Gays partying in Beirut. Credit: Mona Alami/IPS

By Mona Alami
BEIRUT, Aug 24 2014 (IPS)

In a country where civil liberties remain the prerogative of the powerful and wealthy, the Lebanese gay scene is to be treaded carefully.

The recent arrest of 27 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community shows that those not so lucky – those belonging to the more vulnerable tranches of society – are always at risk of experiencing the darker side of Lebanon.

On August 9, a raid targeted Hamam Agha, a popular public bath in the hipster Hamra area in the capital Beirut. Of the 27 men arrested, “there are still 14 non-Lebanese in detention, in spite of the fact that the judge has ruled they should be released,” says Ahmad Saleh, an activist from Helem, a Beirut-based NGO, advocating LGBT rights at parliamentary level.Article 534 of the Lebanese penal code states that any sexual intercourse “contrary to the order of nature is punished by imprisonment for up to one year.” The obscurely-worded article has been repeatedly used to crackdown on the LGBT community in Lebanon.

Article 534 of the Lebanese penal code states that any sexual intercourse “contrary to the order of nature is punished by imprisonment for up to one year.” The obscurely-worded article has been repeatedly used to crackdown on the LGBT community in Lebanon.

This month’s incident was not, unfortunately, isolated. In 2013, security forces raided Ghost, a gay nightclub in the Dekwaneh suburbs of Beirut. Four people were arrested during the raid and were subjected to physical and verbal harassment. In a similar case a year earlier in the Burj Hammoud popular area – another Beirut suburb – 36 men were arrested in a cinema and forced to undergo anal probes.

According to researcher Lama Fakih from Human Rights Watch (HRW), men often arrested on unrelated charged are subjected to anal testing if suspected of being gay. “However there are no real statistics,” she points out. The tests also violate international standards against torture, including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Lebanon has ratified, according to HRW.

While anal probes have been banned by former minister of Justice Antoine Kortbawi, they are still used by the police, or as a threat to force detainees to admit their homosexuality, explains Saleh.  According to HRW, two people have been subjected to anal probes since the directive was enacted last year.

While the struggle to change the law continues in Lebanon, the country has scored points in terms of the advocacy of legal rights. In January 2014, Judge Naji El Dahdah of the Jdeideh Court in Beirut dismissed a claim against a transgender woman accused of having a same-sex relationship with a man.

The judge stressed that a person’s gender should not be based on their personal status registry document, but on their outward physical appearance and self-perception.

In 2012, the Lebanon Medical Association issued a directive to put an end to the practice of anal examinations supposed to detect homosexuality.

The Lebanese Psychiatric Society issued a statement in early 2013 saying that: “the assumption that homosexuality is a result of disturbances in the family dynamic or unbalanced psychological development is based on wrong information.”

And in 2009, Judge Mounir Suleiman of the Batroun Court decided that consensual relations could not be deemed unnatural.

In addition to advances made on the legal front, the Lebanese public has become more aware of gay rights thanks to changes in mentalities and the promotion of creative works focusing on gay issues.

The media and the art scene have been challenging social norms. Wajdi and Majdi, two gay figures from a comedy TV show called La Youmal, have popularised the image of the LGBT community in Lebanon. Popular TV host Paula Yacoubian has also defended gay rights in Lebanon in a tweet. Mashrou’ Leila, a famous Lebanese rock band, has discussed homosexuality in Lebanon in its songs and last year a Lebanese movie called Out Loud featured five young Lebanese engaged in a group marriage. The movie was nonetheless banned in Lebanon by the censors.

“Youth are becoming increasingly aware of gay issues,” says activist Ghassan Makarem.  Compared with other countries in the region, Lebanese have far more liberal views than their counterparts as shown in a 2013 Pew Research Centre study. Some 18 percent of the Lebanese population believe that homosexuality should be accepted in society, compared with Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia where over 94 percent of the population view homosexuality as deviant.

However, Makarem adds, “despite recent positives, being gay can still mean being the subject of discrimination, from a legal standpoint, especially for those without the right connections or wealth.”

(Edited by Phil Harris)

to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. Participants included President Luis Guillermo Solís, second from the top, and activist Marco Castillo, bottom. Credit: Roberto Carlos Sánchez/Presidencia de Costa Rica

By Diego Arguedas Ortiz
SAN JOSE, Jun 12 2014 (IPS)

Grey-haired gay activist Marco Castillo and his partner Rodrigo Campos are about to enjoy equal health care rights. For the first time in Costa Rica, and in Central America as a whole, homosexual couples will enjoy the same access to public health services as heterosexuals.

The decision by Costa Rica’s social security system to extend medical benefits to same-sex couples came just after centre-left President Luis Guillermo Solís, who took office May 8, sent out a strong signal against homophobia by having the rainbow flag raised at the presidential palace.

Castillo and Campos are just one illustration of the inequality that marks a region plagued by discrimination against sexual minorities. Although Castillo, 70, has been enrolled in the social security system for a large part of his life, he has never been able to provide his partner with health coverage because their relationship was not recognised by the state.

The good news for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community came on May 22, when the social security institute (CCSS), which runs the country’s public hospitals and social security system, approved a reform that grants same-sex couples the same medical benefits and hospital visitation rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

The reform is to go into effect in August. To qualify, same-sex couples will have to prove that they have been living together for at least three years.

The next step that is expected shortly is CCSS board approval of equal pension rights for same-sex couples.

“This is an important step in achieving our rights, a result of growing social awareness of our problems,” Castillo told IPS. “It doesn’t mean we have gained all our rights, but it does show that we have begun to move in that direction.”

Castillo, a lawyer who heads the Diversity Movement, which fights for the rights of LGBT persons, plans to sign up his currently unemployed partner for social security health insurance as soon as possible.

