Behind the Mask

BEHIND THE MASK a website on gay and lesbian affairs in Africa

africa abroad

This section covers international events that have an impact on LGBT issues in Africa and also the achievements and lives of lesbian and gay Africans outside Africa.

international organisations

ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) Admin office
81 Kolermarkt, B1000, Brussels
Tel: +32 (0)2 502 2471
Fax: +32 (0)2 502 2471
Email: ilga@ilga.org
IGLHRC (International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission)
Address: 1360 Mission Street, Suite 200, California CA94103
Tel: +1 415 255 8680
Fax: +1 415 255 8662
Email: iglhrc@iglhrc.org
Website: www.iglhrc.org
activities: lobbying and advocacy

uk home office attempts to deport gay ugandan torture victim
October 7, 2005: The detainee alleges that he was subjected to racist, homophobic and sexual abuse by Home Office staff. He further alleges that he was denied medical treatment for five months. Human rights organisations condems Harmondsworth as "an often lawless place where the human rights of asylum seekers are systematically abused without redress." More...

le maroc vainqueur
Juillet 2005: Grâce au charme de son candidat Taoufik Abdennabi, le Maroc a été classé 2ème au concours " Mister Mediterraneo 2005 ". Une première candidature et un premier sacre pour notre pays. More...

nigerian blogger tackles taboos
July 7, 2005: A Nigerian-born blogger living in Spain is giving a voice to African women and highlighting gay and lesbian issues on the continent. More...

iasscs 2005 lacks african presence
June 29, 2005: A significant conference discussing implications of moral panic on society repeats the same format it took few years ago when it was held in South Africa: very few African delegates. More...

an ethiopian human rights activist raises the profile of gay rights on campus
June 22, 2005: Senior Leoule Goshu has overcome many obstacles in life. Having left his abusive parents for a life on the streets, he is now a full-time student at the UW and was director of the GBLTC. Leoule Goshu endured depression, domestic violence and homelessness - all before he turned 22. More...

africa rapport lobbies the british prime minister about Africa lgbti issues and hiv/aids. More...

an archive project aimed at black lgbti in the uk gets underway
June 2, 2005: For the first time in history, black LGBTI community in UK has taken charge of a major project which aims to document their experiences as a social group in Europe. More...

ethiopian gays are organizing themselves in washington d.c.
May 20, 2005: For a group of Ethiopians drives away from their country because of homophobic attacks, refuge in foreign lands need not be an isolated experience as the turn to the net. More...

malcolm x - gay black hero?
May 19, 2005: On Malcolm X's 80 birthday, Peter Tatchell reveals the hidden gay past of the American Black Nationalist leader. More...

i was right about aids
April 21, 2005: Mbeki resuscitates a moribund debate and argues that the recent WHO conference held in South Africa validates his theories. More...

sllaga addresses the united national human rights commission session in geneva
April 18, 2005: Following the brutal killing of Fanny Ann Eddy in Sierra Leone in 2004, her successor hasn’t been daunted and was one of the few African gay delegates to address this year’s UNHCR session. More...

gay algerian faces deportation after 10 years in uk
February 21, 2005: After living a happy, secure life in Britain since he was 15, a 25-year old gay Algerian, Saad B, now faces being torn apart from his lover and deported to his violently homophobic homeland of Algeria, says OutRage!. More…

gay ugandan refused entry to uk because homosexuality is illegal in his homeland
January 31, 2005: (London) A gay Ugandan man has been denied a visa to enter Britain because there is a warrant for his arrest in his home country - a warrant that was issued because he is gay. More...

black, muslim and gay
November 11, 2004: With MPs this week pushing legislation through the Commons to create civil partnerships - gay marriages in all but name - homosexuality has never been more accepted by British society. More...

candlelight vigil and wreath-laying: fannyann eddy remembered
November 10, 2004: LONDON - The murdered leader of the Sierra Leone Lesbian and Gay Association (SLLAGA), Fannyann Eddy, 30, was honoured at a candlelight vigil and wreath laying outside the Sierra Leone High Commission in London tonight (Tuesday 9 November 2004). More...

amsterdam: the moroccan quandary
November 1, 2004: Amsterdam is known as a liberal city, where just about anything is allowed, but it is also a multicultural city where permissive Dutch law does not always sit well with conservative immigrants. Dutch liberals and gay immigrants alike face a multi-layered issue. More…

fannyann remembered at homomonument
October 24, 2004: Recently murdered activist Fannyann Eddy was remembered at the Homomonument in Amsterdam yesterday at the close a week of lesbian and gay activities in the city organised by HiVOS. More…

tumaini - african and gay in the uk
October 5, 2004: Tumaini is gathering of gay and bisexual African men and men of African descent. But is open to anyone interested in discussing African gay culture in the UK. More...

simon and I in amsterdam
September 3, 2003: As part of the Africa in the Picture festival Behind the Mask and Niza co-host screenings of Simon and I that will be attended by the film's director beverley Ditsie. More...

debate postponed until next year
April 26, 2003: Abstention by South Africa feared - Vatican and Muslim countries lead campaign against the resolution being voted on - in the end it is put off until next year. More...

why would south africa abstain?
April 25, 2003: Open letter to delegation in Geneva and the President's office. More...

us set to abstain on un vote
April 24, 2003: Historic vote at the United Nations condemning discrimination based on sexual orientation will not be supported by the US says two major LGBT organisations. More…

un vote postponed
April 24, 2003: Yesterday's landmark vote on "Human Rights and Sexual
Orientation" has been postponed. IGLHRC call for urgent lobbying. More…

un vote today
April 23, 2003: First-ever UN resolution opposing sexual orientation-based human rights violations set for consideration today. More…

resolution is a test
April 23, 2003: Amnesty International calls for adoption of resolution on sexual orientation at UN Commission on Human Rights saying that resolution is a test of the universality of human rights. More...

mysterious death of somali in canada
February 25, 2003: Afdhere Jama reports on the four different versions of events and possible police involvement in transexual's death. More…

mugabe in paris
February 25, 2003: Gay and human-rights activists repeatedly zapped vociferously anti-gay Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Feb. 19 and 20, calling him a murderer and demanding he be arrested for torture. More...

amsterdam summer institute
February 2003: Information and applications for scholarship for the course to be held June/July 2003 at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. More...

medals brought home to south africa
November 12, 2002: Delegates returning to South Africa with gold, silver and bronze medals for their country, from the Gay Games in Sydney said that the city took the event very seriously. More...

sa women athletes off to gay games VI
November 5, 2002: History was made on the evening of Monday, October 28, when six women - "young, gifted and black" - left South Africa bound for Sydney, Australia, where they will be taking part in the fifth renewal of the international Gay Games.
More...

united nations condemns trials of suspected homosexuals in egypt
August 19, 2002: Groundbreaking step by major UN working body. More...

africa says no
May 3, 2002: UN votes down IGLA effort to regain consultative status. More...

judges urge for liberalisation
Undated, Delhi, India: Judges from South Africa and Australia are in India, where gay sex is a criminal offense, to lobby for a liberalization of the country's laws on homosexuality. More...

new york's gay africans move out from the shadows
2000: The African Gay and Lesbian community in New York is shifting more and more from its barely visible position under the radar to a front and center role in African lives. More...