LAGOS — Facing human rights abuses, gender nonconforming Nigerians want the chance to live and express themselves safely.
Category: LGBTQI+Faith in Africa
The following stories on LGBTQI+ rights and religion in Sub-Saharan Africa emerged from two journalism training workshops we held in South Africa for journalists, editors and media professionals from more than 30 countries across the continent. The 2017 and 2018 workshops were made possible with support from the Arcus Foundation and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southern Africa.
South Africa bill could end religion-based discrimination for same-sex marriages
JOHANNESBURG — A proposed amendment to South Africa’s Civil Union Act, which legalized same-sex marriage in 2006, would prevent civil servants from refusing to marry same-sex couples on the basis of conscience, religion or belief.
LGBTQI+ Tanzanians seek safety and solidarity in the shadows
ZANZIBAR — As Tanzania’s government continues its LGBTQI+ crackdown campaign, sexual and gender minorities devise new survival strategies to avoid arrest and discrimination.
In Cameroon, LGBTQ people struggle to reconcile faith and sexuality
YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Human rights groups in the Central African country are working with religious leaders to discuss the consequences of homophobic attitudes and hate speech.
Au Cameroun, les personnes gays affirment qu’il est difficile de concilier leur foi et leur orientation sexuelle
YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Quant au discours religieux, les leaders de toutes les confessions religieuses présentes au Cameroun ont le même discours, celui de la condamnation de l’homosexualité.
A mother fights queer bias in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG—Mally Simelane’s daughter was murdered for her sexual orientation, a tragic event that she has channeled into promoting LGBTI acceptance at her church and in KwaThema.
In Zambia, transgender and intersex issues take center stage
LUSAKA, Zambia — The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia’s chairperson has welcomed the country’s intersex and transgender communities and said discriminating against them is a sin and insult to God.
Religious leaders encourage LGBT exclusion in South Sudan
JUBA, South Sudan — In socially conservative South Sudan, LGBT people face discrimination and abuse, their non-traditional sexualities and genders often considered taboo.
For male sex workers in Zimbabwe, discrimination and abuse are the norm
HARARE, Zimbabwe — “You have not graduated into sex work if you are not raped,” Munashe said of what he has come to consider a terrible inevitability for male sex workers who have sex with men in Zimbabwe.
As faiths mix, Madagascar’s LGBTQ community faces harassment and discrimination
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — For LGBTQ people in Madagascar, backlash is still more common than tolerance or respect.