There have been other indications as well of a new openness in this mainly Catholic country of 4.5 million people. The government of Solís, from the centre-left Citizen Action Party (PAC), has shown signs that it plans to take up the cause of sexual diversity.

The situation in the rest of the countries of Central America is less encouraging, where discrimination, and even harassment, is common. In countries like Honduras and Nicaragua, IPS found that the most significant advance made was the creation of specialised legal units to address the problem of discrimination against the LGBT community.

Within Latin America, Central America is lagging farthest behind in terms of guaranteeing the rights of members of the LGBT community, concluded the sixth Regional Conference of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC), held May 5-10 in Cuba.

“The outlook for the [Latin American and Caribbean] region is much more complex than what we thought,” Mexican activist Gloria Careaga, secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), said during the conference. “We have seen strides forward, but also major setbacks in regions like Central America.”

Hate crimes are the most serious manifestation of just how far behind Central America is lagging with respect to the rest of Latin America.

According to the Centre for AIDS Education and Prevention (CEPRESI), a non-governmental organisation in Nicaragua, nearly 300 hate crimes have been committed against the LGBT population in Central America in the last five years.

In Nicaragua, the situation is very different for LGBT persons than in Costa Rica.

Marvin Mayorga, with the Sexual Diversity Initiative for Human Rights, told IPS that in his country the only progress made at an institutional level since the LGBT community formally organised in 1985 was the 2009 appointment of a prosecutor for the defence of sexual minorities within the office of the human rights prosecutor or ombudsperson.

But Mayorga said the office lacks the funds to monitor abuses and has focused its efforts almost exclusively on the fight against HIV/AIDS.

When asked for a comment, the office responded to IPS twice that it “did not have time.”

In Honduras, the struggle is led by the Civil Society Group (GSC), an alliance of social and humanitarian organisations that include LGBT groups.

The GSC’s leaders say it has been an uphill battle.

“We have to break down many taboos and gain visibility in society,” GSC activist Omar Rivera told IPS. “But we managed to get the office of the public prosecutor to create a special unit for investigating high-impact murders, including those against the LGBT community, a year ago.”

The unit investigates killings of journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and members of the LGBT community in Honduras, which according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has the highest homicide rate in the world: 96.1 murders per 100,000 population, compared to a global average of 8.8, a Latin American average of 29, and a Central American average of 41.

In Costa Rica, the authorities would appear to be more receptive. The reform of the social security system came just a few days after President Solís had the rainbow flag hoisted over the presidential palace on May 16, the day before the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, in an unprecedented ceremony in this country.

One of the members of Solís’s cabinet is openly gay: Tourism Minister Wilhem von Breymann, who took part in the ceremony along with his partner of 19 years.

And Vice President Ana Helena Chacón was asked to be one of the two marshals in a Jun. 29 March for Diversity, in recognition of her defence of LGBT rights.

The main criticism voiced by the groups that defend the rights of sexual minorities targets the legislature. In the face of staunch opposition by lawmakers linked to the Catholic and evangelical churches, PAC is trying to push through any one of four draft laws that would legalise and regulate same-sex civil unions, which have been bogged down since the previous legislature.

“In the first week of June, the committee on legal affairs agreed to send the draft laws to subcommittee, which will study them for six months,” the head of the PAC legislative bloc, Emilia Molina, told IPS.

Meanwhile, as of August, Rodrigo Campos will have public health coverage thanks to his partner Marco Castillo, who will be able to visit him if he is ever in the hospital, with the same rights and privileges enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

Perhaps it is only one step forward – but for LGBT activists it is a huge stride. Although Castillo stressed that now that this battle has been won, they have their eyes set on many more victories.

With reporting by Ivet González (Havana), José Adán Silva (Managua) and Thelma Mejía (Tegucigalpa).

Members of the Tropicana dance company animate a session of the conference of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People for Latin America and the Caribbean, in the Cuban resort town of Varadero. Credit: Jorge Luis Baños/IPS

By Ivet González
VARADERO, Cuba , May 10 2014 (IPS)

Although it might not seem to be, Latin America is the most active region in the world when it comes to the defence of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

That is due to the maturity and intelligent strategies that the LGBTI movement has come up with in a number of the region’s 33 countries, where the level of respect for sexual orientation and gender identity still varies a great deal, however, activists from around the region told IPS at a conference in the Cuban resort town of Varadero.

“The most progressive and interesting proposals are emerging in the Americas,” said Mexican activist Gloria Careaga during the sixth Regional Conference of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC), which was held here this week.

Leading the changes are Argentina and Uruguay, said Careaga, the co-secretary of the global federation, which was founded in 1978 and has Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

These two Southern Cone countries have passed laws against discrimination and legalising same-sex marriage and adoptions.

Careaga added that other countries that have taken major steps are Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. She also stressed the progress made in Cuba, where “public displays of homosexuality” were illegal until the 1990s, and which is now hosting the May 6-10 regional conference.

In general terms, the Caribbean is the part of the region that is lagging the most in terms of LGBTI rights.

Today, homosexuality is only criminalised in two Latin American countries, Belize and Guyana. That is compared to nine Caribbean island nations that penalise same-sex acts, especially male on male.

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago provide for prison sentences of between 10 and 50 years for people convicted of engaging in same-sex acts.

And since 1976, Trinidad and Tobago has barred homosexuals from entering the country.

For these and other reasons, the conference in the Plaza America Convention Centre in Varadero, 121 km east of Havana, is the first held in the Caribbean region. The gathering brought together representatives of more than 200 organisations belonging to ILGALAC, along with participants from Europe and the United States.

Rainbow flags, the global symbol of respect for free sexual orientation and gender identity, and signs with inclusive messages adorn the convention centre’s corridors and halls.

