fashion clothes

Ahmed says he had his first homosexual experience when he was 15 years old: “I discovered that I am more attracted to the same sex individual than the female folk. So, any government that would not allow me to exercise my fundamental rights is not a responsible government.”
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/06/nigerian-law-is-against-our-fundamental-rights-gays/#sthash.vViBXdaU.dpuf

In a release made available to DailyPost, Dike had said that those photos did not originate from her, as they were originally sent to her instagram page on her birthday. She denied that those pictures were real, arguing that they were mere birthday designs made by a fan, which she responded with a “thank you” message.Tonto stressed that in as much as she would have loved to remain mum over the matter, the magnitude of the rumour called for some clarification.

Do I believe in ghosts? Maybe.

I definitely think that when some people go, there are things left unresolved, an energy that lingers long after they are gone.

If you don't believe in ghosts and are completely sure they are imaginary, then I dare you to get locked in the boiler room of the Queen Mary alone at night. That actually happened to a friend and I, when we were there for a haunted house on Halloween one year. Somehow we got separated from the rest of the group and ended up somewhere we weren't supposed to be.

I don't recommend doing that on accident, by the way.

I've had a few very vivid dreams of my Dad since his death, the kind where you wake up and are totally convinced that whatever just happened was real. In one of them, he was warning me that something was going to happen, and that thing he warned me about actually happened the next day. There was an urgency in his message, such a forced communication that I woke up drenched in sweat and crying.

If it wasn't something that I had accurately been warned of the night before, I could just dismiss it as a dream and nothing more.

Then there are all the times that something happens. The song, the silver Camaro, the heart in the sky. Sometimes they all happen at once, and I become overwhelmed because those are the times when I need them the most.

I never used to believe in signs until I started to see them around me.

Does that mean he's a ghost? I don't think so, per se, but I think there's pieces of him still here sometimes.

Through the strange magic of the Internet, he's still here too. Literally.

He's over there ====>

He was the 20th follower on the blog. He had to create a gmail account just to follow me, and for anyone who understands my father's limited understanding of technology, it was a big deal. Except he didn't tell me he was doing it. He didn't ask me what he needed to do to follow me, or how to set up a gmail account, he just did it and appeared in my sidebar one morning.

He read everything I wrote from that moment forward.

He was the one who made me believe I was a writer.

If a day passed when I hadn't written, he'd call to make sure everything was okay. He didn't just read the posts, he read them. He figured out what I meant when I was being elusive and cryptic. He saw through the humor and wondered if I was alright. He could feel my worries and concerns, from a thousand miles away through a computer screen.

He's still there.

He's still there because when you die, you live on forever on the Internet. His email accounts, his Facebook page, all of it, his personal property.  I alerted Facebook of his death over two years ago They were supposed to somehow change the account after confirming he was gone so that he doesn't show up in searches anymore and people can't friend request him, but I don't actually know if that was done....because Facebook can't tell me anything about his account.

Every once in a while, I still click on him.

His profile picture was one of him and my mom with my four kids, on the steps of my house the day that my son was baptized. It was the last picture I would ever have of him here.

yes, the oldest is giving his sister bunny ears.

It was the last time he would visit. The last time I would sit with him in my kitchen and drink coffee. A year after that date, we were on our way to see him in California, just weeks after he was diagnosed.

I wonder sometimes if it's better not to know when a time like that will be the last.

I just know that I miss him, even if, in a strange virtual way, a piece of him is still here, cheering me on from the sidebar.

I planned this day in the challenge, not realizing that half of my family would be gone all this week, so I'm going to have to share an old picture.

Any picture of my Dad will forever have to be an old one, as he no longer occupies this world with us anymore.

This is a picture of him and my oldest, his first grandchild.

The baby none of us ever thought we would be able to have.

The baby that helped heal us all after the loss of the first one.

The baby who came after a year filled with the losses of my father's brother and mother.

Dad was a little nervous around him when he was first born because he was a preemie, but once he got a little more sturdy, he'd hold my son like this until he fell asleep.

