging the existence of the LGBTQI+ community as more and more people are now coming out of the closet even local celebrities, sports personnel and other influential people are coming out which is kind of having a positive impact on the manner in which members of the LGBTQI+ community are now being perceived but as Ruth and Bruce clearly alluded more still needs to be done to educate and inform people about the matter for the continent to do away with the stigma.

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United Nations

Elise Stefanik nominated to become next UN ambassador

N.Y. Republican voted for Respect for Marriage Act in 2022

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U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced he will nominate U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

ā€œElise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,ā€ Trump said in a statement that announced the nomination.

Stefanik, 40, has represented New York’s 21st Congressional District since 2015. She has chaired the House Republican Conference since 2021.

Stefanik in 2019 voted for the Equality Act, but she opposed it in 2021. Stefanik in 2022 is among the dozens of Republicans who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act that President Joe Biden signed.

Stefanik, among other things, has also been outspoken against anti-Semitism on college campuses. She would succeed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield if the U.S. Senate confirms her.

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Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Asia, Europe, and the Middle East

Spanish government wants constitution to protect marriage equality, abortion rights

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(Los Angeles Blade graphic)

JAPAN

A coalition of 19 prefectures and more than 150 municipalities has created a Partnership System Municipal Cooperation Network, in which all member governments agree to recognize each otherā€™s same-sex partnership registries. The new system should help same-sex couples ensure their partnerships remain valid if they move or maintain multiple residences.

Because same-sex marriage is not currently legal in Japan, 30 of Japanā€™s 47 prefectures and more than 400 municipalities have established ā€œpartnership oath systems,ā€ in which same-sex couple can register their relationships to help them access local services that are restricted to couples, such as housing, insurance, and medical decision-making. However, these registries are not legally binding and confer no direct rights on the couples. 

Prior to the establishment of the PSMCN, couples who had registered in one municipality or prefecture could face difficulty having their relationship recognized in a different location. About one quarter of Japan lives in a place that does not recognize same-sex couples of any kind. 

Meanwhile, several cases seeking to establish a right to same-sex marriage continue to wind their way through the courts. 

Five out of six lower courts that heard equal marriage cases have issued rulings that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, as have both upper courts that have heard cases. This week, the Osaka High Court is set to hear an appeal of the lower courtā€™s decision that the ban is constitutional. The Fukuoka High Court will hear an equal marriage case in December. All of these cases will likely eventually be heard by the Supreme Court. 

Most of the leading figures in Japanā€™s long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party have been deeply conservative on sexuality issues, which has stalled hope for progress on same-sex marriage at the legislative level. But last monthā€™s snap elections returned a minority parliament in which a bare majority of legislatures have expressed support for same-sex marriage.

SPAIN

The governing Socialist Party announced it wants to amend the constitution to protect same-sex marriage and abortion rights, amid the rise of far right parties that have stated their goal of rolling back LGBTQ rights in Spain and across Europe.

The proposal is laid out in the partyā€™s plan for the current national congress which was distributed to its provincial counterparts for debate this month. The document aims to include ā€œthe social achievements of the last decadeā€ into the constitution, an effort which the document itself acknowledges may be ā€œimpossible,ā€ but which the party wants to achieve.

Among other proposals are protections for social housing and setting a floor for the minimum wage at 60 percent of the average wage.

Spain has seen its far-right Vox Party grow rapidly over the last decade winning seats in parliament and local and regional councils. In regional governments where Vox has formed coalition governments with the more mainstream conservative Peopleā€™s Party, it has already rolled back LGBTQ rights progress. 

In the Madrid region, where PP and Vox govern together, they rolled back laws banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination and so-called conversion therapy, and ending recognition of transgender people, though the law was later stopped by the Constitutional Court.

Itā€™s unlikely that the PSOE will be able to amend the constitution as that would require a three-fifths majority of both houses of parliament to pass, and PSOE only holds a minority of seats in both houses.

UNITED KINGDOM

The Conservative Party has elected as its new leader Kemi Badenoch, a legislator with a long history of espousing anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ viewpoints. Badenoch also makes history as the first Black woman to lead a major political party in the UK.

