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Kampala homosexuals speak out
Homosexuals and lesbians before they addressed journalists in Kampala
By Alfred Waske (The New Vision, 16/8/2007)
IN an unprecedented show of boldness, the homosexual community in Uganda yesterday came out and addressed their maiden press conference, complaining about discrimination and demanding acceptance by the public.
“Please, let us live in peace. Stop persecuting us. God created us this way. We are children of God as well,” shouted more than 30 homosexuals led by Victor Juliet Mukasa, leader of the Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), their umbrella organization comprising Freedom & Roam, Spectrum Uganda, Integrity Uganda and Icebreakers Uganda. Some of them wore masks.
The Uganda Penal Code Act criminalizes homosexuality. The law regards homosexuality as an unnatural offence punishable with life imprisonment.
The Penal Code says any person who has carnal knowledge of another against the order of nature commits the offence.
Mukasa said their community comprises of lesbians (woman and woman), gays (men and men), bisexual (men and women), transgender (born with female genitals but with a male mentality) and intersex (born with more than one sexual organ or hermaphrodite). She abbreviated their community as LGBTI.
Dressed in a dark male blazer, Mukasa said in a female voice: “I am a transgender. I was born with a vagina but my mentality is different.
” She revealed that in order to hide her identity, she had been strapping her breasts with belts, bandages and other materials.
“In a landmark case, we, Ugandan LGBTI people assembled at the High Court of Uganda two months ago to reinforce our right to privacy, dignity and property. There were no charges against us. We had done nothing wrong,” Mukasa said. She said her group went to court because the Police raided her home in 2005, arrested her guest, stole many documents, dragged them to Kireka Police post and forced her guest to strip naked in order to prove that she was a woman.
“We were treated in a degrading and inhumane way. Many of us have suffered similar injustice. We are here today to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable,” she protested as the roomful yelled, “Leave us to live in peace.”
They said they were concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS because medical institutions discriminate against them. They urged the Police and LDUs to stop harassing their members.
“Don’t lay a hand on us, we are the homosexual chidren of God. God created us this way and all we ask is let us live in peace.”
Another transgender, Brenda Kizza, with a male face and female body shocked the media when she said the Police has tortured her so much that at some point they kicked her teeth out. She opened her mouth to show her fake teeth.
“I had to buy these because I lost the originals, courtesy of policemen,” she testified in Luganda. Several others also testified.
Someone in the audience identified himself as Dr. Paul Ssemugooma and estimated that there are at least 500,000 homosexuals in Uganda. There were human rights defenders like Jessica Nkuuhe, Sarah Mukasa, Beatrice Were and others.
Uganda rejects a gay rights call
BBC News 17/8/2008
Uganda will not give equal rights to gays and lesbians nor has it plans to legalise homosexuality, Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo has said.
He was responding to a call from the Sexual Minorities Groups in Uganda (Smug) which for the first time held a press conference demanding recognition.
They also accused the police of brutality and harassment.
The gay community is estimated by activists to number 500,000 in Uganda where they face much discrimination.
The BBC's Joshua Mmali in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, said many of those present at the press conference on Thursday wore masks, fearing to show their faces.
Smug leader Victor Juliet Mukasa said she had been a victim of inhuman treatment.
She said police raided her home in 2005, took away documents and arrested her guest, whom they later forced to strip naked.
"We were treated in a degrading and inhumane way. Many of us have suffered similar injustice," she told journalists.
"We are here today to proclaim that these human rights violations are completely unacceptable. We have had enough of the abuse, neglect and violence."
But Mr Buturo told the BBC News website that homosexuality was "unnatural" and denied claims of police brutality and rights abuses.
"If they were being harassed, they would be in jail. We know them, we have details of who they are," he said.
'Demonised'
At the press conference, gay activist Dr Paul Ssemugoma called for education on same sex-relationships to reduce the incidence of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases among the gay community.
Uganda has won praise for its vigorous campaign against HIV/Aids.
It has helped to reduce the prevalence of the virus - which reached 30% in the 1990s - to single-digit figures.
Activists also hit out at the church, accusing the clergy of demonising them.
