Opinions
Trump administration is set to abandon LGBTQ Africans
Ugandan officials have applauded incoming U.S. president
As the results of the U.S. presidential election came in on Nov. 5, showing that former President Donald Trump had won a second term, homophobic political leaders celebrated 7,000 miles away, in Ugandaās capital of Kampala.
āThe sanctions are gone,ā Anita Among, the countryās parliamentary speaker, told members of parliament, referring to the fact that she had been barred from entering the U.S.Ā by the Biden administration on June 16, 2023, after Uganda passed what was known as the āKill The Gaysā act on May 28, 2023.Ā Ā
The act, officially called the Anti-Homosexuality Act, was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni on May 28, 2023. The new Ugandan law imposes life imprisonment for same-sex acts, up to 20 years in prison for ārecruitment, promotion, and fundingā of same-sex āactivities,ā and anyone convicted of āattempted aggravated homosexualityā faces the death penalty.Ā Ā Ā Ā
On May 8, Among proclaimed that the enactment of the law demonstrated that āthe Western world will not come and rule Uganda.ā And on May 9 Among tweeted: āThe president ā¦ has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. As the parliament of Uganda, we have answered the cries of our people. We have legislated to protect the sanctity of [the] family. We have stood strong to defend our culture and [the] aspirations of our people,ā she said, thanking Museveni for his āsteadfast action in the interest of Uganda.āĀ Ā
Among said in his tweet that Ugandan MPs had withstood pressure from ābullies and doomsday conspiracy theoristsā and called for the countryās courts to begin enforcing the new law. The passage of the bill and that fact that Among and other African homophobes celebrated Trumpās re-election tells us what the next four years are going to be like for Africaās LGBTQ+ people.
African political leaders and religious zealots (both Christian and Muslim) have used homophobia as a tool for political and religious power for many years. They say that same-sex relations and gay rights are imports from the West. They have used homophobia to portray themselves as nationalists and defenders of African and religious values. They have used homophobia to frighten and divide people to mobilize popular support and votes.
But it is homophobia, as others have said before me, that is the real import from the West. And the whole panoply of weapons employed by the homophobes in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa are themselves colonial imports, ranging from sodomy laws that were a legacy of colonial rule to the parliaments that pass these laws.
And homophobia is growing stronger in Africa.
In mid-March 2023, Museveni was quoted by the Monitor newspaper website as saying that the āWestern countries should stop wasting the time of humanity by imposing their social practices on us.ā And Kenyan President William Ruto declared the same month that āour culture and religion does not allow same-sex marriages.āĀ Ā
On April 2, 2023, Museveni called upon African leaders to reject āthe promotion of homosexualityā and said homosexuality was āa big threat and danger to the procreation of human race.ā According to Museveni, āAfrica should provide the lead to save the world from this degeneration and decadence, which is really very dangerous for humanity. If people of opposite sex stop appreciating one another then how will the human race be propagated.ā
On Dec. 29, 2023, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, speaking at an event in the countryās eastern Cankuzo province, where he answered questions from journalists and members of the public, defiantly proclaimed that powerful nations āshould keepā their aid if it comes with an obligation to give rights to LGBTQ+ persons.Ā āI think,ā Ndayishimiye declared, āthat if we find these people in Burundi they should be taken to stadiums and stoned, and doing so would not be a crime.ā
In Ghana, legislators have been debating the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill since it was introduced in August 2021. Same-sex relations are already punished by up to three years in jail under current law in Ghana, but this new bill will impose punishment for even identifying as LGBTQ+. It will also criminalize being transgender and includes jail sentences of up to 10 years for advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. It also imposes a legal obligation on all persons and entities to report any people perceived to be LGBTQ+ or any homosexual activity to the police or community leaders.
The bill was passed by the Ghanaian parliament on Feb. 28. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not yet announced whether he will sign it, saying he will await the results of two Supreme Court cases challenging its constitutionality. And on July 17, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that delayed judgement on the bill until all related legal issues have been resolved.
John Dramani Mahama, the former president of Ghana and a leading presidential candidate in the countryās upcoming elections, standing for the National Democratic Congress, said during a meeting with members of the clergy in eastern Ghana that gay marriage and being transgender were against his Christian beliefs. āThe faith I have will not allow me to accept a man marrying a man, and a woman marrying a woman,ā Mahama said while responding to a church leaderās call against LBGTQ+ people. āI donāt believe that anyone can get up and say I feel like a man although I was born a woman and so I will change and become a man,ā he added. Mahama did not say whether or not he would sign the anti-LGBTQI+ bill should he win the presidential election in December 2024.
