(Kampala, Uganda) A provision that would impose the death penalty for some gays is likely to be removed from the proposed legislation following opposition from Uganda’s president, the country’s ethics minister said Thursday.
President Yoweri Museveni has told colleagues he believes the bill is too harsh and has encouraged his ruling National Resistance Movement Party to overturn the death sentence provision, which would apply to sexually active gays living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape.

The proposed bill, though, says anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment and it is unclear whether Museveni supports that provision or not.

Gay rights activists say the bill promotes hatred and could set back efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in the conservative East African country. Protests already have been held in London, New York and Washington.

“The death penalty is likely to be removed,” said James Nsaba Buturo, Uganda’s minister of state for ethics and integrity. “The president doesn’t believe in killing gays. I also don’t believe in it. I think gays can be counseled and they stop the bad habit.”

Ruling party spokeswoman Mary Karoro Okurut said she also agrees with the president that some punishments in the bill should be dropped. But she said she will still push for a modified version of the bill when it comes to parliament in late February or early March.

“Although the president is against some parts of the bill, the bill has to stay,” she said. “(Homosexuality) is not allowed in African culture. We have to protect the children in schools who are being recruited into homosexual activities.”

By The Associated Press (http://www.365gay.com)
01.07.2010 9:30am EST

Photo from http://blackstarnews.com

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Be Aggressive!
Toss on a bright windbreaker just before you head out the door. It’s the quickest way to invigorate a drab look with some much needed color.

Go For the Tie
You should know by now that a tie isn’t just for the office guy. Try a windbreaker-tie combo, the badass version of dressy casual.

Take Control
Don’t be afraid to put your own stamp on the jacket—cinch the drawstring or push up the sleeves. Forearm ink optional.

Guard Yourself
Plenty of windbreakers come with a hood. Use it.

Watch Your Feet
Just as you’d do with your business wardrobe, try matching the color of your kicks to the rest of your outfit.

Photo: Ben Watts

By www.gq.com

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Following one of the most dramatic and emotional discourses thus far in the gay marriage debate, the New York Senate voted 24 to 38 Dec. 2 to reject a bill guaranteeing equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The bill, which Democratic Gov. David Paterson was expected to sign right away, would have made New York – the third largest populated state in the country – the sixth state to provide equal marriage rights to gay couples.

Opponents of the measure – with one exception – sat silently throughout more than two hours of discourse about the bill, while 18 Democrats – many of them African Americans and Jews – stood to urge support for the bill.

The bill’s sponsor, openly gay Sen. Tom Duane, in closing debate on the measure, sighed heavily and acknowledged the outcome of the vote was still uncertain. The bill needed 32 votes to pass and, while the Senate generally takes up bills only after the leadership knows it has the votes to pass, the marriage bill was an exception. No one – given 32 Democrats and 30 Republicans in the chamber – knew what the result would be.

“We have work to do in New York, and elsewhere,” said Marty Rouse, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, which operated phone banks for constituents to call their senators on the issue. “We’re getting closer to equality, but we’re not there yet.”

The chamber was silent when the vote was announced just before 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The debate preceding the vote included numerous African-American senators emphasizing how similar arguments against gay marriage parallel arguments made decades ago against interracial marriage. It included many vigorous statements that the law would not affect religious freedoms.

And it included many tips of the proverbial hat to Sen. Duane and his partner in life Louis Webre.

“In my family and culture, especially as it relates to my religion, it has always been considered that, if you were living together and not officially married, you were considered living in sin,” said Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, an African-American Democrat from Brooklyn. “So, for those of us who believe in that religious tenet, the reason why to support same-sex marriage is that we do not want them to live in sin.”

By Lisa Keen
From www.pridesource.com

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Over the weekend, Rod 2.0 updated the growing international backlash against Uganda’s latest and most extreme, anti-gay proposal: The proposed offense of “aggravated homosexuality” where an HIV-positive gay men has sex with another man. The penalty would be death. The prime ministers of Britain and Canada have formally protested the proposal.

Last year, the small East African nation received some $287 million in funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Several members of Congress, including Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), want the Obama Administration to withhold funding for AIDS programs in Uganda unless legislators abandon the extreme legislation. Sorry but we don’t tell countries how to legislate, PEPFAR Chief Coordinator Eric Goosby tells Newsweek.

From rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline

Article from http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline

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By Joel Lovell
Photographs by Peggy Sirota
www.gq.com/entertainment

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The position of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is more complicated, and his silence more eloquent. He is himself Ugandan by birth. One of his younger half-brothers, pastor Robert Kayanja, is a highly successful pentecostal preacher in Kampala, running a church called the Rubaga Miracle Centre. Such people are highly rewarded, and the business is extremely competitive. A rival preacher, the gloriously named Solomon Male of the The Arising Church was accused this spring of kidnapping Kayanga’s assistant and torturing him for five days to get him to confess that his boss was gay and partial to young men.

The admission would have been social death. Come to think of it, under the new law, it would be physical death as well.

Sentamu’s office say that he has not spoken to his brother for some months and was unaware of the story. So the suggestion on some websites that this was the cause of his silence can’t be right. On the other hand, his office is quite clear that he has “no plans” to speak out on the proposed bill.

To read more, please click here.

www.guardian.co.uk

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Mogae’s message

“Your Excellency, we respectfully express our concern at the provisions referenced in these two Bills and fear that passage of such legislation, which deviates from international best practice and recommendations, could lead to increased stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/Aids and the groups most vulnerable to the epidemic,” Mr Mogae wrote.

In the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Mr Mogae’s organisation is particularly concerned about a proposal that would see a person convicted of the offence of homosexuality imprisoned for life and a death penalty imposed for those having gay sex with anyone under the age of 18, or when the accused is HIV-positive.
Ndorwa West MP David Bahati who introduced the Bill, has defended it saying the proposed law is intended to protect future generations. “Homosexuality is not a human right. It is a foreign behaviour imported and promoted by people using the poverty in our country to expound bad behaviour. We are determined to protect what is right for Uganda and not what is convenient for some people,” Mr Bahati said.

To read more, please click here.

By Evelyn Lirri from www.monitor.co.ug

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Cherif has been doing great and has done huge campaign advertisements for companies like Target. He has embraced the cover of many magazines, including African Vibe. Cherif is not only a model, but a role model for other models by being humble in what he does! You will see big things with this remarkable guy. In the meantime, it is with pleasure and pride that I am unveiling to you, Cherif, the marvel of Senegal, through this exclusive interview about his life, career, debut in modeling, and future projects.

Cherif Ndiaye has been the face for Target, GQ, Wilson’s Leather, and Macys. He recently modeled LL Cool J’s new clothing line, Todd Smith. He has worked on the Gap Campaign and Tommy Hilfiger and has walked for designers like Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Sean John among others. His face (and body) has graced the cover for Iona Men magazine and African Vibes magazine among others.

by Shirlene Alusa-Brown

Photography by Ndiaye myspace page and majormodelmanagement.com

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These laws are vitally important to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) families. They enable domestic partners to take unpaid leave to care for a critically ill loved one without being fired, to cover a partner in family health insurance, and to make sure hard-earned pension and death benefits protect children when a parent dies.

Posted by Tina Walker-Mori

The Family Equality Council works to ensure equality for LGBT families by building community, changing hearts and minds, and advancing social justice for all families

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