Here’s a roundup of this week’s top Black LGBT stories (12/28/13-1/4/14).

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni ‘Won’t Be Pressured’ On Anti-Gay Law

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni will not rush to approve a controversial anti-gay draft law, widely criticised internationally but overwhelmingly backed by local political and religious leaders, his spokesman said on Thursday.

Uganda’s parliament adopted the bill on December 20. It will see repeat offenders jailed for life, sparking an international outcry as lawmakers hailed it as a victory against “evil”.

“There has been pressure from religious leaders and parliament to sign the bill into law,” presidential spokesman Tamale Mirundi told AFP, adding that Museveni “won’t rush to assent the bill before he studies it” fully.

More on The Huffington Post.

Black Queer Trouble in Literature, Life, and the Age of OBama: Part I

Read the address originally delivered by Cheryl Clarke as the Kessler Lecture on Dec. 6, 2013 at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Can I, as a queer black trouble-maker and feminist too, operationalize revolution and/or progressive agendas? Can I trouble the liberal same-sex status quo enough to say it’s not enough. Can I trouble LGBT communities to feed our hungry youth–both physically and emotionally–in ways their birth families, relatives, and neighbors can’t or don’t or won’t. Can I trouble our white LGBT allies to continue to challenge white domination and white leadership within their organizations and to share the resources you have attained because of white privilege? As I have become more assimilable, can I trouble the carceral state by advocating for and with survivors of it, by refusing unnecessary police presence in my gentrifying and gentrified neighborhood, and by demanding professional police behavior wherever I am and they are? Can I trouble my communities of color enough to counter their homophobia and sexism and black straight respectability.

More over at Crunk Feminist Collective.

‘GMA’s’ Robin Roberts’ Coming Out Seen as Significant

When “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts took to her Facebook page to count her blessings, express gratitude for her recovery from a rare blood and bone marrow disease and thank her longtime girlfriend, Roberts didn’t just come out. As one of the most prominent personalities on TV, media watchers said, Roberts became an instant role model for young people who see few other openly gay people of color in the TV news business.

In a year-end post that expressed thanks for her recovery from myelodysplastic syndrome, Roberts wrote Sunday: “I am grateful for my entire family, my long time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together.”

Coming out publicly is “no longer a People magazine cover and a book deal,” said Omar Sharif Jr., a GLAAD spokesman and grandson of “Lawrence of Arabia” star Omar Sharif. “But it is significant for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender] people of color, who lack significant representation on TV.”

Continue reading on the LA Times.

Will Robin Roberts’ Coming Out Shatter Stereotypes of Black Queer Women?

Robin Roberts’ subtle way of acknowledging that she is a lesbian by thanking her longtime girlfriend, Amber, for supporting her through her bone marrow transplant recovery in a Facebook post, came as a shock to many who had no idea about the news anchor, who reportedly has been open in her private life for many years.

But what is more notable is the fact that, along with comedian Wanda Sykes and, more recently, Raven-Symone, Roberts joins a very short list of notable Black women who are openly gay. More particularly, Roberts’ coming out, like Symone’s earlier this summer, put a face to queer Black women, providing more variety to the often monolithic, stereotypical images we often see in media. It could be argued even further that the Black lesbian is at the bottom of the social totem pole, for she is not only discriminated against for her sexuality, but for her race and gender.

More on CentricTV.

Ani DiFranco Is ‘Remarkably Unapologetic’ About Slave Plantation Retreat

The year isn’t closing out smoothly for Ani DiFranco. Not only did the feminist icon incite significant public outcry for spearheading a songwriting retreat on a former slave plantation, the apology she issued [Monday] isn’t going over well…

Toshi Reagon, a black lesbian folk musician, and close friend to DiFranco, wrote on Facebook that she also heard about the specifics of the site after agreeing to participate in the retreat. Where DiFranco equivocated, Reagon was firm. She did not want to go through with it: ”I don’t like big white buildings — you can call it a mansion all you want — I just say it’s the big house… Even though I never had to pick cotton — whenever I see places like that — I feel like I can see people picking cotton. So I never would want to be at Nottoway… I would never want to sing there.”

Read more at The Huffington Post.

Jennifer Hudson Buys Assistant A House For Christmas, His Reaction Is Priceless

Jennifer Hudson did something really awesome for her assistant this Christmas, and her assistant responded in an equally awesome fashion. On Dec. 31, Hudson uploaded a video to her Instagram account that showed the moment her assistant, Walter Williams, found out she was buying him a house for Christmas. In the clip, Williams can be heard screaming with sheer joy over the very generous gift.

Via HuffPo.