Africa
Kenyan advocacy groups join fight against femicide
30 women have been murdered in the country this year
Some LGBTQ rights groups in Kenya have devised new security strategies to protect female community members from the risk of femicide that has been on the rise in the country in recent years.
The strategies employed include hiring trained security response teams, emergency toll-free numbers for swift intervention and training queer women on safety as they go about their daily lives in homophobic societies.
The LGBTQ rights organizations’ move to come up with their safety measures is driven by laxity by security agencies that they accuse of “personal bias, discrimination and victimization” of the complainants based on their sexual orientation whenever they seek help.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations are outlawed in Kenya under Sections 162 and 165 of the Penal Code and the queer rights groups the Washington Blade interviewed said the authorities exploit this criminalization.
“We have contracted two security response focal persons in our organization to respond to violations of LBQ womxn in Kenya,” noted Elly Doe, the executive director of KISLEB, a Kisumu-based organization that champions the rights of lesbian, bisexual and queer women.
Doe, whose organization also advocates against femicide, said KISLEB is part of a special security situation room formed to explore ways of tackling rising cases of insecurity among the LGBTQ community in the country.
The Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination, an LGBTQ rights organization also contacted by the Blade, stated it has been conducting advocacy programs that include creating safer spaces forums to address femicide and violence against women both physical and online.
One of the forums convened last September in Mombasa, for instance, explored how communities and institutions can work together to prevent violence against marginalized women, effective support for survivors, mentorship and awareness campaigns. The participants included lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender women, women in politics, sports, media, women living with disabilities and sex workers.
INEND Communications Officer Melody Njuki, who expressed her organization’s concern over growing cases of femicide, oppression and violence against women, including those who identify as queer that go unchecked is caused by several social factors that include economic exclusion.
“The intersectional issues faced by marginalized communities and structurally silenced women particularly sex workers and LBQT+ individuals adds complexity to the challenges experienced by victims of femicide due to discrimination, stigma and systemic inequalities exacerbating the vulnerability of women to violence,” Njuki said.
Both INEND and KISLEB last month joined other LGBTQ rights groups, feminists and dozens of human rights organizations in Kenya in a nationwide street protest against rising cases of femicide and violence against women.
The Jan. 27 protests were in response to the brutal killing of 16 women across the country since the beginning of the year. Hundreds of women, including those who identify as queer, during a Valentine’s Day vigil donned black outfits and held lit candles and red roses in honor of this year’s femicide victims, whose number had risen to more than 30.
“KISLEB as an organization that champions the rights of the LBQ womxn could not sit back and watch as women are being intentionally violated and killed yet in recent years the number has been rising rapidly and so many culprits go unpunished,” Doe said over her organization’s participation in the protest. “Participating in the protest was our way of expressing our solidarity with other women’s rights organizations in condemning femicide.”
Doe raised a concern over a rise in the number of homophobic threats against queer women, particularly on social media and residential areas, and called for police officers to be sensitized on LGBTQ issues to deal with this menace without discrimination.
“We have also seen the cases of the murders of the LGBTQ community rising such as a trans woman activist Erica Chandra in August in Nairobi and a nonbinary lesbian woman Sheila Lumumba in April 2022,” she said.
INEND, together with the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and Galck+ which participated in Lumumba’s murder case last December, were disappointed with the court after sentencing the suspect Billington Mwathi to 30 years in jail. The three LGBTQ rights groups described the sentence as “lenient” and said it didn’t meet the justice Lumumba deserved — the suspect raped her before killing her.
The organizations said they wanted Mwathi to receive a life sentence because Lumumba’s killing was not just an act of violence on an individual, but an attack on the dignity and safety of the LGBTQ community.
INEND, nonetheless, attributes the rise in femicide to victim blaming on the part of the public and some leaders, which leads to a disconnect on the protection of the victims’ rights and its subsequent erosion as witnessed in the LGBTQ community.