Despite the situation in the Caribbean, this region as a whole continues to gain ground in the fight against deep-rooted homophobia and sexism.

To explain the advances made, Careaga stressed that every country has outlined its own agenda, adapted to its specific context.

Argentine lawyer Pedro Paradiso, who has been involved in the cause for over 20 years, said the evolution of LGBTI activism has been a key factor.

“We have gradually changed. At first the struggle was much more about victimisation and protests. But our approach began to expand and to be renovated. Now we are subjects of rights,” the member of the Argentine Homosexual Community, an organisation that emerged over three decades ago, told IPS.

In his view, raising the self-esteem of the non-heterosexual population and taking an approach based on their rights as a collective were decisive, although he said there were many other factors involved.

According to Paradiso, the movement started out by empowering itself and gaining in visibility. Later it began to gain institutional status and to demand sexual and reproductive rights as human rights. It also started forging ties with other social movements, and alliances were forged with political parties and public and private institutions like universities.

In addition, the movement gained ground in international forums like the United Nations and the Organisation of American States, which can exercise pressure to some extent on governments and member states.

And to the extent that each legal system allowed, the LGBTI community has used the courts to forge paths, sometimes tortuous, towards equality.

That is the case of Colombia, where same-sex couples legalise their unions in the courts, while waiting for a law on same-sex marriage. “The process is like a long, painful birth,” said Anaís Morales of the Corporación Femm, which groups lesbian and bisexual women in that South American country.

The 25-year-old feminist activist said women are still outnumbered in the fight for sexual and reproductive rights. “Gay men are the most visible,” Morales told IPS.

In general terms, the women’s organisations present in Varadero agreed that women suffer from double discrimination because of their gender and sexual orientation, and said they needed greater access to assisted reproduction techniques, respectful treatment in health services, and better connections between the women’s and lesbian rights movements.

The first transgender city council member in Chile, Zuliana Araya, told IPS that the LGBTI movement needed to forge closer internal ties. “Among ourselves there can be no discrimination,” said the city councillor from Valparaíso, who is an activist in a local union of trans persons.

“Just because the majority of our [trans] community is involved in commercial sex work doesn’t mean we should be left out,” said Araya, 50, whose activism led her into a career in politics, in a country that passed legislation against discrimination in May 2012. “We are still in the stage of demanding our rights,” she said.

Bringing about a cultural and social shift towards respect for sexual and gender diversity is the big challenge, even in Argentina and Uruguay, whose legislation is among the most advanced in the world.

The hindering effects of religious fundamentalism and political conservatism are also felt, especially in the Caribbean. Although gay Dominican activist Davis Ventura told IPS that “there are many Caribbeans.”

The 40-year-old Ventura said the criminalisation of same-sex relations in the English-speaking Caribbean makes activism virtually impossible, or confines it to international forums, while a “mid” level of progress has been made in the Spanish-speaking countries – Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico – and the islands with French and Dutch influence are the most progressive.

Firm steps have been taken in Puerto Rico at the municipal level, while there are associations that have gained visibility in the Dominican Republic and Cuba passed the first anti-discrimination law in the Caribbean in 2013, when it approved a new labour code that explicitly protects the labour rights of non-heterosexuals.

However, there are voices arguing that there is no actual LGBTI movement as such in Cuba.

Manuel Vázquez, the head of legal advisory services in the National Sex Education Centre (CENESEX), a public institution, told IPS that “we are seeing groups that are actively asking for, demanding and discussing sexual rights.”

In the view of Maykel González, of the Proyecto Arcoíris (Rainbow Project), activism is still emerging.

Arcoíris, which describes itself as “independent and anti-capitalist”, the non-governmental Cuban Multidisciplinary Society for the Study of Sexuality, and initiatives supported by government institutions like CENESEX or the National Centre for the Prevention of STI/HIV/AIDS represented Cuba in the ILGALAC conference.

Chandni, a LGBT community member in Bangalore, tunes in online to Qradio. Credit: Stella Paul/IPS.

By Stella Paul
BANGALORE, Feb 11 2014 (IPS)

It is Wednesday afternoon in Bangalore, known as India’s tech city for being the hub of information technology companies. In her small four by four-foot studio, Vaishalli Chandra, channel manager of QRadio which is dedicated to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, is in conversation with Ankit Bhuptani, a 21-year-old gay youth from Mumbai.

“I was 15 when I realised I was gay and it made me feel as though I had sinned against god. I began to condemn myself,” Ankit reveals. “But then I came to accept myself the way I am.”

Chandra, a straight person, smiles and calls out to her audience: “Yes, social acceptance is important and it begins with you accepting yourself. So let’s talk about that.”“We need no validation from others…our community is enough to validate itself.” -- Shaleen Rakesh

Thanks to opportunities to network, unburden themselves and celebrate, radio is clearly emerging as the choicest media of the LGBT community in India.

Priyanka Divakar hosts a show for the queer community titled “Yari Ivaru (who is this person?)”, aired on Radio Active, a Bangalore-based community radio station that started in 2010 that broadcasts on an FM channel, rather than through the Internet. Divakar comes from the same LGBT community that her programme is for.

Born a man, Divakar underwent sex reassignment surgery to become a woman after suffering for years what most LGBT people face in India: lack of civil rights, social ostracism, stigma and mockery. Gay sex is a criminal offence in the country.

Both Chandra and Divakar firmly believe that their shows increase freedom of expression by giving LGBTs a platform to be themselves. Guests here talk about their identity struggle, the reaction of their families to their sexuality and the opposition of society.

“Most of the time, parents themselves disown children after coming to know of their sexual identity. This drives them straight into a world of economic, social and emotional insecurity and it results in their joining the sex industry, begging or other criminal activities,” Divakar says.

But not all stories are bitter and sad. Some also share a happy message.