Badenoch was first elected to parliament in 2017 and previously served as the Minister for Women and Equalities in the Rishi Sunak government. She was confirmed as Conservative Party leader on Nov. 2, following an election among party members in which she won 56.5 percent of the vote. 

In office, she frequently railed against trans rights and met with the anti-trans group LGB Alliance. She called for the abolition of gender-neutral toilets and was caught on a leaked recording referring to trans women as ā€œmen.ā€ 

This year, she supported her partyā€™s platform of amending the Equalities Act to ensure that the ban on ā€œsexā€ discrimination only applied to biological sex, thus allowing discrimination against trans people. 

She successfully killed a planned ban on conversion therapy by pushing the government to study it further and consider not banning conversion therapy aimed at trans people.Ā 

She also used her office to push the Financial Conduct Authority to remove trans-inclusive workplace policies, and railed against ā€œdiversity, equity and inclusionā€ initiatives that she claimed ā€œdivide, rather than unify.ā€

In 2019, she abstained on the bill that extended same-sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland ā€” then the only part of the UK where it wasnā€™t yet legal.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The World Surf League has named Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates as a stop of its 2025 Championship Tour and Longboard Tour, drawing protests from surfers and surf organizations over the potential for harm to LGBTQ athletes who attend a competition in a country where homosexuality is illegal. 

The World Surf League is the governing body for professional surfers, and it sanctions competitions and events around the world. The 2025 Tour features 12 stops, including events in Brazil, Fiji, Tahiti, South Africa, El Salvador, Australia, and the U.S. 

Itā€™s the second stop, at Surf Abu Dhabi, UAE from Feb. 14-16 thatā€™s raised eyebrows among surf athletes and fans.

Homosexuality and cross-dressing are illegal under both the Federal Crime and Punishment Law of UAE and the Abu Dhabi Penal Code, with a minimum sentence of six months and up to 14 years in prison.

Yvette Curtis, who runs the UK-based inclusive surf clubĀ Wave Wahines, has started a petition on Change.org calling on the World Surf League to drop the Abu Dhabi dates from the tour.

ā€œThe WSL have chosen to support a government that criminalizes LGBTQIA+ people and discriminates against women, and in doing so are choosing to place their athletes, support teams, and spectators at risk,ā€ the petition states.

ā€œBy removing Abu Dhabi from its event calendar, the World Surf League would make a powerful statement: Human rights and the safety of its athletes and employees are paramount. Ignoring this issue would tacitly endorse discriminatory practices and betray the inclusive values at the heart of Olympic sports. Only through decisive action can we ensure that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, has an equal opportunity to compete in professional surfing.ā€

Curtis says the issue is personal to her, as the mother of a trans surfer.

ā€œAs a mother of three, the safety of my children is my utmost priority. My eldest child, who has bravely embraced their true self, is transgender. They also have a passion for surfing, but existing regulations in certain regions rob them of this joy and access to the waves. Abu Dhabi, named as a stop in World Surf League’s event calendar, presents a stark reality. My child, due to their identity, would be breaking laws by merely existing in such an environment,ā€ she says. 

The petition, which has already drawn more than 1,600 signatures, has been endorsed by surf clubs all over the world,Ā 

The controversy around the Abu Dhabi tour stop mirrors similar controversy over hosting the 2022 World Cup in Doha, Qatar, and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, both countries with dismal records on LGBTQ rights.  

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Trump election sparks concern among activists around the world

Brazilian organization: Grassroots advocacy crucial to defending LGBTQ rights

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A poster in Santiago, Chile, in 2017 mocked then-President Donald Trump. Activists around the world with whom the Washington Blade has spoken this week expressed concern over a second Trump administration and its impact on LGBTQ rights around the world. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

LGBTQ activists and advocacy groups around the world have expressed concern over President-elect Donald Trump’s election.

“I worry that Trump’s win means no protection for global LGBTQ+ human rights,” Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha told the Washington Blade.

Mugisha added Trump “won’t or step in to support us” when “we are under attack with extreme anti-gay legislations.” (The Biden-Harris administration last year imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.)

