Zimbabwe: Transgender woman speaks on her fight against abuse

In Zimbabwe the idea of having a family member who transits from being a man to a woman (transgender) is unheard of and considered a taboo. Robert Tapfumaneyi spoke to Tatenda Karigambe who has since gone to have a sex change operation at a cost of about $80,000 to hear of some horrible moments, humiliation and discomfort she has suffered, the deep violation of her rights and how she has overcome them:

People have a lot of perceptions. When I read local newspapers I hear someone saying the transgender disease has hit our country; it's because people don't know and they don't understand it, it's like seeing a tree in a desert, it becomes very strange.

But we need to educate people so that they understand because daily our rights are being violated...Some accuse us of being swayed by Western influence; that is very wrong, transgender is also here in Zimbabwe. Make yourself known, make your voice loud, be proud, stay strong; that will bring out what I personally call gender identity revolution where we say the whole family of Zimbabwe be it black or white, be it heterosexual, be it transgender, we just speak in one voice of love and understanding. Read the full interview 

Cameroon: LGBTI rights leader faces police shakedown

The president of the LGBTI rights group Humanity First Cameroon returned from a trip yesterday to find a police sergeant waiting for him with death threats and a demand for money in exchange for his freedom.

Returning shortly after midnight at the end of a trip to Europe, Jules Eloundou was accused of homosexuality. The friends who came to pick him up were detained and assaulted. The police demanded bribes, hurled abuse, and beat the three men before eventually releasing them. Read More

UK: Hate crime is everyday reality for rural LGBT people, study says

LGBT people in Britain’s rural towns and villages are being bullied relentlessly because of their sexuality, leaving some too scared to leave the house, according to an expert in hate crime.

Stevie-Jade Hardy, a lecturer at the University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies and the author of a report on hate crime, said harassment and verbal abuse was an everyday reality for many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Hardy pointed to national figures that suggest eight in 10 LGBT people have been verbally abused or harassed and one in 10 has been physically assaulted.  She said LGBT people felt they were more likely to be the victim of hate crime if they were “noticeably different”, potentially making those in villages particularly vulnerable.

“Within rural locations those differences are maybe magnified, and so young people will often target someone who they see as being different in that context. People are actually scared to go out into their garden to enjoy the sun; some people had taken some practical steps like having CCTV put into their house.  Read More 

Syria: ISIS executes four men suspected of being gay as the US legalises same-sex marriage

A shocking video uploaded on Friday by anti-violence campaigners, showed the execution of four men. They were thrown off the roof of a building, during which screams were heard by the crowd of hundreds gathered to watch. Pictures and videos of the victims, who were suspected by ISIS of homosexuality, were uploaded by @Raqqa_Sl, which campaigns against violence in Syria. Some tweets even used the #LoveWins hashtag synonymous with the SCOTUS ruling, to tweet messages about the victims.

At time of publication the YouTube video of the execution had been removed. The group known as Islamic State has reportedly been employing “honeytraps” to coerce men into homosexuality before executing them. Read More

Turkey: Police fire pepper spray at gay pride parade

Although the gay pride parade has happened in peace for at least 13 years in Istanbul, this year the parade was interrupted by police who fired pepper spray and rubber pellets at thousands when they arrived to march. Parade organizers noted, "The use of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, as an excuse to curtail the freedoms of assembly, demonstration, and speech is a clear violation of rule of law. In taking this illegal decision, the Governor’s Office has thus broken the law." And further stated that police were not wearing helmets with their registration numbers, making identifying those responsible for the assault impossible.

"This is happening after the elections because they realize the power of the LGBTI movement," said transgender activist Ruzgar Buski. "Erdogan's government has lost their power and they know the LGBTI community stands with minorities."   Read More

Read the Istanbul LGBTI Pride Week Committee full statement here. 

Italy: Over 300,000 rally in Rome against gay marriage

People travelled from all over Italy and Europe yesterday to protest against the proposed legalisation of gay marriage, and the teaching of ‘gender theories’ in schools. Gathering in the San Giovanni Square in Rome, with estimates of participants running from 300,000 to a million people, the protest put the ‘anti-Austerity’ protests held in London on the same day to shame, for sheer volume of people and absence of criminal behaviour.

Attendees held aloft banners reading “The family will save the world” and “Let’s defend our children”, as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tries to push a civil union bill through parliament. The call for Italy to keep pace with its western European neighbours on the issue has grown stronger since Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage last month.