Besides sharing stories of the past, the community also uses radio shows to discuss the future, especially plans to end discrimination against the community.

Radio, says transgender activist Kalki Subramanium of Chennai, clicks with the young working class, to which most of the LGBT people belong.

“The radio these days [is] a new avatar; you can see young people listening to the radio when they are travelling to work or when they are at work. It is easy to access and doesn’t cost a lot,” says Subramanium who is an award-winning social worker and founder of Sahadari, a non-profit organisation that promotes gender equality in India.

Abhijay, a graphic designer in New Delhi who fears that revealing his last name might cost him his job, agrees with Subramanium. Abhijay often tunes into QRadio which he finds “very good at encouraging a person struggling with his/her sexual identity to open up.”

However, nearly five months after its launch, he feels the radio risks being repetitive, and ought to take up more serious issues like police atrocities, discrimination of LGBT people at the workplace and also lack of decent work opportunities.

“Look, identity is not the only issue we gay men have. What about the consequences of coming out in the open? How shall we deal with that? How to deal with discrimination everywhere?”

Akkai Padmashali, an LGBT rights activist from Sangam, a Bangalore-based NGO, says that access to QRadio is limiting, since a listener must have a stable Internet connection. There must be ways to reach out to those living on the other side of the digital divide.

Padmashali, who is planning to host a new show on QRadio, would like to see a “large number of community radio stations all across the country that address LGBT issues.”

But more stations would require more funding – a thorny issue. According to Chandra, QRadio received some of its funding from the United Nations Development Programme, but “sustainability remains a serious issue.”

Some point to a deficit of trust between aid agencies and the alternative media. Priya Darshi, a Hyderabad-based community member, says he had planned to set up a community radio station, but it didn’t happen as “nobody was willing to support a group of strange people talking about rights and rules.”

Padmashali says “the moral responsibility [of funding] should lie on the Indian state.” She has met with many political leaders and ministers in recent months, including Manish Tiwari, the federal minister for information and broadcasting, whom she describes as “very sympathetic to the LGBT community.”

Subramanium, on the other hand, feels that besides aid agencies and the government, the corporate sector should also invest in radio for the LGBT community.

“There are a number of private radio channels which have great funding by the corporate houses. The fund shortage exists only in community radios. But dialogue and sensitisation can help build new partnerships. Corporate social responsibility could very well include funding radios that promote gender rights,” she says.

Both Padmashali and Subramanium, however, say that despite financial and technical constraints, radio for LGBT people is here to stay.

Subramanium, who often promotes gender rights on a community radio station run by the students of Pondicherry University, says: “Despite the support shown by mainstream media, most of our community members remain misunderstood and unheard. There is a great yearning in the LGBT community today to break the silence and be heard. Radio is the greatest tool to do that.”

Meanwhile, over QRadio, the voice of Rakesh echoes: “We need no validation from others…our community is enough to validate itself.”

Colorado's Jared Polis became the first “out” gay man in Congress when he was elected in 2008. Credit: Jeffrey Beall/cc by 2.0

By Matthew Charles Cardinale
ATLANTA, Georgia, Mar 26 2013 (IPS)

Even as the issue of gay marriage continues to make waves in the U.S., change is inexorably arriving in the halls of power, with a record seven openly homosexual or bisexual members of the new U.S. Congress.

While still small, the number represents a significant gain since the previous congress, which had only four.To be clear, our Congress has never looked like America.

“In 2012, we nearly doubled the number of members in congress who were LGBT, including the first U.S. senator, so 2012 was a really important moment for the normalisation of having LGBT people in the federal legislature,” Denis Dison, vice president of communications for the Victory Fund, an organisation that raises funds for “out” or openly LGBT candidates, told IPS.

The four from the previous Congress were Reps. Barney Frank from Massachusetts, Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin, Jared Polis from Colorado, and David Cicilline from Rhode Island.

Things were looking bleak last year when Frank, a progressive in Congress who had served since 1980, decided to retire, and Baldwin decided to run for the U.S. Senate. This could have left Polis and Cicilline as the only gay voices in the House of Representatives.

However, voters in House districts across the country elected three new openly homosexual members – Sean Patrick Maloney from New York, Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, and Mark Takano from California – as well as Kyrsten Sinema, Congress’s first openly bisexual representative, from Arizona.

The current seven are Cicilline, Maloney, Pocan, Polis, Sinema and Takano in the House, and Baldwin in the Senate.

“I’m very excited this Congress [House] has six LGBT members, which is a record. While it doesn’t represent parity with the general population, at least it’s movement in the right direction,” Polis told IPS.

Asked what parity might be, Polis said that about five percent of the U.S. population is part of the LGBT community.

“You’d be talking about 20 to 30 members from the LGBT community,” out of the 435 members of Congress, Polis said.

“We also don’t have parity of representation of women. We’re also making progress but not yet there with other democratic minority groups,” he added.

“To be clear, our Congress has never looked like America,” Dison said. “Women have never been [adequately] represented, neither have people of colour. Parity would be an achievement for a minority population.

“White, straight [heterosexual] men are absolutely over-represented in politics and have been for many, many years,” he said.

The first openly homosexual member of congress, Gerry Studds of Massachusetts, was essentially forced to come out in 1983 due to an ongoing scandal involving his relationship with a 17-year-old male Congressional page.

When Barney Frank was first elected in 1980, it would be seven more years before he came out publicly. Yet times have changed. Baldwin became the first “out” elected Congressperson, when she was elected to the House in 1998. Polis became the first “out” gay man in Congress when was elected in 2008. He came out to his parents at the age of 21 and they were not only supportive, but enthusiastically supportive, he told the Metro Weekly magazine in 2009.

