Tag Archives: Black lesbians

Argentina: Lesbian Higui acquitted after brutal attack and attempted corrective rape

Posted on 18/03/2022 by | Leave a comment
Higui speaks after being acquitted of manslaughter, having defended herself during a brutal and traumatic attack and attempted corrective rape.

On October 16, 2016, Argentinian woman Eva Analía De Jesús, better known as Higui, was walking through the Buenos Aires town of Bella Vista when a group of men attacked her because of her sexual orientation. Higui — who was given that nickname because she was a soccer player and had curls like the Colombian René Higuita — told the police and later the judges that her attackers beat her and tried to rape her. “I’m going to make you feel like a woman…a lesbian,” Cristian Rubén Espósito told her, according to his account. She took out a knife and plunged it into his chest. She fainted and when she regained consciousness she was arrested. Despite the fact that she reported an attempted corrective gang rape and that she was found unconscious by police officers, with torn clothing and numerous injuries from beating, her allegations were never investigated. She was charged with simple murder and spent almost eight months in jail. This Thursday she was aquitted.
(Translated)

El 16 de octubre de 2016, la argentina Eva Analía De Jesús, más conocida como Higui, caminaba por la localidad bonaerense de Bella Vista cuando un grupo de hombres la atacó debido a su orientación sexual. Higui —a quien le pusieron ese apodo por ser futbolista y tener rulos como el colombiano René Higuita— contó ante la policía y después ante los jueces que sus agresores la golpearon e intentaron violarla. “Te voy a hacer sentir mujer, forra, lesbiana”, le dijo Cristian Rubén Espósito, según su relato. Ella sacó una navaja y se la clavó en el pecho. Se desvaneció y cuando recuperó la conciencia estaba detenida. A pesar de que ella denunció un intento de violación grupal correctiva y que fue encontrada inconsciente por los policías, con la ropa rota y numerosos golpes, sus acusaciones nunca se investigaron. Fue acusada de homicidio simple y pasó casi ocho meses encarcelada, pero este jueves un tribunal dictó su absolución.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-03-18/absuelta-higui-la-argentina-que-mato-al-hombre-que-intento-violarla-por-ser-lesbiana.html (Source)

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Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa Part 2: 2008 to 2018

Posted on 10/07/2021 by | 1 comment

Part two of this extract, the first part of which the Mail & Guardian published last week, lists the names of black lesbians who were murdered between 2007 and 2018, allegedly because of their sexual orientation.

Continue reading at: https://mg.co.za/news/2021-07-08-hate-killings-of-black-lesbians-in-south-africa-2008-to-2018/ (Source)

Read part 1 here: South Africa: ‘We only write about them when they are dead’: Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa

Related posts (https://listening2lesbians.com/tag/lesbians-in-south-africa/)

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‘We only write about them when they are dead’: Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa Part 1

Posted on 05/07/2021 by | 1 comment

This is an edited extract from the book Femicide in South Africa (Kwela) by Nechama Brodie.

In 1990, the year that Nelson Mandela was released, Johannesburg held the very first Gay and Lesbian Pride march, at which Simon Nkoli, Beverly Ditsie and Justice Edwin Cameron were among the speakers. The marchers chanted, “Out of the closet and into the streets.”

It was a significant moment, even though it would take several more years before gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) individuals would be granted similar rights and protections as hetero- and cis-sexual South Africans, first under an interim and then a final constitution that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender.

Between 1994 and 2005 a number of legal amendments were made and new laws introduced that formalised rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals. The criminalisation of sodomy was declared unconstitutional. Same-sex partners were granted similar rights in terms of immigration and financial benefits as those granted to different-sex spouses or partners. Trans and intersex individuals were allowed to change their legally recognised sex. Same-sex couples were allowed to jointly adopt children or adopt each other’s children. Lesbian couples were allowed to be registered as the natural, legitimate parents of a child that one of them had born.

There were also challenges to the constitutionality of the Marriage Act, which did not then allow for same-sex unions to be recognised as marriages. By late 2005, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Marriage Act was unconstitutional and gave parliament one year in which to remedy the matter.

But being “out of the closet” also meant that LGBTI individuals were more openly targeted for hate, harassment, victimisation and violence — even as these new laws were passed supposedly protecting their rights. Although this text focuses on violence against black lesbians, it is important to note that the growth in hate crimes was experienced by all members of the LGBTI community, with transgender individuals experiencing even higher levels of violence, as a group, than lesbians or gay men.

Black lesbians face double jeopardy
This is also a good place to discuss why this is about “black lesbians” and not just lesbians, and also what the concept of “black lesbians” represents as a group, even though it is quite obviously made up of individual black women who are by no means homogenous because of their sexual preference.

