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May 9, 2013
Zambia gay couple tortured, jailed without food and water

Rights groups slam Zambia for jailing gay couple based on rumours and forcing them to undergo anal probe tests

Zambia police have arrested a gay couple forcing them to undergo anal probe test, denying them legal representation on the charges of having sex ‘against the order of nature’.

Phil Mubiyana and James Mwape have been detained in an overcrowded cell in rural Zambia for several days and were denied access to food and water for about 12 hours.

While pleading not guilty the authorities denied them legal representation and may have forced them to ‘confess to their crimes’ to speed up the trial.

May 8, 2013
Morocco: Two men arrested for gay sex in a car

Two Moroccan men who were caught having gay sex have been arrested and their trail is expected to draw large crowds

Two young Moroccan men, were arrested and after police ‘caught’ them ‘in action’ having gay sex.

The men were arrested during the weekend while ‘practicing sodomy’ in car stationed next to a park in Témara, a suburb of Rabat, Morocco’s capital, reported the daily Assabah.

The two who were caught appeared before a Court of First Instance in Temara, on Monday (6 May) and accused by the state prosecutor of ‘sodomy’ and ‘undermining public morality’.

May 4, 2013
Harvard professor blames dead gay economist for global financial crisis

Niall Ferguson, author and history professor at Harvard University, ties John Maynard Keynes’ homosexuality to ‘destructive’ economic policies

An American university professor has attempted to create a link between a dead British economist’s homosexuality and the current financial crisis.

Niall Ferguson, author and history professor at Harvard University, spoke at the 10th annual Altegris Conference this week, an exclusive event for investors and financial advisors.

April 17, 2013
Paraguay’s presidential candidate likens gays to monkeys

Horacio Cartes, Paraguay’s leading presidential candidate stated that he’d rather shoot himself in the balls if his son were to marry a man

Paraguay’s leading presidential candidate, Horacio Cartes, made strong anti-gay slurs and vehemently rejected marriage equality, ahead of the country’s election this Sunday.

During a Radio interview, Cartes, said that if his 28-year-old son were to seek to marry another man he’d shoot himself ‘in the balls, because I do not agree’.

April 17, 2013
US diplomat tells Guyana to legalize gay rights

Brent Hardt, the US ambassador to Guyana, has called upon the country’s leaders to progress on the issue of LGBT rights

The US Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt said that country’s government take action and repeal anti-gay laws and introduce LGBT rights.

Hardt told a media workshop held over the weekend in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital, that he believes there could be more cooperation to increase support for LGBT rights in the country, reported the portal News Source.

April 12, 2013
LGBT groups excluded from southeast Asian regional conference

After taking part in meetings for the last two years, LGBT rights groups have been excluded from this year's ASEAN Civil Society Conference and People's Forum in Brunei

LGBT rights activists are being excluded from a conference on human rights in Southeast Asia.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) SOGI Caucus attended the first two ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ ASEAN People's Forums in 2011 and 2012, but it has been excluded from this year's meeting in Brunei.

'ASEAN SOGI Caucus' voice is being silent by a group that calls itself a civil society,' said Indonesia representative Vien Tanjung to Gay Star News. 

April 8, 2013
Trans woman wins right to marry in Malta

Maltese courts have recognized the European Court of Human Rights ruling that trans women can marry male partners

A transgender woman has won the right to marry her partner in Malta.

Joanne Cassar, whose battle to marry her long-term male partner lasted seven years, was prepared to go to the European Court of Human Rights.

According to Malta Today, she initially won a ruling in her favor, but a higher court in Malta overturned the verdict.

April 3, 2013
Tunisia Liberal Party leader faces claims of gay hotel sex

Tunisian experts suggest reports of arrest of PLT opposition leader Mounir Baatour at the Sheraton Hotel in Tunis could be invented or exaggerated to discredit him

Mounir Baatour, the leader of Tunisia’s opposition Liberal Party (PLT), has been arrested along with another man for allegedly participating in a gay sex act in a Tunis hotel Sunday (31 March) evening.

A pro-Ennahda Facebook page uses highly inflammatory and graphic descriptions of the man who was arrested along with Baatour and the alleged sexual activity – apparently in a bid to discredit PLT’s leader.

