Uganda: Presidential candidate backs gay rights

Amama Mbabazi has become the first Ugandan presidential candidate to say he is opposed to homophobia. The former Prime Minister, who launched his campaign last month to be named president in 2016, shocked the public by saying on TV: ‘I am opposed to homophobia. While I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, homosexuality is not something new. I have stated very clearly that there shouldn’t be any discrimination and it is not the biggest threat right now in the country.’ 

Gay rights activists have hailed this as one of the most significant moments of progress that Uganda has seen in years. In Uganda, there is an attitude that homosexuality is ‘un-African’ or that it is a Western import. By making clear it is not anything new, it could begin to be seen as natural. And by saying it is not a big threat, it should force the public to look at the serious issues that have been disguised by the current president Museveni’s unrelenting and public campaign against the LGBTI community.

His statement caused a deep divide among the Ugandan public, with some saying it was right that LGBTI people should not be persecuted while others said they could not support him because of this issue. While Sesange said he was concerned his message might be used against him in the election, he added: ‘We have more work to be done to support those allies who are against homophobia as well as helping to change people’s attitudes towards the LGBTI community.’  Read More

Namibia: Deputy Finance Minister’s anti-gay rant

Namibia’s Finance deputy minister, Natangue Ithete, launched a scathing verbal attack on homosexuality this week, declaring to Ministry of Finance staff that African culture does not entertain gays. Ithete accused foreigners coming into Namibia under false pretences and selling the idea to local cultures that homosexuality is acceptable. Ithete’s remarks have an international flair to it, following only days after Kenyan President Kenyatta said gay rights were a non-issue. 

“You are either a man or a woman. Don’t come from outside and tell us this is acceptable. They must keep their gay activities in their countries. We will not entertain any of this gayness [sic],” Ithete told staff during a visit to the ministry’s western region. Ithete’s attack on homosexuals followed as he urged customs and excise staff to welcome foreigners “with a true Namibian welcome”.  Foreigners will always be treated well in Namibia on condition they respect Namibia’s cultural orientations and not encourage or entertain anything he labelled as “un-Namibian”, said Ithete.

Despite the segmented homophobic remarks, Ithete welcomed foreigners to Namibia and acknowledged the importance of foreign involvement in the country like investment and assistance in areas the country lacks. “We have our president to respect. The president of Angola is not above any other president in Africa. When you are the president of your country, direct your people in your country and don’t influence us here. Sorry, this is how it’s going to be,” he pressed.  Read More 

Kenya: LGBT advocates meet with Obama

A White House official said LGBT advocates were among the more than 70 members of Kenyan civil society who attended a “town hall” with Obama in Nairobi. Eric Gitari, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, a Kenyan LGBT advocacy group, was among those who attended the gathering.

“We discussed the importance of creating strong movements and organizing collectively as civil society against oppression,” Gitari said, noting Kenyan television stations broadcast the meeting live. “The meeting was inclusive of other movements and mainstreamed our struggle with others. Our inclusion in it was monumentally symbolic.” Read More

Kenya: Church leaders praise President Kenyatta for his stand on gays

Church leaders have praised President Uhuru Kenyatta for his courage regarding homosexuality during a press briefing held at the State House, Nairobi with US President Barack Obama.

Speaking in Isiolo, Methodist Church of Kenya Presiding Bishop Rev Joseph Ntombura said as a church they were happy with the way President Kenyatta responded to the issue gays. Rev. Ntombura said the move by President Kenyatta was an assurance that he understands and respects the culture and religions of Kenyans. The bishop said homosexuality was against Kenyan culture and the Holy Bible adding that as a church they were not ready to be engaged in any talks regarding gay and lesbianism rights.

On his part the head of National Independent Church of Africa Eastern Diocese Bishop Stephen Karunyu said that the courage by President Kenyatta to respond to the 'gay matter' in front of Obama should be emulated by many who do not support such orientations. Read more

US: Obama clashes with Kenyan president over gay rights

US president Barack Obama, visiting his late father’s homeland for the first time as president, launched an unprecedented defence of gay rights in Africa, telling Kenya’s president that the state has no right to punish people because of “who they love”. Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and surveys show nine in 10 people find them unacceptable.

Obama personalised the issue by comparing homophobia to racial discrimination that he had encountered in the United States: “When you start treating people differently, because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode. And bad things happen. When a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread. As an African-American in the United States, I am painfully aware of the history of what happens when people are treated differently, under the law”

The Kenyan president publicly disagreed with Obama. “There are some things that we must admit we don’t share,” Kenyatta said, insisting that gay rights “is not really an issue on the foremost mind of Kenyans”. He added: “It’s very difficult for us to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept.” Watch the remarks   

Read More

Brazil: Transgender people encounter resistance from many healthcare professionals

The Supreme Court of Justice of Brazil approved legal gender reassignment in 2009,  and with support from the Ministry of Health, Brazil's public health system provides free gender reassignment surgeries. 

In practice, many transgender people face discrimination at healthcare facilities. Given the social context of Brazil, the ordinances by the Ministry of Health are still not enough. Coordinator of the State Center for Combating Homophobia in Pernambuco, Hugo Felipe Lima, said "The context is discrimination, people are depending on the humanity of others. No one admits to being biased, but from the doctor to the professional cleaning prejudice happens."