In Nonhlanhla Mkhize, Jane Bennett, Vasu Reddy and Relebohile Moletsane’s book The Country We Want to Live In: Hate Crimes and Homophobia in the Lives of Black Lesbian South Africans (HSRC Press, 2010), they note that, although there were risks to “singling out a particular group of people as targets of gender-based violence”, black lesbians were “doubly vulnerable”.

This was because, firstly, although all women in South Africa were vulnerable to violence, there was a correlation between increased poverty and increased vulnerability and, in South Africa, being black meant there was a greater association with being poor or having less access to resources. Not only did black women live in environments in which, just as other black women, they were vulnerable to attack, they also lived in places in which cultures were often deeply homophobic and in which sexual violence had become a “popular weapon”.

In the 1980s, the country’s ongoing rape crisis had started to take on chilling new aspects, including gang rapes that became known as “jackrolling”. Jackrolling initially involved the selection and abduction of a victim, usually a woman who (her attackers believed) presented herself as if she was “better than them” and “out of reach”. There were echoes of these sentiments in the growing number of stories that began to emerge during the 1990s of black lesbian women being targeted, being beaten and raped by men, supposedly as a means of “teaching them how to be proper women”.

This gradually became referred to as “curative” or “corrective” rape, and involved three distinct aspects: one was punishment of the woman, for her choice of sexual identity and her lifestyle; a second was the humiliation of the victim — as with jackrolling, this was often achieved through gang rapes; the third was the repulsive misnomer of “transforming” lesbians into heterosexual women through violent penetration.

Even as newspapers carried the occasional story about black lesbians’ struggles for acceptance individually or within their communities in the context of the changing legislative landscape, almost every single one of these women’s accounts also included incidents of violence, most frequently rape. Sometimes these women were even raped with the knowledge of their family members, who either actively encouraged the assault in the hope of ridding the young woman of her homosexuality, or tacitly accepted such attacks as what should happen to “girls like that”.

Continue reading at: https://mg.co.za/news/2021-07-01-we-only-write-about-them-when-they-are-dead-hate-killings-of-black-lesbians-in-sa/ (source)

Read Part 2: Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa Part 2: 2008 to 2018

Related posts: (https://listening2lesbians.com/tag/lesbians-in-south-africa/)

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ILD: The world’s oldest black lesbian, And you have probably never heard of her

Posted on 08/10/2020 by | Leave a comment

Ruth Ellis

Ruth Ellis was born in 1899 in Springfield, Illinois. Her father, Charles Ellis, was the first Black mail carrier in the entire state of Illinois. Her mother died when she was a tween, leaving her with her father and brothers. At the age of 16, after realizing that she had feelings for her white gym teacher, Ellis read Radclyffe Hall’s book The Well of Loneliness. After reading the book, she looked up the term “homosexual” in an psychology book. And that’s how she realized she was a lesbian. Being out isn’t easy at any point in history, but in 1915? It’s not like she had much for frame of reference. Despite that, however, Ellis always lived her life as an out lesbian.
…
While still living in Springfield, Ruth Ellis met Ceciline “Babe” Franklin, who was 10 years younger than her. There wasn’t much opportunity for a Black lesbian woman in Springfield back in the 1930s, so Ellis’s brother told her about Detroit. She went first, finding a job caring for a young boy for $7 a week. Franklin joined her in Detroit about a year later. Ellis, who had previously worked for a Black-owned print shop back in Springfield, decided to open her own print shop in Detroit.

“I was working for a printer, and I said to myself if I can do this for him, how come I can’t do it for myself?” she said.

With the formation of Ellis & Franklin Printing Co, which they ran out of their home, Ruth Ellis became the first woman in Michigan to own her own printing company. And that’s not the only thing that ran out of the Ellis/Franklin home.

Back in the 1940s, there weren’t many places for LGBTQ people to gather. In a pre-Stonewall world, being queer was life-threatening, so many people had to meet in private. And there was even less space in the community for Black queer people, so Ellis and Franklin opened up their home as a spot for them as a safe space. Their home was known as “The Giving Spot,” and was open for any members of the LGBTQ community, especially youth and Black folks.

“In those days everything was hush hush,” she explained. “If you just knew somebody that had a home would accept you that is where you went. So after we bought our home, we opened it up to the gay people. That is where everyone wanted to come on the weekend.”
…
Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Ellis made a steady stream of appearances and did lots of interviews. Everyone knows that lesbians have always existed, but to see a woman who had been living as an out lesbian since before World War 1? That’s unbelievable. Especially because that woman was Black. And not only was she an out lesbian, she was a business owner and mentor to the community. She became a permanent fixture at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival as a result.