Polis served as an out gay businessman who helped start several charter schools in Colorado before running for congress. He and his partner, Marlon Reis, have a son, Caspian Julius, who was born in 2011. They have declined to comment on whether their child was adopted or born from a surrogate pregnancy.

Polis tells IPS that since he went to congress he has experienced no open discrimination or homophobia there from other members.

“No, I don’t think so. They all come from different backgrounds. There’s never been any issues. Everyone understands everyone is duly elected,” Polis said. “The issue is, we still don’t have benefits for our spouses. That’s a great frustration.”

Indeed, the government still does not recognise same-sex partners for any federal employees. Baldwin introduced legislation in the last session to extend federal benefits to partners of federal employees, including members of vongress, but the legislation stalled in the House.

But that may change.

“Having six members enables members of our community to be present in many different committees. It’s a different discussion when there’s an LGBT person in the room,” Polis said.

Asked whether his sexual orientation shapes his perspective, Polis replied, “Every member brings a unique perspective informed by their life experiences.

“Our body is best when we’re represented by America as a whole, the types of jobs people have, the types of families they have, in terms of their ethnic background and faith,” Polis said.

“You do see LGBT members of congress interested in other issues of discrimination, whether racial discrimination or sex discrimination, and see them part of coalitions as well, that is part of a shared experience of being in a minority,” Dison said.

Currently, there are no LGBT members of congress who are Republicans. They are all Democrats.

However, in the past, there have been two Republican members, who both came out while serving their terms – Jim Kolbe of Arizona and Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin.

And the LGBT caucus in Congress is beginning to become more diverse politically, at least within the spectrum of ideas represented by the Democratic Party. Two of the newly elected members, Takano and Sinema, were both elected in swing districts that are not solidly progressive districts, and Maloney unseated a Republican.

“I would characterise most of the caucus as progressive, I’m not sure they would characterise themselves that way right now,” Dison said. “They would probably say they’re speaking for the mainstream concerns of constituents.”

The changes in U.S. culture with respect to sexual orientation are perhaps best captured by the recent campaign speech of Mazie Hirono, a progressive congresswoman from Hawaii, who was elected to the Senate in November 2012.

“I bring quadruple diversity to the Senate,” Hirono said at a rally. “I’m a woman. I’ll be the first Asian woman ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate. I am an immigrant. I am a Buddhist. When I said this at one of my gatherings, they said, ‘Yes, but are you gay?’ and I said, ‘Nobody’s perfect.'”

By Rebecca Hanser
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 2012 (IPS)

For more than two decades, the internationally beloved singer and human rights activist Yvonne Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of the South African pop music scene.

Yvonne Chaka Chaka. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Growing up during Apartheid, Chaka Chaka had a difficult childhood. After losing her father at the age of 11, Chaka Chaka’s mother was left to raise three daughters as a single mother with a meagre salary.

She grew up in a society rife with social, class and ethnic segregation, but this did not prevent Chaka Chaka from graduating with two diplomas from the University of South Africa (UNISA).

She was discovered in Johannesburg in 1985 and went on to release award-winning albums with hit songs like “I Cry for Freedom”, “Back on my Feet” and “Power of Africa”.

Chaka Chaka not only reached stardom status in South Africa and the Mbaganga music scene –a South African music style – but was also anointed the Princess of Africa.

“Being a public figure with a popular following is a great privilege but it comes with special responsibilities,” the singer told IPS in an interview.

The Princess of Africa is also known for her charity work. In addition to being Goodwill Ambassador for the UNISA and Chief Executive Officer of Gestetner Tshwane, UNICEF has also appointed her as Special Ambassador on Malaria in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Chaka Chaka spoke to IPS U.N. correspondent Rebecca Hanser on growing up in South Africa, her life as a world-class performer, and her work as a human rights activist fighting illiteracy, poverty, homophobia and illnesses like HIV and malaria.

Q: Having grown up in South Africa, what was the situation like in terms of race in your country?

A: I was born in Soweto and grew up under apartheid. The fight against discrimination runs deep in my veins. I know what it is like to be treated as inferior because of the colour of my skin.

When we remade our country it was on the basis of the equal worth and the equal dignity of every member of our society.

We learned the lesson the hard way in South Africa but we will never forget it. Nelson Mandela created the Rainbow Nation and I believe we are all equal. That is what we fought for: our freedom.

Q: Throughout Africa, discrimination based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation is still active. Stories of violence and discrimination against the gay community inflicted by their own families reach us on a daily basis. Being a mother yourself, what is your response to this?

A: These stories break my heart. Sadly, we hear similar stories from many different parts of the world. Is it not already bad enough that our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters are stigmatised, discriminated against and attacked?

The fact that many cannot even rely on the love and support of their own parents makes it even worse. What kind of mother could treat her own children with contempt in this way?

As a mother of four boys myself, I see my job as helping them to be the best people they can be; to discover who they are; to be happy and safe; to love and be loved. I have often said that I don’t care if they bring home an Indian or an Albino, Patricia or Peter, so long as they are happy.

Q: You recently joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and pop artist Ricky Martin at a special event on the need for leadership in the fight against homophobia at the United Nations headquarters. Can you elaborate on the legislation in Africa, and in particular on the anti-gay laws of African nations?

A: Far too many countries on our continent still have laws that treat lesbian and gay people as criminals simply for loving someone of the same gender.

When Western countries tell us as Africans we should get rid of these laws, you hear people saying “No, we are not colonies anymore, these are our laws and we will keep them.” But where did these laws come from? In almost all cases they were imposed by the former colonial powers. Most were written in 19th Century London! They have no place in modern Africa.

When I hear that MPs in Uganda want to introduce the death penalty now for homosexuality or that lawmakers in Nigeria want to strengthen the existing punishments for same-sex couples, it makes me angry and frustrated that people can be so prejudiced. When did we start to treat one another with such contempt?