In Kenya, opposition parliamentarian Peter Kaluma introduced the Family Protection Bill in February 2023. The bill mirrors many aspects of the Ugandan law and would punish gay sex with prison for up to ten years or even death in some cases. The new bill is ācut from the same clothā as the Ugandan legislation, said Kevin Muiruri, a Nairobi-based lawyer. The bill is being vetted by a parliamentary committee, which is expected to refer it to the full chamber for a vote. And President William Ruto, an evangelical Christian, has already endorsed the legal repression of LGBTQI+ rights.Ā Ā
āWe cannot travel down the road of women marrying their fellow women and men marrying their fellow men,ā he declared in March 2023.
More recently, the National Transitional Council of Mali, which has effectively served as the countryās legislature since the military seized power in 2020, voted on Oct. 31 to approve a penal code that criminalizes same-sex relations by 132 votes to one. The media was not able to obtain a copy of the new penal code and the penalties imposed for same-sex acts are unknown. But, according to the Malian Justice and Human Rights Minister Mamadou Kasogue, āanyone who indulges in this practice, or promotes or condones it, will be prosecuted.ā The bill still requires the signature of the countryās military junta, which is led by General of the Army Assimi Goita.
Trumpās foreign policy advisors have already drawn up an explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ rights foreign policy agenda for his second term in office. The Project 2025 report (prepared under the leadership of the Heritage Foundation, so the new administration can start implementing this agenda as soon as it comes into office in January 2025) states that the U.S. should āstop promoting policies birthed in the American culture warsā and stop pressing African governments to respect the rule of law, human rights/LGBT+ rights, political and civil rights, democracy, and womenās rights, especially abortion rights.
āAfrican nations are particularly (and reasonably) non-receptive to the US social policies such as abortion and pro-LGBT initiatives being imposed on them,ā by the U.S., the report declares. Therefore, āthe United States should focus on core security, economic, and human rights engagement with African partners and reject the promotion of divisive policies that hurt the deepening of shared goals between the U.S. and its African partners.ā
The principal responsibility for implementing this policy reversal on LGBTQ+ rights in Africa will fall on Trumpās nominee for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and whoever Trump chooses as his Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. It will be up to them to direct the activities and programs that Trump wants in order to endorse, encourage, promote, and fund homophobic groups and organizations in Africa, and there is no doubt that they will implement this agenda energetically and zealously.
African homophobes say they are standing up to the West and saving the continent and the world from homosexuality, but they are just serving their own selfish interests and the interests of right-wing Christian nationalists in the West. Gay communities in Africa and the West share a common interest in fighting back, and civil society groups and all genuine supporters of human rights are increasingly active. As Eric Gilari, an LGBTQ+ activist in Kenya said, āone day we shall defeat these assaults on our human rights and triumph in equality and inclusion for LGBTQ persons within African countries. This ideal must be our guiding light in this moment of darkness and tears.ā
Daniel Volman is the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, D.C. and a specialist on U.S. national security policy toward Africa and African security issues.
Opinions
Ready to raise your voice during World Pride?
Then make sure you get your COVID vaccine shot
At theĀ Gay Menās Chorus of Washington, D.C., we like to say that music is our āweaponā of choice and our performances are part activism rally. Activism takes many different forms and being advocates for protecting our communityās health is one way our collective voices make an impact.
Right now, weāre singing from the same song sheet as it relates to COVID. Yes, COVID. That five-letter word is still with us, nearly five years after the first case of this viral infection arrived in the United States.
TheĀ Centers for Disease Control and PreventionĀ recommends the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccines to help protect against serious illness and hospitalization during the fall and winter.
Many remember that during the pandemic a CDCĀ reportĀ found that gay and lesbian adults had greater confidence that COVID vaccines were safe and were more likely to be vaccinated than heterosexuals. There were important caveats in the research and there were disparities among some groups in the LGBTQ+ space. However, the fact was LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. were largely seen as understanding and accepting the science and taking the steps necessary for COVID protection.
This includes the leadership demonstrated when visitors to Provincetown ādidnāt spread the virus; they, and their allies, controlled it. On the fly, they created a model for how a community can organize against a disease threat,ā according toĀ WIRED magazine. A feather in our cap, for sure, during a very intense time.