Ellis’s status as the oldest living out Black lesbian was immortalized in a documentary about her life, Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. Of course, this only brought her more attention and notoriety. On her 100th birthday in 1999, Ruth Ellis was the leader of San Francisco’s Dyke March, with the entire crowd singing “Happy Birthday” to her. The same year, she lent her name and her legacy to the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit.

Continue reading at: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/woman-world-oldest-black-lesbian-050012963.html (Source)

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Germany: lack of protection for black lesbian refugees

Posted on 24/06/2020 by | Leave a comment

L2L Germany

NGO figures indicate that in Bavaria around 95% of asylum applications made by black lesbian women are initially rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

This contrasts with the general rejection rate of gay men of 50% and that of heterosexual women of around 30%. Although the numbers on LGBTI asylum applications are only an estimate because the BAMF does not separately register asylum cases from LGBTI people, these seem to show that lesbian asylum seekers in Germany are facing special challenges in their search for refugee protection.

Women and children are particularly vulnerable

This is especially true for black lesbian women of African descent who often experience forms of LGBTIQ-hostility such as social ostracism, racism and (sexual) violence.

In line with a recent EU directive, Germany recognises violations of human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds for asylum. In addition, with the ratification of the 2011 Istanbul Convention, Germany recognises that gender-based violence can be a persecution and that refugee protection should therefore be guaranteed. Indeed, women and children, along with victims of sex trafficking, are considered the most vulnerable and vulnerable in the European asylum system.

As the 2019 statistics from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees show, over 50% of heterosexual women in Germany have successfully achieved refugee status as victims of gender-specific persecution (forced marriage, FGM, honour killings, rape, domestic violence or forced prostitution). However, lesbian refugees are struggling to show the violence and human rights violations they have experienced to receive protection of asylum.
(Translated)

NGO-Zahlen deuten darauf hin, dass in Bayern etwa 95 Prozent der Asylanträge, die von Schwarzen lesbischen Frauen gestellt werden, beim Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) erst einmal eine Ablehnung erfahren.

Dies steht im Gegensatz zu der allgemeinen Ablehnungsrate von schwulen Männern von 50 Prozent und der von heterosexuellen Frauen von etwa 30 Prozent. Obwohl die Zahlen zu LSBTI-Asylanträgen nur eine Schätzung sind, weil das BAMF Asylfälle von LSBTI nicht gesondert erfasst, scheinen diese jedoch zu zeigen, dass lesbische Asylsuchende auf der Suche nach Flüchtlingsschutz in Deutschland besonderen Herausforderungen gegenüberstehen.

Frauen und Kinder gelten als besonders schutzbedürftig
Dies gilt insbesondere für Schwarze lesbische Frauen afrikanischer Herkunft, welche oft Formen von LSBTIQ-Feindlichkeit wie soziale Ächtung, Rassismus und (sexuelle) Gewalt erfahren.

In Übereinstimmung mit einer kürzlich erlassenen EU-Richtlinie erkennt Deutschland Menschenrechtsverletzungen aufgrund der sexuellen Ausrichtung und der Geschlechtsidentität als Asylgrund an. Darüber hinaus erkennt Deutschland mit der Ratifizierung der Istanbuler Konvention von 2011, dass geschlechtsspezifische Gewalt eine Verfolgung darstellen kann und daher Flüchtlingsschutz gewährleistet werden soll. Tatsächlich werden Frauen und Kinder zusammen mit den Opfern von Sexhandel als die schutzbedürftigsten und am stärksten gefährdeten Personen im europäischen Asylsystem betrachtet.

Wie die 2019 Statistik des Bundesamtes für Migration und Flüchtlinge zeigt, haben in Deutschland über 50 Prozent der heterosexuellen Frauen erfolgreich den Flüchtlingsstatus als Opfer geschlechtsspezifischer Verfolgung (Zwangsheirat, FGM, Ehrenmord, Vergewaltigung, häusliche Gewalt oder Zwangsprostitution) erlangt. Lesbische Geflüchtete kämpfen jedoch darum, erlebte Gewalt und Menschenrechtsverletzungen für den Flüchtlingsschutz geltend zu machen.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/queerspiegel/asylgrund-homosexualitaet-fehlender-schutz-fuer-schwarze-lesbische-gefluechtete/25938886.html (Source)

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Italy: two men attack Somali lesbian who rejects them

