Democracy Now! Peter Beinart on Zohran Mamdani & Why Democratic Voters Are Increasingly Skeptical of Israel

We speak to Peter Beinart, editor-at-large at _Jewish Currents_, about changing popular opinion in the U.S. toward Israel and Palestine. "I'm not sure there's any political issue in the United States, perhaps other than gay marriage, over the last couple of decades where public opinion has shifted as fast," he says, citing the surprise victory of pro-Palestinian mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York City's Democratic primary as evidence of a shifting political landscape.

We also discuss a recent article in _The New York Times_ that criticizes Mamdani, a Ugandan-born Indian Muslim who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, for self-identifying as both Asian and Black/African American on a college application.

Beinart, whose own parents are of European Jewish background and were raised in multiracial South Africa, explains how the limitations of formal racial categories often elide the true complexity of racial, ethnic and national identity. "It's not a case that Zohran Mamdani was trying to pull some sleight of hand to try to take advantage of affirmative action. This was a very deep statement about what he believed it was to have grown up in Uganda," he says.


Democracy Now! can be supported here.

World’s ‘First Openly Gay Imam’ Shot Dead in South Africa | BBC News

Feb 17, 2025 | Police in South Africa are "hot on the heels" of the suspects behind the killing of Muhsin Hendricks, dubbed the world's first openly gay imam, Deputy Justice Minister Andries Nel said.

The 57-year-old was in a car when he was shot dead in broad daylight in the coastal city of Gqeberha on Saturday.

The imam was well known for his work in creating a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims and his killing shocked the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

Homophobia in Africa: American Influence? | ARTE.tv Documentary

Feb 15, 2025 | Since Uganda passed extremely severe laws persecuting gay people, attacks on the LGBT+ community have skyrocketed. But could these new laws be added and abetted by an ultra-conservative American NGO?

Homophobia in Africa: American Influence? | ARTE.tv Documentary
Available until 03/09/2028

Happy Christmas to One and All

MARK ALEXANDER: Here we are at the start of Christmas once again. How time flies by!

I should like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your very valued and continued support. Truly, it is much appreciated. In fact, your support sustains me.

As we all know, times are difficult for many, and even dangerous and life-threatening for many others. One thinks of the poor, suffering people in the Ukraine, in Gaza, in the Yemen, in Syria, and in many other countries besides. In Africa, for example, in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan itself.

Then there are areas and countries in the world which are experiencing very difficult economic challenges, such as Argentina. Many Argentinians are suffering from the anarcho-capitalist economic experiment being tried there. And even here at home in Europe, many are suffering from poverty and extreme economic challenges. Many are homeless, and many have difficulty putting food on the table for their children and loved ones. One hopes and prays for them all: hopes and prays for better times ahead for everyone.

Over Christmas, many people will be experiencing loneliness, too. Even in plenty, loneliness can be a particular challenge. Especially for the elderly or for people who have been rejected by their families, possibly because they have had the courage to be true to themselves and have come out. Many families reject their gay children or siblings. Being alone at Christmas, for whatever reason, is a particular challenge for many.

With this backdrop, I should like to send you all my sincere thanks for your staunch and continued support. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the twelve days of Christmas, and beyond, of course. I want you all to know and be sure that your visits here to this website are not only noticed, but are appreciated greatly. In a strange way, I feel that you are like my family. So, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux noël! ¡Feliz navidad! Buon Natale! Nadolig Llawen! Feliz Natal! !عيد ميلاد مجيد

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

US Religious Right at Center of Anti-LGBTQ+ Message Pushed around the World

THE GUARDIAN: American groups have helped to establish global web who share ideas and funding in bid to restrict gay and trans rights

When the US evangelical preacher and anti-LGBTQ+ crusader Scott Lively landed in Uganda in 2009 to warn of the “gay agenda”, he was arriving after a series of culture-war defeats at home.

More and more US states were recognizing same-sex marriage, and opinion polls were showing fewer and fewer Americans objected. Lively was there to offer Uganda’s lawmakers some advice on how to drum up outrage. “Emphasize the issue of the homosexual recruitment of children,” he advised.