Since those early years of COVID, there have been important developments. Now, when selecting a COVID vaccine, there are different options available ā mRNA and protein-based non-mRNA vaccines.
The mRNA vaccines, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, teach our cells how to make copies of the spike protein that triggers an immune response. The non-mRNA protein-based vaccine, developed by Novavax, uses protein fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 along with an ingredient called an adjuvant to help the immune system respond to the spike protein in the future.
It’s safe to mix and match COVID-19 vaccines, so if you previously received an mRNA vaccine, your next dose can be the non-mRNA protein-based vaccine developed by Novavax, and vice versa.
Ask your healthcare provider about your vaccine options. Also, be sure to visitĀ vaccines.gov.
A chorus is beautiful because it symbolizes the power of diversity ā each member has a distinct voice, but when we join together, we create something truly extraordinary.
This summer GMCW is excited to showcase our collective talent by producing the marquee arts and culture event for World Pride with theĀ International Choral Festival. As we prepare to welcomeĀ over 3 million visitorsĀ from around the world, letās show them that we take our health ā and their health ā seriously. Letās put on the best World Pride thatās ever been organized by getting vaccinated now so we can sing, march, and celebrate safely in 2025.Ā
Justin Fyala is executive director, Gay Menās Chorus of Washington, D.C.
Opinions
Is Pete Hegsethās nomination Trumpās sick joke?
GOP senators must reject unqualified Fox News host
Of all of Trumpās problematic Cabinet nominees, Pete Hegsethās stands out as a sick joke. Unfortunately, if he is confirmed, the joke will be on the world.
Hegseth has ZERO qualifications to be Secretary of Defense. If merely serving in the military (and I thank him for his service in the National Guard) constitutes an acceptable qualification, then millions of veterans are qualified. While so many of them would be better qualified than Hegseth, they are still not qualified simply based on their service, and I think nearly all would agree on that.
The Department of Defense is one of the largest organizations in the world and the most lethal. What is coming out now as people look at Hegsethās past is he was apparently forced to step down from one small veteransā rights non-profit based on financial, and other issues. Then there are the issues his mother brought to light when he was in the process of divorcing his second wife, when she sent him an email saying he was a sleazebag all his life when it came to his dealing with women.
Then there are the allegations of excessive drinking from a number of sources, including those who worked with him at Fox News. So, itās not just one thing, itās a host of things added to his admission that he was investigated for sexual assault, and then paid off the woman who made the allegations. Hegsethās views on the LGBTQ community have been made clear a number of times. GLAAD reported, āsuch as when he opposed the New York Timesās decision to announce same-sex marriages writing āthat it was a path to incest and bestiality: At what point does the paper deem a ārelationshipā unfit for publication? What if we ālovedā our sister and wanted to marry her? Or maybe two women at the same time? A 13-year-old? The family dog?ā
Were he to be confirmed, we would be the laughing stock of the world. I am pretty confident that there will be at least four Republican senators who will vote against his confirmation, if itās not withdrawn before a vote. How could Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) herself a veteran who served overseas during the Iraq war, vote for someone who has said women should not be allowed in combat? Ernst herself is clearly more qualified to hold the position than Hegseth. I am not supporting her, but compared to Hegseth, she is the superior choice. But then most people compared to Hegseth would be better. I see Ernst is now kowtowing to Trump, going as far as saying she is keeping an open mind on Hegseth, but it will be interesting if the FBI investigation comes up with even more negative reports on him.
The Republicans in the Senate are faced with working with Trump. They can go along with every dumb thing he wants to do, or face his wrath. I am betting there are four senators who will not go along with everything. They will show they have some balls. While I canāt off-hand name the four, it is my hope and prayer, they will materialize.
We are living in a weird world where Trump can nominate Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence , another nominee with absolutely no qualifications. Her support of deposed Syrian dictator Assad may come back to haunt her. Then there is Trump nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of HHS, with his dangerous views on healthcare. Republicans will somehow have to deal with these nominations and now they have added a new issue. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) tweeted, āIt will be my objective to phase out Social Security, to pull it out by the roots.ā We will see what the Senate does with that, and what the House of Representatives does with it. We will be looking to see what the views of the person Trump named to head the Social Security Administration, Frank Bisignano, thinks. Letās hope the Senate committee vetting him will ask detailed questions. Then Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House, hasnāt guaranteed he wonāt support some cuts to Social Security.