March 27, 2013
Cameroon police re-arrest freed 'gay' 'Baileys liqueur drinkers'

Cameroon has re-arrested two men who were previously acquitted for appearing 'gay' due to drinking Bailey's Irish liqueur

Two young men from Cameroon, who have been recently freed from prison and acquitted from being convicted of ‘appearing gay’ have been re-arrested.

The 76 Crimes blog reported yesterday (26 March) that Cameroon police have taken the two into custody after they have been attacked in a local marketplace.

March 23, 2013
Gay couple to force Paraguay to accept marriage equality

Simon Cazal and Sergio López, a gay couple in Paraguay is mounting a legal challenge to force the country to recognize theirs and others’ gay marriage 

A Paraguayan gay couple demands the right to register their marriage in their country.

Thirty-year old Simon Cazal and 20-year-old Sergio López were married last year in Argentina, the first Latin American country to approve nationwide gay marriage.

However, Paraguay has no laws for same-sex marriage or civil unions.

As part of their first year anniversary, the couple asked yesterday (22 March) a judge in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital, to order civil registry officials to record their marriage.

March 11, 2013
Queen Elizabeth misses 'gay' speech, still expected to sign equal rights charter

Not all see signing as implicit support for gay rights and women's equality

Queen Elizabeth, recovering from illness, skipped the Commonwealth Observance service at London's Westminster Abbey today where she was to call for equal rights in a speech.

The 86-year-old monarch was still expected at an evening event at Marlborough House where she was to sign a Commonwealth Charter calling for equal rights in the 54 charter nations.

March 10, 2013
Queen Elizabeth makes historic pledge for gay rights

The reigning British monarch scheduled to make a pledge for ‘gender equality’ on live television

Queen Elizabeth will go before the world tomorrow and speak in support of LGBT rights.

According to the Daily Mail, she will sign a new Commonwealth Charter meant to stop discrimination against gay and lesbian people and promote the ‘empowerment’ of women.

Part of the charter will read: ‘We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds’.

March 6, 2013
Senegal cops arrest French and local man after gay sex payment fight

Senegal media claims hotel staff called the police after a French tourist refused to pay for sex with his Senegalese lover and they started to argue

Two gay men, one French and one Senegalese, were arrested by police and charged for having gay sex after a row broke out between them.

They are due to be prosecuted for indecency and 'acts against nature'.

It is claimed tourist Michel Coatanoan, a 47-year-old French finance inspector, arranged to meet Amadou Tidiane Sall, a 24-year-old Senegalese via an online gay dating site.

Coatanoan, was enjoying a holiday in the sea-side resort of Saly, famous for its beauty and sex-tourism, just south of Dakar,

February 18, 2013
Musical with negative portrayal of LGBT people tours Malaysia

'We want to awaken the youths and parents to the issue,' says the director of musical with negative message about LGBT lifestyles

A musical that shows the 'negative lifestyle' of LGBT people, who end-up being struck by lightening and turning straight, is touring Malaysia. 

Director Rahman Adam was asked by the government to stage the musical to tackle the 'worsening social issue' of LGBT people in Malaysia, Malaysian Digest reports.

February 18, 2013
Nate Berkus reflects on the death of his partner in tsunami in Sri Lanka

'It made me a better person, it made me a more compassionate person'

Nate Berkus became a familiar face to viewers of The Oprah Winfrey Show more than a decade ago as an interior designer who was a frequent guest on the show.

But it wasn't until December 2004 that his personal life became a lot more public. He and his partner, photographer Fernando Bengoechea were vacationing at a beach resort in Sri Lanka when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit. While Berkus survived, Bengoechea went missing and is presumed dead.

Berkus appeared on Winfrey's daytime show a month later to talk about his ordeal and the loss of his love.

February 13, 2013
Cameroon told: 'Stop ignoring death threats to lawyers helping gays'

Human Rights Watch says Cameroon must take action to protect lawyers who are receiving death threats because they are defending gays

The government of Cameroon should immediately take action against a series of death threats made to two lawyers who represent clients accused of homosexual conduct, said Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In an open letter date today (13 February) to President Paul Biya, Cameron's president, HRW demanded immediate action.

January 31, 2013
Cameroon president says attitudes are changing on gay people

President Paul Biya says while in Cameroon it is illegal to be gay, 'discussions are under way'

Cameroon President Paul Biya has said attitudes are changing in his country towards gay people.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with French President Francois Hollande, Biya stressed homosexuality had been illegal in Cameroon long before he came to power more than 30 years ago, Reuter reports.

