When your bisexual partner (monogamously) strays ..........

Jason & Senzo characters in the South African Generations series

Jayson Malinga in Generations, has revealed he was initially nervous about playing a homosexual in the most watched drama series on South African TV.

An interesting discussion has been happening loosely on social media on the ongoing South African series Generations which has a pleasant gay couple as characters, stopping short of kissing on screen the plot line carries rather well. Baby steps I imagine. Effeminacy is nowhere in the series though as obtain in other TV shows that tend to stereotype gay couples as men wanting to be women or use effeminacy to legitimize the homosexual element of the character. Taking into account Television Jamaica, TVJ barring of let’s say the gay plot line in the US series Empire that’s a start but I cannot see why the station bars content so as to not offend anyone when persons can switch to other options but the backwardness continues I imagine. If they were so touchy with the so called gay ad/PSA court case after they rejected the submission for a certain activist and the nonsense they tried to use as justification for the non-acceptance then it is no wonder it continues despite so much movement elsewhere in terms of homo-normative relational themed content.

The supposed un-gaying of Senzo has not gone down well with some online viewers who follow that version as it is ahead than where we are in the series on local TV. Other viewers were saying they were bored with the gay couple not being more intimate in scenes or even a light kiss.

Facebook campaign some time ago claiming viewers are to stop watching if Jayson & Senso kiss.

In the Generations series aired on Sundays in a three hour marathon the characters are lovers and live in the same house as one of the men alongside his powerful father who has accepted them and a sister and such but another young lady who works for the sister’s struggling magazine got herself in some trouble after a sex tape of her in a compromising position with a married man, the fight between the young lady and the wife of the man was captured by smartphone and shared to the highest bidder in the tabloid arena it went viral. The wife of the man has been shopping around the actual sex tape on DVD and one of the gay lovers (the stray) became a unwitting participant after his father-in-law was also approached to buy the DVD of which he was pondering the decision. The ‘stray’ has become emotionally embroiled with the sex tape subject and it is as if he cannot help himself.

The matter of the assault court case due to the fight is in court which further pulls the stray into the life of the implicated woman on tape, he seems so sorry for her despite her refusal and her putting on a brave face, then the sister of his boyfriend is also aware of not only the sex tape on DVD or the shenanigans to have it sold but also the growing affections of the stray or her brother in law. This leads us to the issue of developing feelings for the opposite sex in as far as bisexuals are concerned, this is of course taking into account one’s subscriptions to monogamy to a partner. Polygamous relations have been mooted by other sub groups under the bisexual umbrella but we’ll stick to one partner for now. Bisexuals already have a bad rap even from within the LGT populations as being too greedy or wanting their cake and eating it too. Then there is the business of feelings that get emotionally attached and a romantic element comes into play as well, one wonders if in the Generations plotline will turn on a temporary infatuation for another who happens to be of the opposite sex.

Some commentators on the issue of straying or cheating by a same sex partner have said they would have avoided a bisexual to begin with as they somehow think there is just no guarantee for a steady union or trust. A passing skirt or pants could distract that partner as they are sexually attracted to both some feel as it is just too easy to supposedly cheat, but what if the partner really loves the main same sex partner but is just flirting with the other to the point of a one night stand? Biphobia or bi-rejection still abounds it seems and may be the cause of ignorance in terms of explaining the orientation and more persons who identify as such or pansexual tell their stories, bi erasure comes to mind as well but the awareness is slow as other issues take centre stage.

I have seen stories and discussion boards for bisexuals where persons enter into open relationships or polyandrous unions where an opposite sex partner is brought into the mix for lovemaking purposes only and not deep intimacy. The Muslim faith does allow for Polygamy/Polygyny where a man can have more than one wife as he sees fit and a few outlets of gay Muslims do support multiple partnering relationships of a mixed gender nature. Some bisexuals seem able to separate their true love interests from other physically attractive driven urges and desires, one’s body can respond to stimuli visually and otherwise but no emotional attachments; a good psychologist could probably assist in this realm of the matter.

Then there is the business of Monosexual(ity)

Monosexuality

Monosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction to members of one sex or gender only. A monosexual person may identify as heterosexual or homosexual.In discussions of sexual orientation, the term is chiefly used in contrast to bisexuality, pansexuality, and various other gender-inclusive or gender-neutral identities. It is sometimes considered derogatory or offensive by the people to whom it is applied, particularly gay men and lesbians.

The Kinsey Reports found that, in experiences leading to orgasm, 63% of men and 87% of women could be described as "exclusively homosexual" or "exclusively heterosexual", and thus monosexual in the US.

Alternative definition

The term monosexuality has also been used in contrast to polyamory (which is commonly confused with polysexuality), which is used to refer to people who desire or fantasize about sexual relations with more than one partner. Under this definition, a monosexual person desires sexual relations with only one partner and (like polyamorous people) may be homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual.
Mek we talk nuh

Peace & tolerance

H

Report examines homosexuality as part of African life

Scientific evidence shows that human sexual behaviour is naturally varied, and should not form a basis for discrimination, says a highly anticipated report from the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

also see: 

ASSAF REPORT ASSESSES CRIMINALISATION OF SEXUAL DIVERSITY

The report, launched at the Seventh South African AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa on 10 June, examined scientific evidence on sexual practices.

Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa was commissioned by ASSAf partly in response to a growing number of laws outlawing homosexuality on the continent, including in Burundi, Cameroon, Nigeria and Uganda. ASSAf initiated the study together with research institutes from Africa and abroad, including the Uganda National Academy of Sciences.

“There was concern in the scientific community about a rising trend in Africa against gay people,” says Glenda Gray, co-chair of the study and president of the South African Medical Research Council. “As medical professionals, we believed Africa needed a consensus study from a panel of experts in Africa who could present the most up-to-date data and recommend future areas of research.”

The report found no scientific evidence supporting views that there homosexuality is in any way  ‘abnormal’ sexual behaviour.

