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"The Current" Interviews Monica Mbaru and SMUG on LGBTs in Uganda
October 27, 2009| Contributed by
The Current, a radio show in Canada hosted by Anna Maria Tremonti, did a piece on the current situation of LGBT people in Uganda in light of new proposed legislation that would further criminalize homosexuality and create penalties for people who support the rights of LGBT people.
Listen to the report on The Current's website.
Caster Semenya runs “like a man”?
September 9, 2009| Contributed by
Caster Semenya has done the unthinkable in women’s sports: she runs “like a man.” Besting her sister runners by a longshot in the 800 meters in the World Championships in Berlin a few weeks ago, she drew the instant condemnation that girls across the decades have drawn whenever they are too smart in class, too forceful in the board room, too strong in the gym, or too accomplished in the workplace.
Out of the Closet and Into the Streets (Sort of)
September 8, 2009| Contributed by
The night before Budapest’s LGBT Pride march, the tension was real. Annual LGBT Pride festivals have been held no fewer than 14 times in this Eastern European city, but in 2007 and 2008, marchers were verbally and physically attacked by counter-demonstrators—skinheads and far-right extremists—and assaulted with eggs, firecrackers and petrol bombs. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas to separate rioters from marchers and detained 45 people.
IGLHRC’s Executive Director at Budapest’s Gay Pride
September 4, 2009| Contributed by
IGLHRC’s Executive Director, Cary Alan Johnson, will march in Budapest’s 2009 Gay Pride parade, which will be held on September 5th in the Hungarian capital. Cary’s report, along with multimedia files from the event, will be posted on IGLHRC’s blog next week.
“They Can Spot us a Mile Away.” The Dangers of Being Different in Kayseri
June 12, 2009| Contributed by
Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with a police officer who works with refugees in Kayseri. I asked her about the relationship between the local police and members of the LGBT refugee community. She said that the police have only one problem with the refugees: “Some of them dress very provocatively.
“What Kind of Life is This?” The Struggle for Survival in Kayseri
June 12, 2009| Contributed by
Imagine you are taking a leisurely stroll through a farmer’s market, examining the produce at different fruit stands. Suddenly you hear a stranger behind you screaming. You look back and see that a middle-aged man is pointing his finger at you and shouting to the crowd: "This whore is a lesbian. You can screw her for 2 dollars."
Subsisting on Bread and Tea: Iranian Refugees Talk
June 11, 2009| Contributed by
Last night was a sleepless one: I spent the night in a small, rather uncomfortable hotel room filled with the lingering aroma of cigarette smoke. But as I tossed and turned, I remembered that many LGBT refugees would find my room in this rather run-down hotel to be a luxury. Most of them share a humble place with several people, and consider themselves lucky if they can go to bed with food in their stomachs.
On the Bus to Kayseri, Turkey
June 10, 2009| Contributed by
This was a bus ride like none I have ever taken. I have spent almost 5 hours traveling on narrow passes at high elevation, watching a picturesque landscape unfold, to get to the Turkish city of Kayseri.
On-going arrests in Uganda
June 5, 2009| Contributed by
The situation in Uganda is still hectic and tension is still on as ex-gay George “Georgina” Oundo continues to have media platforms to “out” LGBT people and organizations. Oundo has weekly programs on different television stations where he continues his smear campaign against LGBT groups and individuals.
Uganda: Georgina Risks It All
May 4, 2009| Contributed by
The recent anti-gay crusade underway in Uganda has been fueled by the participation of a number of Ugandan men who claim to be "reformed" from homosexuality. Most prominent in this hate-filled campaign is George Oundo, formerly known as Georgina. George has participated in a series of press conferences, interviews and television appearances to make public the names, addresses and workplaces of men and women accused of being homosexual.
Iraq: Torture, Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment of LGBT People
April 20, 2009| Contributed by
The following is a translation of a story from Alarabiya, a UAE-based media network, which was published on its Arabic website a few hours ago. While IGLHRC has not verified all of the allegations, many are consistent with patterns of human rights violations being reported from within the country.
More Hateful Rhetoric in Uganda
April 2, 2009| Contributed by
Yesterday started explosively. The headline of The New Vision, the state-owned newpaper in Uganda, read, "Father Musaala named homosexual." The paper showed a picture of the well-respected priest and another of the ex-gay activists at their March 31 press briefing. The story talks about the ex-gay activists’ allegation that Father Musaala is a homosexual. It was very disturbing.
We do NOT recruit
April 1, 2009| Contributed by
Yesterday at 10:00 a.m., the Ugandan LGBTI community held a press conference at the Metropole Hotel in Kampala to refute recent allegations that its members recruit youth into homosexuality and receive lots of money from international donors for this practice.
Fundamentalism in Indonesia
March 12, 2009| Contributed by
A coalition of human rights groups is pushing for a judicial review of the new Indonesian Pornography Law, which was passed in November 2008. The coalition is being brought together by Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia, the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation—a well-known NGO that advocates for democracy, human rights and justice and has a broad-based constituency. It includes national groups Arus Pelangi and Ardhanary Institute, representing the LGBT community.