It’s time to review the state of LGBT people around the world. I am prompted to do this when I read that the US ambassador to Zambia, Daniel Foote, has said he has been threatened over his comments on the sentencing of a gay couple causing a deepening a diplomatic row. It is disturbing to hear this, especially when there are bad comments on our diplomatic core in our impeachment hearings.
Ambassador Foote said he was “horrified” by the jailing of Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba.
A judge quashed an appeal against their conviction last week, sentencing them both to 15 years in prison.
Same-sex relationships are outlawed in Zambia, where British colonial-era laws on homosexuality still apply.
Mr Foote implored the Zambian government to review the case and its homosexuality laws, but has since faced a backlash for doing so.
On Monday Zambian President Edgar Lungu rebuked the ambassador, saying his government will complain to the Trump administration. The president’s outrage was echoed by Zambian Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji, who said Mr Foote’s remarks were “tantamount to questioning the Zambian constitution”.
Mr Foote, US ambassador since December 2017, responded to the furore in a press statement on Monday.
The career diplomat said he had cancelled scheduled appearances at World Aids Day events on Tuesday “because of threats made against me” on social media.
He said: “I was shocked at the venom and hate directed at me and my country, largely in the name of ‘Christian’ values, by a small minority of Zambians,” Mr Foote said.
He denied accusations that his comments amounted to interference in Zambia’s judiciary and constitutional affairs.
“It is up to Zambian citizens and the courts to decide if your laws correspond to your constitution, but your constitution itself provides every person the right to freedom and expression of conscience and belief,” he said.
“I expressed my belief about a law and a harsh sentencing I don’t agree with. I didn’t interfere in internal affairs.”In turn, Mr Foote accused President Lungu of interfering in judicial affairs through statements “rejecting homosexual rights”.
In an interview with Sky News, Mr Lungu mounted a combative defense of Zambia’s homosexuality laws.
“Even animals don’t do it, so why should we be forced to do it?… because we want to be seen to be smart, civilized and advanced and so on,” he said.
The US Administration has remained shamefully silent on human rights abuses against LGBTQ people around the globe. This has ben tracked by the Human Rights Coalition (HRC) who:
Repeatedly called on the White House and the State Department to demand U.S. leaders condemn atrocities and human rights violations being committed.
Organized a visit with a survivor of the anti-LGBTQ crackdown in Chechnya to Washington to demand that the U.S. take action to stop the violence and open its doors to the victims.
They have repeatedly called upon the administration to welcome LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers.
They called on the U.S. not to extend trade preferences for Tanzania until the Tanzanian government take concrete steps to improve the human rights situation for LGBTQ people and others.
HRC has condemned the State Department’s new “Commission on Unalienable Rights”, which aims to narrow the scope of human rights – to the likely detriment of LGBTQ human rights.
Meanwhile, A gay homeowner who previously took the Hong Kong government to court over a rule that prevented him from living with his husband has mounted a second legal challenge, this time over inheritance in case he dies without a will.
Edgar Ng Hon-lam applied for a judicial review over the marriage provisions in two ordinances on intestacy and financial provision for dependents, upon learning the home he bought may not be passed to his husband, Henry Li Yik-ho. He bought a flat under the “Home Ownership Scheme” in the hopes of living with Li as a family unit after they got married in London. “They intend to share their properties and support each other’s life even if one of them passes away before the other,” his lawyers wrote to the High Court.
Also, a gay Russian man in a YouTube video where children asked him about his sexuality has been forced to go into hiding after authorities opened a criminal case against him. Maxim Pankratov was asked unscripted questions by four children aged between six and 13 about his experiences as a gay man. However, the video was immediately removed due to Russia’s “gay propaganda” law – and now, Pankratov has said that he has been forced to go into hiding over the furore.
“It was a normal conversation about my life and they want to put me in jail,” the 22-year-old told CNN.
How about the influence of that great movie, Vogue?
A culture of indigenous transgender women that has been part of southern Mexico’s heritage for centuries is primed for global fashion cachet thanks to one of the world’s top style magazines.
For the first time in Vogue magazine’s 120 years of publishing, an indigenous “muxe” will appear next month on the cover of the glossy’s Mexican and British editions. Muxes, a term probably derived from the Spanish word mujer meaning woman, are indigenous transgender women who easily mix gay male and feminine identities.
The cover photo features 37-year-oldEstrella Vazquez, a tall, lanky indigenous Zapotec muxe wearing a traditional garment with colorful flowers and holding a pink fan in one hand.
Back in the US, an Indiana school board member was caught on camera telling an activist to “cry me a river” after confronted about unmet needs of transgender students at a school. The board member appeared to motion playing a violin with her arms as she said it.
The protester was from the Tri-State Alliance (TSA), an activism group. They were at the meeting to speak with the school board, and have been regular attendees at the meetings, according to the Illinois Eagle. Six of the 10 activists in the group signed up to speak at the meeting, but only one was allowed as the others were allegedly denied by board president Karen Ragland. Five more were eventually allowed to speak after protests were launched by the TSA.
Finally, the founder of St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral in Tallahassee, Florida, has been removed from the priesthood after a report revealed his penchant for sexually harassing men at his church.
Father Eric Dudley, who has a history of pushing anti-LGBT ideology, resigned from his position as dean of the cathedral back in 2018, but a recent investigation by the Godly Response to Abuse in a Christian Environment (GRACE) found that he engaged in sexual misconduct against several young men under his authority.
The new revelations resulted in his removal as a priest of the Anglican Church in North America. According to GRACE’s report, soon after Dudley founded his church, four individuals came forward with allegations of misconduct, which resulted in his resignation.
This round up of world LGBT news gives us pause to think about the gains we have made and the challenges our community has. The NABWMT will be there to educate and inform.
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mSources: BBC News, HRC, Alturi.org