“There is now a wide global consensus among scientists that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation of human sexuality without any inherently detrimental health consequences,” it says. “In this context governments have a duty to consider scientific perspectives and draw on the most current scientific knowledge when creating policy and enacting laws.”

It also did not find any evidence that sexual orientation could be altered through therapy, that parents can raise children to be gay, nor that same-sex orientations are contagious.

from the document itself:
"Socio-behavioural research demonstrates unequivocally that both heterosexual and homosexual men feel that they have/had no choice in terms of their sexual attraction. The majority of women who experience same-sex attraction also express a lack of a sense of choice in their sexual orientation, although there is evidence for much greater fluidity in sexual orientation among women of all sexual orientations. 

The study explores – and finds lacking – evidence to support the contention that the way parents bring up their children, or the relationships formed between children and parents, impact on sexual orientation. While family environment may shape other elements of sexuality and the way sexuality is expressed, and while construction of gender and sexual identities have strong social and cultural components, there is little evidence that orientation is directly correlated to family upbringing."

“Broadly speaking, there is a strong bias against LGBTI people in Africa, though it is difficult to draw a line between the mood of people in the country and those driving the legislation.”

Matthew Clayton, Triangle Project 

Instead, the report presents substantial evidence that sexual diversity has always been a normal part of human society. In fact, it concludes that tolerance of same-sex orientation benefits communities and positively affects public health, civil society and long-term economic growth.

“We found that sexual diversity is normal,” says Gray. “And if you decrease discrimination, you improve access to healthcare and management of illnesses such as HIV, and you could minimise health-related economic impacts.”

Acceptance of diverse sexual practices can also improve the mental health of people with different sexual preferences and prevent divisions within families, she says.

page 17 of the study

Homosexuality is still illegal in thirty-eight countries in Africa, according to Amnesty International.

“Broadly speaking, there is a strong bias against LGBTI [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex] people in Africa, though it is difficult to draw a line between the mood of people in the country and those driving the legislation,” says Matthew Clayton, research, advocacy and policy coordinator at Triangle Project, a Cape Town-based organisation supporting the LGBTI community.

The inconsistent enforcement of anti-homosexual laws creates legal and social instability for those communities, he says.

“There is also the pervasive and untrue idea that homosexuality is ‘un-African’, and an import of the West,” he says. The report, however, flags up that there is historic evidence of homosexuality in Africa from pre-colonial times.

Clayton says the report could encourage policy makers, faith leaders and communities to learn about LGBTI people that live in their countries and “rebuff notions that can be damaging” to tolerance.

Gray shares the hope that the report may be a first step towards change.

“These are respected scientists, and by presenting their findings, their voices are hopefully heard as accurate and trustworthy and add to the mainstreaming of gender and sexual diversity,” she says.

This article was originally published on SciDev.Net. Read the original article.

ENDS

The publication also said:

"This report assesses the current global understanding of the key scientific issues involved. The panel considered the following questions: 

1. What is the evidence that biological factors contribute to sexual and gender diversity? To what degree is the wide diversity of human sexualities explained by biological factors? 

2. Do environmental factors such as upbringing and socialisation explain the diversity of human sexuality?

3. Is there any evidence for same-sex orientation being ‘acquired’ through contact with others, i.e. through ‘social contagion’? 

4. What evidence is there that any form of therapy or ‘treatment’ can change sexual orientation? 

5. What evidence is there that same-sex orientations pose a threat of harm to individuals, communities, or vulnerable populations such as children? 

6. What are the public health consequences of criminalising same-sex sexual orientations and attempting to regulate the behaviour/relationships related to some sexualities? 

7. What are the most critical unanswered scientific research questions regarding the diversity of human sexualities and sexual orientations in Africa?"

Having scanned in a first read I was expecting more cultural factors though such as innate homosexuality and same gender sex versus cultural substitutional sex or situational homosexuality between non romantic inclined same gender men per say such as in periods of hunting in packs or in pairs away from the village(s) from extended periods of time and where non penetrative play (possible partnered masturbation) is used as release during absence away from their women or wives.

I guess one thing at a time.

Peace & tolerance

H

LGBT Envoy Wants To Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends

J. Lester Feder

Newly appointed U.S. LGBT rights envoy Randy Berry doesn’t see his primary job as weighing in in countries where LGBT rights are most embattled. Instead, he says he’s targeting “the vast set of countries in the middle” on the question of embracing LGBT rights as a human rights concern.

“If we can do our part to move the center of the universe towards progress on this, that’s something I would like to be able to point to a few years from now,” Berry said in an interview with BuzzFeed News on Friday just before beginning a 15 country swing through Latin America and Europe set to coincide with LGBT Pride Month.

The pace of the trip “kind of makes my stomach hurt,” Berry said. “I’m home long enough to basically take my shirts to the dry cleaner and tuck the kids in.”

Though Berry is working on plans to head to Uganda in July, he is first visiting countries that have made rapid progress on LGBT rights over the past few years to get ideas on what strategies have been most effective. His South American stops include Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, all of which have established marriage equality over the past five years. He’ll also visit Chile, which enacted its first civil partnership law earlier this year, and is also a funder of the Global Equality Fund, a multinational, public-private partnership set up by the United States to support LGBT rights groups around the world.

“A great deal of leadership is coming out of several places in Latin America,” Berry said, adding that he hoped the trip would generate ideas on how to diffuse the attack often made by LGBT rights opponents that the United States is forcing acceptance of homosexuality on the rest of the world.

“We’re not working on a [North] American issue. We’re working on a global issue,” Berry said.

Berry said his last stop in Latin America will be in the Dominican Republic, where the appointment of the out gay Wally Brewster as U.S. ambassador in 2013 was met with a backlash from conservatives and the leaders of the Catholic Church.