In 2012 the Center began offering priority job training in health. More than 400 people have passed through awareness workshops. This semester, classes are expected to resume, covering the 12 regional health managers.  Read More

India: Foreigners pick India for bargain sex-change operations

54yr old British national Sue Pascoe won't forget her trip to India in March. It was at Olmec Plastic Surgery Centre in Delhi's Pitampura that she was given the body she always craved of, a woman. Though she was officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2014, the earliest she could have undergone sex reassignment surgery under UK's National Health Service would be in 2018. Private treatment would have set her back by £40,000, so she started scouring the internet for alternatives. 

"I wanted affordable quality care from a highly experienced surgeon with high patient satisfaction from reference-able clients. What also attracted me to India was the fact that it is home to such a huge population of trans people," says Pascoe who gleaned information online. Like Pascoe, more transgenders are choosing India as a destination for surgery.

The procedure costs between Rs 7.5 lakh and 11 lakh in Thailand whereas in India you can get a new sexual identity starting Rs 3.5 lakh without compromising on the quality of treatment. Transgender tourists are now adding to India's booming medical tourism market, expected to attract 320 million tourists this year. Read More 

Russia: Considering ban on imported condoms

Foreign-made condoms, X-ray machines, and other medical equipment may be barred in Russia. The ban, which would prevent the Russian state from purchasing the items from foreign markets, was proposed by the Industry and Trade Ministry as part of an ongoing trade war between the West and Russia. It would not prevent shops from selling foreign-condoms but it would prevent the state from buying and distributing them, as well as raise the price of foreign-condoms. 

The ban raises concerns about Russia's fight to control HIV, as it's one of the few places where infection rates are still increasing rapidly. New infections are most common among injection drug users, though advocates say antigay stigma may prevent men who have sex with men from revealing how they were infected. Dr. Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the Russian Federal AIDS Centre, said more needs to be done to prevent infections, including public health campaigns and rolling back restrictions on sex education in schools. 

In response to criticism, former chief sanitary inspector and current government advisor Dr. Gennady Onischenko said condoms "have nothing to do with health." Pokrovsky argued that there is no direct link between imported condom sales and infection rates because the cost of imported condoms are high, saying that if given the choice between buying a condom and buying a beer, the average trade school student would choose the beer.  Read More 

US: Promoting the PrEP pill for HIV prevention among Latinos

Latinos are disproportionately affected by HIV, making up about 21% of new infections nationally, though they represented about 17% of the population. Latinos are more likely than non-Hispanic whites and blacks to get diagnosed later in the course of their illness, raising the risks to their health and the likelihood of transmission to others.

In California, New York, Texas and elsewhere, health workers are trying to get more high-risk Latino men to use the pre-exposure prophylaxis drug, Truvada--shown to be more than 90% effective when used correctly. But health workers are encountering barriers among many Latinos.

Among them are a lack of knowledge about the drug and the stigma attached to sleeping with men or perceived promiscuity. Many Latinos also have concerns about costs and side effects. For instance, a study with gay and bisexual Latino men in Texas, finds 58% of those surveyed see themselves as good candidates for PrEP, compared to 82% of non-Hispanic whites, according to preliminary data. Read More

US: Obama signs Executive Order for new National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Updated to 2020, a new HIV/AIDS details principles and priorities to guide the collective national work to address HIV in the US over the next five years. Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Douglas Brooks said that the level of HIV infection in the U.S. is “stable overall, but the risk to gay men remains severe. We still have an HIV epidemic, especially for young black men.”

Brooks said HIV “remains a major health crisis for the United States.” Despite successes in treatment and prevention, certain groups, highlighted by Brooks, remain a priority in the new strategy. This includes gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men of all races and ethnicities, black women and men, Latinos and Latinas, people who inject drugs, people between the ages of 13 and 24, people living in the Southern United States, and transgender women.

Brooks noted the particularly high burden of HIV among black transgender women and black gay and bisexual men, especially among young men. Read More

UNAIDS chief: Today's HIV epidemic is 'completely different'

The health community is celebrating a victory at the Third International Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week: the successful completion of the 6th Millennium Development Goal for combating the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Speaking on the sidelines, UNAIDS Executive Director was asked on the challenges moving forward to bring an AIDS-free generation. 

One concern raised was that HIV programing and funding has expanded beyond HIV. Michel Sidibé noted that the epidemic is 'completely different' than it was 30 years ago, noting that there are multiple epidemics and multiple 'driving forces of death.' He continued: 

"It’s the same for reforming laws. With bad laws you know that people will just go underground. Gay people are not anymore reached in many places because of homophobic laws. I don’t think they are going beyond their mandate, because giving only pills is not changing the face of the epidemic. We are talking also about restoring [the] dignity of people."  Read More

UN says major strides have been made to eradicate HIV and AIDS

The world has exceeded the UN goal of reversing the spread of HIV around the world by the end of 2015, according to a new report from UNAIDS, titled: How AIDS changed everything.

The 515-page report says that since the Millennium Development Goals were set in 2000, unprecedented strides have been made to eradicate HIV and AIDS: 15 million people with HIV are now on antiretroviral treatment, up from fewer than 700,000 people in 2000, and new HIV infection rates have fallen by 35%. The number of deaths related to AIDS has fallen by 41%. Combating AIDS, malaria and other diseases was one of eight goals UN member nations and other organizations pledged to address by this year.

There's still much work left to be done in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially in relation to LGBT people, sex workers, and intravenous drug users around the world, who are often ignored and discriminated against. And nearly half of people living with HIV do not know their status.

"HIV prevention efforts need to be adapted to respond to the new realities and needs of men who have sex with men," the report says. It adds that transgender people are typically excluded from public policy discussions as well as social services for HIV/AIDS and measures should be taken to eliminate gender-based violence and inequality. Read More

Access the report, infographics, and other tools here.