Africa
South Africa Islamic group issues edict that condemns homosexuality
A group of queer Muslims criticized fatwa in open letter
A group of queer Muslims in South Africa have rejected the South African Muslim Judicial Council’s new edict that condemns homosexuality as sinful and unIslamic.
The fatwa the the South African Muslim Judicial Council issued earlier this month says any Muslims who are in same-sex relationships or engage in same-sex sexual relations will have taken themselves out of the Islamic faith. The South African Muslim Judicial Council has also called for excommunication or “takfir,” with the punishment being death for any Muslim found to be a member of the LGBTQ community.
“As queer Muslim South Africans and allies we resist the fatwa unequivocally. The MJC is a self-appointed, unelected and entirely male body, save for the head of their Women’s Forum, that does not represent the Muslim community on any democratic basis,” reads a letter that 20 queer South African Muslims signed. “We remind the MJC that Section 9 of the Constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation, and applies to government and private parties. Section 15 provides for the recognition of religious legal systems and marriages that are not inconsistent with the Constitution. The rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ people under the South African constitution cannot be trumped by cultural or religious authority, especially the right to life.”
“The MJC’s fatwa amounts to hate in a context where the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ people are already in danger. The fatwa is based on ignorance and reinforces oppression and injustice rather than supporting just, fair and equal rulings,” adds the letter. “Moreso, the MJC and associated bodies, such as the Jamiatul Ulama South Africa, have published other articles and statements which incite hate against 2SLGBTQIA+ persons. “
The letter further notes that “2SLGBTQIA+ persons in South Africa are clearly protected by the Constitution and other laws. It is possible to be 2SLGBTQIA+ and Muslim.”
As 2SLGBTQIA+ Muslims we live this combination daily. Our Islam is based on solidarity, critical love, care and kindness. For us, faith is about pursuing justice, fairness and equality. A discriminatory statement by the MJC does not and cannot invalidate our existence, or our right to life,” reads the letter. “All people deserve to enjoy a life free from oppression and discrimination. Together we can dismantle oppressive institutions and build safe, affirming and kind spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ Muslims and all persons.”
The United Ulama Council of South Africa has since defended the MJC, citing that any demands for change in Quranic precepts go against the constitutionally-protected freedoms of beliefs and conscience.
“The Noble Quran recounts the story of the city of Sodom several times, condemning its inhabitants’ immorality and specifically criticizing its men for going to men out of desire instead of women. The Islamic position on same-sex relationships is clear and unambiguous as articulated by the MJC edict. The Islamic perspective is also consistent with Judaic and Biblical perspectives as stipulated in the relevant sacred scriptures,” said United Ulama Council of South Africa Secretary General MI Yusuf Patel.
“Moreover, the 2SLGBTQIA+ Muslims (queer Muslim South Africans) mischievously attempt to equate opposition to same-sex relationships with hate speech by stating that the MJC’s fatwa amounts to hate in a context where the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ people are already in danger,” he added. “It surreptitiously attempts to augment its hate narrative by introducing its own presumption that if members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ are excommunicated from the Muslim community, the punishment for being excommunicated is death. This scare tactic is designed to equate repudiation of same sex relationships with hate incitement to cause harm. The clamorous and increasingly aggressive 2SLGBTQIA+ public discourse attempts to mute any voice of dissent and has become increasingly intolerant of those that are critical of same-sex relationships, as evidenced by both the responses to the MJC edict (fatwa).”
The MJC urged the Muslim community to display good conduct when dealing with non-Muslims belonging to the LGBTQ community, citing Islam teaches to hate the sin, not the sinner.
Daniel Itai is the Washington Blade’s Africa Correspondent.
Egypt
Egyptian authorities refuse to allow gay cruise to dock in country
Scarlet Lady earlier this week blocked from visiting Turkey
Egyptian authorities have refused to allow a gay cruise to dock in the country.
The Scarlet Lady, a Virgin Voyages ship that Atlantis Events chartered, was to have docked in Alexandria, a port city on the Mediterranean Sea. The Washington Blade obtained a letter that Atlantis Events President Rich Campbell sent to passengers on Thursday, hours before the cruise was to have arrived.