Berry next heads to Eastern Europe, including a stop at the continent-wide pride event being held right on Russia’s doorstep in the capital of Latvia, Riga. He will also visiting neighboring Lithuania — which has a law similar to Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda” on the books — Poland, and Finland, which is also a contributor to the Global Equality Fund.

Before returning to the United States, Berry will stop in Amsterdam and London with the goal of recruiting support from business interests to promote LGBT rights, which he described as “one of the pillars” of what he hopes to achieve in the envoy post.

Berry is kicking off his tenure by emphasizing his role as an international emissary, but he has also been charged by Secretary of State John Kerry with coordinating the U.S.’s response to anti-LGBT crackdowns when they occur. Following the passage of sweeping anti-LGBT laws in Nigeria and Uganda in early 2014, Kerry said in an interview with BuzzFeed News that he had called for a comprehensive review of our relations with all countries that have anti-LGBT laws on the books.

That review has been completed, Berry said, including a “process of engaging with embassies and consulates” about the situation on the ground.

When asked about the fact that the U.S. response to LGBT crackdowns has been uneven — introducing some sanctions on Uganda and the Gambia following passage of their anti-LGBT laws, for example, while remaining mostly publicly silent on Nigeria’s anti-LGBT law and Egypt’s growing arrests of people accused of homosexuality — Berry said it would be a mistake to establish a set of measures automatically triggered when governments turn against LGBT people.

“I’m not convinced that you can put a matrix of action together that when you consider them to be violating human rights … because it robs you of the flexibility to engage,” said Berry. “Sometimes you need to take out the sticks,” he said, “but I’m firmly a believer in engagement.”

But he said that it was sometimes a challenge to get the United States to respond swiftly to threats to human rights because foreign policy requires coordinating across a sprawling set of divisions in the State Department and several other federal agencies.

“Any time you’re moving a bureaucracy as big as this one — especially with interagency [cooperation] — it takes some time,” Berry said.

also see:

'We came to listen and talk, not to judge'

RANDY Berry and Todd Larson wanted Jamaicans to have a clear understanding of the reason for their visit to the island last week.

So, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer lasting just under 30 minutes, the US Government officials stated more than once that they were here to listen, to engage America's partners in dialogue on human rights, and that meant the State giving equal treatment to everyone, regardless of their race, class, sexual orientation or beliefs.

"We're not advancing special rights, but talking about the universality... of human rights of everyone," said Larson, the United States Agency for International Development's senior LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex) co-ordinator.

That point was reinforced by Berry, who was just a few weeks ago appointed special envoy for the human rights of the LGBTI community by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Both Berry and Larson sat with the Observer on Friday afternoon, a day after their arrival which sparked protest by some church groups who argued that they were here to force Jamaica to embrace homosexual lifestyle as normal.

"I think it's unfortunately uninformed of what we are here doing," Berry said when asked to respond to the protest.

 Fanatical group Lovemarch protest outside the Pegasus where Berry was in a meeting during his recent visit to Jamaica

"We have been very, very careful -- as the president (Barack Obama) was during his visit and others -- to ensure we are engaging in a spirit of equality within a human rights framework. That is what we are interested in. We are not at all interested in making judgements, in using any other manner than to seek just an honest dialogue."

Berry said that while he was aware of that view regarding his and Larson's visit, he was confident that there wouldn't have been that much controversy if there was an understanding that both men were here "engaging in a human rights framework".

Ugandan gay pride parade despite legal challenges ....... third in succession

ENTEBBE, Uganda (AP) — Scores of Ugandan homosexuals marched through sprawling botanical gardens in the lakeside town of Entebbe on Saturday, their first pride parade since a Ugandan court invalidated a controversial anti-gay law.

Many marchers wore masks, signaling they did not want to be publicly identified in a country where homosexuals and their supporters face severe discrimination.

Although organizers had expected more than 500 people to attend the event, fewer than 200 turned up, said gay activist Moses Kimbugwe, who noted that many were afraid of possible violence following a court's decision earlier this month to jettison an anti-gay law that had wide support among Ugandans.

"We are here to walk for those who can't walk, who are afraid to walk," said Kimbugwe. "We are here to celebrate our rights."

Uganda's Constitutional Court ruled last week that the anti-gay law enacted only five months ago was illegal because it was passed during a parliamentary session that lacked a quorum. Some lawmakers have pledged to try to reintroduce the same legislation when parliament emerges from a recess later this month. They said they would try to pass the same law in parliament since it had been invalidated on technical grounds and not its substance.

A transgender Ugandan poses in front of a rainbow flag during the 3rd Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride celebrations in Entebbe, Uganda, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. (AP PHOTO/REBECCA VASSIE)

On Saturday, activists held up placards saying they would not give up the fight for gay rights in this conservative East African country of 36 million people. Some waved rainbow flags as they danced and frolicked on a sandy beach on the shores of Lake Victoria, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital, Kampala.

This was the third annual gay pride event, organizers said. The first one, in 2012, turned violent after local police tried to break it up, said Ugandan lesbian activist Jacqueline Kasha. This time they had been given assurances by the police that they could go ahead with the march, she said.

"We are a group of people who have suffered enough," she said. "We are Ugandans who have the right to gather in a public place ... and we are going to have fun."

Some among the marchers said they had initially planned to hold the event in Kampala but were warned by police that such a move would be provocative and possibly dangerous.

Homosexuals face threats including evictions by landlords and many have fled to neighboring countries such as Kenya, where the anti-gay sentiment is less pervasive, according to Ugandan rights activists. Many homosexuals are victims of extortionist campaigns by people who threaten to reveal their homosexuality to the police, said Kasha, the lesbian leader.

copyright (AFP Photo/Isaac Kasamani)

Homosexuality had been mostly a taboo subject in Uganda until a lawmaker, saying he wanted to protect children from Western gays, introduced a bill in 2009 prescribing the death penalty for what the bill described as serious homosexual offenses. The bill was revised to remove the death penalty and instead have jail terms of up to life for convicted homosexuals. 

