Steven Monjeza (R) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga (L) Source: Box Turtle Bulletin  A Malawi court will sentence Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza next month of charges of “gross indecency.” Chimbalanga, who identifies as a woman, and Monjeza were arrested last December after holding a traditional engagement ceremony. The couple face a maximum sentece of 14 years at hard labor. The couple have complained at gross mistreatment by police and fellow prisoners, and were subjected to humiliating “medical” examinations. They were also abused in court, when Tiwonge Chimbalanga fell ill during the trial and was forced to clean up her own ...

The N.Y. Times reports that Obama's decision to finally begin the repeal process for Don't Ask/Don't Tell was motivated by court challenges to the ban. He didn't want to be in the position of publicly defending the policy in court. Box Turtle Bulletin says that the only court challenge to DADT that's actually advancing is one brought by the Log Cabin Republicans! If that's accurate, it's the first good thing the LCR have ever done. ...

Patrick Strudwick infiltrated a network of gay-to-straight conversion therapists in Britain and secretly recorded the sessions. We learn that all gay people are (or were) depressed. Gayness can be caused by a difficult birth or Freemasonry. I've heard almost everything cited as the "cause" for gayness, but Freemasonry is a totally new one for me. Has anyone made a study of the rates of homosexuality worldwide so that one could see there are fewer gay people in cultures where there are no (or very few) Freemasons? (Via Box Turtle Bulletin) ...

Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, the gay couple being held in a Malawi jail after being arrested following an engagement ceremony, have been denied bail a second time, because the judge fears for their safety: "'The State fears for applicants' safety based on the kind of reaction members of the public have demonstrated each time they are brought to court,' Justice Rowland Mbvundula said in the ruling. The judge observed that the public has been hostile and negative towards the couple since the trial started. This is the second time the courts have denied them bail."Box Turtle ...

This morning I posted more about Ugandan pastor and Rick Warren pal Martin Ssempa's screenings of gay porn in support of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill. Now comes this video (via Box Turtle Bulletin) of Ssempa on the Ugandan talk show "Hot Seat", trying to convince host Charles Musana of the evils of homosexuality, and describing in graphic detail scatological sex and fisting (things all gay people supposedly do, according to Ssempa), with which he's apparently very familiar. Watch, AFTER THE JUMP... Previously...Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa Holds Gay Porn Screening to Scare Up Support for ...

Several days ago, MP David Bahati, the sponsor of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill, announced he was coming to Washington D.C. to attend the National Prayer Breakfast in February with President Obama and faith leaders. Warren Throckmorton says it's not happening: Bahati was invited months ago to come to Washington DC only as a volunteer and not to attend the NPB event. According to these sources, Bahati declined the invitation prior to introducing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. According to Mr. Hunter, the Monitor article and Bahati’s statements came as a complete surprise to the NPB officials here. However, in ...

Rachel Maddow’s superb coverage of Uganda’s kill-gays bill has introduced the country to that draconian law that would, if passed, make homosexuality—broadly defined—punishable by life imprisonment or, in some cases, by hanging. She has also expertly delved into the connections between the bill’s sponsors in Uganda and  “Christian” anti-gay activists in the US. But the best place to find in-depth coverage of the proposed law is a US blog. Uganda’s “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” has been covered in great depth and stunning insight since before it was introduced by one of this country’s best blogs, Box Turtle Bulletin and ...

Box Turtle Bulletin has been rocking Uganda coverage since well before the mainstream media gave a damn. And now, working alongside the reasoned, committed workhorses at Ex-Gay Watch, BTB gives us even more insight into what kinds of insane anti-gay teachings led to the country's "kill gays" bill. Teachings from American religious leaders: Scott Lively was one of three American activists to speak at an anti-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda on March 5-7, 2009. The other two participants were Exodus International board member Don Schmierer and International Healing Foundation’s Caleb Lee Brundidge. Two weeks after ...