“Early this morning, we were informed that Scarlet Lady has been denied entry into Egyptian waters and, as a result, will no longer be able to call in Alexandria today,” he wrote.
“I know how much this visit meant to so many of you,” added Campbell. “We successfully sailed a similar itinerary last year, so we were surprised by this unfortunate decision.”
Campbell noted “both the Atlantis and Virgin Voyages teams worked tirelessly to make this call in Alexandria a possibility.”
“This news came as a surprise to all of us, and we’re just as disappointed as you are,” he said.
The 10-day cruise left Athens on July 5. It is scheduled to end in Trieste, Italy, on July 15.
The ship had been scheduled to dock in Kusadasi, a Turkish resort town on the Aegean Sea, and Istanbul earlier this week. Turkish authorities refused to allow it in the country.
Former Tempe, Ariz., Mayor Neil Giuliano, who is an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute board member, is among those on the cruise.
“Just a few hours before arriving in Alexandria, Egypt — a city founded by and named for one of the ancient world’s best-known homosexuals — government authorities rescinded permission for our ship of 2,000 gay men to enter Egypt,” wrote Steve May, who is also on the ship, on Thursday in a Facebook post.
Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 331 B.C.
“As with Turkey, we have been sent away not because of what we did, but because of who we said we are,” said May. “‘I am what I am’ is too much liberty for some to bear. So it was in the United States as well not long ago, where even I ended up as a convicted homosexual after a military trial in 2001 for saying ‘I am gay.’ This is just a reminder that for all the progress we have made, our freedom is never secure — for any of us, regardless of who or how we love. Back to Europe!”
Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt. The Egyptian Football Association, along with the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran, objected to playing in the World Cup’s “Pride Match” that took place in Seattle on June 26.
Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.
Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.
Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”
Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.
FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”
Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.
“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”
“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.
“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.
South Africa
White House to end PEPFAR funding for South Africa
State Department says country failed to respond to 2025 executive order demands
The Trump-Vance administration will end PEPFAR funding for South Africa.
A State Department spokesperson on Wednesday told the Washington Blade the State Department “will begin a phased drawdown of PEPFAR programming in South Africa, with most programs ending by Sept. 30, 2026, and critical personnel support continuing through March 31, 2027.”
Semafor last week reported South Africa has received more than $8 billion in PEPFAR funding since President George W. Bush created the program to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic in 2003.
President Donald Trump on Feb. 7, 2025, issued an executive order that addressed what it described as “egregious actions of the Republic of South Africa.” The State Department spokesperson with whom the Blade spoke noted the directive included five specific requests:
• South African government provides exemptions or alternatives for U.S. companies to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment laws and other race-based mandates.
• Senior government officials (e.g., president, deputy president, or minister of justice) unequivocally condemn all race-based incitement to violence, including the “Kill the Boer” song, more frequently.
• The South African government prevents the implementation of measures that would allow expropriation without fair compensation and due process under the Expropriation Act of 2024.
• South African Police Service designates rural crime a “priority crime” and increases resources dedicated to high-crime rural areas.
• South Africa refrains from actions that would significantly interfere with the implementation of the refugee program, within the confines of South African law.
“The United States communicated to the government of the Republic of South Africa multiple times at many levels that PEPFAR funding was likely to be terminated in the absence of progress on the five asks,” said the State Department spokesperson.
The State Department spokesperson further noted South Africa is “one of the largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa” and “has funded the vast majority of its own HIV response, estimated at 76 percent of the total, including procurement of all treatment commodities.”
“South Africa will continue to be supported by the Global Fund, including for the introduction and scale up of lenacapavir through Global Fund Resources,” the spokesperson told the Blade.
Lenacapavir is groundbreaking HIV prevention drug that users inject twice a year. Eswatini, which borders South Africa, is among the African countries that have received doses of the drug through PEPFAR.
HIV/AIDS service organizations in the U.S. and around the world have sharply criticized the Trump-Vance administration over plans to not fully fund PEPFAR and to cut domestic HIV/AIDS funding.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after the current White House took office issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
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