davesplace's Blogs

A recent report shows that young people who identify themselves as Gay "Emos" are being brutally killed at an alarming rate in Iraq, with an estimated 750 young Gays murdered since 2006. Like many places in the Muslim world, homosexuality is extremely taboo in Iraq. Anyone perceived to be Gay is considered a fair target, and the perpetrators of the violence often go free. Still, there is the country of Uganda that has a bill that would make the death sentence mandatory for Gays who are "repeat offenders", which was reintroduced this February after an earlier attempt at passing the bill was temporarily dropped because of international pressure (mostly from Western countries like the US)-homosexuality is also taboo in many African nations. It is illegal in 37 countries on the continent, and activists say few Africans are openly gay, fearing imprisonment, violence and loss of jobs. While there are many Western nations that are more open to the idea of LGBTQ people having the same or similar rights afforded to heterosexuals, and our lives have become better in recent years, there is much, much work to be done.......

The bill has given Uganda a reputation as the 'world's homophobia capital'.