africa

Ever wonder what lesbian culture is like in other parts of the world?

In township's throughout South Africa, women are being targeted for violence, rape, and murder, all the while being told by attackers that it is because they are lesbians they are being attacked in a practice known as "corrective rape."

In a culture where corrective rapes exist and where homophobia is a way of life, being an out and proud member of the South African women’s national soccer team carries a negative, and sometimes fatal connotation. 

Noxolo Nogwaza was found dead in the Kwa-Thema township on Sunday, believed to be the latest lesbian victim of murder and the “corrective rape” practice in South Africa. “Ms. Nogwaza was a member of the Ekurhuleni Pride Organising Committee (EPOC), the key LGBTI organisation in Kwa-Thema. The committee, along with the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) said that Ms Nogwaza’s face was so badly beaten that she was unrecognisable. Her body had been stabbed all over with glass shards and an empty bottle and used condom were also reportedly found in her genitals,” reported Queerlife.

There is a moment in just about every workday when we come across something sexy, gratuitous and completely pointless that we wish we could post but don't under the auspices of there being nothing lesbian about it and often there being no redeeming value. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton let loose on the dance floor in Johannesburg at a dinner hosted by South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

Education officials in South Africa are investigating reports that a girls' boarding school dorm expelled 27 students due to reported lesbian relationships. According to the BBC, two girls who were caught kissing in the dormitory reportedly said that other students were involved in lesbian relationships. The dorm houses 300 students and when confronted by school officials, the girls identified 25 other lesbian students.

The Human Rights Watch study details the abuse suffered by poor lesbians, bisexual women and transgender men in South Africa, including the pervasive crime of "corrective rape." Men in townships can become known as heroes for “showing” their victims what it means to be a “woman.”

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a public-private partnership to combat gender based violence and further the fight against HIV/Aids in South Africa. Because of the high HIV prevalence in South Africa, survivors of sexual violence are at high risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS, and women living with HIV/Aids are at higher risk of experiencing violence.

A new travel series documenting my adventures in Africa

At 56, Jennifer Figge became the first woman on record to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, swimming from Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast and touching dry land in Trinidad. Figge, who resides in Aspen, Colorado, left Africa on Jan. 12 with the intention of swimming to the Bahamas, but landed in Trinidad when inclement weather forced her to change direction.

Busi Kheswa is the director of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, advocating for the rights of abused LGBT women. The following is the speech she gave Wednesday night addressing violence and rape against women in South Africa at the Oslo Freedom Forum.

Pope Benedict XVI made a shocking statement during his first trip to Africa yesterday, claiming condoms hurt, not help, the fight against the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

A member of the Green Party reintroduced legislation to legalize marriage equality in Australia on Wednesday. Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young brought the bill to the nation's senate, citing Sweden, South Africa, some states in the U.S., and other governments that have enacted marriage equality.