Five years later, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni signed a law that made same-sex relationships punishable by death, asserting that western groups and gay people were “coming into our schools and recruiting young children into homosexuality”.

As wave of anti LGBTQ+ legislation sweeps the US, some may hear echoes of Lively’s messaging. Fine-tuned in Africa and elsewhere, arguments used to attack rights overseas have been re-imported to the US as the religious right warns again that the left and gay people are “grooming seven-year-olds” and “promoting pedophilia”.

The spread across the world illustrates how America’s evangelical and Catholic right has globalized over the past 15 years by helping establish a vast web of anti-LGBTQ+ zealots who share ideas, messaging and funding. » | Tom Perkins | Sunday, July 9, 2023

Gosh! It’s so amazing how ignorant the Evangelical right are in America and around the world. They want to be able to live their own lives freely, lives based largely often on myth and fable, yet want to deny others the right to pleasure and self-fulfilment.

I really hope that these women, these throwbacks, are giving serious consideration to returning to the home to procreate, look after their children, do the housework and bake cookies. For isn’t that the life that the Bible expects of these women? Kinder, Küche, Kirche and all that! – © Mark Alexander

Global Gay: The Next Frontier in Human Rights - Documentary

Nov 16, 2018 | A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death. In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle-East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West.

After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve.

‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”.

Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa.

Latter Gay Stories: Duane Jennings | Balancing Science and Spirituality

Jan 27, 2022 • From an early age, Duane Jennings felt drawn to better understanding life from two perspectives: science and spirituality. His desire for knowledge and the human understanding led him to better understand empathy and opportunity.

Shortly after returning home from his Mormon mission to South Africa, Duane realized that his life was best lived in authenticity and honesty. The author of Stumbling Blocks and Stepping-Stones [website] shares his personal story and how embracing his identity made all the difference.

Desmond Tutu, Whose Voice Helped Slay Apartheid, Dies at 90

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The archbishop, a powerful force for nonviolence in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Desmond M. Tutu at Washington National Cathedral in 1984. The archbishop was a spellbinding preacher, assuring his parishioners of God’s love while exhorting them to follow the path of nonviolence in their struggle. | Associated Press
Desmond M. Tutu, the cleric who used his pulpit and spirited oratory to help bring down apartheid in South Africa and then became the leading advocate of peaceful reconciliation under Black majority rule, died on Sunday in Cape Town. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by the office of South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who called the archbishop “a leader of principle and pragmatism who gave meaning to the biblical insight that faith without works is dead.”

The cause of death was cancer, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said, adding that Archbishop Tutu had died in a care facility. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, and was hospitalized several times in the years since, amid recurring fears that the disease had spread.

As leader of the South African Council of Churches and later as Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop Tutu led the church to the forefront of Black South Africans’ decades-long struggle for freedom. His voice was a powerful force for nonviolence in the anti-apartheid movement, earning him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. » | Marilyn Berger | Sunday, December 26, 2021

Desmond Tutu, South Africa's Nobel Peace winner, dies at 90: Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, has died at 90 »

Desmond Tutu’s long history of fighting for lesbian and gay rights »

Desmond Tutu kämpfte sein Leben lang für Gerechtigkeit und blieb bis zuletzt ein Quälgeist für die Mächtigen: Desmond Tutu war neben Nelson Mandela der grosse Held Südafrikas, für das er den Traum der Regenbogennation am Leben erhielt. Tutu hatte unermüdlich zum Sturz des Apartheidregimes beigetragen – und legte sich danach unverändert vehement mit den neuen Mächtigen an. Er starb am Sonntag im Alter von 90 Jahren in Kapstadt. »

Ein Architekt des neuen Südafrika: Mit unbedingtem Willen zur Aussöhnung: Der Erzbischof Tutu bekam den Friedensnobelpreis für seine Bemühungen um das Ende der Apartheid. Er blieb ein scharfer Kritiker des ANC. Im Alter von 90 Jahren ist er gestorben. »