He said: ‘Now I can say that discussions are under way. People are talking, minds can change one way or another but currently it’s a crime.’

January 24, 2013
Cameroon police arrests and assaults a man for defending gays

A man is reported to have been arrested and brutally beaten up by Cameroon's police for preventing a homophobic attack

According to unverified reports Cameroon’s police arrested and brutally beat up a man for foiling a planned attack on a gay acquaintance, human rights activists say.

Joseph Messina, 25 year-old, was reportedly beaten, and is being held at Yaoundé Central Prison, awaiting a court hearing on 28 January.

Messina says he does not know the actual charges against him.

January 22, 2013
Nigerian pastor says gay marriage will wipe out humanity

As Nigeria considers a 'Jail the Gays' bill, which would imprison any homosexual or anyone failing to report any gay people they know, Pastor Enoch Adeboye stirs up anti-gay feelings

A Nigerian pastor has said allowing gay people to get married will end up wiping out humanity.

Speaking at Obafemi Awolowo University, Pastor Enoch Adeboye warned Nigerians of allowing gay rights in the African country.

According to the Nigerian Tribune, he said: ‘Same-sex marriage is an anathema to the will of God for human beings to be fruitful, replenish and multiply on earth. Anything contrary to that is evil.

January 14, 2013
Ghana Christian group slams pro-gay gender minister

Anti-gay Christian group blasts appointment of Nana Oye Lister as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection over gay rights support

A Christian group is protesting Ghana's new gender minister Nana Oye Lithur over her support of gay rights.

The homophobic group called 'Concerned Clergy Association of Ghana' is opposing Lithur's appointment as Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection because she is a 'proponent and supporter of gay rights'.

January 7, 2013
Cameroon 'gay' 'Baileys liqueur drinkers' win appeal

An appeal court in Cameroon has acquitted two men jailed for appearing 'gay' due to drinking Bailey's Irish liqueur

Two young men from Cameroon who in 2011 were convicted of ‘appearing gay’ and sentenced to five years in prison were acquitted by an appeal court today (7 January).

The two Cameroonians, Jonas Singa Kumie and Franky Djome, were jailed for five years after a judge found them guilty of ‘homosexual behavior’.

December 19, 2012
Activist to sue Belize entry ban on gays

A gay Jamaican activist is suing the government of Belize over its entry ban against homosexuals

Maurice Tomlinson, an LGBT advocate is to challenge Belize’s entry ban on gays in an international court.

Tomilnson, a Jamaican national and legal advisor for the NGO AIDS-Free World has been invited to conduct training and sensitization sessions regarding the rights of individuals infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

December 15, 2012
Court to challenge Jamaica TV stations ban on pro-gay ads

A Jamaican court has begun a historic deliberation on whether two Jamaican TV stations rejection to air paid pro-gay ads breached the country’s constitution

Maurice Tomlinson, a Jamaican gay activist, had recently sued the two station alleging they breached Jamaica's constitutional charter on fundamental rights and freedoms by refusing the air the pro-gay ads.

During the first hearing on 12 December the court assigned three judges for the constitutional case and marked the next formal hearing to take place from 27 to the 31 of May, 2013.

December 12, 2012
Don't discriminate against gays and lesbians says Cambodian PM

Prime minister of Cambodia, who threatened to disown his daughter in 2007 for having a 'wife', says 'there should be no discrimination' against gays and lesbians

The prime minister of Cambodia told citizens not to discriminate against gays and lesbians while speaking at a ceremony in the south of the Southeast Asian nation.

'There are gays and lesbians in every country,' said Hun Sen. 'So there should be no discrimination against them just because of their destiny,' Associated Press reports.

December 9, 2012
Belize Supreme Court to decide legality of homosexuality in May

Belize’s Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the country’s sodomy law which treats homosexuality as if it was the same thing as bestiality

The Supreme Court of Belize will decide on the future of the Central American country’s colonial era sodomy law early next year, with a hearing set to begin on May 7.

Prospects for the hearing did not look good at first when Justice Michelle Arana decided that LGBT rights group the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) could not challenge the constitutionality of the law as it was not a person in May of this year.