This week read about an organization attempting to bar Somizi Mhlongo from visiting Zimbabwe because he's gay, and Eduardo Leite of Brazil claiming that all, because he's gay, doesn't mean he has to fight for equality rights.
South African Gay TV Star Cancels Zimbabwe Trip
After a Christian organization attempted to bar him from entering the nation because he is homosexual, Somizi Mhlongo, best known for being a judge on South Africa's version of “American Idol,” has canceled an event in Zimbabwe.
According to BBC News, The Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe appealed to the government to express its opposition to Mhlongo's visit, claiming that it had "violated" its members.
The actor and media personality was set to attend the reopening of a Harare restaurant.
"Zimbabwe does not tolerate homosexuality," the Apostolic Council, a coalition of more than 600 Christian organizations, wrote in a letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
"If it means you not wanting me being me, authentically me, keep it, keep your space, keep your country, I don't want to be there anyway," he said in the six-minute video on Instagram.
Brazil's First Gay Presidential Candidate Says Being Gay Doesn’t Require Activism
Eduardo Leite. Photo via Facebook.
Eduardo Leite, Brazil's first openly homosexual presidential candidate, will not be marching in a rainbow pride flag-draped demonstration anytime soon.
According to Pink News, the 36-year-old conservative lawmaker, the preferred presidential candidate of banks and investors, being homosexual does not inevitably make a person motivated to advocate for LGBT equality.
On July 1, Leite, the governor of Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, spoke out in an interview with the country's leading network, TV Globo.
In the aftermath of Leite's coming out as homosexual, national equality groups in Brazil have stated that he has their support despite his lackluster devotion to his LGBT siblings.
"It's not a cause I lay down for," Leite said. "Not every woman is a feminist activist, not every Black person is a racial activist, and not every gay person needs to be an activist."
