Ugandans would rather “die poor”, than give up a law which will increase punishments for homosexuality, a Government spokesman has said.
Uganda's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, robustly defended the country's anti-LGBT crackdown in an interview released today...
Speaking with Agence France-Presse, Lokodo compared homosexuality to drug addiction and said that Uganda is a country that "tolerates" gays - because they don't slaughter them.
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| Sam Ganafa, Director of Spectrum Uganda and Chairman of SMUG |
A diabetic, Sam said that while he was in jail he was not given any medical treatment for his condition. Authorities eventually allowed Sam’s friends to bring him the medicine he needed and food to sustain him.
After his release, Sam said he could not return home. His neighbors were informed of his arrest and he was told that if he returned home his house would be burned to the ground.
I was surprised to learn that Sam said he has no intention of leaving Uganda even if he was given the opportunity. His court date in January has been postponed until February, coincidentally after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill had passed parliament without a proper quorum. Sam’s current charge is “crimes against the order of nature.”
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| Dan Dyson |
Dan Dyson had been building a successful gospel music career in Uganda for nearly a decade when his life was turned upside down by a group of anti-gay activists bent on ridding the country of its LGBT citizens. Today, he is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign trying to raise $5,000 to record a full-length album and restart his career in the United States.
In 2009, a group of United States evangelicals joined together with Ugandan pastors and held a conference in Uganda, developing an agenda against homosexuality in the country as well as a campaign to out LGBTI Ugandans through the media.
The campaign included bribery—often of other gay people—for names of known LGBTI citizens.
"A gay man that we knew … was paid to start naming and outing people," Dyson said.
A publication called Red Paper [sic] began publishing the names and careers of LGBTI individuals living in Uganda.
I agree that Scott Lively is marginal, and that is exactly why evangelicals must not let him speak for them. But in Uganda, Scott Lively is allowed to address the parliament for five hours, and his hate-filled message led directly to the anti-homosexuality bill. Why have no evangelical leaders stood up and said he does not speak for us?...
[Ordinary Ugandas]... embrace [evangelical preachers] because they represent everything that America represents: money, power, and freedom. Why else would you see an old Ugandan woman respectfully listen to a 22-year-old white girl from America telling her what she should or shouldn't believe? What is so attractive about Uganda for missionaries is that they have free rein. They can go anywhere they please—schools, hospitals, the parliament. The first lady of Uganda is a devoted evangelical and beloved by the faith community. At an evangelical conference in Argentina, one minister said, "Mama Janet has given us the keys to Africa." She has done that by creating a nation that has embraced a Dominionist form of Christianity that believes that Christians have a God-given right to rule the world.
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Frank Mugisha |
What is the status of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill?
The anti-gay bill right now is in the legal and parliamentary affairs committee. The committee (is) ready to submit (its report) to the floor of parliament, so when this report is submitted, the bill can go ahead for debate.
What can activists who aren’t in Uganda do to support your efforts?
Activists? I think that would have been the frustrating question, that the LGBT community has not helped us, has not stood by us. Because, like you said, people have gotten their rights here, they feel there is no need to get engaged in the other global civil rights for LGBT people, so the LGBT people have sort of taken a step back, they don’t really care. People in Uganda think we receive tons and tons of support from gay groups in the U.S. and Europe. Not at all. It is mostly human rights organizations that are not entirely focused on LGBT issues that work in supporting us.
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| Ugandan Campaigner, Victor Mukasa |
According to many here in the US, I am not trans enough! According to many I have interacted with, I will be once I have hormonal therapy. It is different in Uganda. I am trans because it is the inner sense of who I am and many around me respect that when I come out to them.
The Ugandan newspaper that last year called for the hanging of gay activist David Kato who was murdered on Wednesday, said it had no regrets about its story.
As a matter of fact, many of us would not have had the guts to come out. The repression, especially in Uganda, is a little over the top even compared to its neighbours. The role of the International Community is mainly to highlight the abuses as and when they occur. So, when the President first said there were no gays, no one challenged him. In 1999, when he learnt that there were gays and ordered them to be arrested, the Scandinavian countries made him take that back and we were not arrested.
