What problems is an anti-gay law supposed to cure? How would people in a country benefit from the mass imprisonment for life, or even execution, of homosexuals? The punitive laws targeting persons merely for their sexual orientation are grossly unjust and should be resisted

Debate on homosexuality in Malawi is complex. The unpredictable and sometimes tense course of the debate provides a snapshot of the difficulties encountered when confronting the dilemmas and anxieties around the issue in Africa

The young man begs to be identified only as Tanaka Tarambwa — a name he is confident no other man has because society has ‘largely labelled homosexuals as outcasts who do not deserve a place in society.’

The state is always present in your bedroom. Its absence has an impact on your access to services and this is the source of the tenuous relationship between citizens and governments. Surveillance on LGBTI people and what they seek to do in private is measured against the ideal of the hetero-normative paradigm

Not all priests have joined the cacophony of homophobia in Africa. Instead an honest and open national dialogue in Nigeria and the rest of the continent is necessary. A priest expresses his misgivings of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act of 2013 signed by the Nigerian President

Gay people in Nigeria are people persecuted online and need to be very careful. The organisation Queer Alliance Nigeria is now illegal in Nigeria and decriminalization of homosexuality as a top priority in many African countries is now crucial

Theologian Masiiwa Ragies Gunda from Zimbabwe argues that LGBTI people are being attacked from the pulpit by politicians who are deflecting from other societal ills. The essence of being Christian is missed when homophobic diatribe is used to deny the humanity of LGBTI people in society

Uganda’s gay organisations have been forced to operate underground due to public hostility and state persecution of their members . The formation of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL) has been vocal in campaigning for the rights of gay people and exposing the harmful operations of right wing American religious fundamentalists in the country

A trend is forming from African nations – which already criminalize same sex acts, albeit, through laws inherited from colonial masters – to further put in place legislation that amplify, further criminalize and increase punishment for same sex acts

The continued persecution of LGBT persons and the government’s intolerance of Zimbabwe’s sexual and gender minorities violates basic rights guaranteed by the constitution and international law. The state must stop wasting time and resources suppressing an essentially private issue

The decision to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law in Uganda by President Yoweri Museveni is another development in the worrying practice of penalising homosexual conduct, a legacy of colonial-era law. The time has arrived to press for urgent reforms

The decision to ‘come out’ as a homosexual is ultimately a personal one – even when this helps the gay community as a whole. Whatever the considerations, one must carefully try to gauge the consequences in a world still gripped by moral hysteria

The personal anguish that homosexual people go through in a society that rejects and attacks them is unspeakable. Does an innocent human being deserve this?

Whereas much of the work in the West has assisted African same-sex sexualities in providing visibility to same-sex desire, the theorising has not sufficiently provided for a contextual understanding of phenomenon – that of unpacking deeply entrenched ideas of fundamentalist conceptions of religion and patriarchy, and of untangling a psychological colonization resultant from a colonial past

In post-apartheid South Africa, sexual violence has become a socially endorsed punitive project for maintaining patriarchal order. Black township lesbians have not benefited from legal protection because of important weaknesses in the justice system. These need to be addressed

The baseless belief that homosexuality can be cured through forced sex is widespread, especially in South Africa where many LGBTI persons have fallen victim. Greater public awareness needs to be created around this issue urgently

Zimbabwe’s gay community expresses solidarity with their counterparts in Nigeria where President Goodluck Jonathan signed a stringent bill into law in January outlawing same-sex sexual relationships. Solidarity among gay movements across Africa is critical in challenging state-instigated violence

Malcolm X, otherwise known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was a fierce African American human rights crusader with an international agenda. Progressive people commemorating his assassination this week reflect on his legacy to the Black struggle and to all people around the world who are oppressed by imperialism and capitalism

Few remember that Germany once had several African colonies.
Berlin is seeking to revise its constitutional restraints on its pacifism and absenteeism in military engagements by increasing its troops to Mali. It seeks no longer to remain on the side-lines of world politics

The African Union (AU) deserves applause for standing up to the European Union and choosing Mugabe as First Vice-Chairman of its executive. The AU has greater challenges to face in the context of recolonisation and imperialist domination to control Africa’s resources