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Gay campaigners are changing Africa, new Comic Relief project says
publication date: Jul 6, 2011
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author/source: Peter Lloyd/Pinkpaper.com
 Contrary to what might be expected, gay people in Africa are actively challenging the status of LGBT rights across the continent – and winning. The news comes as part of a Comic Relief campaign called See Africa Differently, which challenges common assumptions people have about life there. We report on the story exclusively. In an exclusive blog for the official site, Reverend Rowland Jide Macauley – the founding Pastor of the House of Rainbow Fellowship in Nigeria – says that queer politics is both progressing and influencing. "The good news from Africa is that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex communities are heroically challenging their governments to protect their human rights and dignity under the law," he says. "The challenges to achieving gay equality in Africa have been well documented – especially in countries like Uganda at the moment. But we shouldn’t allow this to overshadow the fight-back, the progress and the good news: all over the continent there is growing resistance to homophobia and transphobia. "The more inclusive constitution of South Africa, for example, is a beacon of hope for same-sex loving Africans. Did you know that South Africa became the second country in the world outside of Europe to legalise same-sex marriage in 2006? Showing that African countries can be world-leaders when it comes to legal equality for lesbian and gay people." He also adds that in places such as Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malawi, LGBTI human rights groups are ever more visible. And across North Africa, campaigning groups are linking up with each other to question discrimination and inequalities based on tradition and religious interpretations. "Africa may have some way to go, but it is moving. And with courage," he says. Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. Visit the See Africa Differently site here |
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