Tag Archives: Uganda

“And That’s How I Survived Being Killed”

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Ugandans Report New Cases of LGBT Persecution

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) has launched a report titled, “And That’s How I Survived Being Killed”: Testimonies of Human Rights Abuses from Uganda’s Sexual and Gender Minorities.

And thats how I survived being killed

The report is intended to document the many forms of persecution that LGBT identifying individuals in Uganda face. In this report, based on first-hand testimonies, Sexual Minorities Uganda documented from May 2014 until December 2015 the physical threats, violent attacks, torture, arrest, blackmail, non-physical threats, press intrusion, state prosecution, termination of employment, loss of physical property, harassment, eviction, mob justice, and family banishment that are all too often apart of the lived experience for sexual and gender minorities in Uganda.

This report has documented 264 verified cases of persecutions of LGBT individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Of the 264 cases documented in this report 48 involved acts of violence, including 35 cases involving physical threats or violent attacks, and 13 instances of torture by the state. The largest proportion of documented cases involved intimidation, with 84 cases, while 73 involved loss of property (including loss of employment, physical property, and eviction), and 59 involved social exclusion (including discrimination when accessing healthcare, community discrimination, and family banishment) — all of which the Ugandan government has failed to investigate.

THE RESULT:

Many Ugandans have fled the country as a result of these acts persecution. There is very little respite on a case by case and direct basis. Some make their way to overseas countries which is very difficult to do and others, who have no money or ability to travel and receive visas make their way across borders to become refugees, seeking resettlement by UNHCR.

Source: African Human Rights Coalition 

 

For the full report please visit https://sexualminoritiesuganda.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/And-Thats-How-I-Survived_Report_Final.pdf.

Pastor Names Helpful – and Not So Helpful – Ways to Help LGBT People in Uganda

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Pastor Joseph Tolton published an op-ed in Religion Dispatches that explained the harm in “hactivism” for LGBT people in Uganda. The op-ed was in reaction to the news that an LGBT supportive group called “Anonymous” had hacked into several African government websites, posting messages of affirmation for LGBT people.

Tolton wrote the op-ed to remind the LGBT community in the United States that action in support for LGBT people in Uganda needs to be done at the direction of, and with the cooperation of the LGBT leaders on the ground in Uganda. The “hactivism” was widely condemned by the major LGBT organizations in Uganda.

Source: GLAAD

Pope Francis comes to Uganda as a bridge builder Vatican Radio

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As Uganda prepares for Pope Francis’ visit in November, their bishops hope that he will bring reconciliation and build bridges between the various cultural, political and religious divides in the country.

Let us hope that this will include bringing reconciliation and love by the bishops themselves, towards Uganda’s lesbian and gay Christians, encouraging them to use their influence to end, not promote, homophobia and persecution.

The Catholic Bishops of Uganda have issued a pastoral statement on the occasion of Pope Francis’ pending visit to that country which will take place from the 27 to 29 November this year. The Bishops have called on Ugandans to prepare themselves spiritually so that they will be in a fitting state to receive the pope’s blessings.The Bishops also ask Ugandans to perform acts of charity. “We call upon you to do acts of charity towards the poor and to practice works of penance so that we can all receive the Papal blessing in a worthy manner. Most importantly, let us make every effort to reconcile and love one another as Christ has loved us,” the statement reads in part.

Source: Pope Francis comes to Uganda as a bridge builder Vatican Radio

Small Victory in Uganda: President Blocks Anti-Gay Law

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For some years now, Uganda has been held up (and with good reason), as a prime example of African homophobia, based on a proposed law that would have permitted the death penalty for gay sex. Slowly though, that extreme threat has shrunk. First, the original bill was withdrawn, and replaced with another which removed the death penalty, but applied instead lengthy terms of imprisonment. That law was passed by parliament – but in stunning news, the President has refused to sign it.

Catholics should note that in this instance, for once, the Catholic Church has intervened against discrimination, as New Ways recently reported in a blog post at Bondings 2.0.

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni blocks anti-gay law

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has refused to approve a controversial bill to toughen punishments for homosexuals.

He has written to the parliamentary speaker criticising her for passing it in December without a quorum.

It’s not all good news: in explaining his action, the president spouted the nonsense, widely discredited by both the medical establishment and the Catholic Church, that homosexuals are “sick” – but this is Uganda, and this is still a long way from the death penalty, which was previously demanded.

Homosexuals were “abnormal” or were so for “mercenary reasons” and could be “rescued”, a local paper quotes his letter as saying.

The bill provides for life imprisonment for homosexual acts and also makes it a crime not to report gay people.

The promotion of homosexuality – even talking about it without condemning the lifestyle – would also be punishable by a prison term.

The BBC’s Catherine Byaruhanga in the capital, Kampala, says the president is aware that if he signs the bill there will be an international outcry, which could see some countries suspend aid to the country.

Continue reading the main story at BBC News

 

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Gay Marriage – UGANDA!

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Let us never forget, that in Catholic (and other) theology, it is not the priest or minister that administers the sacrament of matrimony, but the two spouses, who administer it to each other, in the sight of God and the community. It is also not the state that makes a marriage, but the mutual commitment of the spouses: all that the state does, is recognize and register the marriage. Informal, unregistered marriages are common in many parts of Africa,

This lesbian wedding in Uganda is thus as valid as any other unregistered marriage – even if it will garner direct opposition and possible prosecution from the law, instead of the approval it deserves.