Watchdogs groups and some Western governments condemned the bill as draconian and unnecessary in a country where homosexuality had long been a criminal offense.

Don't Mix Religion With Politics & The Ugandan Antigay Law Overturn

It's good news indeed as we watched from outside Uganda for the ruling from the Supreme Court there as to the constitutionality of their anti gay law and it is instructive for us here in Jamaica as to how the law ought to be fashioned especially given the recent threat by some anti gay religious groups that any administration that changes the buggery law will be voted out while they will do everything in their power to block any protection under the charter of rights from discrimination due to sexual orientation.

The tyranny of the majority I suppose now comes a letter in the Gleaner which I agree with given the previous post on the turn over of the law in Uganda, see HERE or Constitutional Court Strikes Down Uganda’s Anti Homosexuality Act

Now to the letter:

Don't Mix Religion With Politics

THE EDITOR, Sir:

And so it was, while many in Jamaica and elsewhere were busy celebrating Emancipation Day, the freedom and right to be who we are, many of our brothers and sisters in Uganda were busy celebrating a different type of emancipation.

The courts in Uganda struck down the anti-gay law imposed by the ruling government which made Uganda one of the most brutal and homophobic places. The anti-gay law, which was originally intended to impose the death penalty, was later revised to life imprisonment.

The law, though extreme compared to ours, where gays could be imprisoned just for being gay in Uganda, in essence isn't much different from Jamaica's. The emphasis in Jamaica is based on actual sexual activity (ignoring consent), and the punishment here is less severe.

The ruling in Uganda has set the tone once again to show that we're indeed living in a changing world, where education is the basis of emancipation, and that values and attitudes towards gays are evolving.

Fighting losing battle

I've said before homophobes are fighting a losing battle. People are entitled to their personal views, but what they are not entitled to do is to impose these views publicly where people's lives could be endangered, or their human rights could be violated. Although a small step for Uganda's LGBT community, it is a giant step in the right direction.

The Ugandan anti-gay law created much controversy and resulted in international outcry against the Ugandan government, tarnishing relations, especially with the West. And, although the ruling could possibly be appealed, a natural recourse in the law, it is likely that Uganda's Government, which is tightly controlled by President Yoweri Museveni, a former guerrilla fighter who has been ruling for close to three decades, must be having second thoughts.

Wake-up call

The ruling could also be a wake-up call for those in Jamaica who support the archaic buggery law which could imprison persons up to 10 years. It is interesting to note that Uganda's anti-gay movement began only a couple years ago when American fundamentalist preachers went to Uganda and worked closely with legislators there to draft a bill that called for putting gays to death!

Our own fundamentalist church leaders, who are often labelled 'the local Taliban Church', should also take note. Religion is personal. We worship privately in groups, and we have the right to choose our churches, our faith, where, when and how we worship.

When we start to mix the business of religion with the business of the State, history shows this never works. Slavery was once endorsed by religion, for example! This is why the State should always separate itself from the Church, especially when it comes to drafting legislation and protecting human rights!

PETE DELISSER
pdelisser1988@yahoo.com

ENDS

meanwhile Ndorwa West MP, David Bahati on Friday said that the Attorney General will petition the Supreme Court over the Constitutional Court ruling on the Act; just hours after court nullified it (Anti-Homosexuality law) which was approved by President Yoweri Museveni in February 2014.

“I want to thank the speaker, MPs who stood for what is right. The lawyer that represented government said she was not given chance to prove that there was quorum in parliament.

The court case ruling is no victory at all, the morals of the people of Uganda will prevail,” Mr Bahati said in a press briefing before adding, “The Attorney General who is very competent will petition the constitutional court over the constitutional court ruling. Our competent legal team will continue to petition the Supreme Court and I believe we will win.”

Bahati was the sponsor of the Private Member’s Bill. There has been no confirmation from the Attorney General’s office. The Constitutional Court is made up of five members of Uganda’s Court of Appeals and is subordinate to the nation’s Supreme Court.

Definitely this is not the end but it is a crushing blow to an unjust law how can one legislate morality or private sexual matters when consent is key?

TV news there have covered the issue fairly it seems:

UPDATE from Box Turtle Bulletin's page: Malevolence Personified where the US religious right link is made.

Peace and tolerance

H

Constitutional Court Strikes Down Uganda’s Anti Homosexuality Act

Constitutional Court Strikes Down Uganda’s Anti Homosexuality Act:

Wonderful news indeed (GLBTQ Jamaica) also see this update from Box Turtle Bulletin HERE

A Victory for the Human Rights of All Ugandans

(Kampala, Uganda) Health GAP reacted to today’s ruling in Uganda’s Constitutional Court striking down the Anti Homosexuality Act: “Today lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender Ugandans along with all human rights defenders in Uganda have scored a decisive victory against the

politics of scapegoating and the politics of hate,” said Asia Russell, Director of International Policy at Health GAP. “Parliament is not above the law and the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights for all Ugandans—no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Parliament passed the bill on December 20, 2013 and President Museveni signed the bill into law on February 24, 2014, despite earlier public pledges that he would not assent to the bill. It is widely believed that he reversed his position in an effort to strengthen his chances in 2016 for reelection as President.

The law, which is now nullified, increased the punishment for same sex acts between consenting adults to life in prison and criminalized ‘promotion’ of homosexuality and ‘aiding and abetting’ of homosexuality with 7 years’ imprisonment and hefty fines. These crimes

were defined so broadly as to criminalize provision of essential health and social services, such as HIV prevention and treatment.

Uganda’s Penal Code Act already includes colonial-era provisions criminalizing “carnal knowledge against the order of nature.” Today’s ruling does not affect that pre-existing law.

Today’s ruling was also hailed as a crucial development for increased access to life saving health services: Uganda is one of the only countries in East Africa reporting recent increases in HIV incidence.