Posted on 15/06/2020 by | Leave a comment

L2L Italy

“Show me how you dance, lesbian” – how he approached the young woman. When she rejected him, he groped her rear and his friend punched her. It happened on Wednesday night (10 June 2020), around 1 am, at the municipal garden in via Petrarca, in Campi Bisenzio. The victim of the attack was a 20-year-old lesbian of Somali origin who lost two teeth. She was transported to the Careggi emergency room where she was medicated and discharged with a 15-day recovery prognosis.
(Translated)

“Fammi vedere come balli, lesbica”. Così ha tentato di approcciare la ragazza. Ma quando lei lo ha respinto, lui le ha palpeggiato il fondoschiena e l’amico l’ha colpita con un pugno. E’ successo mercoledì notte, intorno alle 1, al giardino comunale di via Petrarca, a Campi Bisenzio. Vittima dell’aggressione, una ragazza, 20 anni, di origine somale, che ha perso due denti. È stata trasportata al pronto soccorso di Careggi dove è stata medicata e dimessa con una prognosi di 15 giorni.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://corrierefiorentino.corriere.it/firenze/notizie/cronaca/20_giugno_11/respinge-due-ragazzi-loro-picchiano-f0b68656-ac15-11ea-8f34-3b5d4710ddec.shtml (Source)

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Support Higui, Argentinian lesbian on trial

Posted on 06/02/2020 by | Leave a comment

Higui
Gofundme campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/help-support-higui-argentinian-lesbian-on-trial

In 2016 in Argentina, Higui (Eva Analía de Jesús) was attacked by a group of men when visiting a friend in her home and defended herself from corrective rape.

After years of ongoing harassment for being lesbian, including being attacked and stoned, having her home burned and her pet killed, she was set upon by the three men, one of whom attempted to rape her for being lesbian.  Higui defended herself and her attacker was killed – she is now on trial for his death.

Higui was initially jailed while awaiting trial but was freed 8 months later, after public pressure.

Higui has faced ongoing violent lesbophobia in her community.

Listening2Lesbians is raising money to support her and demonstrate the worldwide solidarity we feel for her as lesbians and lesbian allies.

En 2016 en Argentina, Higui (Eva Analía de Jesús) fue atacada por un grupo de hombres cuando visitaba a una amiga en su casa y se defendió de una violación correctiva.

Después de años de hostigamiento continuo por ser lesbiana, incluyendo ser atacada y lapidada, quemar su casa y matar a su mascota, fue atacada por los tres hombres, uno de los cuales intentó violarla por ser lesbiana. Higui se defendió y su atacante resultó muerto ahora ahora está en juicio por ello.

Inicialmente, Higui fue encarcelada mientras esperaba el juicio, pero fue liberado 8 meses después, después de la presión pública.

Higui se ha enfrentado a una lesbofobia violenta en su comunidad.

Listening2Lesbians está recaudando dinero para apoyarla y demostrar la solidaridad mundial que sentimos por ella como lesbianas y aliadas lesbianas.

Update March 2022: Argentina: Lesbian Higui acquitted after brutal attack and attempted corrective rape

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Argentina: Higui, lesbian accused of murder in corrective rape case to face court

Posted on 27/01/2020 by | 7 comments

Higui

UPDATE: Argentina: Lesbian Higui acquitted after brutal attack and attempted corrective rape
There are four weeks left before the trial against Higui begins. Analía De Jesús, Argentina, 45, born in Haedo on June 7, 1974, is on trial for defending herself against corrective rape for being lesbian. On Mother’s Day 2016 (October 16), Higui went to visit her sister Mariana in the Lomas de Mariló neighborhood. That day, a group of men who had already attacked her on other occasions for being “chonga” (butch) surrounded her when she left a hallway. They threw her on the floor with a punch. One of them lowered her pants and ripped her boxers. Higui stabbed the rapist with a knife she had in her clothes to defend herself.

The other men began to kick her, while she protected her mostly curled up body as if it were a ball, covering her head with her arms. She was kicked very hard around her arms and shoulders, kidneys, genitals and perineum. While they beat her, Higui lost consciousness. Hours later, the flashlight and the screaming of the police officers woke her up. No one wanted to hear that Analía De Jesús defended herself from rape. “Who is going to want to rape you, black and fat?” the police mocked her. “I didn’t understand anything,” Higui recalls. “From one moment to another I was stunned by the pain, and stripped of all dignity, in a dungeon in Bella Vista”, accused of homicide although they hadn’t even informed her.  I didn’t know the aggressor was dead.

