by Simon Allison
...“Yes, the fight for LGBTI rights [in Africa] still faces huge, huge challenges,” said Shehnilla Mohamed. Africa co-ordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). “For every two steps forward we take, there are five steps backward. We just have to keep on going until we push through it.”
For Mohamed and the IGLHRC, the key to making progress is to stop viewing this as a country-specific issue, and to realise that it’s a continental problem that will require an international solution.
Mohamed points out that the United States, India and China are the Gambia’s three largest trading partners; between them, they could bring that country’s economy to its knees. They surely have the influence to persuade Jammeh not to sign the bill into law. They also have the moral responsibility, argues Mohamed, as signatories to a number of international norms and standards that protect LGBTI communities. “It’s about time,” she said, “the international community started putting its money where its mouth is, and saying that we’re not going to trade...”
Published on September 12, 2014 | OutRight Action International an LGBT human rights organization