The Muslim LGBT Inclusion Project: LGBT Muslims are dealing with many of the same kinds of questions that LGBT Christians have been dealing with for decades

Image by lewishamdreamer via Flickr

¨Just as the Arab spring has upended conventional understanding of Arab and Muslim societies, so a new report on the issues faced by LGBT Muslims challenges the stereotype of Muslim communities in the U.S. and abroad as monolithically closed to conversations about sexuality.

The report, the “Muslim LGBT Inclusion Project,” was just published by Intersections International — New York-based nonprofit whose mandate, says founding director Rev. Robert Chase, is to bring together people who differ, honor those differences, and find ways to work together for reconciliation, justice, and peace...¨ read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Peter Montgomery
·  Thanks to  Religion Dispatches

FEDERAL LAW ¨DEMANDED¨ IN MEXICO: "prevent and punish conduct homophobic antidiversas, anti-progressive and intolerant that generates an environment conducive to hate crimes."

Leija Herrera:  ¨A gay activist in Chilpancingo, the second-largest city of the state of Guerrero, Mexico, has been murdered in what is being called by social organizations, academics, writers, party representatives and activists "an assassination".

Leija Herrera, was the director of del Centro de Estudios y Proyectos para el Desarrollo Humano Inegral (CEPRODEHI, Center for Studies and Human Development Projects Inegral) and had participated in demonstrations, lobbied for civil unions and reported killings, discrimination and attacks against lesbians, gays and transgender people to the State's Attorney General.

His body was discovered Wednesday 4 May in the centre of the city covered in bruises, apparently caused by stones. Authorities suggested he may have been stoned to death.

Local activists have organised a petition to the State Govenor, Angel Aguirre.

It says that there is a "widespread climate of harassment and criminalization of the work of defenders of human rights in Mexico and the cruelty and brutality of the murder presents evidence of a homophobic hate crime."

The petition demands a prompt, independent, comprehensive, effective and impartial investigation into murder, an end to all forms of harassment against LGBT people and respect for international human rights and the work of advocates in Mexico.

The United States of MEXICO:  ¨They requested strongly to the National Council to Prevent Discrimination¨ (CONAPRED)

HATE CRIMES: "are clarified with the rigor and the definition of hate crime homophobic, lesfobia, biphobia and transphobia."

¨...They requested strongly that the National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) "launch in full force a national campaign against violence against LGBTTTI community, it has become urgent that all states have in the their penal codes hate crime law."

The march was attended by representatives of Amnesty International, the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, Agenda LGBT Fundar, Project 21, the Gay and Lesbian Business Association and Mexican ProDiana Association, among other groups...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Amnesty International
·  Thanks to Mexican ProDiana Association
·  Thanks to Leija Herrera, R.I.P.

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera: Passionate human being, daughter, sister, lover and human rights worker in Uganda

¨I’ve lived my life fighting for gay rights openly in Uganda and I’ve had to pay a price for that¨

Ugandan lesbian activist's powerful speech to Amnesty International (AI)'s International Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

¨...I am a very passionate human being, a daughter, a sister and a lover. Amongst all of that I am a human being who is willing to go, join other people in the struggle to work for human rights. And this time today I want to share with you my experience as a gay rights activist.

In Africa over 38 countries criminalise homosexuality. These are ordinary citizens who contribute to the development of their countries, but they are being criminalised simply for who they love and because of who they are attracted to. In Uganda where I come from, homosexuality is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of five imprisonment. However, in 2009 a bill was proposed in the Parliament of Uganda saying that life imprisonment is a very weak law to criminalise homosexuality and now they are proposing the death penalty.

I’ve lived my life fighting for gay rights openly in Uganda and I’ve had to pay a price for that. I’ve been evicted from house to house. My office has been evicted. I can no longer move on the streets openly. I’ve been attacked. And these are just a few of the things that happened to me and my community.

Early this year, I lost a dear friend and comrade, David Kato HERE. He stood out of the darkness to fight for the freedom and liberty of my community. The price he paid was to be murdered in cold blood during the day in his house. Just as we are still trying to deal with the tragedy, four months later a member of my community committed suicide because his family disowned him, his work sacked him, he had no where to go.

As if that was not enough, in broad day light a house of one of my members was set ablaze with letters left behind. That is just the beginning, they are coming for all of us.

Where does all of this homophobia come from. It comes from the press. It comes from the State. It comes from the culture and the religious institutions.

