Zambia: Miracles Do Happen in Zambia
It's been a dreadful year for gay rights in Zambia with waves of homophobic hate speech interspersed with spurious arrests and public harassment of same sex couples. But last night an astonishing thing happened - the country's First Lady, Dr Christine Kaseba-Sata called for an end to discrimination against sexual minorities.
Speaking at a UNAIDS hosted reception, she said that the "silence around issues of Men who have Sex with Men should be stopped and no one should be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. Rather, we should address reproductive health issues around this issue."
And if this were not enough - and in Zambia, it would have been earthshattering enough - she went even further to assure people working in the sexual and reproductive health sector of her and the president's support.
It is hard to overestimate the importance of what the First Lady said - in a country where the vast majority of people are opposed to gay rights. Indeed, where most people are totally opposed to even discussing the topic. And where two men are on trial for "having carnal knowledge against the order of nature" and another, Paul Kasonkomona, is on trial for talking on TV about the rights of LGBTI individuals (and indeed all individuals) in relation to the on-going battle against HIV.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201311060732.html
Leave it to a female to bring common sense to the table. 
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