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02 Feb 2012 - NPWJ News Digest on LGBTI rights
Articles
We will not support gays - President Mills
By Daily Graphic , 01 Feb 2012
President John Evans Atta Mills says the Ghana Government stands by its position that homosexuality is against the culture and norms of Ghanaians and, therefore, the government would not go against the wishes of the people.
He said the government will not support the practice of homosexuality so long as Ghanaian society frowns on it.
President Mills was answering questions from journalists on his arrival in Accra, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after attending the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU).
Western countries should not talk down to other governments on gay rights, say campaigners
By Peter Lloyd, Pink Paper , 01 Feb 2012
Leading figures from the LGBT movement in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia urged supporters of equal rights to help them change minds as well as laws in countries where it is a crime to be gay.
The move came at a packed meeting – hosted by the Kaleidoscope Trust – at the House of Commons, last night.
After the intervention of political leaders including David Cameron and Hillary Clinton, the debate focused on how LGBT people themselves can take the lead in the demand for human rights for all.
Purna Sen, a trustee of the Kaleidoscope Trust and former head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat, opened the meeting by stating that although global voices of influence had recently rallied around to call to end to discrimination, governments would act only when the pressure from below becomes inescapable.
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Lesbian killers in South Africa get 18-year jail terms
By BBC News, 01 Feb 2012
Four South African men have been sentenced to 18 years in jail for stabbing and stoning to death 19-year-old lesbian Zoliswa Nkonyana in 2006.
The court found that the men killed Ms Nkonyana because she was living openly as a lesbian. A crowd outside the court in Khayelitsha, a Cape Town township, cheered and danced at the sentencing. The constitution protects people on the grounds of sexual orientation - but homophobia is widespread.
Training for LGBT refugee workers
By RTE, 31 Jan 2012
A new training programme is being launched for people working with asylum seekers and refugees who face discrimination because of their sexuality.
BeLonG To - a youth organisation which supports Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender young people - says LGBT asylum seekers are a vulnerable group, who are isolated in many different ways because of their asylum status, their race, and their sexual orientation or gender identity.
People can claim asylum in Ireland on the basis of sexual orientation, but the charity says many people are afraid to talk openly about these issues.
BeLonG To has set up a two-year pilot project to provide training to those working with LGBT refugees and asylum seekers.
The training will be given to a range of organisations including mental health, legal and community groups.
The project will start during February with training for the staff of the Irish Refugee Council.
Raped and tortured Nigerian in danger of being deported
BY ANNA LEACH, Gay Star News, 30 Jan 2012
San Diego resident Becley Aigbuza is in danger of being deported back to Nigeria, where he was raped and tortured for being gay in 2008.
Aigbuza has lived in the United States since 1994 but on a visit to his aunt in Nigeria in 2008 she reported him to the police for being involved with a local man. He was taken from his aunt's house, locked in a cell and beaten up by the other prisoners when the police told them he was gay. Then he was taken out by three police officers and tortured and raped.
In 2011 Aigbuza applied for US citizenship, but during the process the authorities discovered that he had applied for a credit card using a false name.
The hearing for Aigbuza's case is set for 28 February. EveryOne are appealing to the US state department, the White House and the UN to review his case and to save him from deportation back into the hands of torturers in Nigeria.
Gay murders: OUT launches campaign to alert gay men of dangers of casual sex dates
By Amsher, 30 Jan 2012
OUT, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) health and well-being group in Pretoria, has launched a campaign to alert men who have sex with men (MSM) about the dangers of casual sex dates with strangers.
The campaign has been launched in response to the murder of at least seven gay men over the past two years in the Gauteng region.
The killings remain unsolved and they share striking similarities in that the men were all murdered in private homes and little or nothing was stolen. There is some suspicion that at least some of the men may have met their attackers through online dating sites.
The campaign consists of articles that will be published in gay media, web banners, venue posters and other communication aimed at the LGBT community, highlighting the risks of casual sex dates.
"Ban Ki-Moon, U.N. Secretary General: Gay Rights Must Be Respected In Africa"
By Huffington Post, 29 Jan 2012
In what the AFP described as "an unusually outspoken declaration," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged leaders at an African Union summit to respect gay rights.
"One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity," Ban is quoted as saying Sunday in the Ethiopian capital. "It prompted governments to treat people as second-class citizens or even criminals."
He concluded by subtly comparing the global gay rights movement to the Arab Spring: "Events proved that repression is dead. Police power is no match to people power seeking dignity and justice."
Anwar Clarifies His Views on Malaysia’s Sodomy Laws
By Wall Street Journal , 28 Jan 2012
The courts may have found him innocent – twice – but Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is still feeling the sting of sodomy trials that have plagued him for more than a decade.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Mr. Anwar said Malaysia’s laws concerning homosexuality – which imprison anyone found guilty of sodomy for up to 20 years, and also potentially expose them to strokes of the cane and a fine – are “archaic,” though he maintained he supports the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.
Now, Mr. Anwar is suing a government-linked paper, Utusan Malaysia, for allegedly implying in their front pages that he wants to legalize homosexuality, claiming RM150 million (US$49 million) in damages and seeking an injunction restraining the paper from printing similar words.
