Africa
Kenyan advocacy organization releases guidebook for young LGBTQ people
Homosexuality remains criminalized in the country
An LGBTQ advocacy organization in Kenya has unveiled a sexual reproductive health and rights guidebook that targets young queer people in the country and provides them with information to help them come out.
The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which is behind the new guidebook, cites misinformation, stigma and homophobic discrimination among several obstacles that young LGBTQ people face when they publicly disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Thus, NGLHRC considers the 20-page booklet that also details the latest legal and policy frameworks on the topic an essential resource to help young queer people get knowledge and assistance in overcoming homophobia.
“This resource is designed to support, educate and empower our diverse community in ensuring there is access to accurate and affirming information regarding sexual and reproductive health rights,” states the guidebook.
The newly unveiled toolkit comes amid several government policy measures to protect school-age children from so-called same-sex practices that Section 162 of the penal code criminalizes.
The Education Ministry this year, for instance, plans to hire pastors and Imams in more than 32,000 public elementary and high schools to promote value-based education that includes fighting homosexuality and other practices deemed immoral. A working group that presented a report to President William Ruto last August made the recommendation.
Education Minister Ezekiel Machogu in March 2023 confirmed to MPs the ministry’s decision to set up a Chaplains Committee led by Anglican Church Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit to stop what they have described as the infiltration of LGBTQ practices in schools.
Machogu’s revelation followed the government’s crackdown on teenage books with gay content from abroad after an uproar from parents and religious leaders.
The stiffer anti-homosexuality bill sponsored by an opposition MP Peter Kaluma, which awaits introduction in the National Assembly, would also prohibit the teaching of comprehensive sexuality education to school-age children in Kenya’s curriculum. The bill lists sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender identity, sex reassignment and homosexuality among the subjects to which students should not be exposed in school.
“A teacher, an instructor or any other person who teaches, instructs or discusses with a learner the subjects set out commits any offense and shall upon conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one million shillings ($6,163) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both,” reads the bill.
The NGLHRC guidebook, however, cites the Bill of Rights in Kenya’s constitution, the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Kenya has ratified as among the laws that protect people from any forms of discrimination. The advocacy organization instead calls for accessibility of queer-friendly educational materials, and family and community support to young people who identify as LGBTQ.
“Bodily autonomy means my body is for me; my body is my own. It is about power, and it is about agency,” reads the guidebook. “It is about choice, and it is about dignity.”
“Bodily autonomy is the foundation for gender equality, and above all, it is a fundamental right,” it adds.
NGLHRC urges young queer people to be “open and honest” about their sexual orientation instead of hiding it, but only after they seriously consider the situation in which they find themselves. Coming out, according to the guidebook, should only happen after they discover their sexuality through self-identity, acceptance and connecting with others for empowerment and growth.
It asks, for example, a young person to trust their instincts without bowing to pressure from friends and situations to come out openly.
“Coming out is your decision and your decision alone. It is a lifelong process,” reads the guidebook. “Even if other people you know have come out or if you have come out to some but not others, no one has a say in when, how, or who you come out to?”
It notes there is no right way to come out, and challenges young LGBTQ people to be mindful of their privacy while sharing information with friends after coming out since one might be at risk of harm when other people find out.
“If you choose to come out, that is important to remember — and not to be discouraged by,” states the guidebook. “You will make new friends and family, meet new partners and join new companies throughout your life. If you choose to come out, then you will have to do it countless times.”
The guidebook further advises young queer people about the importance of consent between partners in same-sex relations, and cautions them the law forbids consent for underage persons under 18 years. It also debunks myths surrounding homosexuality: Same-sex couples cannot transmit sexually transmitted infections, do not need to practice safe sex or get tested for STIs and all queer people are promiscuous and engage in risky sexual behaviors. The guidebook also addresses puberty, menstruation, hygiene, sexual and reproductive health needs and challenges, such as access to contraceptives for young LGBTQ individuals, queer parenting and centers to seek queer-friendly services in Kenya.
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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