If only we could grab pieces of time back, just for a moment...

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has condemned Nigeria's same-sex marriage bill which sets prison terms of up to 14 years.
The bill, which was approved by Nigeria's lawmakers last month but has yet to be signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, also states that any person involved in gay clubs or organisations "shall be liable to a term of 10 years imprisonment."
It is already illegal to have gay sex in the country and homosexuals say they often suffer abuse.
Navi Pillay was taking questions from around the world on the BBC's World Have Your Say programme.SEE MORE

Rap Mogul-Jay-Z is hitting back at those who claim he is part of a secret cult-Illuminati. In his new song “Heaven,” Hov raps about his thoughts on religion and the nutty haters tho think he had to sign his soul over the devil to gain power.

On the song, Jay-Z talks about a conspiracy theorist who say he doesn’t believe human beings can work hard to attain wealth, but blame it all on joining the Illuminati and secret shady organizations that run the world.
In the same song, Hov raps about how he thinks religion separates rather then unifies. He adds that people should question certain aspects of religion and God, since some elements of it may cause destruction to the human race and way of life.

I'm taking this prompt in a direction even I didn't intend it today. This is supposed to be a fairly literal prompt, but I'm not being literal.

This is my husband and I, celebrating our anniversary a few weeks ago. Though nothing about our relationship is new, everything is.

And that's pretty freaking amazing.

To second chances, and new beginnings.

I love this guy.

Of all the things I have realized about parenting in the last few months, one of the most significant is this:

Mr Sall said Senegal was a "very tolerant" country but it was "not ready to decriminalise homosexuality".
'Not homophobic'

The last 48 hours or so have been eventful ones in this country, indicative of the volatile times we live in, the issues that affect so many of us personally, of the oppressive nature of the established government machine.

Almost exactly 48 hours ago, the Supreme Court struck down the provisions of the Voting Rights Act that determined which states had to satisfy a higher level of scrutiny in their voting procedures. The VRA passed in 1965 with an overwhelming majority in both the House and Senate in the thick of the civil rights movement. It was impossible to dispute the tensions in certain areas of the country at the time.

The narrow majority of the court did away with it, claiming that things are just different now. We have a black President, so racism is dead, right? Hardly. In the 48 hours since the law was struck down, 6 of the 9 states formerly included in the provisions have moved forward with voting restrictions. 

In 48 hours.

Race relations may no longer routinely involve lynchings and fire hoses being turned on crowds, but just because it lays just beneath the surface of that doesn't mean it's gone away. In fact, these days, it's not just the black population dealing with voting suppression and racism more broadly. Muslims (and anyone that looks like they might be) and Spanish speakers are two highly targeted populations now as well. Did you know that the NYPD actually has a Muslim surveillance program? I wish I was kidding.

The court labors under the illusion that it's all good. That those tasked with election commissions will only be fair and just and right. That racism won't affect voting laws, unless Congress decides it will, which we all know that Congress will never do.

The court declared progress that doesn't exist here, and struck down a law that passed with overwhelming support, one that still obviously needs to be in place because of the events surrounding the most recent election.

The following day, those same justices, the ones who justified their decision because it was an outdated law that no longer was relevant, argued precisely the opposite in their dissent for the DOMA case. There is no logical basis for this disconnect, for this inconsistency, other than to say simply that these justices believe racism is dead and that equal rights are not necessary. Thomas in particular baffles my mind. A man who wouldn't sit where he does without the civil rights movement's existence, a man who wouldn't be allowed to marry the woman he did without the court's intervention and redefinition of marriage in the past, voted to do away with the protections of still-oppressed minorities and refused to look in the mirror about his own marriage.

Between those two huge days on the Court, something else happened down in Texas. Something big.

During a special session of the state legislature, on the last day of the session, Sen. Wendy Davis staged a filibuster to prevent a vote on a very restrictive abortion bill that would have effectively closed most of the clinics in the state. The white, male, conservative majority of the Senate was beside themselves. They fought the filibuster with procedural rules and objections, the prohibited her from leaning, from using the bathroom, from pausing at all.