Décès du Nobel de la Paix Desmond Tutu : les hommages se multiplient : Le président sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa a exprimé «sa profonde tristesse» après le décès de ce «patriote sans égal». Emmanuel Macron a salué son combat «pour la fin de l'apartheid et la réconciliation sud-africaine». »

Desmond Tutu, infatigable pourfendeur de l'apartheid et des injustices : DISPARITION - L'archevêque, Prix Nobel de la Paix, s'est battu sans relâche contre le système ségrégationniste, puis contre les injustices qui traversent son pays. Il est décédé ce dimanche à l'âge de 90 ans. »

Global Gay: The Next Frontier In Human Rights - Documentary

Nov 16, 2018 • A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death. In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle-East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West. After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve. ‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”. Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa. - Follow us on social media : Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/BestDocument...

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Compares Barbaric Anti-LGBT+ Laws to Apartheid: ‘I Can’t Keep Quiet’

Lifelong campaigner for human rights Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (UN Free & Equal)
PINK NEWS: Archbishop Desmond Tutu has compared anti-LGBT+ laws and violence to apartheid, insisting that he opposes them with the “same passion”.

The 90-year-old Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has spent his life campaigning for human rights.

He was a major opponent of South Africa’s apartheid system, and has worked for universal suffrage, equal rights for women in the Anglican Church and LGBT+ rights.

In a video for the United Nations Free and Equal campaign, its “global campaign against homophobia and transphobia”, Tutu said: “I have to tell you, I cannot keep quiet when people are penalised for something about which they can do nothing.

“First, gender. When women are excluded, just simply and solely because they are women.

“But more perniciously, more ghastly, is the fact that people are penalised, killed, all sorts of ghastly things happen to them, simply, solely on the basis of their sexual orientation. » | Lily Wakefield | Saturday, November 27, 2021


Homophobic gang attack gay couple with hammer in terrifying street robbery: ‘I’m lost for words’: A gay couple say they were “violently attacked” while walking down the street in Radcliffe, Bury, on Tuesday. »

Homosexuality: The Countries Where It Is Illegal to Be Gay

BBC: A crackdown on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Cameroon has resulted in the arrest or assault by security forces of dozens of people this year, according to Human Rights Watch.

In the most recent incident, two transgender Cameroonians have been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of "attempted homosexuality".

Where is homosexuality still outlawed?

There are 69 countries that have laws that criminalise homosexuality, and nearly half of these are in Africa.

However, in some countries there have been moves to decriminalise same-sex unions. In February this year, Angola's President Joao Lourenco signed into law a revised penal code to allow same-sex relationships and bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In June last year, Gabon reversed a law that had criminalised homosexuality and made gay sex punishable with six months in prison and a large fine.

Botswana's High Court also ruled in favour of decriminalising homosexuality in 2019.

Mozambique and the Seychelles have also scrapped anti-homosexuality laws in recent years.

In Trinidad and Tobago, a court in 2018 ruled that laws banning gay sex were unconstitutional.

But there are countries where existing laws outlawing homosexuality have been tightened, including Nigeria and Uganda.

And in others, efforts to get the laws removed have failed.

A court in Singapore dismissed a bid to overturn a law that prohibits gay sex early last year.

In May 2019, the high court in Kenya upheld laws criminalising homosexual acts. Colonial legacy » | Reality Check team, BBC News | Wednesday, May 12, 2021

A Big Thank You to You All!

You have probably already noticed that today we reached over sixty thousand page views this month. This, of course, delights me! And I owe it all to you, my esteemed visitors, followers and readers. You come here from all over the world: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, eastern Europe and Russia, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia (Indian subcontinent) and Asia and, of course, Australasia.

I can’t thank you enough for all your support.

I don’t really know who you all are; but yet I feel that I do! I so look forward each and every morning to checking my visits overnight. Naturally, I check them constantly throughout the day as well. Many of you are regulars; though naturally I have no idea who you really are; I know only the countries, towns and cities you reside in.