Higui waits in freedom for the trial that will take place between February 17 and 20 in Court No. 7 of San Martín. There is a defence request to postpone the debate until April, but the court has not yet responded.
(Translated)

Faltan cuatro semanas para que comience el juicio contra Higui. Analía De Jesús, argentina, 45 años, nacida en Haedo el 7 de junio de 1974, está procesada por defenderse de una violación correctiva por ser lesbiana. El Día de la Madre de 2016 (16 de octubre), Higui fue a visitar a su hermana Mariana en el barrio Lomas de Mariló. Aquel día, un grupo de hombres que ya la habían atacado en otras oportunidades por “chonga” (lesbiana masculina), la rodearon cuando salía de un pasillo. La tiraron al piso de una trompada. Uno de ellos le bajó los pantalones y le rompió el bóxer. Higui se defendió clavándole al violador un cuchillo que llevaba entre las ropas para defenderse.

Los demás hombres comenzaron a asestarle patadas, mientras ella protegía su cuerpo menudo enrollada como si fuera una bolita, cubriendo la cabeza con los brazos. La patearon muy fuerte en la zona de brazos y hombros, riñones, genitales y perineo. Mientras la golpeaban, Higui perdió la conciencia. Horas después, la despertaron la linterna y el griterío de los policías. Nadie quiso escuchar que Analía De Jesús se defendió de una violación. “¿Quién te va a querer violar a vos, negra, gorda?”, se burlaban los policías. “Yo no entendía nada”, recuerda Higui. De un momento a otro estaba aturdida de dolor, y despojada de toda dignidad, en un calabozo de Bella Vista. Acusada de homicidio. Aunque ni siquiera se lo habían informado. No sabía que el agresor estaba muerto.

Higui espera en libertad el juicio que se llevará a cabo entre el 17 y el 20 de febrero en el Tribunal Nº7 de San Martín. Hay un pedido de la defensa de postergar el debate hasta abril, pero el tribunal aún no respondió.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://www.pagina12.com.ar/243430-se-viene-el-juicio-a-higui-acusada-por-defenderse (Source)

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Update: Brazilian court considering trial for police accused of killing Luana Barbosa in 2016

Posted on 18/08/2019 by | 2 comments

Luana Barbosa 2

The court heard this week from the three military police officers accused of beating to death Luana Barbosa dos Reis , 34, a non-feminine black, lesbian and marginalised woman, in front of her her 14-year-old son, and will decide in the next few days whether to take or not the defendants will go to trial.

According to witnesses and Luana herself, in a video recorded before her death, she was beaten during a police raid on the night of April 8, 2016, in the Jardim Paiva II neighbourhood, one of the outskirts of Ribeirão Preto, 312 km from the city of São Paulo, nicknamed “Brazilian California” or “national agribusiness capital”. Five days later, Luana died in the hospital. The cause of death was a cerebral ischaemia caused by traumatic brain injury.
…
According to witnesses, at the time of approach Luana Barbosa demanded the presence of a female police officer to conduct the search. To show that she was a woman, Luana lifted her shirt. At that moment she was punched and kicked that knocked her to the ground. This is the same version told by Luana Barbosa’s family three years ago.
(Translated)

A Justiça ouviu nesta semana os três policiais militares acusados de espancar até a morte Luana Barbosa dos Reis, 34 anos, mulher não feminilizada, negra, lésbica e periférica, diante do filho dela de 14 anos, e deve decidir nos próximos dias se leva ou não os réus a júri popular.

Segundo relatos de testemunhas e da própria Luana, num vídeo gravado antes de sua morte, a jovem foi espancada durante uma abordagem policial na noite de 8 de abril de 2016, no bairro Jardim Paiva II, uma das periferias de Ribeirão Preto, cidade a 312 km da capital paulista, apelidada de “Califórnia brasileira” ou “capital nacional do agronegócio”. Cinco dias depois, Luana morreu no hospital. A causa da morte foi uma isquemia cerebral causada por traumatismo crânio encefálico.
…
Segundo as testemunhas, no momento da abordagem Luana Barbosa exigiu a presença de uma policial mulher para realizar a revista. Para mostrar que era mulher, Luana levantou a camiseta. Nesse momento ela levou um soco e um chute que a derrubaram no chão. É a mesma versão contada pela família de Luana Barbosa há três anos.
(original)

Continue reading at: https://ponte.org/pms-acusados-de-matar-luana-barbosa-culpam-vitima-e-poder-dos-direitos-humanos/ (Source)

Original article: Brazil: state murder of lesbian remains unpunished 3 years later

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Brazil: state murder of lesbian remains unpunished 3 years later