This woman is a hero. The world needs more women like her.

She was admonished for having help to put on a back brace when forced to stand. She was yelled at, harassed, interrupted.

With 15 minutes left in the session, she was stopped and they attempted to force a vote. Chaos broke out in the chamber. The vote was put through minutes after midnight, the Republicans declared victory, then manually changed the timestamp on the vote so that it appeared to have been completed before the session had legally ended.

They forgot the session was being streamed online live and that 700,000 people were now watching in support of Sen. Davis. They didn't realize that screenshots were being captured of the true time. They thought they could bully her, break their own rules, and sneak in a bill that has been illegally passed.

CNN was talking about muffins.

None of the major news networks carried any of this. CSPAN wasn't even streaming it. The chamber cameras cut off at some point in the confusion and the world watched it unfold through hand held cell phone cameras being held by protesters like Christopher Dido, sent there on Twitter by Wil Wheaton.

The AP reported the bill had passed shortly after midnight, never bothering to check the sources and see what was actually happening. The major news networks followed their lead, reporting the bill had passed, then correcting themselves when the Lt. Gov. declared it had died, but never explaining why that all happened.

Those of us who were watching know what took place in Texas. We saw the gross miscarriage of justice.

Not only should those elected officials be ashamed of themselves, the media should as well. I shouldn't get my news from TV celebrities and protesters, and neither should you.

There is a petition to open an investigation about the timestamp alterations, which you can sign here. 

Gov. Rick Perry has already said he intends to call a second special session to re-vote on the bill.

These men, these misogynists, they can't just take their toys and go home when they lose. No...they seem hellbent on forcing this issue over and over and over again, they seem so sure that they should be able to tell women what they can do with their bodies.

When is enough, enough?

I've had enough. What about you?

This is one of my favorite themes in the photo challenges because people inevitably share not just an item, but a piece of their own personal histories.

My grandmother loved shoes, handbags and pretty things. This is one of the ornate baubles that rested on her chest of drawers. Now, it rests on mine.

I miss her.

This is the first time I've ever attempted song lyrics, so forgive me if it's atrocious. I was tagged by Lance over at My Blog Can Beat Up You Blog to do this. It's his fault.

Stop playing that drum beat.

Time's come, change is near. 

The rain will come today. 

Let it wash away this tear. 

Because I was made this way. 

Go on and preach that I've sinned. 

It's no choice, you see. 

The laws you wrote they will rescind. 

Unequal can't be free. 

Put down the shield, embrace love. 

Rain comes around the bend. 

This day the one they'll write of. 

Laws based in hate must end.

If your daughter is pregnant, Google will know it before you do.
If your boyfriend has a STD (Sexually transmitted diseases) Google will know it before you do. If a country is planning to build a new bridge or a railroad, Google knows about the project well before anyone else. If a company is looking for new partners abroad, Google will know about the project detail long before anyone else. If a group of activists is preparing a street protest, Google will know about the plan long before the local authorities will ever heard about it.

How is that possible, you may ask.
Simple. The first thing people do nowadays when they have an issue is to search it on the Internet using a search engine like Google.
Google records all your search keywords, but also use about 19 different checkpoints to make sure the search is tied to one single computer and one single person. If you have a Gmail account or Youtube account, you make thing much easier for Google.
How does it work?
If your teenager-daughter has her first menstruation, and want to know more about how to deal with it, she will go to Google to conduct a search. Now Google knows that your daughter has her first menstruation, before you’ll ever know.
If your girlfriend missed her menstruation for several days this month, and she is wondering if she got pregnant, she will go to Google and type something like “how to know if I’m pregnant”. From that moment,  Google knows that your girlfriend has missed her menstruation and possibly pregnant.

