Pro Government Youth Group Eyes Homophobic Rally in the Ethiopian Capital

Let The Hate Begins!

Chairman of the youth forum, Hailemichael Bizuayehu told The Reporter (one of the few government affiliated 'private' media outlets in Ethiopia) that the anti-Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) demonstrations are being organized in collaboration with a religious association known as Weyneye Abune Teklehaimanot Spiritual Association. 

Hailemichael, disclosed his partners in hate such as the Addis Ababa City Culture and Tourism Bureau, Addis Ababa Labor and Social Affairs Bureau, Women, Youth and Children Affairs Bureau and the Addis Ababa Police Commission. The forum, which boasts to have over 55 thousand members in Addis Ababa, is expecting over 200 thousands people to be on its hate bandwagon and protest against LGBT rights. The chairman denied the planned demonstration has no relation to the recent incident involving Minister Zenebu Tadesse's controversial Twitter message against Uganda's anti-LGBT bill.

Hailemichael, the homophobic rally will be held in the coming weeks if the city administration grants them permission to harass and terrorize the most vulnerable minority groups in the country. 

Meanwhile, the Minister denied posting those empathic tweets towards LGBT rights, in an interview with Walta - another government affiliated propaganda machinery. 

Love Thy neighbor Like Thyself 

I would not be shocked if government cadres go on such endeavor to divert public's woos on the ever increasing of life, huge and growing unemployment rates, injustice, corruption, nepotism other socioeconomic malice towards the easiest and the most vulnerable scapegoats, in this case the Ethiopian LGBT groups; because that's what they are paid for. What amazes and often intrigues more is the complacency of these 'religious' groups whose main job should have been preaching and be a role model for tolerance, love and equality. The so called Ethiopian religious group who are trying to masquerade themselves as moral-police whenever the issue of LGBT is raised, have done nothing to stop TPLF led government's atrocious crimes against millions of innocent Ethiopians for the last two decades. Their biggest mouths on earth have been tightly sealed when the regime extra-judicially kills, jails, starves, rapes and displaces millions of nationals across the country with impunity. Why would what two consenting adults are doing in their bed matters to these religious leaders while thousands of destitute Ethiopians outside their glamorous worshiping places are suffering 365 days a year? Where is their outrage against the selling of thousands of Ethiopian children for adoption? How come they never denounce nor make an effort to stop thousands of minor Ethiopian girls from being raped, abused, and then forced to sell their bodies? It becomes their biggest agenda, when two Ethiopian men and/or women do nothing but love one other. How would loving one another becomes a threat to a society is just beyond me.  This is nothing but pure bigotry, double standard and hypocrisy at its best. It breaks my heart when I imagine what my fellow Ethiopian LGBT brethren have to go through in the coming weeks and years. There's no heterosexual or homosexual rights; it's UNIVERSAL human rights, period!