Criminalised populations including gay men, sex workers, transgender women and drug users are at higher risk of HIV infection and disease progression as well as violence and abuse. For example, gay men in Kampala have an estimated HIV prevalence of 13%, more than three times the prevalence of other men.

Today’s ruling comes as a result of a case filed March 10, 2014 in Uganda’s Constitutional Court by ten petitioners, including Ugandan politicians, human rights activists, and legal experts. The petition argued that the law violates Ugandans’ constitutionally guaranteed human rights, including freedom from discrimination and freedom of expression. (The petition is available at ugandans4rights.org.)

“This decision is a bright spot in a dark record on human rights,” continued Russell. “It is the bravery and courage of gay and trans Ugandan activists that we have to thank for this decision. But we cannot rest—we must continue work to realize health and human rights for all, in Uganda and in other countries around the world that criminalize the sexual behaviour of consenting adults.”

According to activists, the signing of the law is part of a pattern of troubling actions indicating a deteriorating environment for human rights in Uganda, including the recent passage by Parliament of the HIV Prevention and Management Bill, which would criminalize people

living with HIV.

“Today in Uganda we are still far from that reality—for example the HIV Prevention and and Management Bill, which would criminalize people living with HIV and undermine the national AIDS response, is awaiting

signature by President Museveni. He should reject this flawed Bill without delay and recommend Parliament eliminate its provisions on HIV criminalization, mandatory HIV testing and mandatory HIV reporting.”

Contact for more information: Asia Russell, Health GAP +256 776 574729 (Uganda mobile) or +1 267 475 2645 asia@healthgap.org

Asia Russell Health GAP (Global Access Project)

email: asia@healthgap.org

tel: +256 776 574 729 (Uganda)

+256 703 574 729 (Uganda)

+1 267 475 2645 (US)

http://www.healthgap.org

skype: asia_ilse

twitter: @asia_ilse

Meanwhile the LGBT EU Intergroup said:

In a landmark ruling, the Constitutional Court of Uganda nullified the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.

The Court argued that procedural rules were not followed when Parliament passed the bill in December, as not enough lawmakers had been present at the vote.

The now void Anti-Homosexuality Act foresaw life imprisonment for consensual same-sex activity. ‘Promotion of homosexuality’ carried a maximum of 7 years imprisonment.

Ulrike Lunacek and Daniele Viotti, Members of the European Parliament for Greens/EFA and S&D, reacted to the ruling: “Today’s ruling is a victory for Uganda and a triumph for human rights.”

“We congratulate those who have worked so hard in Uganda to fight this hateful law. Finally, this law, which had already shown vast negative consequences, ceases to exist.”

Dennis de Jong and Tanja Fajon, Members of the European Parliament for GUE/NGL and S&D, continued: “This is a wonderful day for LGBT people in Uganda and those who are defending their rights.”

“However, the struggle is not over: under the penal code, homosexuality remains a crime, as in almost 80 other countries around the globe. We call on all these countries to stop criminalising LGBT people and respect human rights of all of its citizens.”

Homosexuality in Africa (Part 2)

also see: Homosexuality in Africa - (Part 1)

A very exceptional case was provided by the Nkund¢, a Mongo people of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their tradition of homosexuality among men included the requirement that the younger men assume the top position. That tradition had died out by the time it was reported, but had been replaced by several others. One replacement was a game called yembankongo wherein younger boys pretend to be monkeys. Another replacement was the game of "playing parents," which is very commonly reported. Among the youngest children the game is merely imitative of adult sexual positions, but as the young people mature the game becomes perfectly conscious sex. And in the game not much attention is paid to whether the partners are of the same or opposite sexes. Among the older boys, when they lay together, one would say to the other, "This is what I do to your sister." The missionary who made this report then suggests that the boys are not really doing anything homosexual because they say that stuff about each other's sisters. Female homosexuality was well known and was called ya¡kya bons ngo which can be translated very roughly as "bumping pussies." The missionary writes, "Homosexuality has been known among the Nkund¢ since time immemorial, among men as well as women." But then he tries to explain it away, saying it is difficult for the young people to get married (Hulstaert). This kind of doublethink is found over and over in the literature whether the writers are missionaries, colonialists, historians, or anthropologists. A tradition is something that the average person in society knows about and reports. Since the average person in any society is non-gay, traditions of homosexuality are filtered through non-gay perceptions. Then when the traditions are reported, they are filtered again through the prejudices of the anthropologist or the colonial civil servant or whoever. Finally, before the report is printed, it is often is edited or censored. Sometimes we end up with a few sentences in bad Latin, if we are lucky. Often we find only a reference to "unspeakable acts" or "reprehensible scenes." We have a good idea what is meant. But the details are lost. Then we may find a later report that is more candid. We just have to suppose that the later report explains what the "unspeakable acts" were.

Here, however, is an example in which the earlier investigator gave the better account. The Fang live in the forest on the border between Gabon and Cameroon. The Fang were so called Bantus who replaced the original Pygmy inhabitants of this area three or four hundred years ago. One writer (Trezenem) reported: "Neither homosexuality or bestiality have ever been recorded, to our knowledge, among the Fang." That writer did his fieldwork around 1935. Writers who treat homosexuality and bestiality in the same sentence do not merit our trust. The Fang deserve a closer look. Sure enough, a writer who did his fieldwork around 1905 recorded traditions of homosexuality among the Fang. First Gunther Tessmann gives the usual reports of younger people playing parents. He reports a game played by older boys among the neighbouring Pangwe: one boy plays the wife of another and presents the play-husband with a mud pie. If the husband accepts, he pretends to eat the mud pie. They do not, however, pretend to have sex, but have sex in fact. Adult Fang excuse this sort of thing by saying the children do not know what they are doing and that children have no sense of shame. Adult Fang imply that such things never happen between adults. Tessmann then writes: We have spoken of homosexual relations among 'children.' In adults such conduct is regarded as something immoral and unnatural, simply as unheard of. In reality, however, it is frequently 'heard of' that young people carry on homosexual relations with each other and even of older people who take boys, who, as is well known, 'have neither understanding nor shame'. And they readily console them by saying: [we are playing a game]. The children are excused with the well-known assertion, which in its deeper sense can rarely be defended: [they don't know what they are doing]. Adults are excused with the corresponding assertions: [he has the heart of boys], which is, of course, by no means flattering to them.