You know, just like Tonto Dikeh, Cossy is also a Nollywood actress turned singer.
So during the weekend, Cossy was in Bayelsa, at the Rch Park Hotel, where she performed her songs during the Blue Chance Fashion Show.
As the show warmed up, so did Cossy's "orange"ies, for her fans' viewing pleasure. She is pictured above with Benita Nzeribe and Eedris Abdulkareem.
More pics after the cut.

The leader of the Boko Haram sect Imam Abubakar Shekau hails from Niger Republic, according to the report of a Senate joint committee that investigated the deadly violence in Baga town of Borno State in April.
Shekau is widely believed to be from Shekau village of Yobe State, but the Senate committee in its report submitted yesterday said Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima told visiting senators that the man was actually from the neighbouring Republic of Niger.

Well-known political critic, Junaid Muhammad, has called fresh attention to recent developments in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national level, warning that they are snowballing into a full blown governmental and security crises in Rivers State.

And he brought the First Lady under the hammer for her role in the chaos.
In a press statement issued today in Kano on Wednesday, Dr. Muhammad described Rivers as “coming to the limelight because of the irresponsible, unconstitutional and bizarre, illiterate actions, of the so called first lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan, who hails from the island village of Okrika in Rivers State and who sees not only Okrika but the whole of Rivers States, as her personal domain to exploit, abuse and destabilize as she sees fit because her husband Jonathan happens to be the president.”
He noted that the Nigerian constitution makes no provision whatsoever for the post of First Lady and confers no rights, privileges and/or responsibilities on spouses of our president or heads of governments.
“It is therefore illegal and completely ultra vires the constitution for any citizen, president or his spouse to usurp executive powers, and go about throwing their weight, as if they were legally recognized holders of such offices according to the law,” he warned.  “ As at the time of writing, the commissioner of police in Rivers, his command structure and other security services are at the command of Patience Jonathan, and by her and presidential orders, most security facilities due governor, the speaker and others so entitled, have been withdrawn. Mean-while professional thugs and all manner of criminals are being recruited and pressed into service to destabilize the elected government of Rivers State.”
Stressing that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes, Dr. Muhammad pointed out that current developments in the PDP and especially in Rivers State bear an uncanny resemblance to the old Western Region, which led to the collapse of the first republic, with very serious and bloody consequences. Then and now, the popularly elected leaders of those parts of the country were prevented from exercising political power and control, and the operations of the police, the army and the rump of security services were interfered with in a brazen political manner.
“The current CP Rivers, is bending over backwards to accommodate the president, his cronies and his illiterate wife, to ignore or pervert the law and the constitution and norms of decent political behavior,  to harass, intimidate Governor Rotimi Amaechi, and thus destabilize, a strategic state like Rivers. Those in the PDP who imagine that this serious and fundamental crisis can be contained by some band aid or artificial cordon sanitaire, have a shocker awaiting them,” he said.
He noted that the overriding attitude of PDP leadership, the PDP president, his cronies etc. is an open invitation to anarchy, for his party, his tottering crisis prone government and most unfortunately for Nigeria.
“The preponderance of the PDP in the governing processes is a clear and present danger to democracy,” the statement said.  “Add to that the dictatorial proclivities of the party leadership and penchant for hand picking illiterates and corrupt thugs into key and sensitive positions; you have the making of an inevitable disaster.”
Dr. Muhammad stressed that the latest developments throw into doubt the very possibilities of elections in 2015, those elections being the very reason for the desperate manouvres now being undertaken.
“If the de-facto commander–in-chief, the de-facto defence Minister and army commander Gen. Ihejirika who is an in-law to Patience [Jonathan], and his police and S.S.S. counterparts, are behaving in openly political partisan manner as heads of Jonathan’s personal militia, it goes without saying that Jega’s INEC will hold no elections worth the name,” he declared, calling on all Nigerians who cherish democracy to stand up and be counted.
He stressed that Rivers State and the fate of its governor must be of enormous concern to all democrats and patriots, pointing out that within Rivers State and beyond it, evil thrives when good and decent people take their eyes off the ball or pretend it is of no concern to them or is unrelated to neighborhoods.
“Personally I do not know and have never met Gov. Rotimi Amaechi in person, in Port Harcourt or anywhere else on earth,” he declared.  “I have not been to Rivers State since the expiry of my national service in the defunct OMPADEC (now NDDC) in 1996. I am however invested in Amaechi’s struggles because I believe democracy is the only way to govern a free people rationally, and to exercise legitimate power over a free people. If the PDP and its incompetent president treat this country like a conquered and vanquished people, they must be cured of their delusion, soonest.”

