Thursday, June 30, 2016

reckless US embassy in the Ivory Coast causes the beating of gay men: if only US embassies spare people around the world their support

"Several gay men in Ivory Coast say they have been assaulted and forced to flee their homes after the US embassy published a photo of them signing a condolence book for victims of this month’s killings at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The photo, published on the embassy’s website, shows the faces of six men with the caption “LGBTI community signing the condolence book”. It was taken at the embassy on 16 June, the same day prime minister Daniel Kablan Duncan and other officials signed the book in honor of the 49 people killed in the Orlando attack.The photo has been widely shared on social media and two of the men said that in the days after it was published an angry mob punched and kicked them while shouting anti-gay slurs. The men spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity for their safety."