A Kenyan gay man, who had travelled to Kampala to show solidarity with his Ugandan counterparts, said homosexuals in East Africa are forced to live double lives.
"These people are subjected into being in forced marriages to cover up, yet they suffer inside," he said.
Ugandans hold anti-gay sex rally
BBC News 21/8/2007
Hundreds of Ugandans have taken part an anti-gay rally in the capital to demand the government uphold a ban on gay sex.
The Interfaith Rainbow Coalition Against Homosexuality said the rally at a sports stadium in Kampala showed how much Ugandans deplored homosexuality.
Spokesman Pastor Martin Sempa said that Uganda was under "great external pressure to relax its laws" ahead of November's Commonwealth summit.
In Uganda, homosexuality carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Pastor Sempa told the BBC's Focus on Africa that homosexuals were using the summit to try and "shame, force, coerce, intimidate Uganda into changing our laws".
"We are telling them that Africans find homosexuality reprehensible. Leave us alone."
The gay community is estimated by activists to number 500,000 in Uganda where they face much discrimination.
Gay activists held a news conference last week but many were afraid to show their faces and wore masks.
They say they are forced to live double lives for fear of harassment and brutality.
Uganda's government rejected their call for recognition and equal rights.
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Migrate, Uganda's Minister of Ethics Tells Gays
(Uganda) - Uganda's Ethics Minister Dr James Nsaba Buturo advises homosexuals to emigrate, calling their acts "shameful, abominable and un-godly." In an interview with Daily Monitor, Buturo expressed his views on homosexuality and Gay rights, telling the public: "My view is that of the majority of Ugandans. All people who have participated in this debate are denouncing the act. What else do these gays want? The message has been clear that their acts are not accepted in our society. They are wasting their time to claim that they are advocating for their rights. We shall not allow them to mislead our young generation. Shame on them. Our laws are clear, homosexuality is illegal."
He proceeded then:
"If God is against homosexuality, who are we to legislate for it. We would be bringing a curse on Uganda, God forbid. They have no place in our country. They should change to a normal way of life. They should know that they are not free to do whatever they want. Homosexuality is not part of our values. As government we shall do everything possible to help them change and those who don't want to change would be arrested. We shall not act under pressure. It's nonsense to say that their acts are natural."
Questioned on whether the government is infringing on human rights of Gays by attacking them, this so-called public official openly admitted the views of Uganda’s government on the issue of human rights:
"There are no rights for gays and lesbians in this country. Let them go anywhere else if they don't want to change to normal life. They have rights as Ugandans and human beings but not the right to be gay or lesbian. We pray that they accept Jesus so that they can discover that they are in the wrong. Either they change or the law catches up with them. If gays are demanding for rights, then rapists, defilers and those who sleep with animals should do the same."
"Like I have said before gays have no right in society. No law in Uganda gives them rights. No body can give you a right to drive the world crazy. Those people are crazy. You cannot infringe on what does not exist. It's good that they have come out and we are going to deal with them like never before."
The Ethics Minister referred to the Bible as the main inspiration for his beliefs on homosexuality:
"I am a born again Christian. Homosexuality is a sin. If they are Christians, they should know that according to the Bible, they are sinners."
Finally, Buturo declared his contempt for the human rights activists, expressing his manifest belief that Gays engage in sex for money, and that Uganda’s government and people are united in their hatred against this particular part of Uganda’s population:
"These people are promoting this act here for money. But they will do it from anywhere else and not Uganda. There are countries that are funding these people to promote evil here but we shall not accept it. They would rather go and do it in those countries."
"The police cannot arrest those who claim they are gays. But if you are caught in the act, they have always arrested them. However, it's good that they have come out now. That would help us to catch up with them. We have now known that there is a useless group of people who have invaded our society and the law will deal with them. 99 per cent of Ugandans condemn this act. And we are determined to fight it out of our country. We appeal to the public to point out those they suspect or know to be gays.
"The minister is, however, irrant on the actual percentage of Gay-hatred in his country: only 95 per cent of Ugandans said homosexuality should not be legalised, according to a recent poll, as reported on a previous occasion.
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