He was arrested over a fake currency which he usedin paying for his drinks. Just like in Napel, David had few mins concert on the 21st andhe shook the ground as always. He performed for about 10 mins and decided to pull a Rihanna by showing up late and perform at about 5am. You remember on our last gossips, he did the same thing in Napel. This made the Nigerian born organizer, Osariemen Ekiudoko Frank angry and led to his refusal to pay Davido the balance possibly led to Davido being stranded in the strange land. According to
sources,

Today is a historic one in our nation, certainly, but requires a little bit more explanation than the mainstream media tends to give.

Lucky for you all, I've been glued to the interwebs for hours already and have read all the opinions.

I will go over each case, and tell you what the effective results are. I will also tell you what these opinions do not cover, and what doors have been opened for future litigation on the subject of marriage equality.

US v. Windsor, aka the DOMA case
In this case, a lesbian couple was legally married in Canada. They lived in New York state, which recognized marriages performed in other states at the time. Upon the death of her partner,Windsor was made to pay estate taxes on the inheritance from her wife. She sued the United States government claiming that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional because of the unequal treatment she received under federal tax provisions.

In the ruling today, the court struck down Section 3 of the law as unconstitutional for violating the fifth amendment's protections of due process and equal liberty.

This case says that the federal government must recognize and treat equally all marriage sanctioned by states.   It is imperative that people understand that this ruling does not create a constitutional right to marriage equality. The opinion hinged on the fact that the parties in question had a marriage legally recognized by the state of residence at the time. The court narrowly held so, based on the facts of the case.

This case implies that the federal government may be required to treat all marriages equally in relation to federal laws. How this will actually play out in real life depends on how the rest of the government reacts. Of particular interest is how, if at all, this case will affect gay marriage partners who are citizens of other nations, currently involved in deportation hearings. Will it permit gay spouses to live indefinitely in the United States as  a right associated with marriage? Only time will tell, and those will likely be some of the most immediate questions.

There are several other questions left unanswered by the opinion. This case in particular involved the tax code. Is Windsor entitled to recapture the monies paid to the IRS wrongfully? It would seem so, as that was the core of her case.  How would it affect other parties in similar situations? Are the rights conferred retroactive in any way? We don't know.

Only Section 3 was struck down in this case, leaving the rest of the law arguably in effect. Section 2 permits states to refuse to acknowledge gay marriages performed in other jurisdictions. The next logical challenge would involve this provision, as it's essentially a direct violation of the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution.

The ruling requires the federal government to treat all marriages equally, but does not require the same of the states. It does not mandate that all states allow or even acknowledge gay marriages.

This case opens the door to a great amount of uncertainty and new litigation. Congress could move to change laws, the President could issue executive orders as well in light of it all, but as with everything it seems in this country anymore, it's more likely that most of these issues will be teased out in court.

It is a step, albeit not as big a one as many think, in the right direction.

We'll also ignore, for the moment, that the same standing issue that resulted in Perry being dismissed existed here.

Hollingsworth v. Perry, aka the Prop 8 case
The California Supreme Court said there was a constitutional right to gay marriage. Marriages were performed and rights conferred. Voters then disagreed, and Prop 8 was authored, worded to not just ban gay marriage but define marriage as only between a man and a woman. It narrowly passed as an attempt to circumvent/overrule the court.

Gay couples were given rights, then had them taken away. A case decided that those married while it was legal had recognized rights still but no further marriages could be performed.

