Africa

[ Image above from HBO’s “Hunted,” a new documentary on LGBT persecution in Russia.] LGBT News in the U.S. was dominated this week by the Supreme Court’s decision, announced on Monday, not to hear…

Americans Abroad The Human Rights Campaign has launched a social media campaign targeting American religious activists who promote anti-gay idea and legislation around the world. The campaign is…

This week’s global LGBT justice roundup, with a focus on Africa.

Harassment and death threats escalate into horrific violence

The ACSA makes history.

Fifty years ago, Howard Johnson, a priest at the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, visited the nascent Anglican Church in Nigeria. He was distressed at the the unnecessary “Britishness” of the Church…

Sharon Slater, American anti-gay activist and president of Family Watch International, recently encouraged delegates attending a law conference in Lagos, Nigeria to resist the United Nations’ calls to decriminalize homosexuality. Keynoting the Nigerian Bar Association Conference, Slater told delegates that they would lose their religious and parental rights if they supported “fictitious sexual rights.” One such “fictitious right” is the right to engage in same-sex sexual relationships without going to jail.

“Neither hunger nor HIV can be curbed or ended by the church, but neither can these goals be accomplished without the help of the church and other faith communities. Governments alone have the resources to deal with the tremendous needs of feeding the hungry and caring for the sick. However, the church can help serve as the conscience of a country—prompting policies that are more compassionate and generous to the poor. Faith communities need to model what it means to be non-stigmatizing and what it means to share from its resources. Christians that do not reach out to the poor, the hungry, and the sick jeopardize their own souls.”

Just ask them directly.

Ultimately it’s disappointing that Trey Parker and Matt Stone—two of the best satirists around—should have chosen such soft religious targets: missionaries from Utah. The finale to season 14 of South Park (the censured episode about the propriety of depicting Mohammed in a bear costume) was gutsier by far. By comparison, poking fun at clueless Mormon teenagers is a cop-out. It’s a waste of theatrical talent.