Prejudice in Uganda

I had a chance to see this amazing documentary on Current TV last night.

A few observations:

1. Because of the growing acceptance of LGBT folks in the United States, Christian evangelicals feel like they are losing the battle in their own country and have found more supportive and impressionable people in Africa to spread their wealth of homophobic crap.

2. I think the Ugandan pastor featured in the film is the next Ted Haggard...

Tweeting for Equality

On Sunday, thousands of gays and lesbians gathered in Washington, D.C. for the National Equality March, which was billed as the largest event of its kind since 2000. While many in the gay community were divided over the reasoning for having such a march, this was also one of the first massive gay rights protests to use social media - tools that are being used by the new generation of LGBT activists. Sunday's protest was the latest example of the generational shift in how to communicate for social change.

Most of the organizing was done through Facebook, YouTube and other tools leading up to the march. Before and during the march, protesters could follow the march's official Twitter feed for any logistics matters, such as getting information about purchasing subway round-trip tickets before the march to avoid long lines stations kiosks.

Throughout the day, Twitter was the main choice of communicating, as thousands of protesters either in Washington or following the events on television reflected on march highlights. Most used the hashtag #nem to follow the conversation.

loquaciousmoi "Rights for Gays
and Lesbians aren't special rights in any way. It isn't special to be free from
discrimination." - Julian Bond #nem

700mtv Judy Shepard, "I"m here today
because I lost my son to hate . . . We're all equal Americans. Gay, straight,
whatever." #NEM

peterzimmerman Wow the speeches at #NEM are really inspiring. Gosh.
So exciting to see the outpouring of emotion at the march!

Jamal Jackson and Winston Brown moved to the United States from the Caribbean island of Jamaica to escape harassment from others about their relationship three years ago. The march was the first gay rights event they have attended as an openly gay couple. The both also used Twitter to follow what other folks were saying, as well as tweeting their own thoughts.

"I started using Twitter a year ago and I found using it to be very useful," Jackson told Global Wire following the march. "I was able to tweet other protesters, find out where to meet my friends and navigate the city during the protest. I was able to find other people here from the West Indies, like Trinidad, Dominica and Haiti."

For Winston Brown, tweeting had a more sentimental meaning.

"I am using Twitter because I still have closeted gay friends back home in Kingston, and they are reading my updates," Brown said to Global Wire. "They will not feel alone anymore and might feel inspired."

JA gays fight to get into UN AIDS meeting

Description: World leaders and civil society activists are gathering this week at UN Headquarters for the 2008 High-Level Meeting on AIDS. The goal of the meeting is to reevaluate the amount of progress the international community has made in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, some governments are being criticized for obstructing meaningful advocacy and implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention tactics. Specifically, the Jamaican government has been chastised in recent weeks for letting stigma fester on the island around the HIV/AIDS and sexuality. The Jamaican government went as far as preventing its country’s leading gay rights group from even attending the New York meeting. Bloggers throughout the Caribbean are taking the country’s government to task.

Tools Being Used: Blogs

What Are They Doing: Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) was denied accreditation to the UN event last week after representatives of the Jamaican government complained about their presence only after the group was given clearance to attend the meeting months before.

“J-FLAG is extremely disappointed by this move,” said J-FLAG spokesperson Jason McFarlane. “The Jamaican government itself has acknowledged that homophobia is fuelling our HIV epidemic. Silencing J-FLAG – Jamaica’s only LGBT organization – undermines Jamaica’s efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.”

J-FLAG used their blog to update readers on their efforts to get into the UN meeting. The blog has also become an activist space to share pertinent information and advice with LGBT Jamaicans and their allies, such as counseling and referrals on asylum cases, as well as updates on homophobic behavior on the island. In recent days progressive bloggers throughout the Caribbean have also criticized the Ministry of Health’s decision to abruptly fire Annesha Taylor, an HIV-positive spokesperson for the MOH’s HIV/AIDS campaign, because she became pregnant and allegations that Jamaica feared a backlash from the US government for not using its funds to promote abstinence. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding came under fire two weeks ago by other bloggers for his controversial appearance on BBC’s HardTalk, where he stated that gays had no place in his government.