Further challenges to the law were filed. The state government refused to defend Prop 8 in court, so those who drafted it stepped in. Essentially the decision today says that if the government refuses to litigate the case, an individual cannot do so either, so the appeal was improperly granted. The parties did not have standing.

It appears that the main result of this case is to reinstate the right of gay marriage in California. There is an injunction prohibiting enforcement of Prop 8. For now at least, gay marriage is legal in California, though I am sure another challenge will be mounted (and am also sure that any challenge attempted will fail).

This is one of the days in the challenge where I want you to test yourself. Push your boundaries. Play with the camera settings.

Taking pictures in low light is one of the hardest things to get good at when it comes to photography.

This picture was taken with my cell phone, of all things. To get a shot like this one, turn OFF the flash and keep a very steady hand. If you have a tripod, use it.

Here's a tutorial if you need additional help.

Good luck! This is a test!

In a PremiumTimes video of a speech given by former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings at the  Conference On Emerging Democracies In Africa: Challenges And Opportunities, which held June 17, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, Nigeria, the president went hard on corruption in Nigeria, describing a lonely battle of a few great men of Nigeria and Ghana who battle corruption while being persecuted by “oga’s at the top.”

Despite the government’s frown on the illicit affair of same s*x, and many praying and fasting to see an end to the sudden surge in lésbianism in Nigeria`s movie industry, one of the actresses in Nollywood, Vivian Pius, has confessed that lésbianism is a norm in Nollywood that is not going to stop soon.

“Lésbianism has come to stay in Nollywood. Though it exists in other industries such as banking, medical and others, that of Nollywood is more open to the public because of who we are, as a society`s role models.
It has come to be seen as a cartel where those who belong to a group find it easier getting movie roles. Some of them can even make you rich overnight beyond your expectation. Those who are in it and know their onions can tell you better.
They get the best of jobs and are richer driving in big cars and seeing at the best of places. The same thing goes for the homoséxuals.
The industry has become what many of us never dreamed of, going the way of Hollywood and other European movie industries. It is also in Alaba International Market. They control the industry. It is all about packaging. But there is still hope that those who are not patronizing them will still make it in Nollywood,”
Vivien, who was spotted on the set of Simone’s Production in Festac, Lagos said

This is my happy place at home. The chairs were handmade by my father in law. I planted the hanging baskets over a month ago and haven't managed to kill them yet. The bushes are now full grown and the tree provides just the right amount of shade and seclusion. Ahhh.

I'll warn you all from the beginning...I'm in a mood. The VRA case just came down, and I'll write about that in a bit here. I need to calm down a little first, so logically I will write about sodomy.

^^^sarcasm. (Not that I think many of you will take what I say on Tuesdays literally...but you never know.)

Sodomy isn't hazing...
I can't believe I just typed that. Even harder to believe is the fact that there are plenty of people out there in the world who think it is.

So, this happened:

A 13 year old from Norwood, Colorado was bound with duct tape and sodomized with a pencil on a school bus by older kids at a wrestling tournament. The attackers, his teammates. One, the son of the coach.

Kid tells his parents, one of which is the principal of the local elementary school, and they go to the police. Word gets out. Then city folk force the principal to resign and the kid gets harassed constantly at school, the other students going so far as to stage a protest. The entire city gangs up on the family of the victim. They just "hazed" him.

The attackers eventually pled guilty, but only to misdemeanor charges.

I wish I could say that this was an isolated incident, but it's not.

This hazing isn't hazing. It's sodomy. It's rape. And there are cases of it all over the country, cases where the adults in charge sit on their hands with no explanation.  Until the perpetrators of these crimes are treated as such, until the adults in charge stop turning a blind eye, until we take this issue seriously, we are setting kids up to be victimized.

Racism isn't racism unless I can see it with my eyeballs
Sigh. I'm a little disappointed in the SCOTUS right now. They just struck down Section 4 of the VRA, saying that the maps drawn when the law was written aren't necessarily accurate anymore, so they can't be used to justify holding election procedures to a higher level of scrutiny in areas where voters had been disenfranchised in the past.

