Homosexuality in Africa

In the wake of recent homophobic attacks in several African countries, the Frontline Club will host a panel discussion about gay rights in Africa.

The talk will feature an exclusive preview screening of an excerpt from an expolosive BBC World Debate which will be broadcast by BBC World News during March. The BBC debate is entitled “Is Homosexuality unAfrican?”.  It features prominent African leaders, including legislators who have proposed clamping down on homosexual activities, as well as gay rights activists from the continent.

After highlights from the BBC World Debate, a panel of experts will be discussing gay rights in Africa and the men and women who seek asylum in the UK to escape persecution as a result of their sexuality.

On the panel:

John Bosco Nyombi is a gay Ugandan man. Fearing being imprisoned or killed in Uganda, he fled to Britain in 2001 and started an eight-year campaign to claim assylum in the UK, which he eventually won in 2009.

Jonathan Cooper OBE is a barrister specialising in human rights, and Chief Executive of the Human Dignity Trust. The Trust is a new body set up to investigate the legality of laws that criminalise homosexual acts wherever those laws exist in the world.

Moderating the event: Ben Cashdan, producer of the BBC World Debate “Is Homosexuality unAfrican” and director of Broad Daylight Films in Johannesburg. Ben has produced more than 20 documentaries about human rights issues in South Africa and around the world.

Picture credit: futureatlas.com