We are not scared. These are our lives we are fighting for. It is not easy and we are very aware of it. But we cannot afford to sit back there, because if we sit back there we shall have lost the battle for human rights. We are very aware that some of us may never live to see the freedoms and liberties we are fighting for today. But we are just honoured that we are part of this ground breaking struggle to make a better place for the future generations. Not only in Uganda and not only in Africa, but also in the world...¨ please read it all, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar

·  Thanks to Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, video, HERE
·  Thanks to  AmnestyInternational

UGANDA ¨KILL THE GAY´S¨ POGROM REFUGEE: ¨After leaving the camp, he found UNHCR in Nairobi, and eventually found safety as a refugee living in the U.S.¨

¨There are no Gay Rights in Uganda¨  Dyson escaped violence, rape and imprisonment in Uganda

Refugees from the past six decades, including Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek and Dyson, a gay Ugandan, gathered in Washington DC August 3/4 to discuss the challenges that refugees face around the world and to lobby Congress.

60 current or former refugees and asylum-seekers were chosen to participate in the Congress, the first to be held in the United States. It was organised by UNHCR to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention...¨

Gay Ugandan refugee Dyson was selected and traveled from San Francisco, California. Dyson and a representative from Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) – an NGO that assists lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex refugees and helped resettle Dyson in California – met with staffers in the offices of California Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"In 2009, when a strong anti-gay movement swept through Uganda," she says. "Dyson found himself defamed by the press media, due to his sexual orientation. To fight the harrassment, he decided to advocate for a stop to the violence and threats aimed at homosexual individuals."

"He approached radio talk shows as a medium from which he could address the issue. There are no gay rights in Uganda and on the way home from a live broadcast interview that was hosted by an anti-gay minister, he was kidnapped at gunpoint, told that he was a rebel fighting the government, and was beaten, stripped, and raped. Afraid to eat the food he was given because of fear of being poisoned while held captive, he became sick and contracted malaria."

"After days of torture, one of the soldiers recognized Dyson from his life as a gospel singer. The soldier helped him to escape. He fled to a UN refugee camp in Kenya but had to leave when other refugees threatened him because of his sexuality. After leaving the camp, he found UNHCR in Nairobi, and eventually found safety as a refugee living in the U.S." HERE

Anglican MP David Bahati, ¨Kill the Gays¨ instigator of Uganda

Some Ugandans think they must insist on exactly whom all of their brothers and sisters and fellow citizens must love. Heterosexual marriages or death? HERE

¨Pastor¨ Scott Lively, MP David Bahati

HOMOPHOBIA HALL OF SHAME 2011: This years inductees include two key players in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, Scott Lively from the United States and MP David Bahati from Uganda. HERE

·  Thanks to Lilli Tnaib from UNHCR in Washington DC
·  Thanks to Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR's representative in the United States
·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Paul Canning
·  Thanks to  Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), ¨The Refuge Protection Act¨ 
·  Thanks to “Guidance Note on Refugee Claims relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,”

ANOTHER GRIM ¨GAY¨ DAY IN GHANA WEST AFRICA: ¨Being refugees, gay, unemployable, poor and despised by locals: could life be any more difficult?

Sekou Grear (left) and James Gayee. They had fled West Africa’s bloodiest conflict, a vicious civil war in Liberia

“We all hide in Africa.”

¨It was in Ghana, West Africa, that I was asked the most troubling question by an interview subject. Homosexuality is illegal there, but after phone-text promises of anonymity, two gay men met me in a suburban café outside Accra, Ghana’s capital. They had fled West Africa’s bloodiest conflict, a vicious civil war in Liberia, and now live 44 kilometres west of Accra in the Buduburam Refugee Camp. Being refugees, gay, unemployable, poor and despised by locals: could life be any more difficult? I was about to find out...¨  please read it all, HERE

MEANWHILE AT THE ANGICAN CHURCH IN GHANA/PROVINCE OF WEST AFRICA: ¨OUTRAGE¨

¨Contrary to a popular perception, occasioned by the election of a Gay Bishop by the Church of the Province of the USA (Episcopal/Anglican) that Anglicans as a world-wide Communion support the practice of homosexuality/lesbianism and all that goes with it, the Anglican Church in Ghana, indeed, the Church of the Province of West Africa is unequivocally opposed to the phenomenon.  Our Church is, therefore, deeply disturbed, indeed outraged, that it has even been mooted to hold in our beloved soil and country a conference of persons of different sex orientation..


THE MOST REV’D. DR. JUSTICE OFEI AKROFI

THE ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF THE CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF WEST AFRICA
AND BISHOP OF ACCRA.
¨While affirming the Constitutional right of freedom of expression and gathering, we are unable to accept and encourage the practice of such freedom as is around the phenomenon of same sex orientation because it thereby placards a practice that is “contrary to nature” (Paul’s Letter to the Romans 1 verse 27) and, therefore, is unacceptable to Christian conscience. It is even more disturbing that a practice which is normally done in secret is now being openly espoused and made a virtue, with consequent corruptive effects on society.