Jim Burroway, at Box Turtle Bulletin, who has done a considerably thorough amount of work chronicling the anti-gay events in Uganda, obtained three videos of Scott Lively, who participated, with Exodus International board member Don Schmierer and International Healing Foundation’s Caleb Lee Brundidge, in a March anti-gay conference in Kampala, Uganda which ultimately led to the "kill the gays" bill (the NYT recently wrote them up, as you may recall). Writes BTB: "Two weeks after the conference, Lively bragged that he had delivered a 'nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda.' Ex-Gay Watch and Box ...

Some more anti-gay news coming out of central Africa. Now it's Rwanda. Box Turtle Bulletin reports: BTB has just learned that the Rwandan Parliament is scheduled to take up consideration of a change to Rwanda’s penal code which would criminalize homosexuality with a punishment of five to ten years. It would also ban counselling and advocacy that could be interpreted as “encouraging or sensitizing” people to enter into same-sex relationships. The problematic section in the penal code is article 217 which states that:Any person who practices, encourages or sensitizes people of the same sex, to sexual relation or any sexual practice, shall be liable for a term of ...

The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld reports: In its strongest statement yet, the Obama Administration condemned a homophobic Ugandan bill that would carry a death sentence for acts of homosexuality in some cases. “The President strongly opposes efforts, such as the draft law pending in Uganda, that would criminalize homosexuality and move against the tide of history,” read the White House statement that came late Friday in response to an inquiry from The Advocate.” Eleveld is also reporting that Box Turtle Bulletin has learned that John Nagenda, a senior adviser to Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, on Friday wrote an op-ed piece ...

Via Queerty, Rachel Maddow examines Pastor Rick Warren's connections to Uganda's proposal to either imprison for life or execute all homosexuals. Box Turtle Bulletin has been documenting this story as it developed beginning with a conference in February attended by Scott Lively, co-founder of "Watchmen On the Walls," an anti-gay pro-Christian hate group (Watchmen On The Walls). Here Box Turtle Bulletin summarizes the Uganda anti-gay bill and here is a PDF of the bill itself. In the bill anyone who is convicted of being homosexual can get a life sentence. If they ...

Uganda's parliament is considering a bill that would make life imprisonment the minimum punishment for gay sex and/or same-sex marriage. Under the proposed bill, the accused would face the death penalty if HIV positive, among other conditions. Penalties would also exist for those who "aid and abet" others to commit the "crime" of homosexuality, who do not disclose an act of homosexuality that has been committed, and who promote homosexuality via writings and other media.The full text of the bill can be found at the Box Turtle Bulletin, which has been covering this issue extensively.As the Guardian notes, ...

Transcript available on Box Turtle Bulletin. ...

We've already told you how the recent legal "win" that the PFOX organization has been crowing about for the past few months is anything but. Our pal Timothy Kincaid wrote a great assessment of it for Box Turtle Bulletin: And, most importantly, the judge found that it is perfectly reasonable for the NEA to exclude PFOX. Because the NEA did not exclude them for being ex-gay, but rather because they have a disruptive political agenda that is contrary to that of the NEA. The NEA did not reject its application because PFOX’s members include exgays, homosexuals, heterosexuals, or members of ...

Charlene Strong’s partner Kate Fleming, died in 2006. While Kate was in the hospital, Charlene was initially denied access to see her. This is why approving Washington’s Referendum 71 is so important, and it’s why it’s important that this ad goes on the air. Donate, volunteer, and spread the word with Washington Families Standing Together. Washington VOTE YES on ref 71!Crossposted via Box Turtle Bulletin. ...

Catholic Vote Action, a religious political group based in Chicago, is demanding that an ad supporting equal marriage rights in the state of Maine be pulled off the air. The ad, which features a real family including a Catholic grandmother who supports her gay son and his adopted child, was produced by Protect Maine Equality in response to an upcoming ballot initiative that would take away the existing right of gay couples to marry in the state. “I’ve been a Catholic all my life,” the grandmother says in the ad, “my faith means a lot to me.” She continues, “Marriage ...