Africa

“I’ve always had a dream of owning my own hotel back home in Uganda and I pray that, maybe as situations get better where gay people can live freely, [that could be a possibility]. I would love to open a restaurant back home and hope people back home would come,” said Joseph Bukombe.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, in an unusually outspoken declaration Sunday, told African leaders assembled at the African Union summit that they must respect gay rights, an issue that is controversial in many African states.

Mitt Romney on Wednesday proudly announced Kris Kobach’s endorsement of his presidential campaign. Kobach is the Kansas Secretary of State and a far-right conservative who was the architect of SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial anti-immigration law.

In terms of the news — international reporting — this was the year of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage (or ‘marriage equality’ or ‘gay marriage’) was a leading international concern — whether in the West or raised as a chimeric threat, particularly in Africa.

A Kenyan gay magazine has exposed male sex trafficking between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Identity magazine says that gay and bisexual Kenyans are being lured from universities with promises of jobs only to end up as sex slaves.

Malawi’s government announced Thursday that it was reviewing a number of laws, including its anti-gay and anti-lesbian laws. The announcement led to the headline ‘Malawi makes U-turn on disputed laws on media, gays’ in local newspaper.

Prop 8’s back in court — but why, exactly? I’ll answer all your questions about what’s going on this time. Plus, the backstory behind the most effective — and adorable — marriage equality video ever made. Prop 8’s legal team celebrates a bill in Nigeria that would throw you in prison for over a decade just for witnessing a gay couple getting married. All that, plus robot marriage, and one gay couple looks back on their 50-year romance in a new book.

Nigeria’s Senate has passed an “anti-gay marriage” bill, extending its scope by also criminalizing gay clubs and organizations, and making public displays of affection between gays punishable with 10 years imprisonment.

A vote on Nigeria’s proposed anti-gay law is scheduled for next week, according to the group Nigerian LGBTIs in Diaspora Against Anti Same Sex Laws.

A gay, albino Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) refugee has been refused asylum in South Africa in what advocates say is an increasing pattern of refusals for LGBT asylum seekers.