Publicly, of course, homosexuals are treated with the greatest contempt, and they were therefore forced, as a matter of course, to cast about for a protective covering to shield themselves from the attacks of those who are different, just as a porcupine is protected by its covering of quills, a covering on which the attackers would cut their mouths and their caustic tongues. Such a covering was supplied by medicine, it was said that homosexuality is 'wealth medicine.'

Well, do you think that homosexuality among the Fang had completely disappeared by the Thirties, so that the writer who denied it was being completely honest? Or do you think it more likely that he was not sufficiently interested to ask the right questions of the right people. Certainly he made no great effort to survey the literature on the point. Clearly the Fang are as capable of being hypocritical as anyone. Perhaps by the Thirties they had learned to be more careful about what they said to Europeans. The Fang were not proud of their traditions of homosexuality. Adult male homosexuality was not generally accepted by the Fang. Fang homosexuals had to have a cover story. They told the other Fang: we are not really homosexual; we are just making money. Perhaps the Fang, as much as any of us, realised it was just an excuse, but at least it was an acceptable excuse. This is an example of a homosexual tradition and also an example of a tradition that not everyone in society thinks well of. According to Fang belief, the bottom man has the wealth medicine and the top man acquires it. Tessmann writes: "In actual fact it might turn out the effect of the medicine consists in the mutual support the 'friends' render each other, based chiefly on the consciousness of common guilt and the endeavour not to let this guilt be known." The wealth medicine is called bian nkuma which is generally used as an euphemism for anal sex between men. There is also a down side to this. Fang think homosexuality causes diseases such as leprosy and yaws.

The Fang are great story tellers and you are likely to find some of their stories in any anthology of African folktales. One of the stories involves four suitors who arrive at Bongo's house to court his beautiful daughter. The suitors were Schok I, Schok II, Schok III, and Schok IV. The daughter liked Schok IV. The mother liked Schok III. The brother liked Schok II. Bongo, the father, liked Schok I. Night fell and when they laid down, Schok IV laid with the daughter, Schok III laid with the mother, Schok II laid with the brother, and Schok I laid with Bongo. Schok IV tried to get romantic with the daughter, but since they were all in the same hut, the others made remarks to discourage him. Instead, he and the daughter planned to run away together, and the next day that is what they did. When it became apparent what had happened, Schok III flew into a rage, killed the mother, and fled. But Schok II decided to stay with the brother and be the brother's lover. Bongo wanted to make it up to Schok I, so he offered Schok I money and a wife. But Schok I refused, saying: "No, I don't want it. Rather, let it be that we shall always be together; when you urinate I shall urinate; when you defecate, I shall defecate; when you sleep, I shall also sleep with you in the same bed." Those Fang! Such romantics! Anyway, that is the Fang pledge of eternal love. So Schok I stayed with Bongo and was his lover. They became quite rich. But this is, after all, a Fang story, and the Fang do not approve of homosexuality, so eventually one of the lovers died of leprosy and the other died of yaws, while the Schok who had murdered the mother got away scot-free. In stories, disease awaits all those whom the Fang consider to be sexual deviants, such as anyone who has sex in the daytime.

Homosexuality in Africa - (Part 1)

Homosexuality in Africa - (Part 1) 

The common belief among Africans is that homosexuality is primarily a story of seduction by Europeans and/or Americans, in which the Africans acquiesced out of fear or from a desire for money. . . But we know that this is a lie, and this is an attempt to shed some light on our true history, that which our colonial masters had ensured was kept hidden from us. In the black/white relationships that did develop into homosexual unions, the white partner appears to have been the aggressor. No doubt the abuse of African people by European/American people has included sexual abuse. What is untrue, the lie, is that such abuse was the origin of African homosexuality.

There are two false assumptions in anthropology. The first false assumption is that savage or primitive people know nothing about homosexuality; the second false assumption is that Africans were savage or primitive. Where there was clear and indisputable evidence of African homosexuality, anthropologists had to invent excuses in order to save these false assumptions, and that is what they did.

The first excuse was that Africans learned homosexuality from the Arabs. Then the excuse was that Africans learned homosexuality by hustling Europeans. Anthropologists said homosexuality was only a corruption practiced by the overly rich chiefs. Then they said that poor people practiced homosexuality because the overly rich chiefs had monopolised all of the women in harems. They said it was only youthful high spirits: the African was not really homosexual; he was just real drunk last night. Every excuse you are likely to hear from a deep closet case was used by Euro-American academics in the attempt to explain away the facts. The facts were: homosexuality was found in almost every major African ethnic group that we know of, through all of the history we know of. Few of the societies of Africa could be called savage or primitive, but all over the world, those people who might fairly be called savage or primitive are perfectly familiar with homosexuality. Homosexuality is not the white man's way. It is the way of gay people of all colours and nations, of all places and times.

African Homosexuality

One common mistake made, is that of confusing the popularity of homosexual activity with what gay people are doing and how they are treated. In Azandeland, in modern day northern Congo and the Central African Republic, most men, or at least very many men, had homosexual affairs. However, most men were still expected to marry women, father children, and so forth. The Azande knew very well that some men preferred to have sex with other men. Although every man was expected to marry a women, Azande customs provided a man with an excuse to have sex with another man whenever he wanted, throughout life. Marriage between warriors and recruits was only a part of the Azande accommodation to male homosexuality. The Azande were not a liberal people. They were the rare example of a society that punished female homosexuality while imposing no penalty on males. Because it was thought fatal to any man who witnessed it, female homosexuality could, in theory, entail the death penalty. But in fact female homosexuality was common and the public knew about it. In an Azande folktale two women conspire to fool a husband in order to get together. The most common sexual activity between men was intercourse between the thighs. This sort of adaptation is common in cultures where homosexual affairs become fashionable among non-gay men. We do not know what the gay, or preferentially homosexual Azande did. We only know the Azande knew there were such men.