Lesbian wedding held in Uganda day after anti-gay bill passed

Kenyan activist reports a lesbian wedding the day after Ugandan parliament passes bill threatening life imprisonment for gay people

22 DECEMBER 2013 | BY ANNA LEACH

A brave lesbian couple in Uganda has held a wedding a day after parliament passed a bill that threatens gay people with life in prison if caught expressing their sexuality.

Kenya gay rights activist Denis Nzioka tweeted a photograph of a celebrant and two women in wedding garb and said that Ugandan activist Kasha Jacqueline had attended the marriage. ‘This is what I call guts,’ he said.

via Lesbian wedding held in Uganda day after anti-gay bill passed | Gay Star News.

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Gay Pride – Uganda!

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Across much of Africa, the priority for LGBT activists is far from pushing for equal marriage, but just resisting physical violence criminal sanctions. But even in Uganda, where there is a real thread of legislation that will provide for the death penalty for those convicted, there is progress. For the second consecutive year, there has been a gay pride parade, in Entebbe. Numbers were low – but unlike last year, the police made no attempt to intervene. As one participant noted, these are only baby steps – but babies tend to grow up.

Uganda holds 2nd annual LGBT pride march without arrests

Ugandan LGBTs have marched openly for a second time in Entebbe but police did not intervene despite being given advanced notice about the egnt

05 AUGUST 2013 | BY ANDREW POTTS

LGBTs in Uganda have again marched openly in what is the country’s second only pride event.

On Saturday over a hundred people marched along a beach and through a botanical garden in the city of Entebbe but police stayed away despite organizers giving them advanced notice about the event.

Things did not go so smoothly last year when a pride event was broken up by police, with several activists being detained before being released without charge.

Activist Kelly Mukwano told the Voice of America that the Ugandan LGBT community had been given a new sense of confidence with the success of the event.

‘That success gave us confidence that we can do it,’ Mukwano said, ‘We are getting more confident as time goes by.’

Some marchers thought it would not be long before they could march openly in the nation’s capital.

‘It’s baby steps,’ one marcher said, ‘Today, we are here, miles away from Kampala … Soon we shall be on Kampala Road.’

Uganda’s state owned New Vision news agency is yet to react to the pride event in Entebbe.

Ugandan MPs have been seeking to pass legislation that would see the death penalty for gay sex for repeat offenders and people with HIV but have called for a secret ballot to prevent them from being subjected to overseas travel bans.

via Gay Star News.

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Desmond Tutu and Nobel winners back gays in Uganda and globally

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Archbishop Tutu and others make joint statement in response to Uganda’s ban on gay organizations and threats of new death penalty law

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has backed gay, bi and trans rights around the world.

Four Nobel Laureates – including Archbishop Desmond Tutu – have called on people all over the world to respect gay rights.

The statement issued by the Robert F Kennedy Center (correct) for Justice Human Rights and Human Rights was released in conjunction with Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) in response to that country’s government restricting the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.

Desmond Tutu, Professor Jody Williams, Dr Shirin Ebadi and Professor Muhammad Yunus say: ‘As a global community of individuals dedicated to a more peaceful and just world, we wish to express our grave concern as to how our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) brothers and sisters are being treated across the globe.

‘Collectively we represent a diverse array of countries and cultures. Today more than ever, we wish to express that the same cultural values, which have fostered and supported our lifelong quests for peace, also command us to speak out against the violence and discrimination our fellow human beings are enduring every day solely because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.

‘By expressing our solidarity with LGBTI people around the world, we recognize the inherent dignity and human rights of all individuals, without prejudice or intolerance, and we take an important step forward in our collective journey toward peace.’

– full report at Gay Star News

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Uganda: Bishops want shelved anti-gay Bill revived

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Speaking after their recent annual conference organised by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), an ecumenical body which brings together the Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox churches, the bishops resolved that the parliamentary committee on Gender should be tasked to engage the House on the Bill which is now at committee level.

“We also ask the Education committee to engage the Ministry of Education on the issue of incorporating a topic on human sexuality in the curricula of our schools and institutions of learning,” the resolutions signed by archbishops Henry Luke Orombi, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga and Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, indicated.

The clerics also appealed to all the churches in the country “to remain steadfast in opposing the phenomena of homosexuality, lesbianism and same-sex union”.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was proposed by Ndorwa West PM David Bahati and has become a subject of international discussion with most Western powers describing the Bill as barbaric.

Dr Sylvia Tamale, an outspoken pro-gay activist and Makerere University don, said her views “against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill have never changed”.

“I think it is unconstitutional and pursuing it is diversionary as it distracts us from the important issues that the average Ugandan really cares about,” she said on Friday in an email to Sunday Monitor.

The anti-gay Bill has seen ups and downs with donors and international activists threatening to withhold aid should it be let to pass.
Among some of the propositions in the Bill was one of death and life sentence for those for those caught engaging in homosexuality for a second time.

-full report at Daily Monitor

(Anthony, a Ugandan Catholic who was at the United Kingdom Cutting Edge Consortium 2012 Conference on combating faith – based homophobia, passed on this message: :

The Ugandan Gay and Lesbian community is inviting you to a peaceful demonstration outside the Ugandan Embassy just by Trafalgar Square on 15/06/2012 at 1:00pm. We would like to pass on a message  of love to all religious leaders in Uganda on that day. We will be glad to see u.)
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