Congress could revisit the issue based on current conditions, but with a House controlled by the GOP, it's not likely to happen. What representative is going to admit that their constituents might be racist???

Not a single one, not in the current political environment, not where House members are constantly campaigning for re-election every two years in the digital age where everything they do and say is spun by the pundits.

Basically, the court said that since times have changed, and the states and counties involved might be different, the old law can no longer work. Racism might still exist, but Congress has to decide it's current racism, not old racism.  Racial issues are contentious, at best, and most of the areas that were in the news during the last election cycle because of this issue are the ones included on the map. Voters, like it or not, are still being disenfranchised, but the court basically said that Congress would have to re-evaluate the areas where there are problems to use this law again....and we all know how well Congress agrees about anything these days, let alone anything having to do with racial issues. (um, look at the immigration debacle for evidence of that...) 

You Can't Fix Stupid
Are you ready for this???

You might want to sit down.

Jodie Laubenberg, a Republican state representative in Texas authored a very restrictive bill on abortion. (and yes, Jodie is a woman)

She would like to do away with the rape exception even, one of the few things that almost everyone can agree about. The reason???

Are you sitting down?

She seems to think that women who are raped can just go the the emergency room and have a rape kit "clean her out".

Except that rape kits are for evidence collection, and will do NOTHING to prevent a pregnancy. We've almost become accustomed to asinine statements about rape and pregnancy being made by elected men, but to come from a woman?

Homophobic attacks have reached dangerous levels in sub-Saharan Africa and must stop, Amnesty International has said in a report.
Goverments in Africa are everyday bring out new laws and draconian penalties to make it sure and clear that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are criminals, the report says.
Some of African leader state that homosexuality is un-African which made the western world threaten to withdraw from any country which did not give gay people there right of freedom to be and marry

However, Amnesty said US religious groups “actively fund and promote homophobia in Africa”, while many of the laws were inherited from the colonial era
Amnesty interview
Homosexual acts are still a crime in 38 sub-Saharan African countries it said in a report titled “Making Love a Crime: Criminalisation of same-sex conduct in sub-Saharan Africa”.
There is no specific legislation outlawing homosexual acts in 12 African countries, mostly former French colonies, while gay rights are recognised in South Africa.
In the last five years, South Sudan and Burundi have introduced new laws criminalising same-sex relations, it says.
The parliaments of Uganda, Liberia and Nigeria have draft laws before them, seeking to increase penalties.
“These poisonous laws must be repealed and the human rights of all Africans upheld,” Amnesty said.
“In some African countries political leaders target sexual orientation issues to distract attention from their overall human rights records, often marked by rampant discrimination and violence against women, corruption and lack of media freedoms,” it added.
In South Africa, at least seven people, five of them lesbians, were murdered between June and November 2012 in what appears to have been targeted violence related to their sexual orientation or gender identity, the report says.
This is despite the fact that homosexual acts are not illegal in South Africa and the country boasts one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, it adds.
In many instances, media reports also inflame hostility towards people not conforming to heterosexual norms, Amnesty says.
In 2010, Uganda’s Rolling Stone magazine published a photograph of gay rights activist David Kato next to a headline reading “Hang Them”, it says.
Just a month later, he was killed in his home, although the police have denied it was a hate crime.
In Cameroon, people are regularly arrested after being denounced as being gay or lesbian because of their “appearance or conjecture, rather than evidence”, Amnesty says.
Some individuals accused of same sex conduct in Cameroon have been imprisoned for three years without trial or charge, it adds.
Former detainees from Cameroon told Amnesty that they were subjected to “invasive procedures such as forced anal exams” while in custody, the report says.
In Kenya, people told Amnesty that sometimes the police threaten to arrest them under provisions in the penal code related to same-sex relations in order to obtain a bribe, the report adds.
“Extortionists also use the existence of these laws to demand money or goods in exchange for not revealing real or even made-up private details to the media, community or police,” Amnesty said.