In societies where homosexuality becomes popular across the board, it is usual to find that older men choose unmarried young men and that the older men assume the role of top in these relationships. So it is perhaps instructive to look at two groups in Africa that went counter to that tendency. A good example of an African people with a tradition of male homosexuality between lovers of the same age was the Nyakyusa who lived north of Lake Malawi (aka Lake Nyasa). However important the family was in Africa, you cannot form strong states and vast empires such as Africa had, on the basis of family alone. Intermarriage helps some. But to build a strong state you must have forces that run across family lines, that hold the various families together, and that keep feuds and rivalries from tearing society apart. Various African societies have used various institutions to paste society together. There might be secret societies, like fraternities and sororities, especially in West Africa. There might be trade organisations or craft guilds. There may be dance associations or religious institutions. Very commonly, people are organised in age groups. The Nyakyusa of what is now southwestern Tanzania and northern Zambia carried organisation by age group to the extreme. They organised their villages by age group. One of the first things young Nyakyusa boys did, to show they were becoming responsible, was to herd cattle. Generally a boy and his best friend would herd their families' cattle together. Pasturing the cattle gave the boys plenty of time to play around. And, of course, what they did was to have sex. They danced together, engaged in mutual masturbation, anal sex, and intercourse between the thighs.

Oral sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, was not very popular in traditional African societies. Most of them thought it was very bad. Oral sex or rape were considered serious crimes which might entail a cattle fine. All of the other things the boys did might get them a tongue lashing or a minor whipping if they were caught by the adults. But everyone knew what was going on and no serious attempt was made to stop the boys. At a fairly young age Nyakyusa boys had to move out of their fathers' homes. At first they were likely to sleep with other boys in abandoned huts or other bachelors' quarters in their fathers' villages. Boys slept together, and naturally had sex with each other at night. So long as force was not used, no crime was reckoned to have occurred when the boys had sex. For the boys, homosexuality was considered a perfectly normal, if not completely desirable, sexual outlet that required no explanation, supernatural or otherwise.

Eventually boys of the same age, perhaps from several parent villages, got together and began to form a village of their own. At first this was a boys' village. The girls remained in the parent villages until the boys reached a marriageable age. In a sense, Nyakyusa villages have a life cycle from boyhood through manhood to old age. A village is child to some other villages, parent to some villages, and brother to yet others.

Now, what do I mean by boys? In Africa you are a child until you become a boy. You remain a boy until you of an age to have a house, a female wife, and children of your own. Nyakyusa began having homosexual relations at 10 to 14 years of age. They seldom married before they were 25. So for ten to fifteen years of the most sexually active part of life, Nyakyusa men practiced homosexuality. Once they got married to women, and virtually all of them did, Nyakyusa men were supposed to stop having homosexual relations. Nonetheless, a few cases of relations between men and boys came to light. This was punishable by a cattle fine. It is said, however, that the men were not afraid of the fine, but of the shame of being caught in activity associated with witchcraft. In any event, Nyakyusa men did not believe it sacrificed their masculinity to perform anal sex in either position. They did not believe they were castrated in the middle of their burning skulls just because they had sex with their friends. Certainly the Nyakyusa public thought it peculiar if a man with a wife at home preferred to have sex with a man or boy, but that only raised questions of witchcraft, not questions of manhood.

Uganda and Nigeria: European Parliament calls for targeted sanctions over new laws

Today, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning new laws to imprison lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals in Nigeria and Uganda. The resolution calls on the European Commission and Member States to take immediate action in the fields of political cooperation, aid, and asylum.

In December, Nigeria adopted the ‘Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill’; in January,the President of Uganda promulgated the ‘Anti Homosexuality Act (2014)’. Both laws foresee harsh penalties for people who ‘commit homosexuality’ (up to life imprisonment in Uganda, up to 14 years in Nigeria).

The laws will particularly impact those wishing to go to gay-friendly bars; attend meetings by NGOs protecting human rights; or receive information about HIV/AIDS.

With this resolution, the Parliament asks the Commission and Member States to step up their human rights dialogue with Uganda and Nigeria under the Cotonou Agreement, which organises political relations between the European Union and 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

A human rights dialogue is scheduled with Uganda on 28 March. If it leads to unsatisfactory results, MEPs will ask the Commission to consider suspending Uganda and Nigeria from the Cotonou Agreement.

The resolution also calls for aid to be redirected away from governments, and towards civil society organisations instead.

The Parliament also suggested that Member States consider travel and visa bans for political and civil society leaders responsible for the passage of the laws.

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup and Rapporteur of the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, reacted: “After 15 years of ACP-EU relations, we must admit that the Cotonou Agreement is failing human rights.”

“This house believes it is high time to take the next step, and consider suspending Nigeria and Uganda from the EU-ACP political dialogue.”

Ulrike Lunacek MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup, added: “These laws gravely undermine the most basic right of all: the right to life. We know that the mere examination of these laws has already led to deaths.”

“LGBT people in Uganda and Nigeria now live in a constant state of fear, just for being who they are, while we know that female and male homosexuality is not ‘un-african’ as some claim. It has existed and will exist in all cultures and societies.”

“The EU must take a strong stance against the governments and leaders behind these laws, while standing in solidarity with all the citizens of these countries.”

Read more:
Read the resolution on launching consultations to suspend Uganda and Nigeria from the Cotonou Agreement in view of recent legislation further criminalising homosexuality

Uganda President ratifies Anti-Homosexuality Bill; MEPs: ‘Suspend political agreement with Uganda!’