Posted on 21/04/2019 by | 2 comments

Luana Barbosa

After three years of Luana Barbosa’s murder, the case is still in the judicial process without effectively holding the aggressors accountable. Black, lesbian, mother and outlier, Luana was killed at age 34 due to brain injuries caused by three military police officers who beat her in the corner of her house, in the Jardim Paiva II neighbourhood, in the northern area of ​​Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo state). The assaults took place after Luana refused to be checked by the soldiers of the 51st Military Police Battalion (PM), demanding a female police presence. She was sent to the Emergency Unit of the Hospital de Clínicas (HC-EU), but died five days after the violence.
(Translated)

Luego de tres años del asesinato de Luana Barbosa, el caso aún sigue en proceso judicial sin responsabilizar efectivamente a los agresores. Negra, lesbiana, madre y periférica, Luana fue asesinada a los 34 años por lesiones cerebrales provocadas por tres policías militares que la golpearon en la esquina de su casa, en el barrio Jardim Paiva II, zona Norte de Ribeirão Preto (estado de São Paulo). Las agresiones ocurrieron después de que Luana se rehusó a ser revisada por los soldados del 51º Batallón de la Policía Militar (PM), exigiendo una presencia policial femenina. Ella fue encaminada la Unidad de Emergencia del Hospital de Clínicas (HC-UE), pero murió cinco días después de la violencia.
(Original)

Continue reading at: https://kaosenlared.net/brasil-madre-negra-y-lesbiana-asesinato-de-luana-barbosa-sigue-impune-luego-de-tres-anos/ (Source)

Update: Update: Brazilian court considering trial for police accused of killing Luana Barbosa in 2016

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Brazil: murders of lesbians increased by 237% in 3 years

Posted on 17/03/2019 by | 7 comments

marielle-franco-and-monica-benicio.jpg

Between 2014 and 2017 the murders of lesbian women increased by 237%.  The study ” Murdered by lesbophobia – The stories that no one has” made by “We – Feminists Dissidences” collective, shows both how crimes have increased and also that in most cases the murdered women were young and black.
In Brazil, lesbian women face many dangers, it goes beyond lesbophobia, it is also machismo, misogyny and racism. “Lesbians are sexually and affectively exclusively with women, but the main lesbian killers in Brazil are men,” says Cinthia Abreu, member of the World March of Women and March of Black Women of São Paulo.
(Translated)

Entre 2014 y 2017 el asesinatos de mujeres lesbianas aumentó un 237%. El estudio “Asesinadas por lesbofobia – Las historias que nadie cuenta”, hecho por el colectivo “Nosotras – Disidencias Feministas”, además de mostrar cómo han aumentado los crímenes demuestra que en la mayoría de los casos las mujeres asesinadas eran jóvenes y negras.
En Brasil las mujeres lesbianas se encuentran ante muchos peligros, va más allá de la lesbofobia, también es el machismo, la misoginia y el racismo. “Las lesbianas se relacionan sexual y afectivamente exclusivamente con mujeres, pero los principales asesinos de lesbianas en Brasil son hombres”, afirma Cinthia Abreu, integrante de la Marcha Mundial de Mujeres y Marcha de Mujeres Negras de São Paulo.
(Original)

Continue reading at: http://www.mirales.es/el-asesinato-a-mujeres-lesbianas-en-brasil-ha-aumentado-un-237/ (Source)

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Black Lesbian Resistance and Resilience: Sheila Alexander-Reid

Posted on 12/03/2019 by | 1 comment

Women in the Life 1994

Women in the Life Magazine in its second year of publication in 1994.

“In 1992, I started Women in the Life, Inc., an events management company that created safe spaces for Black lesbians to interact through dance parties, concerts, fundraisers, and open mic poetry sessions in over 50 locations in Washington, D.C. alone, not to mention Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Atlanta. Some of the many artists featured at Women in the Life events included Grace Jones, C+C Music Factory, CeCe Peniston, Meshell Ndegecocello, R. Erica Doyle, Samiya A. Bashir, Karma Mayet Johnson, Pamela Sneed, Michelle Parkerson, Venus Thrash, Michaela Harrison, Barbara Tucker, ONYX, and Staceyann Chinn. Over a ten-year period, with the help of friends Charlene Hamilton, Darlene Rogers, Chris Vera, Lois Alexander, the late Phyllis Croom and so many more, I published a total of 86 issues of Women in the Life Magazine, which addressed issues that impacted our community both in Washington, D.C., throughout the United States, and internationally. The magazine was distributed nationally.

Continue reading at: https://thefeministwire.com/2019/02/black-lesbian-resistance-and-resilience/

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U.S: Cancelled black history month event due to speaker being lesbian

Posted on 10/02/2019 by | 1 comment

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A Catholic school in Durham, N.C., canceled classes and a Black History Month event Friday because various groups planned to protest the appearance of a lesbian speaker at the program.
The speaker in question, Vernetta Alston, is a Durham City Council member, an attorney, and an alumna of the school, Immaculata Catholic.