We need to start again and remember that we are all born free and equal and should have a chance to live that way every day of our lives. We need to respect each other and not be so judgmental or fearful.

Q: What do you think should change to resolve the situation for those suffering from discrimination and violence for being different?

A: First thing we must do is get rid of these antiquated laws that criminalise homosexuality and we need to put in their place new laws that protect everyone from discrimination, including on grounds of sexuality and gender identity. Once we’ve done that, we have a larger task on our hands, which is to change social attitudes, to help people to open their hearts and minds to one another.

Changing the laws is a necessary first step, but it will take education, training and talking with one another to overcome homophobia. But we know it can be done. We are making progress in the war against racism and sexism. It is time to take up the fight against homophobia. This is a war we can win if we all do our bit.

Excerpt:

LGBT activists, human rights observers and police officers wait outside a courtroom in Uganda's constitutional court. Four activists had brought a case against Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo. Credit: Will Boase/IPS

By Andrew Green
KAMPALA, Aug 21 2012 (IPS)

In the face of rising public criticism over a range of controversial political manoeuvres, the Ugandan government has become increasingly hostile to the work of non-governmental organisations, particularly those advocating for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.

The report, released on Aug. 21, said that intimidation and obstructionist tactics have, over the last year, been used against NGOs working across a range of issues.

The report, “Curtailing Criticism: Intimidation and Obstruction of Civil Society in Uganda”, draws on interviews with 41 NGO officials, government representatives and donors in Kampala. HRW found that some civil society groups have started self-censoring in order to protect their staff, reflecting wider concerns that criticism of the government can be increasingly dangerous.

“The attacks on freedom of expression appear to coincide with increasing criticism of the ruling party’s governance,” Maria Burnett, a senior researcher for HRW’s Africa division and the author of the report, told IPS.

“At various times since President Yoweri Museveni took office in 1986, there has been some tolerance for critical or divergent voices. But since the February 2011 elections, government actors have been tightening the controls on both access to information and people’s abilities to express themselves, to obstruct the public’s understanding of the causes of the economic and political turmoil,” Burnett said.

Museveni, who has been in power for 27 years, is expected to run for another term of office in 2016.

“Since his re-election in 2011, political tensions have been running high and public criticism of government has escalated. To better control this environment, the ruling party’s high-ranking government officials are increasingly scrutinising NGOs and the impact they might have on public perceptions of governance and management of public funds,” HRW said in a statement on Aug. 21.

The report’s release comes on the heels of several clashes between the government and local and international NGOs. Officials threatened in May to kick Oxfam International out of the country if the British charity did not retract and apologise for allegations it made the previous September that more than 20,000 Ugandans were the victims of land grabs by a British multinational.

And in June the government ordered the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment – a local think tank – to stop all political activities.

At the time, State Minister for Internal Affairs James Baba told Uganda’s Daily Monitor that his ministry, which has oversight of the country’s NGO Board – the government-run institution that currently oversees the non-profit sector in Uganda – was “working within its mandate.”

These moves come in the wake of increasing civil society analysis, research and criticism on a range of issues. This includes charges – raised by opposition politicians in parliament last year – of corruption in the fledgling oil sector, high inflation, and poor delivery of education and health services.

Efforts to highlight these issues, including a widely covered Walk to Work campaign organised by Activists for Change, have drawn international attention and – in the case of Walk to Work – violent crackdowns by police.

HRW reported that some of the civil society workers they interviewed said they had received anonymous phone calls encouraging them to stop researching certain issues. Others suspected their phones were tapped or their homes were under surveillance.

Though the number of high-profile incidents has increased in 2012, the government has had a history of obstructing NGO activity in the past – especially groups working around the LGBT and commercial sex worker (CSW) communities.

In 2009, Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), a pan-African women’s advocacy organisation, attempted to hold a leadership training workshop in Uganda for CSWs. Although AMwA organisers said they informed government officials that they were planning the workshop and sent them a proposed agenda, the meeting was shut down the day before it was supposed to happen. The organisers had to shift the workshop to Nairobi.

The workshop was “not about promoting sex work,” Vivian Ngonzi, AMwA’s executive assistant, told IPS. “These were very learned women. They were discussing self-help, learning about their rights… I don’t know what’s illegal about that.”

The government has continued to close down workshops, specifically those focused on members of the LGBT community. HRW’s report highlights the “aggressively homophobic agenda” of Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo who ordered the closing this year of two workshops that included LGBT activists.

In February, he closed down a five-day meeting in Entebbe, Central Uganda, after participants, who included LGBT activists, were told that it was an illegal gathering. After the incident, four of the attendees filed a case against him in the constitutional court, charging him with denying them their constitutional right to assemble.

Declaring the fight against homosexuality a “national priority,” Lokodo also told HRW that groups like Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) were “on a mission to destroy this country.”

Lokodo’s efforts have been made at the same time that a proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda seeks to criminalise homosexual activities and introduce the death penalty in some cases.

The bill – originally introduced in 2009 by member of parliament David Bahati, who claims that homosexuality has been imported from the West – listed the death penalty as punishment under an offence called aggravated homosexuality. This, according to the 2009 draft of the bill, was defined as “repeat offenders” of homosexuality, or when one of the participants in a homosexual relationship is under 18, or has a disability, or is HIV-positive.

The bill was allowed to lapse during last year’s parliament, and was reintroduced by Bahati in February, this time without the death penalty clause.

Pepe Onziema, the advocacy and policy officer at SMUG and one of the plaintiffs in the case, told IPS that the situation is getting “harder and harder” for LGBT-focused NGOs.

Onziema said, in the case of LGBT activists, the government is focusing on “a particular group of organisations to intimidate the rest of society” – something HRW also concluded.