Edited by H

Of course well thinking persons despite sexual orientation or religious background sees the recent signing of the much touted anti homosexual bill in Uganda as plain madness, the EU has acted and other countries have withdrawn aid as posted in the entry immediate to this one. The EU LGBT Intergroup has released a release regarding this gravest of acts on the African continent in recent times and is a cause for concern as the rhetoric being used to justify the plain hate is preposterous.

I stand in solidarity with our counterparts in Uganda not because they are LGBT people but simply because they are HUMAN and deserve to exist especially in a world where knowledge while increased and accessible is deliberately being manipulated by political directorates in order to stay in power.

Yesterday the President of Uganda signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law. The new law vastly expands the criminalisation of LGBTI individuals, and now forces parents, teachers and doctors to report LGBTI persons to authorities.

Under the Penal Code Act 1950, consensual sexual activity between same sex adults was already punishable by life imprisonment.

Apart from bolstering older anti-sodomy laws, the new law punishes persons keeping a house or rooms for the ‘purpose of homosexuality’ (i.e. landlords or parents of LGBTI persons) with a maximum of 7 years’ imprisonment.

The ‘promotion of homosexuality’ also becomes punishable by up to 7 years’ imprisonment. This will have severe consequences for human rights defenders, including heterosexual individuals.

Previous drafts of the bill included the death penalty for HIV-positive individuals, or ‘repeat offenders’. These ‘offences’ are now punishable with life imprisonment.

UNAIDS has warned that the criminalisation of homosexuality has severe negative consequences for HIV programmes, and public health generally.

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-President of the LGBT Intergroup reacted: “I am appalled by the adoption of this bill which breaches the most fundamental right of all: the right to life.”

“I call upon EU Member States and the European Commission to start, as a matter of urgency, the procedure to suspend Uganda from the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement on the grounds of grave human rights violations.”

Olle Schmidt MEP, Member of the EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the LGBT intergroup added: “This development is extremely dangerous and literally threatens the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. LGBT people should be able to live their lives without fear of arbitrary arrests and violence against them, simply for being who they are.”

“The EU and its Member States should use all their powers to push for decriminalisation, and should assure that all LGBT people have the right of asylum in the EU because of the discrimination they face at in their home countries.”

Denmark, Netherlands cut aid to Uganda over anti-gay bill .............. others pending

first remarks in 2012

Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have become the first countries to cut aid to Uganda following the signing of their controversial anti-gay bill.

Yesterday (February 24), President Yoweri Museveni signed the bill, which could see gay people facing life imprisonment, with those who assist gays also facing custodial sentences.

The Netherlands have frozen approximately $9.6 million (£5.8m) in aid to Uganda’s legal system, saying that they did not want to assist the African nation in the criminalisation of homosexuality.

Denmark and Norway have both announced that they plan to redirect aid away from the government in Uganda. Instead, they will provide aid totalling $17 million (£10m) to human rights groups and other organisations in the country.

Meanwhile, both the US and Canada have stated that their relationships with Uganda would have to be reviewed following the introduction of new anti-gay laws.

President Museveni described gay people as “disgusting” shortly after signing the bill on live television.

The former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, has condemned Uganda’s anti-gay law, saying that it is as evil as Nazism and Apartheid.

The law calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and makes it a criminal offence not to report someone for being gay.

Lesbians are covered by the bill for the first time.

On signing the bill, the president questioned why gay men “failed” to be attracted to women, described them as “mercenaries” who have sex for money, expressed displeasure at the idea of oral sex and claimed that he had “listened to scientists” as a basis for his claims.

Going on, he also said that there was something “really wrong” with gay people, and that he is “prepared” to be on a collision course with the west over the law.

He said: ”I have failed to understand that you can fail to be attracted to all these beautiful women and be attracted to a man.”

“That is a really serious matter. There is something really wrong with you,” he said.

“Homosexuals are actually mercenaries. They are heterosexual people but because of money they say they are homosexuals. These are prostitutes because of money,” he said, asserting that he had taken the time to get scientific advice before signing off on the law.

“No study has shown you can be homosexual by nature. That man can choose to love a man… is a matter of choice. After listening to the scientists, I got the facts. Can somebody be homosexual simply by nature? The answer is no.”

Describing oral sex as a “culture”, and the mouth as an “address”, he went on to say that it was “engineered for kissing”, and that the mouth was not meant for oral sex.

He said: “One of the cultures that we detest is oral sex. The mouth is for picking food, not for sex. We know the address for sex. That address is not for sex,” he said. “The mouth is for eating not for sex. The mouth is engineered for kissing.

“It is not healthy. You can contract STDs. You push the mouth there, you can come back with worms and they enter your stomach because that is a wrong address. You can also contract Hepatitis B.”

Blaming the West for the presence of gay people in Uganda, he said “arrogant and careless Western groups” had been “coming in our schools and recruiting homosexuals into homosexuality and lesbianism”.

“Initially I have not paid attention to it because I was busy with the immediate issues of defence, security, electricity, the roads.”

“When finally, when I concentrated my mind on it, I distilled three problems: number one, those who are promoting homosexuality and recruiting normal people to it. Secondly, as a consequence of number one, many of those recruited, are doing so for mercenary reasons. To get money. In effect, homosexual prostitutes. These mercenary homosexual prostitutes have to be punished. Just like those who are recruiting them.”

“Number three, homosexuals exhibiting themselves. Exhibition of homosexuals, advertising yourself that you are homosexual.”

Concluding, he addressed criticism from the West for the law. Critics include Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Foreign Secretary William Hague, EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and US President Barack Obama.

“I advise friends from the West not to make this an issue because if they make it an issue the more they will lose,” he said. “This is social imperialism. To impose social values of one group on our society.

“I would advise Western countries, this is a no-go area… I don’t mind being in a collision course with the West. I am prepared.”