While stigma around homosexuality and HIV/AIDS have been hard topics to discuss publicly in Jamaica for many years, social media is opening a new door to have conversations and advocate on these issues.

Outcome: Tuesday afternoon a J-FLAG representative wrote a post on their blog, saying that after much handwringing with the UN civil society task force, J-FLAG was finally admitted to the UN AIDS meeting.

Glave takes on Golding's gay remarks

This week writers and performers from all over the Caribbean and the diaspora gathered in Jamaica for the annual Calabash International Literary Festival. Author Thomas Glave was on hand to talk about his groundbreaking new book, Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles. Glave also had some choice words for Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding's recent remarks on gays working in his government.

From Caribbean Free Radio:

And so, mindful of that generosity and kindness, my conscience will not permit me to begin reading from this book in particular before I say that as a gay man of Jamaican background I am appalled and outraged by the Prime Minister’s having said only three days ago on BBC-TV that homosexuals will not have any place in his Cabinet and, implicitly, by extension, in Jamaica. I guess this means that there will never be any room in Mr Golding’s Cabinet for me and for the many, many other men and women in Jamaica who are homosexual. And so I now feel moved to say directly to Mr Golding that it is exactly this kind of bigotry and narrow-mindedness that Jamaica does not need any more of, and that you, Mr Golding, should be ashamed of yourself for providing such an example of how not to lead Jamaica into the future. And so, Mr Golding, think about how much you are not helping Jamaica the next time you decide to stand up and say that only some Jamaicans – heterosexuals, in this case – have the right to live in their country as full citizens with full human rights, while others – homosexuals – do not. That is not democracy. That is not humane leadership. That is simply the stupidity and cruelty of bigotry.”

Golding's failure to lead

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is in trouble.

After being in office for nearly a year, Golding might be on his way out due to the surge in murders, political corruption and police brutality on the island.

Recently Golding was a guest on the BBC program HARDtalk, where he talked about these issues, as well as the hotly contested issue of homophobia in Jamaica.

When asked about his feelings towards gays, Golding replied: “We do have a long-standing culture that is very opposed to homosexuality. I think that is changing. I believe there is greater acceptance now that people have different lifestyles, that their privacy must be respected.”

But then he was probed about having gays in his Cabinet, “A prime minister must decide what he feels would represent to the Jamaican people a cabinet of ministers who will be able to discharge their function without fear, without favour, without intimidation…. Jamaica is not going to allow values to be imposed on it from outside,” he said.

While there were mixed views about Golding's BBC appearance, from both Jamaicans and others throughout the Caribbean, the Jamaica Gleaner made it clear that the Prime Minister is an embarassment to his country.

From the Jamaica Gleaner:

When he was pressed on the [gay] issue, Mr Golding resorted to the tactics of the cornered - neither he nor Jamaica would be dictated to. And, on whether gays can ever sit in a Jamaican Cabinet: "Sure ... but not in mine."

Jamaica and Mr Golding can expect further pressure from the international community, which is the lesser of the outcomes from the PM's performance. His greater failure is that of leadership.

A potentially unintended consequence of Mr Golding's trenchant statement is that people interpret it as vindication of homophobic and anti-gay violence and for the liberation of the voyeurs.

I couldn't agree more.

Gays and Murder in JA

Under the pressure of gay rights advocates, corporate sponsors staging boycotts of live dancehall shows in Jamaica is the latest scoffle in dealing with homophobia on the Caribbean island.

From IPS:

Last month, title sponsor Red Stripe pulled its financing from the major live shows Sting and Sumfest, which it has sponsored for six and seven years respectively, in what it says is a response to the continued use of violent and anti-social lyrics during performances. The boycott stopped short of a total withdrawal of Red Stripe products from the events.

"We have noticed that there is a negative trend that has been creeping into some of the music...This is very damaging to our culture, the music and to our country as a whole," corporate relations director Maxine Whittingham told reporters.

Now some performers are portraying Red Stripe's action as an attack on dancehall reggae, dubbed "murder music" by gay rights activists for its explicit references to killing homosexuals. O'Neil Bryan, popularly known as Elephant Man, accuses Red Stripe of having a "hidden agenda"...