Continue reading at: https://www.advocate.com/religion/
2019/2/08/catholic-school-cancels-black-lesbian-speaker-black-history-events (source)

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Columbus, USA: lesbian couple files discrimination suit against Columbus Urban League

Posted on 05/08/2018 by | 1 comment

Columbus Urban League

Two Columbus women say a local organization aimed at ending discrimination, fired them for being gay.

The couple worked at the Columbus Urban League and says shortly after management learned they were dating, they were both fired.

Wednesday they filed a federal discrimination lawsuit. The Urban League calls the allegations “bogus” and “absurd.”

Continue reading at: https://www.10tv.com/article/same-sex-couple-files-discrimination-suit-against-columbus-urban-league (Source)

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Chicago, USA: Police fail to act on hate crime against lesbian minor

Posted on 05/08/2018 by | 1 comment

amari-graves

A teenager in Chicago was brutally attacked this past Tuesday, but police haven’t arrested any of the attackers. Now her mom is speaking out for her.

Amari Graves, 15, was walking to a store in her West Side neighborhood when she was attacked by a classmate and several adults.  “They all got out and walked up to me,” Amari said. She said that she recognized one of the people approaching her as another girl from her school, and the rest of the people were adults.

Continue reading at: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2018/08/police-didnt-arrest-lesbian-girls-adult-attackers-now-angry-mom-stepping/ (Source)

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We Need to Talk About Misogyny and the LGBT Community’s Erasure of Black Lesbian History

Posted on 10/07/2018 by | 1 comment

Claire Heuchan
AfterEllen.com

Stormé DeLarverie

“Finding the stories of our Black lesbian foremothers isn’t always easy. That’s not because there were none. Despite what the history books say, Black lesbian women have been around for hundreds of years, living lives filled with the extraordinary and the everyday. Women like Stormé DeLarverie have led revolutions. And yet Black lesbian stories are hard to find.

Those who have traditionally held the power to decide whose stories get to be recorded as history have been white, male, and invested in the social order of women living lives centered around men: the system of heteropatriarchy. For the most part, those historians considered the experiences and inner-lives of Black women beneath their notice. Close reflections on the average Black woman’s life at any point in the last few hundred years would also have held the risk of making it that much harder to sustain the myth that Black people weren’t really human, bringing home the ugly truths of white supremacy.

In addition, the stories of lesbian women have been deliberately erased from history across continents and culture. As a result, Black lesbian lives are that much more obscure. Men have hoped that in denying women the blueprint to a lesbian life, they could keep us all in the confines of heterosexuality – a never-ending source of sexual, reproductive, domestic, and emotional labor. But lesbian women throughout time have always found one another, even with the odds stacked against them – although many letters, diaries, and pictures that made up the proof have been consigned to the ash heap of history.”

Continue reading more of Claire Heuchan at: We Need to Talk About Misogyny and the LGBT Community’s Erasure of Black Lesbian History – AfterEllen (source)

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California: Court update on alleged murder of lesbian couple and adult child

Posted on 31/05/2018 by | 1 comment

Wright Reed family

By DZ

Dana Rivers (formerly known as David Chester Warfield) was arrested on November 11, 2016 and charged with three counts of murder; arson of an inhabited space; and possession of metal knuckles. When police arrived after midnight at the burning home of Patricia A. Wright and Charlotte Ku’ulei Reed, a lesbian couple, they reportedly discovered Rivers exiting the home covered in blood.

According to police, Rivers was carrying knives and ammunition while attempting to flee on Reed’s motorcycle. Reed and Wright were found murdered along with their 19-year-old son, Toto “Benny” Diambu-Wright, one of their three children. The two women, known to friends as Pat and Char, had been repeatedly stabbed and shot to death; Benny had also been fatally shot. According to Officer Hector Jimenez, Rivers “began to make spontaneous statements about her involvement in the murders” while being detained by police.

On July 5, 2017 Rivers entered a plea in response to the charges: Not Guilty on all counts. Rivers also plead to deny each instance of Special Allegations and Special Circumstances related to the case, such as multiple murders and use of a deadly weapon.

Though there has been steady courtroom activity related to the case over the past year, media coverage been extremely scarce. Some reports have stated a possible motive involving a “property dispute.” Speaking under condition of anonymity, community sources say their knowledge of Rivers’ contact with Ms. Reed could suggest different possible motives. One source commented, “A property dispute is something like, ‘I want your motorcycle.’ And there was an attempt to take Char’s bike, but it seems more like an afterthought. If it was just about the motorcycle, then none of the rest of this had to happen. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Rivers is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA. Rivers appeared in court for a Pretrial Hearing at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, CA on January 8, 2018 for a Pretrial Hearing and was then scheduled to appear for a Preliminary Hearing on January 22, 2018. Court records initially reflected that Rivers was represented by Defense Attorney Bonnie Lynn Narby. According to more recent records, Rivers has engaged an experienced criminal defense attorney–Timothy B. Rien of Rien, Adams & Cox.

