Bebe 17,289 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Leroy Ponpon doesn't know whether to lock himself in his flat in Monrovia because of the deadly Ebola virus, or because he is gay. Christian churches' recent linking of the two have made life hell for him and hundreds of other gays. Ponpon, an LGBT campaigner in the Liberian capital, says gays have been harassed, physically attacked and a few have had their cars smashed by people blaming them for the haemorrhagic fever, after religious leaders in Liberia said Ebola was a punishment from God for homos-xuality. "Since church ministers declared Ebola was a plague sent by God to punish sodomy in Liberia, the violence towards gays has escalated. They're even asking for the death penalty. We're living in fear," Ponpon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone from Monrovia. Ebola has infected almost 10,000 people in West Africa since March, killing around half its victims. Liberia is the worst hit country where poverty, corruption and civil war have left a weak health system unable to cope with the exponential spread of the disease. Some religious leaders have their own interpretation of the causes of Ebola. Earlier this year, the Liberian Council of Churches said in a statement that God was angry with Liberians "over corruption and immoral acts" such as homos-xuality, and that Ebola was a punishment. In May, Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Catholic Church of Liberia said that "one of the major transgressions against God for which He may be punishing Liberia is the act of homos-xuality," local media reported. Francois Patuel, Amnesty International's representative in West Africa, said there had been reports of threats and violence against the LGBTI community in Monrovia since the incendiary remarks made by the local Christian leaders. "Amnesty has received pictures of cars that reportedly belong to gays with their windows smashed as well as reports that gays have been forced from their homes and had to go into hiding," Patuel told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Neither the Catholic Church nor the Liberian Council of Churches could be reached in Monrovia. Representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Episcopal Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment. COVER OF DARKNESS Ponpon prefers to move at night. He is scared to be identified in daylight after the local press splashed his picture and phone number across the front pages. But the Ebola curfew, running from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., has complicated things. "In the day, we move around wearing sunglasses and disguises. The problem with moving at night is that it is not safe in Monrovia in the dark, and also, if you violate the Ebola curfew, it is punishable by imprisonment," he said. The curfew has affected the LGBT community in another way. When activists contact the police for protection, they reply that because of the Ebola emergency and the curfew put in place to combat the disease, they cannot help, Ponpon said. Violence against the LGBT community was already common in West Africa before the Ebola outbreak, and same-s-x relationships are still largely taboo in many African countries. A recent Gallup poll showed Africa as the worst continent for gay people. National laws in West Africa are in line with public sentiment. In Liberia, 'voluntary sodomy' is a first-degree misdemeanor with a penalty of up to one year in jail, according to the International Lesbian Gay Bis-xual Trans and Inters-x Association (ILGA). Patuel said Amnesty had received no reports of similar incidents in other Ebola-stricken countries in the region, and urged African states to stand up for minorities. "In August this year the African Union passed a resolution for the protection of LGBTi rights. The authorities must adopt this into their national law and take action against homophobic statements to protect its citizens," Patuel said. In Liberia, Ponpon's demands are simple: "Right now, all we want is protection. We want the government to come forward and say that this is a minority group and they deserve the same rights as anyone else and then people will stop attacking us." Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/liberia-gay-ebola-outbreak-_n_6034256.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Josh 3 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zexion_armando 241 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 The Catholic who? Cause literally reading this article just gave me a mini stroke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlondeQueenOfGGD 25,454 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 That is disgusting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByeBye49 161 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 :ghostney: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gagz 2,580 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Pope Francis better fix this mess. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow 6,697 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Sounds like something Westboro or Muslim extremists would say... Guess Catholics have their own share of bigots. Stand in the light, cast your shadow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstreak 6,653 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Horrific. It's never going to end is it? :( Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love, and trust~ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAMROD 117,127 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Funny that many victims are heteros :evil: Silly folk. Extreme and jaded religious folks are no good. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ✧*:･ﾟ ᶠʳᵒⁿᵗ ᵗᵒʷᵃʳᵈ ᵉⁿᵉᵐʸ (*´艸｀*) ♡♡♡ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pity Party 743 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Wow our power is real Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disregard 50 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 All of the punishments the world has to face because of us. Our s-xuality, its power... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melech 9,900 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 All of the punishments the world has to face because of us. Our s-xuality, its power... homos-xuality ha power Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed 7,716 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Wasn't that AIDS? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xoxo cupcakke 4,781 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Wasn't that AIDS? Well back in the 90s but currently, in West Africa and other parts as well, there has been high amounts of homophobia as a result of post European colonial effects. The Europeans who colonized Africa left in the 1900s while the continent in a state of disarray and hyper religion. While Europe has progressed, Africa has been socially stagnant for a while because of their strict take on Christianity. Recently, homos-xuals have been their scapegoat for everything and it has gotten to a point where the LGBTlives in squalor to completely cut off ties with a city so as not to be found. I saw a documentary over it and it is rather depressing because they barely know what homos-xuality is and exaggerate stuff and focus on sodomy rather than relation and I just hope it will one day improve but things like this prove otherwise Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FFXSoul91 1,100 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Well than why is it most rampant in a part of the world where homos-xuality is illegal? :reductive: Punishment for heteros-xuality and overpopulation, tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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