ABSTRACTIn November 2018 the governor of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, launched an anti-gay crackdown, threatening the arrest of individuals suspected of being homosexual. Of the 54 countries in Africa, 34 currently have laws that criminalise homosexuality, three of which include the death penalty (Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria). Like many marginalised communities, LGBTQ individuals cross borders for the sake of political and economic security. This article explores the structural constraints associated with African queer mobility within the context of global geopolitical shifts and the subsequent rise of anti-immigration populist-nationalist sentiments in Europe and North America. The article draws on the theoretical lenses of Queer IR in order to understand how and to what extent European queer subjects are implicated in enforcing restrictions on African queer mobility. It makes specific reference to the rise of populist-nationalism and the resistance from and/or collusion by queer subjects. As such, it argues that the emergence of Homopopulism has resulted in increasing queer-on-queer violence through LGBTQ support of anti-immigrant and security (populist-nationalist) regimes.

The labels used to describe sexual and gender minorities in the U.S. have shifted over time and become increasingly inclusive. Movement organizations have changed from describing the “lesbian, gay, and bisexual” (“LGB”) community to adding transgender (“LGBT”) and then also queer (“LGBTQ”) identities. Do these different labels affect public views of the group and support for their rights? I embedded a question wording experiment in a statewide survey, asking respondents about either LGB, LGBT, or LGBTQ people. The labels had no discernible effect on (1) support for requiring businesses to serve the group; nor (2) views of the group’s political leanings. There is no evidence that ideology and partisanship moderated these null effects: liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, were unaffected by the changing designations. This suggests public attitudes are not contingent on how the LGBTQ community is labelled, a finding with implications both for movement organizations and survey researchers.

Throughout the 2000s, donor organizations successfully argued for the inclusion of men who have sex with men (msm) in the global response to HIV/AIDS. These efforts have had unintended consequences for msm and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Focusing on Malawi and Senegal, we find that donors’ emphasis on msm provided new urgency and sources of support for nascent lgbt- and msm-identified groups to organize around sexual identities and disseminate prevention strategies to their communities. These interventions increased the visibility of msm and lgbt populations in both countries; however, this new visibility also positioned msm and lgbt organizations between Western donors and political elites, contributing to political backlash against lgbt Malawians and Senegalese by the late 2000s. Further, while some msm- and lgbt-identified organizations in Malawi and Senegal ultimately expanded their activism to include lgbt rights, other HIV organizations working with msm to gain access to new donor funding did not advocate for the rights of lgbt populations. We discuss the implications of these processes for development initiatives and argue for a more expansive definition of health in HIV and development work to address a broader set of community concerns.

Abstract In this forum piece, I utilize Rahul Rao’s concept of “homocapitalism” (2020) as an analytical lens through which to evaluate the corporate support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights. Affinity groups, including those designed to support LGBTQ employees, have become a regular feature of most Fortune 500 companies. These groups seek to represent the interests of particular employee audiences, while also helping the company to advance its profit-driven goals. Drawing on interviews with queer professionals working for multinational technology companies, I signpost the promises and limitations of LGBTQ activism when it becomes (re)located within the context of a corporation.

Since the onset of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been substantial research and information in media about the mechanisms, and health and economic impacts of COVID-19 There is, however, less information about the possible consequences of this stressful period in developing countries, such as in sub-Saharan Africa;and even less so among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in these regions In this commentary, we briefly describe the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and explore added sources of stress unique to LGBT Nigerians during this period-including exacerbation of preexisting minority stress, financial difficulty, and worries pertaining HIV treatment and COVID-19 infection risk We also highlight some positive outcomes including a stronger sense of community and conclude by recognizing the support from Nigerian LGBT organizations and the need for clinical support and research (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Significance Statement: In this commentary, we draw attention to possible negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Nigerians;and positive aspects of the pandemic such as increased online communication which can make the LGBT community more visible in Nigeria We conclude by recommending more support from clinicians and research into the well-being of LGBT Nigerians (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

The politics surrounding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) claims have received increasing attention in the past few years. LGBTQ advocates pursue their diverse interests at the local, national, regional and global levels, in the course stimulating an interesting discussion about sexual rights in International Relations. The books that have emerged on this topic in the recent past show the promise of a nuanced and lively debate on this topic for years to come.