I changed the name of this blog only a short while ago. I also made it trilingual. I also changed the focus of its content. I have made it much more gay-friendly, but hopefully not to the exclusion of my straight supporters. All my visitors mean a lot to me – gay or straight. In fact, you mean more to me than you probably know or realize. I feel that you are part of my family.

When I changed the name of this blog, I also decided to make its content more varied: I have introduced some new features like the ‘gay kiss of the day’, and I have added more music, and a cookery feature, too. My aim is to make the blog rather like a magazine: I want there to be something of interest for a broad audience, not just a select few. Naturally, when one makes such changes, there will be a certain amount of trial and error involved. So if I err from time to time, please bear with me.

Again, thank you all so much for your continued support. Without your support, this blog wouldn’t even exist. I send you all my very warmest of wishes. – Mark

If you wish to do so, you may contact me at markalexander.librabunda@gmail.com – I would welcome your comments.

Global Gay: Fight For Human Rights | Social Documentary | Real Stories

Oct 21, 2020 • A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death. In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent – whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle-East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West.

After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve.

‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”.

Global Gay: The Next Frontier in Human Rights - Documentary (2018)

A global revolution is underway to obtain what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama call ‘the final frontier in human rights’: the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is forbidden in almost half of the world. Out of 196 UN member states, there are 7 where it is punishable by death.

In 84 others, it can merit prison and physical punishment. But today, momentum is building and the debate on gay rights is omnipresent - whether it be regarding legalization in the Middle East and Africa or the focus of gay marriage laws in the West.

After years of long diplomatic struggle, several world leaders have declared themselves in favor of the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. But victory won’t come easily. The countries that still punish homosexuality refuse to give in to international pressure. Global acceptance and equality will take time to achieve.

‘Global Gay’ follows this battle for decriminalization through the lives and work of some of its fearless pioneers, providing a vibrant chronicle of the growing global social movement. In the words of Ban Ki Moon, “The time has come”.

Filmed in Russia, Cuba, Cameroon, Nepal and South Africa.

Barack Obama Tells African States to Abandon Anti-gay Discrimination

THE GUARDIAN: Visiting his father’s Kenyan homeland, US president says ‘bad things happen’ when governments get into habit of treating people differently

The US president, Barack Obama, has launched an unprecedented defence of gay rights in Africa, telling Kenya’s president that the state has no right to punish people because of “who they love”.

Obama, visiting his late father’s homeland for the first time as US president, confronted Uhuru Kenyatta and millions of Kenyans watching on television with his “unequivocal” views. Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and surveys show nine in 10 people find them unacceptable.

Obama personalised the issue by comparing homophobia to racial discrimination that he had encountered in the United States. Never before has such a powerful foreign leader challenged Africans so directly on their own soil. » | David Smith in Nairobi | Saturday, July 25, 2015

Obama's Visit Sparks Debate on Gay Rights in Kenya, Africa

One particular issue has been gripping many Kenyans in recent days. Just what is Barack Obama going to say about gay rights? As in much of Africa, homosexuality is widely frowned upon in Kenya. Some MPs have warned the American president to avoid the matter. But Obama's reportedly said, he will indeed be raising the issue when he's here. CCTV's Kathryn Ogunde has more…

SEX and WOMEN: The Reason Islamic State Extremists Want to Kill ALL Westerners

Diarmaid MacCulloch is a Church
of England deacon

DAILY EXPRESS: THE WESTERN world's obsession with sex and the role of women are the reasons Islamic extremists want to kill people, a leading professor has warned.

The "pressing of sexual imagery on to the world" means western culture is hated in the rest of the world and leads to jihadists wanting to "kill people in the name of purifying the world", Diarmaid MacCulloch said.

The gay Oxford theological historian and presenter of the BBC's Sex and the Church said the hatred of western culture reaches far and wide and can be seen in Boko Haram in Africa, in the Middle East and in Vladimir Putin's Russia.

He said: "It seems to me that it is about sex.

"A unique feature of western culture is that it loves talking about sex, it obsesses about sex, it presses sexual imagery on to the world.

