The Fear of Persecution

Ugandan Campaigner Clare Byarugaba

The recent bill has torn apart families, as Clare Byarugaba highlights:

Ugandan gay rights activist says her own mother threatened to hand her into police over anti-gay laws

Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan human rights officer, has spoken up on her experiences as a lesbian since the passage of recent anti-gay legislation, including an account of where her own mother threatened to turn her into the police. 

The advocacy officer at the Constitutional Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law delivered her speech on Friday at Los Angeles’s first Women in the World luncheon. 

She gave a harrowing account of how her life and the lives of other gay Ugandans have changed since President Yoweri Museveni decided to sign the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law.

Tireless campaigner Frank Mugisha, who was last year awarded a doctorate by Ghent University, has also voiced concern over his personal safety:

Frank Mugisha, Ugandan Gay Activist, Fears He May Be Imprisoned If He Returns Home

Ugandan activist Frank Mugisha was travelling outside his country when the notorious anti-homosexuality bill was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni late last month. And now he’s not sure if he will be arrested and imprisoned upon his return, or thrown out of his home -- or both.

You can listen to his interview below.