Massimo Gandolfini, spokesman for the “Defend our children!” committee said: “We are asking for families based on marriage be respected, and stressing the central role parents play. We forcefully reject the attempt to sneak into the curriculum projects which aim to destroy children’s sexual identities”.  Read More

US: Father of bisexual teen who died by suicide: 'It’s the worst pain you can ever imagine'

For the father of bisexual teenager Adam Kizer, the pain is still fresh, days after his son was taken off life support last weekend following a suicide attempt. He was 16.

According to the Post Democrat, on May 17, Contra Costa, Calif., "sheriff’s deputies took [Adam] for a mental health evaluation,” but released him claiming he wasn’t a risk to himself. On May 26, not 10 days later, Adam killed himself.

Adam came out as bisexual six months ago, to a supportive family and to friends. However, his father said, “I don’t think the boy went a whole week without somebody messing with him.” School officials told the local media they were oblivious to the bullying.
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US: They carved ‘Die F**’ into his arms

Rick Jones suffered horrific wounds after a vicious homophobic attack. Then the thugs went after his family. Detectives are trying to catch whoever did this by ramping up their patrols and keeping a closer eye on the victim. But the string of attacks is doing a number on a the town of Delta, Utah (population just under 3,500) which was described by Jones’s mom as a real life utopia. 

The attack on Jones was particularly ferocious. But it wasn’t uncommon, unfortunately. Out of the almost 6,000 hate crimes committed in 2013—the last year for which statistics are available—20 percent (approximately 1,200 that year) were based on victims’ sexual orientation, according to the FBI.

The family-owned Grand Central Pizzeria, which Jones runs along with his sisters and parents, has a policy in place for safety’s sake to never close up solo. “He sent his last employees home for the night saying, ‘I’ll finish this,’” Ricky’s mom Terri Jones, who works as a chef at the eatery, told The Daily Beast. “My son, being a male, was thinking he’s invincible.” Read More

US: Murders of LGBT and HIV-positive people in the US rise 11% in 2014

Homicides targeting LGBTQ and HIV-positive people rose by 11% in the US last year, making 2014 the deadliest year for people in those communities since 2012, according to a report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. While the report shows that non-lethal attacks against LGBTQ and HIV-positive people has decreased, transgender women of color were still found to be at high risk of murder.

The report, which drew from data across 14 states, comes after a transgender woman was thrown on to subway tracks in NYC, the same week Caitlyn Jenner introduced her new identity as a transgender woman to the world, to a largely positive reception.

“This year, the report reconfirms some of the trends we’ve seen for multiple years and that includes a high number of homicides,” said Chai Jindasurat, co-director of community organizing and public advocacy. Read More

Morocco: Gay men to be tried for violating 'public modesty' over photo

Two Moroccan gay men are set to go on trial for violating “public modesty” after holding each other for a photo at a historic site in Rabat, and could go to jail for up to three years. Mohsine and Lahcen were touring and taking pictures near Hassan tower, the capital’s famous minaret, earlier in June when they were arrested by the police for supposedly standing too close to each other, activists said. It is not clear if the men were in a relationship.

Last month, Morocco sentenced three gay people to three years in jail, the first time the authorities are known to have used the maximum sentence to punish homosexuals. This week, the latest issue of Maroc Hebdo magazine controversially asked on its cover: “Should we burn gays?”

On Tuesday authorities arrested two French members of the controversial feminist campaign Femen after they protested topless in front of a Rabat landmark against Morocco’s treatment of gays. The women, one of whom had the slogan “in gay we trust” written in black on her torso, were expelled Tuesday evening. They had protested in front of the Hassan Tower, a landmark minaret in Rabat. Read More

El Salvador: Leading trans activist murdered

A leading trans activist was killed recently in El Salvador, prompting calls by human rights groups to ensure the authorities to prosecute and punish those responsible.

Francela Méndez Rodríguez was murdered by a group of unknown assailants while she was visiting the home of a friend in Sonsonate, which is roughly 40 miles west of the capital San Salvador. Her friend Consuela Flores Martínez, was also killed.

The 29-year-old had been a member of Salvadoran trans advocacy group Colectivo Alejandría since it was founded in 2010, working tirelessly for human rights and in HIV prevention programs.  Read More

Iraq: Gripped by his ankles, a gay man is dropped to his death by ISIS executioner

Militants fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq have brutally murdered three gay men by throwing them from the top of a high building in front of a huge crowd of bloodthirsty onlookers.

Disturbing photographs of the atrocity - believed to have been taken place in ISIS' stronghold Mosul - shows one man being dangled over the edge of the building by his ankles before being dropped. In the event the horrifically injured men are not killed upon impact with the ground, the baying crowd are encouraged to surge forward and stone them to death with a mass of rocks helpfully provided by the ISIS savages who organise the terror group's sickening public executions. Read More 
(Warning graphic images)