“After the threats of closing down NGOs… things are getting worse,” Onziema said.

Local media organisations reported that Lokodo planned to ban 38 organisations that were sympathetic to the LGBT cause, though no action has yet been taken. HRW’s report found, even among groups not working on LGBT issues, that there is growing concern that any precedent established in closing those groups could later be applied to them.

HRW has called on the Ugandan government to reverse course “to change and improve its terms of engagement with all NGOs.” It noted that NGOs were forced to scale back their work, especially on controversial topics such as LGBT rights, in order to continue operating.

“One LGBT organisation had a small project to distribute brochures which carried the message that LGBT people are like everyone else and that God loves them. Because of the government’s obstructions to the work of LGBT groups, the organisers of this project felt that their volunteers would be unsafe and have stopped this work. In order to continue operating and providing services to their community, they have since limited the scope of their work,” the report says.

Specifically, HRW is calling for autonomy for the NGO Board. The organisation is also urging the government to investigate instances of unlawful interference, harassment or intimidation of NGOs, like the workshop closures.

More than a hundred LGBT people, and various civil and human right organisations gathered in protest against the growing violence, rape, intolerance and the South African government’s failure to address the problem. Credit: Neo Ntsoma/IPS

By Jedi Ramapala
JOHANNESBURG, Jul 19 2012 (IPS)

Wendy Hlophe* is still visibly grieving for her long-term friend, 28-year-old Sanna Supa, who was shot and killed outside her home in Braamficherville, a South African township, two weeks ago.

Tragically, Hlophe blames herself for Supa’s untimely death. Supa, a lesbian who came out about her sexual orientation three years ago, was one of the few openly gay women living in the township. She was a school administrator at Snake Park High School in Dobsonville, Soweto, and was killed as she parked her car at home on Jul. 1.

Hlophe told IPS that she holds herself responsible for Supa’s death because she is known as an openly gay woman in her township and she supported Supa when she came out. Hlophe fears that their closeness may have made Supa a target.

“We grew up in the same street and were often seen together,” she told IPS.

“I was shocked, and I couldn’t believe that she was gone. She was such a sweet person,” she added.

At the time of Supa’s death the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) had believed the motive for the crime was based on her sexual orientation as neither her vehicle nor her belongings were stolen.

“Are we the only people in this country noticing these killings … are the people being killed not human enough or not citizens enough?” asked FEW in a statement at the time.

The crime is certainly not a new one in South Africa. Supa is one of 10 lesbians who have been killed across South Africa in the past month because of their sexual orientation, said Jabu Pereira, a human rights and gender activist. Gay people are victimised daily across South Africa, activists said.

In February four South African men were sentenced to 18 years in jail for stoning and stabbing to death an openly lesbian teenager, 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana, in 2006. Violence against lesbians is common here, with high incidences of “corrective rape”, where men believe they can “cure” lesbians of their sexual orientation.

So while Wednesday Jul. 18 marked the 94^th birthday of South Africa’s first democratically elected president and world icon, Nelson Mandela, gay rights activists here said they had nothing to celebrate.

And the 67 minutes that South Africans are encouraged to give back in community service on the day, a symbol of the 67 years that Mandela spent fighting for the freedom of his people, were considered a failure.

Gender activists and human rights organisations called the birthday a day of shame for the South African government and the ruling African National Congress (ANC), of which Mandela is still a member, for failing to halt hate crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Activists accused the current government of turning its back on everything that former president Mandela stands for during a peaceful demonstration at the Library Gardens in Johannesburg’s city centre on Jul. 18.

More than a hundred LGBT people, and various civil and human right organisations gathered in protest against the growing violence, rape, intolerance and the government’s failure to address the problem. They said that the silence from government amidst the growing wave of hate crimes has exacerbated the situation.

“We are ashamed of our leaders, sick and tired of their silence,” Pereira said referring to the government’s inaction.

Protest organisers also condemned the homophobic comments made by ANC Member of Parliament Nkosi Patekile Holomisa following a submission by the House of Traditional Leaders to parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee that proposed the removal of the constitutional provisions protecting people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Holomisa is an advocate at the Supreme Court, a traditional leader, chairperson of the joint Constitutional Review Committee and chairperson of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa.

Holomisa said in a May 2012 interview that: “The ANC knows that the great majority of South Africans do not want to promote or protect the rights of gays and lesbians.”

In the interview he said he did not want to retract his comments and that “where I come from these things are not supported, not condoned.”

The ruling party has, however, distanced itself from the views. “The ANC believes that any law which denies people the right to their sexual expression devalues them in our broader society and as such is an affront to their dignity and a breach of Section 9 of our Constitution.”

Meanwhile, Wandile Ntubeni* sat on the margins of Library Gardens watching the group of protesters singing and toy-toying around the square.

Ntubeni, a 35-year-old father of three, said that what he heard about the discrimination and violence against gay people hurt him. He is a migrant worker from the Eastern Cape, where, he claimed, he had no contact with gays and lesbians. But he told IPS that it is wrong for the government to continue to be silent on the issue.

“I blame the government, they need to play a leading role in the discussion around how to deal with the issue and help us understand how to deal with it. Because some things can only be accepted if government or the ruling party gives us leadership.”

Ntubeni himself found it hard to explain why violent murder seemed to be the only response that some men had to gay women.

“People have a right to decide what they want to do with their bodies,” he concluded.

As he spoke, the director of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Project, Virginia Setshedi, led the chanting protestors to the ANC’s offices, which are directly opposite Library Gardens.

“Enough is enough!” she shouted to a handful of ANC party officials, including police officers, who stood lined up against the building’s walls.

Some scoffed, giggled and whispered, “This is a waste of time” while she read the protestor’s demands, which called for the government to break its silence on the issue.