...On Oct. 1, 2004, a coalition of sponsors, including Red Stripe and the Jamaican subsidiaries of Cable and Wireless, Courts, Digicel, Pepsi Cola, and local rum maker Wray and Nephew Limited, declared their intention to cut ties with artists who ''promote violence of any form'' from their advertising campaigns. A week later, Sandals Resort International dropped the word ''heterosexual'' from its advertising.

Red Stripe's decision comes at the same time Canadian LGBT rights group Egale Canada announced last month that if the Jamaican government doesn't change its anti-gay legislation by May 17, it plans to launch a campaign to ban Jamaican goods in the international marketplace as well as a boycott of tourism.

Dealing with homophobia in Jamaican society has been a divisive issue between islanders, especially with the trigger-happy Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF), and gay rights advocates worldwide for years. This was most evident when Human Rights Watch published a report in 2004, documenting testimonies of alleged homophobic abuses. According to the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (JFLAG), there have been 30 homophobic murders between 1997 to 2004.

From May 2008 edition of The Internationalist:

...That the situation has not improved can be seen in a number of cases, including one in the town of Manville in 2007, when a mobe surrounded the funeral of a man suffering from HIV. The police once summoned, joined in the general derision. In February 2007 Kingston police ended up beating one of the victims of another attack. ..

However, the key problem here is that JFLAG doesn't even support the boycott. So, why is Egale Canada going ahead with the possibility of a protest, if Jamaican gays aren't even supporting it. Some would say that gays on the island are scared of the backlash that might come from such a campaign, but I think there is a bigger problem happening. I believe this "disconnect" is another example of Westerners not taking into consideration the feelings of the people they are trying to help, even if they have the best of intentions.

According to some of my gay Jamaican friends still living on the island, they feel like organizations like Egale Canada have not made any effort to reach out to the Jamaican LGBT community on how to go about dealing with homophobia collaboratively. This also seems similar to complaints by some LGBT African Americans who feel groups like the Human Rights Campaign try to represent their interests without consulting them first.

We'll see what happens on May 17.

HIV and Gay in Tunisia: A Twin Taboo

By Sonia Ounissi
Originally published in Reuters

TUNIS - Homosexual men living with HIV/AIDS In the Arab world face a twin taboo, but Karim doesn't look like someone burdened by stigma.

Smiling and self-assured, the healthy looking Tunisian says his peace of mind comes from accepting what he cannot change, living in the moment and taking care to present a normal face to the world.

The 34-year-old draws the menace from his infection by seeing it as his offspring.

"Personally, I accept the illness. I consider the virus my little baby. Together, we make up the same person," he said.

Dressed in jeans and a V-neck pullover, Karim sounds matter-of-act about his condition, but acknowledges that it wasn't always so easy.

Karim first learned he had HIV when he returned to his native country from France in 2005. He was infected during an eight-year relationship with a French man.

"First, I thought I had flu. But my health kept worsening and analysis showed I had AIDS. A person who was so important to me had infected me," he said.

"I WAS FURIOUS"

"At the beginning, I was furious. I hated everything. But afterwards, I thought that it's better to be hopeful than crying."

He decided to face up to the illness, sensing that a positive mental attitude would translate into stronger physical health. Also, he is on anti-retroviral medication.

"I'm quite good. My health situation is stable. HIV-positives who can't move or even walk are people who refuse the fact that they're infected with HIV. They suffer because they're in very low spirits and not because of the virus."

"I have a principle in my life which says we must make the most of life while we still have its advantages. So, I still enjoy my life. I consider AIDS a flu."

He lives with his Tunisian boyfriend, who is uninfected. They have protected sex.

"I was sincere. I told him the truth and he accepted. His attitude really moved me," said Karim.

"ENJOY THE MOMENT"

Unlike most Tunisians, Karim refuses to draw up plans for his future, even in the short-term, as he doesn't know when AIDS will bring his life to an end.

"I can't do long-term projects. I can't even plan for the summer holidays. I think just about what I can do in the next week and enjoy the moment."

HIV/AIDS is a common topic of conversation widely discussed in many Western countries. But it is still an invisible disease in north Africa and many other parts of the world.

Karim, one of 1,428 Tunisians who live with HIV, has learnt to keep his status a tightly guarded secret in a society where fear, prejudice and ignorance about the disease prevail.

