The Sexual Minority Rights course will be held from 12 - 16 April 2010.

This course is targeted at government officials, members of civil society, academics and legal practitioners from around Africa. Please note, the course is not primarily for LGBTI people or activists, but for ‘mainstream’ NGOs and others who may need information, awareness raising, and capacity on the issues involved. A number of LGBTI persons will however also be attending.
The programme may contain the following elements:

• Conceptual clarification of the terms 'gay', 'lesbian', 'bisexual', 'transgender' and 'intersex' (the origin of these terminologies 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, transcended 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).