Course date: 16 - 20 April 2012 Download the brochure for this course The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, will host a one-week intensive short course on sexual minority rights from 16 to 20 April 2012. Venue: Graduate Centre, University of Pretoria Main Campus

About the course (2012)

This course is aimed at government officials, members of civil society, academics and legal practitioners from around Africa. Please note, the course is not primarily for LGBTI persons or activists, but for ‘mainstream’ NGOs and others who may need
information, awareness raising, and capacity on issues involved. LGBTI persons are however, not precluded from applying.

The programme may contain the following elements:

• Conceptual clarification of the terms ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’, ‘transgender’  and ‘intersex’ (the origin of these and other related terms and their influence);
• Bio-medical data on homosexuality, and its interpretation;
• HIV and the emergence of ‘men-who-have-sex-with-men’ (MSM), MSM and the LGBTI movement, risk of HIV infection to lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered and intersex persons;
• African tradition/culture and homosexuality (the ‘unAfrican’ debate, anthropological perspectives on homosexuality in traditional Africa);
• The approach to homosexuality of the major religious traditions (Christianity, Islam);
• Public opinion on sexual minority rights: media, popular culture and literature in Africa and sexual minority rights;
• A typology of human rights violations of sexual minorities in African states (attempts to address them ; reasons for violations);
• Criminal law and LGBTI persons (sodomy laws, and the application of criminal law);
• Sexual minority rights under international law (ICCPR; Toonen case; Yogyokarta Principles; are LGBTI persons ‘minorities’ under international law);
• Domestic legal provisions affecting LGBTI persons in African states (eg criminalisation of same-sex relations);
• Strategies and best practices of litigation to vindicate the rights of sexual minorities (the role of civil society organs, media etc);
• Current case law development in African states (Uganda, Kenya and Malawi).
• EU / Council of Europe and LGBTI Rights
• Other international (UN) law and sexual minorities

Reading list (2012)

Mr Pierre Brouard
Deputy Director, Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria

• Anatomy of a Backlash: Sexuality and the “Cultural” War on Human Rights
• Homosexuality in “Traditional” Sub-Saharan Africa and Contemporary South Africa
• Human Rights Watch: Violence and Discrimination against Black Lesbians and Transgender Men in South Africa
• Human Rights Watch: Organizing around Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Worldwide
• Organizing around Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Worldwide
• Sexual Diversity Toolkit
• Sexual Minorities and Sexual Rights booklet
• Sexuality and Human Rights
• Sexual rights: an IPPF declaration: Abridged version
• UN Report: Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity
• UNHCHR Report: Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity
• State-Sponsored Homophobia and Its Consequences in Southern Africa
• Sex, Gender and Development: Challenging Heteronormativity
• The prize and the price: Shaping sexualities in South Africa
• Nowhere to Turn: Blackmail and Extortion of LGBT People in Sub-Saharan Africa

Mr Brian White
Programme Manager for Health at AMSHeR

• Public Health: MSM and HIV
• What Men Should Know: Sexually Tranmitted infections (STIs)