Seventy new cases are declared per year in the North African country, according to official figures.

HIV-positive people who become known as such are shunned by society.

"To live in Tunisia, people infected with HIV have to lie and never say they suffer from AIDS," he said.

"I told my boss, because he's French. If I told a Tunisian about that he'd have a cardiac arrest", said Karim.

"I hate the Tunisian way of thinking. They present themselves as open-mind people and cultured. But it's just a mask," he said.

"In reality, they still think they can be infected via the air."

(Reporting by Sonia Ounissi, editing by William Maclean and Paul Casciato)

JA police get training in "gay friendliness"

The police authorities in Jamaica have finally caved in to human rights activists outside of the island to deal with homegrown homophobia.

From The Voice:

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mark Shields has embraced the idea of sensitivity training for members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), to enhance the manner in which they relate to individuals of particular minority groups, including those from the homosexual community.

"I think there is a place for minorities, whoever they are, to have the opportunity to speak to recruits during their initial JCF training," DCP Shields told The Gleaner. "Diversity is something that needs to be embraced. Therefore, the only way to do that is to train police officers so that they are no longer just citizens with a view and with prejudices."

Jamaica has a big problem with police brutality in general, and not just against gays. So, hopefully this will lead to better things in the future for JA gays, but for some reason, I really doubt it.

African lesbians speak out

From the BBC:

Lesbians from across Africa have called on African governments to stop treating homosexuals like criminals.

The demand came as about 75 activists gathered at a conference in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique.

The Coalition of African Lesbians called the conference to highlight discrimination across the continent.

Conference spokeswoman Fikile Vilakazi told the BBC that action was needed to respond to homophobia which, she said, was rife in Africa.

She said her main goal was to stop governments treating homosexuality as a criminal offence.

According to the International Gay and Lesbian Association, homosexuality is outlawed in 38 African countries.

One participant said the conference was helping to provide support for lesbians across Africa.

"We might be seemingly a bit lost right now on the African continent, but there's positive talk," said the delegate. "As Christians we realise that the Bible doesn't discriminate, it embraces us in our diversity."

Another participant, Nahlahla Mukize, said being a lesbian in Africa was a negative experience.

"I'm finding myself as an individual who is every day trying to get the people that I identify with... everyday having to educate them about who I am, but finding it difficult for them to open their minds and their hearts," she told the BBC.

"I haven't found myself being attacked or kicked out of home but it's just the discourse, how people talk about lesbian issues or how our government... how they tend to sideline people like myself."

Mugabe attack

Many traditional African societies view same-sex relationships as abhorrent and activists accuse some African governments of state-sponsored discrimination and persecution.

In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe, has attacked homosexuality as a Western import - describing gays as "worse than dogs and pigs".

In Senegal, the recent publication of photos from a gay wedding provoked violent demonstrations.

In contrast, South Africa holds the most liberal attitude towards homosexuality on the continent.

The South African constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and the government legalised same-sex marriages in 2006.

But even here, activists say, openly gay and lesbian people have been threatened, detained and arrested.

Some Stats on queerness in Africa:

HOMOSEXUALITY IN AFRICA
Homosexuality is outlawed in 38 African nations, and legal (or unmentioned in the statute book) in at least 13
In Mauritania , Sudan and northern Nigerian states , homosexuality may be punished by death
In Uganda , offenders may receive life imprisonment, and in countries including Gambia , Kenya , and Tanzania , homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in jail
South Africa is the only country in the world which guarantees gay and lesbian rights in the constitution - but discrimination remains in practice
In Zimbabwe , even same-sex displays of affection may be a criminal offence

"Gay Marriage" in Senegal

It's good to know that with all the problems of poverty, disease, war, violence against women and children, and corruption in Africa, the Senegalese government chooses to focus its energies on the most pressing issue in its country - gay marriage?

From the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission:

In a letter to Senegalese Minister of Justice, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and PAN-Africa ILGA have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of up to 20 gay men believed to have been arrested on suspicion of homosexuality in Senegal in the past week.