“The road to genocide starts with the dehumanization of the most marginalized, then continues to devour its way up the hierarchy of patriarchal systems,” Njuki said.
She disclosed INEND was organizing a collective movement dubbed “#EndFemicideKe” to enlighten policymakers on the dire need to enforce strict measures on the killing of women. Njuki, however, commended jurists who are members of the Kenya Magistrates and Judges Association for their partnership with INEND and willingness to show a deeper understanding of human rights particularly the protection of LGBTQ rights.
She cited last year’s launch of a judicial guidebook to help judges better protect queer people’s rights and the High Court’s ruling that allowed the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to register as a non-governmental organization in promoting freedom of association.
Ghana
Activists: Ghanaian presidential election results will not improve LGBTQ rights
Supreme Court on Dec. 18 to rule on anti-LGBTQ law
Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama from the opposition National Democratic Congress has won Saturday’s general elections, defeating current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party.
The NDC before the election had pledged its support for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which would further criminalize LGBTQ people and those who support them.
The bill, which MPs approved in February, has yet to be signed by outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo because of a ruling the Supreme Court is expected to issue on Dec. 18. Richard Dela Sky, a journalist and private lawyer, challenged the law in March.
The NDC, NPP and other parties used recognition of LGBTQ rights to persuade Ghanaians to vote for them. Mahama during a BBC interview last week said LGBTQ rights are against African culture and religious doctrine.
Berinyuy Hans Burinyuy, LGBT+ Rights Ghana’s director for communications, said homophobic attacks and public demonstrations increased during the campaign.
“The passage of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill into law will institutionalize State-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals, leaving little to no legal recourse for those affected,” said Burinyuy. “The climate of fear and uncertainty that has gripped Ghana’s LGBTQ+ community cannot be overstated.”
“While the political atmosphere remains hostile, there is still hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of human rights and constitutional protections,” added Burinyuy. “Should the court strike down the bill, it will be a significant victory for LGBTQ+ rights and a blow to the growing wave of homophobia that has swept the country.”
Awo Dufie, an intersex person and cross-dresser, said the LGBTQ community is going to be at increased risk under the NDC-led government because it supports anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
“Mahama supported the anti-LGBT bill as well as the arrest and prosecution of human rights defenders,” noted Dufie. “Politicizing queer rights as a distraction actually started under Atta Mills (the-late president of Ghana) and the NDC government in 2011, and it was an NDC MP (Sam George) who furthered this in 2021 vocalizing support for the anti-LGBT bill.”
Dufie added Ghanaians “voted out a worse corrupt government who had no respect for human rights, and brought in a former corrupt president who has also promised to not respect human rights.”
Activism Ghana, another LGBTQ rights group, said the attacks against LGBTQ Ghanaians are a series of political ploys designed to win votes as opposed to accelerating development.
“Hate the gays, win the votes, and when they win and fail to deliver development and prosperity, they scapegoat the gays to take away attention from real problems,” said Activism Ghana.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday congratulated Mahama’s election, and noted Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang will become the country’s first female vice president.
“The United States commends the Electoral Commission, its hundreds of thousands of poll workers, civil society, and the country’s security forces, who helped ensure a peaceful and transparent process,” said Blinken in a statement. “We also applaud Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for his gracious acceptance of the results.”
Mahama’s inauguration will take place on Jan. 7.
Advocacy groups continue to urge Akufo-Addo to veto the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill or amend sections that further criminalize LGBTQ people and allies.
South Africa
WorldPride 2028 to take place in Cape Town
South Africa is first African country to host event
Cape Town last month secured enough votes to host WorldPride in 2028.
The bidding process, which started in late October, took place in Medellín, Colombia, where the Guadalajara (Mexico) Pride and WorldPride Cape Town bidding teams contended for the rights to host WorldPride. InterPride, which organizes the event, on Nov. 8 officially declared Cape Town the host of WorldPride 2028.
It will be the first time WorldPride will take place in an African country.