Records list the District Attorney for prosecution as Christopher David Cavagnaro. During the January 8 Pretrial Hearing, Melissa Eileen Adams, Managing Partner of Rien, Adams & Cox, appeared in court to represent Rivers, and a D.A. who did not appear to be Mr. Cavagnaro appeared for the prosecution. During the proceedings, an additional Preliminary Hearing was scheduled for March 6, 2018.

On March 7, a Further Preliminary Examination was conducted; following that were another Arraignment and additional Hearings. Rivers last appeared in court on May 15, 2018 for a Disposition & Setting (D&S), and is next scheduled to appear on June 27, 2018 for another D&S.

Prior to being arrested for these crimes, Rivers had been best known as a transgender activist. Formerly a member of the Navy, Rivers had become a journalism teacher at a Sacramento area high school. After being fired for discussing personal matters related to gender transition with students, Rivers sued the school board and won a settlement. Additionally, Rivers participated in organized actions against the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, a predominantly lesbian cultural institution (p44).

Patricia Wright, known as Pat, was a beloved public school teacher; Charlotte Reed, often called Char, had a successful hair salon catering especially to a clientele of trans people. Both women graduated from Mills College. Benny Diambu-Wright was a Berkeley High School graduate who, according to his brother, wanted to become a nurse. Pat, Char, and Benny are survived by family, including Reed and Wright’s two other children, as well as their extended family, friends, and communities.

References:
15 November 2016: https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/11/15/oakland-san-jose-woman-charged-in-triple-killing/
20 November 2016: https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/transgender-woman-dana-rivers-charged-with-murder-of-lesbian-couple-charlotte-reed-and-patricia-wright-and-their-adopted-son-benny/news-story/d8759e48ab2ae9b4c12ea3098cea8de3

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Chicago, USA: Lesbian Activist, professor Jackie Anderson dies

Posted on 18/01/2018 by | 1 comment

JackieAnderson

Chicago lesbian pioneer and civil-rights activist Jackie Anderson died after a short illness on Jan. 7, surrounded by family and friends. She was 75. Anderson is survived by her daughter Tracey Anderson and her grandson Torrence “Doc” Gardner. The family requests privacy at this time.

Born in Chicago, Anderson graduated from Roosevelt University and retired from a long career as assistant professor of humanities and philosophy at Olive-Harvey College, where she started work in 1975. She twice served as department chairperson. Her brilliant academic mind was among things her friends remembered most about Anderson. A steadfast feminist, she especially supported African American lesbian projects on Chicago’s South Side.

Continue reading at: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/PASSAGES-Activist-professor-Jackie-Anderson-dies/61537.html (Source)

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New York, USA: DNA Vindicates Lesbian Rape Victim Smeared by Daily News and NYPD 24 Years Later

Posted on 15/01/2018 by | 1 comment

Mike McAlary Rape Hoax vindicated

On an afternoon in late April 1994, a young woman was raped in broad daylight in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Two days later, the biggest columnist in New York City’s biggest newspaper called her a liar.

The woman—black, a lesbian, and an activist—became the target of a vicious smear campaign by a Daily News columnist and sources within the NYPD, who charged that she had made up a “hoax” to advance a political agenda.

“I have had the misfortune of being raped twice—once in the park and again in the media,” she told her lawyer, Martin Garbus, after the attack.

Continue reading at: https://www.thedailybeast.com/in-1994-nypd-brass-called-her-rape-a-hoax-in-2018-they-found-her-rapist (Source)

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Washington, D.C.: Kerrice Lewis, Lesbian Woman Shot And Burned Alive

Posted on 14/01/2018 by | 1 comment

Kerrice Lewis

Kerrice Lewis, age 23, was brutally murdered just days after Christmas, in Washington D.C.

On Thursday, December 28, police responded to a report of gunfire on Adrian Street, just south of G Street. They arrived at 7:30 p.m. and found a vehicle on fire. After the fire was put out, officers found a woman unconscious and suffering from gunshot wounds in the trunk. Police said, by the time D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services arrived, they found “no signs consistent with life.”

Continue reading at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kerrice-lewislesbian-murdered-burned-alivesay-her_us_5a5040d0e4b0ee59d41c0ac5 (Source)

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