Esteban PaulĆ³n, a long-time LGBTQ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, echoed this concern and Mugisha.

“My first reaction (to Trump’s election) is concern over how it is going to impact (LGBTQ) rights in the international sphere,” PaulĆ³n told the Blade.

Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administrationā€™s overall foreign policy. The White House in the same year named Jessica Stern, who was previously the executive director of Outright International, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.

Then-State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a 2021 interview with the Blade noted the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations was one of the Biden-Harris administrationā€™s priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad. Stern in 2022 told the Blade that support of marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process is ā€œamong a wider set of priorities.ā€

Trump during his first administration tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.

Axios on Thursday reported Grenell is Trump’s top candidate to succeed Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Bru Pereira and Gui Mohallem are co-directors of VoteLGBT, a Brazilian organization established in 2014 with a mission to increase LGBTQ representation their country’s politics.

Pereira and Mohallem in a statement they sent to the Blade on Wednesday said the U.S. election outcomes, “especially as they reflect a divided political landscape, underscore an international trend we are observing ā€” a growing divide between progressive movements and the resurgence of conservative, often authoritarian, political forces.”

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was in office from 2018-2022. He faced sharp criticism because of his rhetoric against LGBTQ Brazilians, women, people of African and Indigenous descent and other groups. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on Jan. 8, 2023, stormed the Brazilian Congress, presidential palace, and Supreme Court.

President Luiz InƔcio Lula da Silva took office a week earlier.

Pereira and Mohallem in their statement said they are “witnessing how grassroots efforts, particularly from marginalized communities, are crucial in defending LGBTQ+ rights under right-wing governments.”

“For us, advancing and protecting LGBTQ+ rights in such a context involves fostering local leadership, as well as strengthening community resilience and alliances,” they said. “Itā€™s about creating spaces where voices traditionally sidelined ā€” especially those of trans, Black, and Indigenous LGBTQ+ individuals ā€” can lead democratic change. Here, we see our role not just in advocacy but in shaping an intersectional approach to political transformation, one that insists on the inclusion and visibility of diverse identities.”

“Ultimately, we believe that the democratic health of any nation depends on its most vulnerable communities being empowered to speak up and lead,” added Pereira and Mohallem. “Weā€™re committed to supporting this journey, even in times of political setbacks, through community solidarity and international collaboration.”

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice Executive Director Joy Chia in an email to supporters on Wednesday largely echoed Pereira and Mohallem.

“As a funder of LGBTQI+ communities in all regions of the world, the Astraea Foundation is keenly aware of the far-reaching impacts that this election will have and has already had,” wrote Chia. “I also recognize that political repression is not new to LGBTQI+ activists and our communities. This isnā€™t our first time working in hostility and chaos, and we are ready to resist.”

“The Astraea Foundation will continue to work alongside grantees to build power and create sustainable change so that our communities can thrive. We will continue to push liberation forward, support our grantee partners, and hold true to our intersectional feminist values at every turn,” added Chia. “The work we do every day is vital, and this difficult moment only strengthens our resolve to keep the fight moving forward.”

Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjƶdin in an email to their group’s supporters said the U.S. election results “have raised deep concerns for many of us who care about fundamental human rights, freedoms, and democratic norms for LGBTIQ people and everyone else around the world.”

“As Outright International unites with you, our global community, we know that this outcome impacts not only the U.S. but also the global momentum toward justice and equality. Nationalism, authoritarianism, white supremacy, xenophobia, anti-queer, and anti-transness have been on stark display throughout the election campaign,” they wrote. “Such narratives risk eroding years of progress and scapegoat marginalized communities. Resulting policies could deny gender recognition, defund LGBTIQ-supportive programs internationally, and be a threat to international cooperation and multilateralism.” 

Sjƶdin added “moments like this also reveal the strength of our global solidarity.”

“The spirit of connection that fuels our shared movements is needed now more than ever,” they said. “From Argentina to Poland, Uganda to Ukraine, LGBTIQ communities are rising to this challenge. Together, we can and must resist discriminatory forces and protect and continue to advance the progress made. This isnā€™t just about policies ā€” itā€™s about our lives and those of our global community.”

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