“This is not a joke!” she screamed, her voice breaking. “This is a matter of life and death and we will not go away.”

The ANC’s elections manager Mandla Dlamini received the memorandum and said that the party would look at the document and formulate a response in due time.

Meanwhile, the tragedy of the often violent and humiliating treatment of LGBT people in South Africa remains a harsh reality.

And Supa’s violent death is something Hlophe will not forget.

“She was a sister to me, I still can’t face her mother,” she said on the verge of tears.

“She was happy after she came out to her mother,” she added.

A night vigil was held on Jul. 18 at the Women’s Gaol museum, at the country’s Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.

It was a time to remember all those who have been killed in vicious hate crimes from 2001 to July 2012:

Ivan Johannes,

Zoliswa Nkonyana,

Madoe Mafubedu,

Simangele Nhlapho,

Sizakele Sigasa,

Salome Massoa,

Thokozane Qwade,

Waldo Bester,

Eudy Simelane,

Khanyiswa Loyi Hani,

Desmond “Daisy” Dube,

Neil Daniels,

Sibongile Mphelo,

Girly S’Gelane Nkosi,

Noxolo Magwaza,

Nqobile Khumalo,

Unidentified,

Nontsikelelo Tyatyeka,

Unidentified,

Thapelo Makhutle,

Phumeza Nkolozi,

Sasha Lee Gordon,

Andrithat Thapelo Morifi,

and Sanna Supa.

*Names changed to protect identity.

Junior Mayema says that discrimination against gay people is just as bad in South Africa as in his home Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Davison Mudzingwa/IPS

By Davison Mudzingwa
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Jun 26 2012 (IPS)

When Junior Mayema boarded a plane to South Africa from his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 2010, he cried tears of joy because he was finally heading to a country where he could live openly as a gay man.

South Africa is the only African country to recognise same-sex unions, and the country’s constitution forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, gender or sexual orientation.

However, when he arrived in South Africa Mayema shed even more tears. But this time they were tears of pain because of the exclusion and harassment he had to endure.

“It’s a very hard life I’m living, a very hard life,” the 24-year-old told IPS.

In South Africa Mayema has been verbally abused and beaten up several times for being gay. And he has lost confidence in the justice system because of apathetic law enforcers.

“I was beaten up last year and when I went to report it to the police they started laughing asking ‘Why are you gay? Just go to the hospital.’”

The prejudicial attacks are one of the reasons why Mayema left DRC. Being gay in his home country means finding work is almost impossible, and it means being discriminated against in education institutions and even being killed.

Mayema, a university drop out, had a close brush with death when his own family beat him up because of his sexual orientation. He said that he was starved for seven days, as his family attempted “to exorcise his demon.”

But he never expected to experience similar discrimination in South Africa. He told IPS that he was ejected from several shelters for being a gay man and a foreigner. The situation is sometimes so bad that he said he misses home.

“In South Africa it’s worse, there is xenophobia, homophobia and racism,” Mayema told IPS, lamenting his fading hope for a new life here.

But his story is sadly not unique. His is just one of many cases of hardships that refugee Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people experience here according to a report titled “Dream Deferred: Is the Equality Clause in the South African Constitution Bill of Rights just a far-off hope for LGBTI Asylum Seekers and Refugees”.

The report, produced by the People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), was released on Tuesday Jun. 26. It found that at the root of the plight of refugee LGBTI people in South Africa was their lack of legal residential status. The report recommends that the government of South Africa sensitise its Department of Home Affairs staff to properly handle the application for refugee status by LGBTI people.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency guide for adjudicating LGBTI refugee and asylum claims, threatened people should be granted legal status in their country of refugee. But this is not the case in South Africa.

“Out of 35 people we interviewed who applied, only two were granted refugee status,” said Guillain Koko, coordinator of the PASSOP LGBTI advocacy project.

Koko said that the lack of residence status jeopardises the chances of employment for refugee LGBTI people.

“They are the most vulnerable people,” he said. He added that the difficulties of being unemployed resulted in “two of those interviewed trying to commit suicide, while some were driven into sex work.”

Unemployment, Koko said, slows down social integration and even acceptance into local LGBTI social groups.

“They can’t go to gay clubs or restaurants because it’s expensive.”

Robinah Kintu, a former Uganda national soccer player who resides in Mandalay Township near Cape Town, is a case in point. She has a tenuous future in the country and she may soon be unemployed because she has not been granted residence here.

Kintu currently plays provincial league soccer for the Red Eagles Football Club in Cape Town. However, the South African Football Association has refused to grant her permission to continue playing since she only has asylum in the country. “When you are a foreigner and also a lesbian, for me, I call it war,” she told IPS.

“It’s dangerous.”

She has been living in the country since 2009 and said that there is little to distinguish between South Africa and her East African home, a country notorious for its homophobia, when it comes to people’s attitudes towards LGBTIs.

“The people there treat you, if you are lesbian or gay, like a pig,” she said. “The sentence is death, when they find out that you are a lesbian.

“In South Africa, it’s still the same. There is a law but people do not follow the law…even South African lesbians are raped and killed.”

In February four South African men were sentenced to 18 years in jail for stoning and stabbing to death an openly lesbian teenager, 19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana, in 2006. Violence against lesbians is common here, with high incidences of “corrective rape”, where men believe they can “cure” lesbians of their sexual orientation.

Kintu has been subjected to her fair share of harassment, and fears for her safety.

“If I had money I would move from this place, it’s not safe. That’s why you can’t find me walking out at night…they can kill or rape you,” she said, her voice breaking.

The PASSOP report calls for tighter law enforcement regarding the rights of LGBTI refugees in South Africa. It urges the government “to take affirmative measures to prevent, stop and prosecute acts of violence against LGBTI refugees.”