Ugandan LGBT Activist Sam Ganafa Avoids Homophobic Court Trial

Ugandan LGBT Activist Sam Ganafa Avoids Homophobic Court Trial

GanafaIn November of 2013 as Uganda’s parliament moved forward in its decision to turn its anti-homosexuality act into law, Sam Ganafa was arrested along with three other LGBT rights activists. Ganafa, who leads Spectrum Uganda, an Ugandan LGBT organization that specializes in HIV education, is one of the country’s most prominent queer public figures. Ganafa and the three individuals were arrested while at a party together before being shuffled through the Ugandan court system notorious for its mishandling of defendants involved in LGBT cases.

Ganafa’s three companions have since fled Uganda for neighboring Kenya, where many LGBT refugees face a different, yet familiar kind of persecution.

On October 8, the charges against Ganafa were dropped after a long struggle  going back and forth with legal officials to set a proper court date. Technically Ganafa had been arrested on suspicions of violating the country’s strict laws prohibiting sodomy.

As is typically the case, authorities attempted to keep him in jail indefinitely due to not having sufficient evidence to bring his case to trial. Though Ganafa is pleased with being free, he still remains wary of local law enforcement who’ve vowed to come after him again.

“The court action is a good sign, because it’s independent and opens a window of hope for us,” Ganafa said in an interview with Erasing 76 Crimes in an exchange by Facebook message. “We also expect the same action to be taken in other cases currently before the courts. I pray that the courts will ward off possible pressures from the anti-gay lobby.”


Charles Pulliam-Moore

www.towleroad.com/2014/10/ugandan-lgbt-activist-sam-ganafa-avoids-homophobic-court-trial.html

Idaho Governor Vows To Keep Fighting Supreme Court Ruling Allowing Same-Sex Marriage

Idaho Governor Vows To Keep Fighting Supreme Court Ruling Allowing Same-Sex Marriage
WASHINGTON — Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) vowed Thursday to keep fighting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage in his state, even as that effort costs Idaho tens of thousands of dollars.

“I’m not ready to surrender to a few folks in black robes,” Otter said during a gubernatorial debate. “I’m not ready to surrender the will of the people in the state of Idaho, as they expressed in 2006 in an overwhelming majority.”

The Supreme Court ruled this month that same-sex marriage could proceed in Idaho, a response to an appeal to a federal court decision striking down the state’s ban. Otter has since spent $10,000 on outside attorneys to keep appealing. His fight on the matter has cost the state about $90,000 in total.

During Thursday’s debate, Otter said his job is to defend “the entire Constitution,” and that states should decide marriage laws, not the federal government.

When Idaho adopted a constitutional amendment in 2006 banning same-sex marriage, “those people were voting for a value that they had and they were expressing that,” he said.

A.J. Balukoff, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, said Otter was fighting “a losing battle.”

“At this point, the ship has sailed,” Balukoff said. “You’re not going to win that battle in federal court. You might as well start arguing about interracial marriage.”

Curiously, Otter said he would sign a bill banning discrimination in housing, jobs and education based on a person’s sexual orientation. Idaho LGBT rights advocates have been trying for years to pressure the state legislature to move on the issue, to no avail. In the meantime, nine cities have passed related ordinances.

“Yes,” Otter said about signing such legislation. “If that bill were to pass, yes.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/idaho-governor-same-sex-marriage_n_6079772.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

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