Elton John has pledged to spend his Aids Foundation’s money on supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Africa who are stigmatized and penalized in their own countries.
The singer has joined Pepfar, the US president’s emergency plan for Aids relief, in a $10m LGBT fund that will issue grants and provide expertise to help those living under homophobic regimes.
Speaking at the International Aids Conference held in Durban, South Africa, he acknowledged that he could not persuade governments to change their values stating that he was sure some governments in Africa will not respond to someone like him telling them what to do.
“What I can do is ensure that people who are LGBT – if their clinics are closed down because they are LGBT – we can give them medicine. If they are arrested, we will get them legal aid,” he said on Wednesday at the international Aids conference in Durban, South Africa.
LGBT people, like sex workers and drug users, must be included in the fight against Aids, he said. “If you don’t, this campaign against Aids will be a disaster, all the groundwork, all the wonderful scientific work, all the hard work on the ground from countless people all over the world will come to nothing because if we leave these people behind the disease will spread further and further and further.” The guardian reports.