If Congress cuts either Social Security or Medicare, it just might be the fastest way for Democrats to take back the House in 2026.
Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.
Opinions
Navigating the holidays while estranged from ultra-religious, abusive parents
I never regretted decision to separate myself from my family
It will be the fifth Christmas season I will have as a person who is estranged from their ultra-religious and abusive parents.
I have never seriously regretted my decision to estrange my family, despite it sometimes felt tough. Well, I regret not seeing my little brother, but all communication with him was controlled by my parents, and without them I was estranged from him as well. Hope he will find me one day, but I didnāt mourn not having my parents near me, more like Iām mourning a perfect family I dreamed about and never actually had.
The holiday season could bring an additional toughness for people like me, especially now, when more and more families are broken apart by a political turmoil that shattered and polarized American society after the election. Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election is more than just a regular political event; it is a social phenomenon that shows a lot of American trends.
Gen Z and Millennial adults are less likely to become Republicans and Trump supporters than their parents and grandparents who are Baby Boomers, Gen X, or members of the Silent Generation. Of course, it is not universal, because Trump somehow managed to win the hearts of alienated young men, while some Boomers turned left in this election. Not all LGBT people are Democrats, but the vast majority of them are.
This year the LGBT electorate moved away from Trump even more dramatically than in the previous election. Many young LGBT people felt like they were betrayed by the older generation and their cis-hetero peers; LGBT youth felt scared, angry, and helpless. Despite the fact that the majority of LGBT people are leftists and liberals who generally do not support free arms trading, after Trumpās victory, more and more LGBT people ā and cis/hetero women ā bought guns and are learning how to defend themselves. Folks do not feel safe near Trumpists!
You may see what tension exists in the society if LGBT people need to take such a radical step as arming themselves or cutting family ties. And during the holidays, when our culture pushes families to meet together and makes you believe that there is something deeply wrong with you if you do not want to spend the festive season with your loved ones, this tension could move from streets to houses and could lead to serious problems.
It is particularly tough when we are speaking about conservative religious families that do not accept their queer children and siblings. Despite the fact that Christmas has had less religious and more cultural meaning in recent decades, it is still a deeply religious holiday, and so that day all the religious-based, bigoted, homophobic, transphobic, and biphobic conversations with well-meaning relatives who ājust wanted to save your soulā will be more likely to accrue. It is especially true for white families. Despite the majority of Black religious people supporting Harris, MAGA supporters are often the white Christian religious people. According to a pre-election Pew Research Center survey, 61 percent of white Protestants were planning to support Trump during the last election, and among them 82 percent were white Evangelicals. NBC News showed a similar statistic, with 72 percent of white Protestants, including 82 percent of white Evangelicals, being Trump supporters.
Some of them even saw Trump as a savior with a divine mission.
I personally knew how it felt because my toxic father was trying to justify Russian military aggression as a divine mission and promoted Trumpism during our holidays dinners, and it was almost impossible to argue with a person who justified political violence by supernatural means. In this case being an enemy of a political figure made you into the enemy of God. Religious zealotry and political bigotry are hard to bear even when they are not intersected, but together they may bring something that was planning to be a perfect family reunion with vibes of the āHome Aloneā ending scene turned into a nightmare that will leave you broken and completely traumatized.
You may dread the Christmas season like other folks dread complicated medical operations, or have a strong but fading hope that the Christmas miracle will occur, and the family will accept you for who you are. Unfortunately, it is not very likely to happen, and there are always chances that home could be the most dangerous place.
I wouldnāt advise someone to estrange their family because of political or religious beliefs, and I know a lot of cases when people had a good relationship with someone who has completely different beliefs as you are. The fact that someone is voting for Trump or visiting a homophobic conservative church does not automatically make a person dangerous, but if this person is trying to push their views on you and change who you are, it is a big red flag. Unfortunately, in our society we used to forgive parents for things we would never forgive any other human beings. I had a pretty traumatic experience with it, and I spent years in therapy because of it.
If you are a well-meaning friend of an LGBT person who had family problems, the only good thing you may do is to let the person make their own decisions and not press on them. Sometimes the home ā and the church ā is the least safe place in the world, and you may never know what is going on behind closed doors.
Ayman Eckford is a freelance journalist, and an autistic ADHDer transgender person who understands that they are trans* since they were 3-years-old.
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