"Other cultures think about sex a lot but they do not talk about it and they find it intensely embarrassing and frustrating that the West talks about it."

The enhanced role of women in society is another reason Islamic State comrades hate western culture, the professor added.

He said: "The anger that other cultures feel towards western sexual openness, it is so much of the murderous anger which we are seeing in Boko Haram, Islamic State and other revivalist movements of the 20th century.

"Islam, in particular, is the religion of angry young men who are terrified by the way in which women's roles have changed in the last 50 years." » | Alix Culbertson | Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Gay and Lesbian Gambians Live in Fear of ‘Aggravated Homosexuality’ Law

THE GUARDIAN: Few havens available in west Africa for people forced to flee homophobia and harsh new legislation

The tipoff late one night wasn’t unexpected. Since the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” had come into force in the Gambia in October, Theresa had been living in fear. Then a friend who worked for the country’s notorious police force warned her she would be targeted in a raid in a few hours’ time. Theresa’s crime was being a lesbian.

“I wasn’t surprised, I was expecting it anyway because the president has said many times he will kill us all like dogs,” she said. “But I was really, really scared. My friend said, if you don’t go now, it will be too late.” By dawn, Theresa was on a bus out of the country with her best friend, Youngesp, both of whom agreed to speak only if their real names were not used. The two have joined a growing number of people whose lives have been upended by anti-gay laws that trample on an already marginalised minority in west Africa.

That they ended up seeking refuge in neighbouring Senegal, where being gay or lesbian is punishable with five-year jail terms, points to the particularly dismal situation in the Gambia. Its politicians have long and publicly railed against homosexuality, with the tone set by President Yahya Jammeh, who this year labelled gay people vermin. » | Monica Mark, West Africa correspondent | Thursday, December 04, 2014

Desmond Tutu Condemns Uganda's Proposed New Anti-gay Law

In condemning Uganda's proposed new law, Desmond Tutu
again equated discrimination against gay people with the
horrors of Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa.

THE GUARDIAN: Retired archbishop accuses president of breaking promise in reconsidering law extending penalties against homosexuality

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has condemned Uganda's proposed law against homosexuality, saying there is no scientific or moral basis ever for prejudice and discrimination – and accusing the Ugandan president of breaking a promise not to enact the law. The new law would extend the prohibitions and penalties in a country where homosexuality is already a crime, to include acts such as "suggestive touching" in public.

President Yoweri Museveni had first said that he would not sign the legislation, then that he would do so after seeking scientific advice, and at the weekend that he would delay it pending more advice.

The proposed law has drawn harsh criticism from US president Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton. The US warned that such a move could "complicate" approximately £240m in annual aid to Uganda. In a statement Tutu said: "When President Museveni and I spoke last month, he gave his word that he would not let the anti-homosexuality bill become law in Uganda. I was therefore very disheartened to hear last week that President Museveni was reconsidering his position."

Tutu equated discrimination against gay people with the horrors of Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa. » | Maev Kennedy | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Nigeria Criminalises Same-sex Relationships

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Abuja: Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill that criminalises same-sex relationships, the presidency said, defying pressure from Western governments to respect gay and lesbian rights.

The bill, which contains penalties of up to 14 years in prison and bans gay marriage, same-sex "amorous relationships" and membership of gay rights groups, was passed by the national assembly last May but Jonathan had delayed signing it into law.

Two similar bills have been proposed since 2006 but failed to make it through parliament.

"Yes, Mr President had signed the bill into law, a statement will be issued on it within the week," presidency spokesman Reuben Abati said.

As in much of sub-Saharan Africa, anti-gay sentiment and persecution of homosexuals is rife in Nigeria, so the new legislation is likely to be popular. Jonathan is expected to seek re-election in 2015 but is under pressure after several dozen lawmakers and a handful of regional governors defected to the opposition in the past two months.

Under existing Nigerian federal law, sodomy is punishable by jail, but this bill legislates for a much broader crackdown on homosexuals and lesbians, who already live a largely underground existence. » | Felix Onuah | Tuesday, January 14, 2014