At least 7 and perhaps as many as 20 gay men have been arrested in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, since the morning of Sunday 3 February after a popular local magazine, Icones, published photographs of a marriage ceremony between two Senegalese men. The wedding is believed to have taken place in a discrete location in Dakar more than a year-and-a-half ago. Sources report that the photographs were sold to the sensationalist magazine by the photographer for 1,500,000 ($3000) CFA francs. The arrests were reportedly undertaken upon the orders of Mr. Asane Ndoye, head of the Senegalese Police's Division of Criminal Investigation. It is unclear where the men and women are being held.

"Mass arrests of people simply because they are gay terrorize the entire community," said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director. "The inhuman treatment of gay men and lesbians must stop. We call upon the world community to enforce international human rights law." The U.N. Human Rights Committee affirmed in its decision in Toonen v. Australia (1994) that existing protection against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) incorporates sexual orientation as a protected status.

"We are afraid for our lives, especially those of us shown in the photographs," said Jean R., a Senegalese gay activist who spoke to ILGA and IGLHRC from a hotel where he is seeking refuge. "Some of us have gone into hiding and others are fleeing the country."

Senegal is one of the few Francophone African countries that penalize homosexuality. Under Article 3.913 of the Senegalese penal code, homosexual acts are punishable by imprisonment of between one and five years and a fine of 100,000 ($200) to 1,500,000 ($3,000) CFA francs. While there are occasional arrests and convictions of gay men under the Article, social stigma and blackmail are the most prevalent abuses faced by gay men in the country.

"Many consider Senegal to be one of the most progressive African countries on the issue of homosexuality," said Joel Nana, IGLHRC's Program Associate for West Africa. "The government has included a commitment to fighting HIV among men who have sex with men in its national AIDS response plan since 2005. That's why we found these arrests to be very distressing."

Senegal has strong political and economic ties to a number of conservative Islamic governments and institutions, and will be hosting the summit of the Organization of Islamic Conference in March. The OIC has invested heavily in the rehabilitation of Dakar's infrastructure in preparation for the Summit.

Under the circumstances, IGLHRC and Pan-African ILGA expressed concern as to whether Senegal is well-suited to host the upcoming International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), scheduled to take place in Dakar in December 2008.

"There will be no room for an open and inclusive discussion on the human rights dimensions of HIV in the face of such harassment," said Danilo da Silva, co-chair of Pan-African ILGA, a federation gathering over 40 lesbian and gay groups from all parts of Africa. "We expect more from a leading country like Senegal."

Will the real gay rights advocate please stand up?

"...Human rights are being extensively violated by certain powers..."
-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN General Assembly September 25, 2007

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been in New York for the last few days causing a stir everywhere he goes. Ahmadinejad was invited yesterday to speak before students and faculty of Columbia University. Along with his anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and wavering views on Iran's nuclear power, apparently there are no gays in his country either.

"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," Ahmadinejad said. "In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it," he said.

When you think about it, this might actually be true to a certain degree, considering the 200 people executed in Iran so far this year, according to a Amnesty International report, and the hundreds more living in self-imposed exile in Europe and North America.

"It is extremely unfortunate that the President of Iran, who used a prestigious academic forum to speak the "truth" about his country, nevertheless spoke so disingenuously about the human rights situation in Iran," said Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director at The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). "The Iranian President's stark denial of our reality reflects his government's ongoing refusal to recognize the basic human rights of LGBT people."

However, it's a certain Republican who is also making shock waves.

"I think it is an outrage for the university to lend its prestige to a dictator whose Government executes homosexuals, tortures and kills journalists, lock up students," said for US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Who is he kidding?

While no sensible social activist would support the human rights violations going on in Iran, it does seem a bit convenient for Gingrich and other Republicans to become pro-gay when they need to push US foreign policy down the world's throat.

Mr Gingrich, before you start to dictate the world about rights violations, please look at America's human rights record first. Everything from Abu Ghraib, the Iraq invasion, Hurricane Katrina and even Jena 6 points many fingers at how the current day America wrongly operates.

As far as gay rights are concerned, Mr Gingrich, when did you speak out against the murders of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, or African American lesbian Sakia Gunn? Furthermore, it is people like yourself and the Republican Morality Police who force people like former US Senator Larry Craig to go into deep denial about their own sexuality.

Mr Gingrich, maybe you should join Mr Ahmadinejad in the corner with a dunce cap.