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Openly gay man elected to Honduran congress

Víctor Grajeda will serve as Congresswoman-elect Silvia Ayala’s substitute

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Victor Grajeda (Foto cortesía de Víctor Grajeda)

An openly gay man in Honduras made history on Sunday when he won a seat in the country’s Congress.

Grajeda will serve alongside Congresswoman-elect Silvia Ayala of the leftist Free Party (Partido Libre), who represents Cortés department in which the city of San Pedro Sula is located, as her substitute.

Reportar sin Miedo, the Washington Blade’s media partner in Honduras, and Agencia Presentes, reported Grajeda received more than 100,000 votes. Grajeda is one of five openly LGBTQ candidates who ran for Congress.

“I am looking to open spaces and eliminate discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity,” said Grajeda.

Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, a member of outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernández’s ruling National Party (Partido Nacional), on Tuesday conceded defeat to President-elect Xiomara Castro of the Free Party.

Castro’s husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, was ousted from power in a 2009 coup.

Activists with whom the Blade has spoken say LGBTQ Hondurans continue to flee the country and migrate to the U.S. in order to escape rampant violence and discrimination and a lack of employment and educational opportunities. Castro, among other things, has publicly endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples in Honduras.

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Africa

Ugandan appeals court upholds ruling that blocked LGBTQ group from registering

Decision ‘doesn’t faze us’

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(Image by rarrarorro/Bigstock)

A Ugandan appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that prevented an LGBTQ rights group from legally registering in the country.

The Uganda Registration Services Bureau in 2012 refused to legally recognize Sexual Minorities Uganda. The Uganda High Court upheld the decision in 2018, and SMUG appealed it to the country’s Registrar Court of Appeal.

“The LGBTQ community views this ruling as a missed opportunity to address the suppression of their freedom of association, instead focusing on perceived societal norms,” said SMUG in a press release. “It underscores a recurring trend in Ugandan courts, wherein rights of LGBTQ persons are marginalized, further widening the gap between legal protections and lived realities and experiences.”

Katie Hultquist of Outright International in a post to her X account expressed her personal support for SMUG Executive Director Frank Mugisha, his organization and other activists in the country. Mugisha said SMUG is “fully committed to elevating this challenge to the next level.” 

“After thorough debriefing, we will communicate our next strategic steps,” said Mugisha. “This ruling doesn’t faze us.”

The appeals court issued its ruling less than a year after President Yoweri Museveni signed the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”

The Constitutional Court in December heard arguments in a lawsuit that challenges the law. It is not clear when a ruling will be issued.

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Africa

Prominent Angolan activist found dead in his home

Authorities say Carlos Fernandes showed signs he was strangled

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Carlos Fernandes (Photo courtesy of USAID Administrator Samantha Power's X account)

Authorities in Angola on Feb. 26 found a prominent activist dead in his home.

Associação Íris Angola in a Facebook post wrote Carlos Fernandes, the group’s executive director, “was found lifeless in his residence” in Luanda, the country’s capital. Angolan media reports indicate authorities continue to investigate his death, but they suspect he was strangled.

His funeral took place on March 1. Activists throughout the country have organized candlelight vigils and other events to honor Fernandes.

“His departure leaves a huge void in our community and a deep mourning in our hearts,” said Associação Íris Angola.

Angolan lawmakers in 2020 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations and banned violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation in the former Portuguese colony. Fernandes was among the activists who championed these advances.

The State Department’s 2022 human rights report notes violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in Angola. Angolan media reports indicate Fernandes is the second LGBTQ person found dead with signs of strangulation in recent weeks.  

“Carlos Fernandes led the first LGBTQI+ group in Angola, and tirelessly advocated for human rights and ending the threat of HIV/AIDS,” said U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power in a March 6 post to her X account.

U.S. Ambassador to Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe Tulinabo Mushingi in a statement noted his embassy “was proud to partner with Mr. Fernandes over the past decade.”

“We are grateful for his important contributions to our programs supporting human rights, fighting against stigma and discrimination, expanding access to health and education resources for LGBTQI+ communities, combatting human trafficking and more,” said Mushingi. “In particular, his contributions to our PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) program expanded protection and treatment for HIV/AIDS to previously unreached communities.”

PEPFAR echoed these sentiments, noting Fernandes’ “contributions expanded protection and treatment for HIV/AIDS to previously unreached communities.”

“Carlos Fernandes is remembered as a resolute, strong, welcoming person,” said Mushingi. “As a true pioneer in the fight against discrimination, he created a family among the LGBTQI+ community in Angola, and his legacy as an activist will be carried on by generations of LGBTQI+ Angolans.”  

“We trust that the Angolan authorities will conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that any parties responsible are held accountable,” he added.

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Africa

Ethiopia’s largest church condemns LGBTQ community

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of world’s religious dominations

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Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the seat of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Photo by RudiErnst/Bigstock)

Ethiopia’s largest church has condemned the LGBTQ community’s existence.

According to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is one of the world’s oldest religious denominations, the LGBTQ community is synonymous with the West and not with Ethiopia or Africa. The church in a statement said the right to various gender identities, what it describes as gender conversion therapy and allowing same-sex relationships leads to complex religious, social and cultural problems.

“The Permanent Synod calls for the faith, culture and ethics that has been preserved with many sacrifices to continue to have its place of honor and by ensuring that sin and evilness is not exposed to this disgusting act,” reads the statement.

“Homosexuality is not at all equal to a normal natural phenomenon that can be expressed by gender rights and it is the spiritual mission of our church to oppose it knowing that this violates the religious, social and psychological assets of our country, the federal government should strongly oppose this,” it adds. “Actions that increase homosexuality, transgender, bisexual sex and so on are all issues and practices that are not accepted in our country by religion, law, social values and ethical guidelines. So, the Permanent Synod calls for them to be clearly stated that we will not accept them in any official relations.”

The church in its statement “strongly warns those who promote homosexuality, spread and do hidden activities to refrain from their actions.” 

Activists condemned the statement.

“Maybe someday, homophobic individuals will understand that one’s sexual orientation can’t be prayed away,” said Mahdi Liima, founder of the Tigray Art Collective, an organization that works in the Tigray region and throughout Ethiopia. “Queer Ethiopians are present in all religions. Surprisingly, I have met many who are active members of their faith and embrace them as beautiful humans.”

Bahiru Shewaye, co-founder of House of Guramayle, said religious leaders have been focused on spreading public paranoia about queerness as a threatening factor for the nation.

“We call on all Ethiopians to really study the pattern here and wake up. The current fearmongering that is being galvanized by religious institutions and their affiliated death apparatus against Zega (an Amharic word that refers to LGBTQ people) or the queer community in Ethiopia is nothing but the usual destruction tactic,” said Shewaye.

The Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia last month issued a scathing statement particularly against the Samoa Agreement, 20-year partnership agreement between some EU and African Union countries that seeks to strength socio-economic and political ties. Ethiopia is among the nations that have signed it.

According to the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, the federal government should withdraw from the agreement because of terms and conditions that seek to uphold LGBTQ rights. 

Religious leaders in recent months have called upon the federal government to ensure it does not consider LGBTQ rights on the basis they are not African and counter with the country’s religious beliefs. LGBTQ Ethiopians have faced increased online attacks and at times even arbitrary arrests.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Ethiopia and are punishable by up to a year in prison. This sentence can reach more than 10 years.

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