Daniel Itai

/ /

Congolese rebel group displaces transgender people

,

M23 rebels in Congo’s North Kivu province have displaced a number of transgender people and left them even more vulnerable to persecution. M23 rebels last November approached Goma, the province’s capital city, and forced around 180,000 people to leave their homes. Jérémie Safari, coordinator of Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko, a Congolese LGBTQ and intersex rights group, told the Washington Blade that residents of the Kibumba camp where displaced people have settled have refused to assist trans people and have accused them of being sorcerers. “Trans people went (through) war like everyone else,” said Safari. “In the Kibumba camp where the displaced […]

/ /

Homophobic attacks in South Africa persist

,

Despite having a constitution that explicitly protects LGBTQ and intersex South Africans, homophobic attacks remain pervasive in the country. Mpho Falithenjwa, 14, died by suicide earlier this month after he was bullied because he was gay, according to his sister who spoke with MambaOnline, a local LGBTQ and intersex publication. South Africa’s LGBTQ and intersex community is wondering how an incident like this can be averted from happening again. “We believe that the untimely passing of Mpho was mainly because of societal pressure, because of how society made it impossible for Mpho to come out without fear or prejudice, so […]

/ /

Popular South Africa musician compares LGBTQ relationships to bestiality

A popular Afrikaans musician and actor in South Africa has disputed claims that he is homophobic after he compared same-sex relationships to bestiality. Steve Hofmeyr in recent days has received a lot of backlash from various civic organizations after he posted a video on Facebook. “Where my generation learned to talk to mice, ducks and dogs, our children will be taught how to have sex with mice ducks and dogs. Those relationships with animals are part of that + at the end of the LGBTQI+,” he said in a part of the video that was translated into English. The South African […]

/ /

Namibia Supreme Court grants partial victory to gay couple seeking permanent residency

A married same-sex couple who is seeking permanent residency in Namibia received a partial victory from the country’s Supreme Court last week The Supreme Court on March 7 presided over a permanent residency case involving Guillermo Delgado and the Home Affairs Ministry. Delgado, a gay man from Mexico who married Namibian national Phillip Lühl eight years ago in South Africa, approached the Supreme Court last year after Namibia’s immigration officials ruled that their South African marriage did not qualify Delgado for residency in Namibia since the country does not recognize same-sex marriages. The Home Affairs Ministry also did not consider […]

/ /

Uganda’s LGBTQ community remains a target

Despite the annulment of the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act that was meant to criminalize the act of same-sex relations by life imprisonment and even capital punishment in Uganda, members of the LGBTQ community continue to face unwarranted reproof. Several bills have been proposed in Parliament, such as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, the revised Anti-Homosexuality Bill and just recently bills that would criminalize sex work and gay sex. However, none of these bills saw the light of day thanks to the rigorous fight put down by LGBTQ activists against the government through the Constitutional Court and protests. Who could forget the horrific and […]