The Defining Moment For LGBTQ Pride In Namibia Is Now

 

     SWAPO Party Youth League Secretary Ephraim Nekongo, representing young members of the party that has dominated Namibia since its independence, received backlash for statements made that criticized the Namibian Parliament for introducing legislation to repeal the laws that make consensual gay sex in the country a crime. Nekongo referred to homosexuality as satanic and demonic and said it should never be legalized in Namibia. The backlash came from LGBTQ rights groups in the country, highlighted here, who are close to passing this law and instituting an equal age of consent in the country.

     Namibia is one of the few African countries in which a majority of the people support LGBTQIA+ rights to equality and protection under the law, and the defining moment for pride in Namibia is now. Will politicians buy into unhinged, deranged thoughts like those of Mr. Nekongo, or will Namibia repeal laws that are rarely enforced and join the growing wave of nations who have chosen to embrace dignity, justice, and love in the 21st century?

     If the ban is going to be repealed, it will be this year, and you can make a difference by signing here and here.

VICTORY! An LGBTQ Rights Revolution In The Happiest Country In The World

     Nestled in the mountains between China and India lies the landlocked nation of Bhutan. With a small population of less than 800,000, this Buddhist-majority country is amazing and underrated. Studying its economy in terms of GHP (Gross Happiness Index) instead of GDP and mandating 2/3 of its surface be covered by forest, it is the world's only carbon-negative nation. 

     On February 17th, 2021, Bhutan decriminalized same-sex sexual relations and instituted an equal age of consent for same-sex couples, prioritizing happiness for everyone, regardless of who they love. This has been a long time coming. Buddhism does not condemn same-sex relationships, stating that it does not have any role in who reaches enlightenment and going further: many scholars of Buddhism believe that respect, not tolerance, is necessary because tolerance implies a person is doing something wrong.

     In 2018, Deyon Phuntsho and Tenzin Gyeltshen became the first openly-gay couple in the country and received overwhelming support. As a result, the number of people who admitted to being LGBTQ in the national census jumped from 97 in 2017 to 316 in 2019, although tens of thousands of LGBTQ people are believed to live in the country, including many transgender people.

     The topic of LGBTQIA+ rights fascinates Bhutanese people, especially in the media. With a new government, the unenforced old laws banning gays sex were abolished this year. Now, Bhutanese activists are working to secure recognition for same-sex couples in the form of same-sex marriage. With this drastic wave of near-unanimous acceptance in the past few years, we could also see anti-discrimination protections, adoption, legal gender change, military service, IVF, and surrogacy over the course of this decade.

     Bhutan remains quiet, growing ever more content.

44 LGBTQ People Face Life Sentences In Uganda

     June 6th: Uganda is among the most corrupt nations in the world, ruled by an elderly dictator who sees so little value in his own life and the lives of his citizens that he implements strict religious law in some idiotic hope of seeing peace in the afterlife.

     This was exposed for the world to see earlier this month, when Ugandan police raided an LGBTQ shelter for "violating COVID-19 restrictions." That's the equivalent of American nursing homes being raided by military police in the United States and the elderly residents put into prison. Crowded, dank cells with no access to medical care should help stop coronavirus, right?

     Uganda has a history of these types of raids, beating the activists and the people they protect with wood and metal rods, burning their skin, and performing "rectal probes" on at least 17 of them before torturing them to make them "confess" to the "crime" of being gay, punishable by life imprisonment in the backward legal system.

     More evidence to back up the latter part of my point comes in the fact that they all have a group trial (not so much different from terrorist groups like al-Shabaab and Boko Haram) that will be conducted one month from now, on July 8th. Ugandan police are brutalizing people because of who they love and trying to silence political opposition to their oppressive regime. The political prisoners have been freed on bail, but we cannot let international communities ignore this barbaric display by Ugandan officials.

QUADRUPLE VICTORY FOR LGBT2SQIA+ RIGHTS IN ANGOLA!!!

 

     What a day to celebrate! Two years of efforts have paid off with a series of sweeping laws making Angola among the African countries most tolerant to the LGBT2SQIA+ community. Effective February 2021, Angola has decriminalized being gay, instituted an equal age of consent, banned discrimination in all forms, and protected sexual orientation in hate crime laws. Previous anti-discrimination laws only covered employment, while the new laws cover the provision of goods and services, indirect discrimination, hate speech, etc. 

VICTORY! Biden Announces United States Will Advocate LGBTQ Rights Abroad

 

     While President Biden's LGBT2SQIA+ rights platform has mostly focused on advancing rights in the United States, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently gave activists reason to cheer with his double announcement:

1. The United states will, once again, fly gay pride flags at its embassies. Trans flags could also be flown.

2. The United States will fill the vacancy for LGBT Rights Envoy, a position Barack Obama created in 2015 but that Donald Trump left unfilled from 2017 to 2021 (during this time, Russia, Gabon, and Brunei brutally cracked down on gays).

     Advocating for issues around the world, this will undoubtedly include Africa, giving our movement to protect human rights there a huge boost!!!

Welcome To The Team!

 

Hello,

     The quest for human rights is one that never ends. Once oppressed globally, public opinion has now swung in support of gay rights. Over the past 20 years, the United States has decriminalized same-sex sexual contact and legalized gay marriage while passing the first transgender and intersex protections and more than tripling support for gay rights. Across Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, progress has also come in a wave not seen since the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

     In Africa and Asia, progress has been more hesitant, but it has been coming. South Africa and Taiwan have legalized gay marriage, and the number of countries still executing gay people can now be counted on one hand. Grassroots movements have succeeded in changing public opinion for the better, and we have a chance to take an active role in forging a future in which the world is one of harmony and tolerance. 

     Will you join-- through taking action, sharing the message, or donating to grassroots groups-- our tangent in the endless timeline of expanding basic human dignity and potential? Will you say that love that two consenting adults share should not be a barrier to being the best person one can be? When history judges this era, will you be a voice of compassion and justice or merely one of many bystanders?

Isaiah M. Laitinen

Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States

January 1st, 2021