South Africa is the only country on the continent that constitutionally recognizes LGBTQ rights. South Africa, as a result, in recent years has seen a surge in the number of LGBTQ asylum seekers from Africa and around the world.
Reacting to the historical precedence, Cape Town Pride said it was now time for Africa to shine and acknowledged the WorldPride Cape Town bidding team and the city of Cape Town for their role in the bidding process.
“This is a first for the whole continent of Africa,” said Cape Town Pride CEO Tommy Patterson. “A few weeks ago, in Medellín, Cape Town Pride, the city of Cape Town, and the bidding team presented our bid. The team did a wonderful job and we all forged great friendships and allies from Pride groups all over the globe.”
“Cape Town Pride is thrilled by the news and support shown by the global LGBTI+ family,” added Patterson.
Michael Gladwin of the WorldPride Cape Town bidding team echoed Patterson’s excitement.
“This will mark the first time WorldPride is held on the African continent, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome the global LGBTQ+ community to our beautiful city,” said Gladwin. “A heartfelt thank you goes out to all our incredible partners who supported this journey. Together, we will showcase Cape Town as a beacon of inclusivity and diversity.”
Gladwin also congratulated Guadalajara Pride for their bid.
“Their commitment in promoting LGBTQ+ rights is inspiring, and we look forward to collaborating in the future,” said Gladwin.
Cape Town’s LGBTQ community is celebrating the successful bid, while others in the city have criticized it.
Rev. Oscar Bougardt, founder and lead pastor of the Calvary Hope Baptist Church, described WorldPride as “garbage” and “filth” that should be condemned.
“I am happy to say I am amongst the pastors in Cape Town who are in opposition and are outraged at this garbage planned for 2028,” said Bougardt. “The city of Cape Town and LGBTQ+ organizations planned this event without consulting rate payers, this bid was done in secret and taxpayers’ money will be used to fund this filth.”
“Just as the LGBTQ + organizations have the right to host WorldPride 2028, we have the right to say we don’t want it in Cape Town,” he added. “I pray more church leaders will stand up against the planned WorldPride 2028. To church leaders and parents, this is the time to unite and tell the city of Cape Town and LGBTQ+ organizations that we are disgusted at the planned event. Untied we stand and divided we will fall!”
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2022 won the bid to host WorldPride 2025, but the local planning committee withdrew it amid a dispute with InterPride. WorldPride 2025 will take place in D.C. from May 17-June 8, 2025.
The 2024 ILGA World Conference took place last month in Cape Town.
Uganda
Ugandan court awards $40K to men tortured after arrest for alleged homosexuality
Torture took place in 2020 during COVID-19 lockdown
A Ugandan court on Nov. 22 awarded more than $40,000 (Shs 150 million) to 20 men who police tortured after their 2020 arrest for alleged homosexuality.
The High Court of Uganda’s Civil Division ruling notes “police and other state authorities” arrested the men in Nkokonjeru, a town in central Uganda, on March 29, 2020, and “allegedly tortured.”
“They assert that on the morning of the said date their residence was invaded by a mob, among which were the respondents, that subjected them to all manner of torture because they were practicing homosexuality,” reads the ruling. “The alleged actions of torture include beating, hitting, burning using a hot piece of firewood, undressing, tying, biding, conducting an anal examination, and inflicting other forms of physical, mental, and psychological violence based on the suspicion that they are homosexuals, an allegation they deny.”
The arrests took place shortly after the Ugandan government imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Based on the same suspicion (of homosexuality), the applicants were then arrested, taken to Nkokonjeru B police station, and charged with doing a negligent act likely to spread infection by disease,” reads the ruling.
The ruling notes the men “were charged” on March 31, 2020, and sent to prison, “where they were again allegedly beaten, examined, harassed, and subjected to discrimination.”
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Uganda.
President Yoweri Museveni in 2023 signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” LGBTQ activists continue to challenge the law.
Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha on X described the Nov. 22 ruling as a “significant victory for the LGBTQ+ community.”
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