We note that a political consensus on LGBT rights equating human rights is nowhere in sight in contemporary Nigeria. We rekindle the debate between universalism, as represented by the claim that human rights are the same everywhere, and cultural relativism, the conservative platform of the resistance to gay rights. We assert that the argument in favour of gay rights is rationally compelling but that the opinion of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians who oppose homosexuality cannot be easily dismissed. We examine arguments for and against the decriminalisation of homosexuality and conclude that supportive arguments validated by the harm principle present a convincing case for decriminalisation, notwithstanding the prevalence of anti-decriminalisation sentiments in Nigeria.

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with financial fortunes bolstered by enormous natural endowments and human resources. Yet Nigeria is faced with myriads of economic and socio-political woes and has earned the infamous sobriquet of the world’s poverty capital. Scholars and other stakeholders have not only wondered why Nigeria, the supposed giant of Africa is trailing behind in anything positive, but also have consistently observed that Nigeria’s endemic problems are anchored on ill- governance. The paper interrogated Nigeria’s national security which has been compromised through incessant and runaway corruption, the activities of boko haram terrorists, the daily killings by the Fulani herdsmen and other criminal gangs in Nigeria, menacing poverty, dearth of infrastructure, institutions with weak performance capacities, a governance elite that is far away from the aspirations of the governed and too removed that it has become irresponsible and insensitive to the plight of its subjects, which was adequately exposed through the ENDSARS protests in the country in early October 2020. A qualitative research, the paper is anchored on Social Contract as its analytical theory. The paper’s findings, amongst others, include a governance deficit foisted by self-styled leadership of a schizophrenic nature that has caused a reversing development, unemployment, human and income poverty, a recourse to inflaming ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments to cover up their primordial interests as well as maladministration and several other challenges arising from their prebendal nature. The recommendations include, among others: elimination of machine politics which is a progenitor of bad leadership and a culture of impunity with negative effects on human development and national security; a resort to entrenching human security if Nigeria intends to achieve national security which will usher in national integration and national development, as well as attract foreign investment and international goodwill.

This paper examined issues of national security and human rights in Nigeria with emphasis on the conflicts between the federal government and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN). The objectives of the paper included to determine the nature of national security and human rights in Nigeria vis-à-vis the Islamic Movement of Nigeria; identity the contentious issues that triggered the conflicts and undermined national security and human rights between the federal government and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria; determine the implications of continued crackdown of IMN members and detention of their leader, El-Zakzaky and his wife on national security and human rights violations in Nigeria, and make necessary recommendations on how these issues can be amicably resolved without compromising national security and human rights of Nigerians, especially IMN members. This research has become imperative in view of the continued detention of Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky by the security operatives in Nigeria since 2015 in spite of court orders without concluding the trials. This has caused great concern to Nigerians with daily debates on the implications of this prolonged incarceration of the duo on national security and human rights in a democratic system of government. This paper was anchored on the “Family Theory in Clinical Practice”. The ‘Family Theory’ stressed the need to understand and consider the emotional functioning of a family or group as the basis for religious or political indoctrination, radicalisation, extremism and deviant behaviour that may be antagonistic to acceptable societal norms and values. This paper adopted descriptive research design. Data used for the study were gathered from secondary sources as content analysis was used in the interpretation of data. The paper found that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members were justified in their protest against military crackdown, detention and proscription. The paper observed that the over five year’s detention of Sheikh El-Zakzaky by the Nigerian government without trial amounts to the violation of his constitutionally guaranteed and legally protected human rights. This paper recommends the immediate and unconditional release of the Shiites leader from detention, speedy trial and respect for judicial pronouncements by the Nigerian government without compromising national security and human rights.

In the year 2000, Nigeria joined the 189 member states at the United Nations Millennium Summit to set the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which were related to various aspects of development targeted for realization in year 2015. This paper is a strategic thought on the implications the implementation of the goals holds out for national security in Nigeria. The paper, which is based on the study of literature, reveals that genuine commitment to the implementation of the goals is strategically related to effective national security. However, in Nigeria the progressthat thus far has been made in the implementation of the goals is yet inadequate to guarantee effective national security.