We, therefore, like other Christian bodies, applaud the move of the Government of Ghana to disallow the assembly. We further urge all Ghanaians to be circumspect in going about acts which are only “not natural” but also have corruptive influence on the moral fibre of society, especially the youth. We as well urge all Ghanaians to endeavour to maintain the traditional Ghanaian norms of decency and propriety. For a nation without memory of its past and sense of history is doomed to self-destruction.¨  HERE

Long live Ghana! Long live Freedom of Gathering and Speech! Long live Normal Standards of Decency and Propriety!

Archbishop  JUSTICE OFEI AKROFI

·  Thanks to Paula Stromberg
·  Thanks to "Sekou Grear" Ghana
·  Thanks to "James Gayee" Ghana
·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar

MEET ANGLICAN ¨NICK¨ (not his real name) of Monrovia, Republic of ¨Love of Liberty¨ Liberia

A closeted ¨love of liberty¨ life for Anglican ¨Nick¨ in The Republic of Liberia

¨Getting him to have a chat on a subject that is considered a taboo in Africa was not an easy task. But he finally decided to let the cat out of the bag on the condition of strict anonymity. Nick can be termed as a ‘closet gay’.¨

“I discovered my attraction for same sex when I was in the seventh grade in 1998. I didn’t become gay because I’m materialistic like the way others are for the love of money. I became gay because the feeling for the same sex is natural. I know it’s not easy for you to understand what I’m talking about - only those in my shoes know how it’s like. ”

Nick, a graduate of the B.W. Harris Episcopal High School, holds a BBA degree in Accounting from the African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU) and work at one of Liberia’s premiere banking institutions. Nick says he has to hide his sexuality in order to be accepted...¨ please read it all and meet ¨Kollie¨ too, HERE

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to Gboko John Stewart
·  Thanks to Front Page Africa,   HERE

NO TO HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM: A German Memorial Dedicated to the Homosexual Victims of Nazism

More than fifty thousand homosexual people were arrested and most were interned in concentration camps.

By 2012, Munich should have a new memorial to homosexual victims of Nazism. It is a highly symbolic move as Munich was the site of the beginning of the Nazis terrible persecutions against homosexuals in 1934.

¨The memorial will form part of a new pedestrian development in the center of Munich and will be placed at the corner of Oberanger and Dultstrasse, outside what was the Scwharzfischer (The black fisherman), a famous gay bar in the 30s. On 20 October 1934, the Nazis conducted a major raid in the gay scene of Munich, including the Schwarzfischer. This was the beginning of Nazi persecution against homosexuals: it is estimated that more than fifty thousand people were eventually arrested and most were interned in concentration camps. Most of those who survived the war were kept in jails as homosexuality remained criminalised.

The project has broad political support: from both parties currently in power (red and green) and the opposition Christian Democrats. Richard Quaas, spokesman for the Christian Democrats said: "Until now, there was a consensus not to establish differentiation of victims on monuments or monuments. Other groups of victims of Nazism have no specific memorial in the public arena in Munich." HERE


·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sidebar
·  Thanks to All German Political Parties
·  Thanks to Munich, Germany

KUSHABA MOSES MWORENKO GRANTED ASYLUM IN US: Fired/Demonized Teacher from Anglican Christian University/Uganda is safe at last!

Ugandan Kushaba Moses Mworenko  wins US Asylum

¨After many twists and turns since early 2010 that included a 6-month stint in San Francisco that resulted in Homeland Security terminating the case and forcing the Arlington, VA, asylum office to reverse its decision in favor of Moses. This was to take only 3 weeks from the judge’s order on January 1, 2011, and took nearly 5 months, but the day finally arrived this week. Moses thanks all of you for your support over the last 18 months that helped make this all possible.

Moses continues to work valiantly on behalf of the LGBT and HIV+ community in Uganda, and surely will be able to accomplish more now that his case has been settled. Moses’ continually updated Global Sexual Freedom Annotated Bibliography Global Sexual Freedom Rights Bibliography  remains available to anyone who needs a quick education on the challenges we face to bring about equal rights for all sexual minorities, here and abroad. Moses is also helping  Get Equal , Venus Plus X ,
and other organizations to expose members of congress aligned with groups such as “The Family” (active in 192 countries) who are fomenting hatred and erasure of LGBT and HIV+ plus people everywhere, at American taxpayers expense...¨ please read it all HERE

Archdemonizer of LGBTI Anglicans/others, Bishop Henry Luke Orombi/Uganda is a member of the ¨extended¨  Washington ¨C Street¨  scandal riddled ¨Family¨ and Chancellor of Ugandas Christian University   ¨C Street Family¨ quick reference list

·  Thanks to LGBT Asylum News, sideboard
·  Thanks to Alison Gardner
·  Thanks to Venus Plus X
·  Thanks to Get Equal
·  Thanks to Jeff Sharlet
·  Thanks to ¨The C Street Family¨
·  Thanks to Kushaba Moses Mworenko