.
RWANDA’S SILENCE ON GAY RIGHTS IMPACTS ON LGBTI ACTIVISM
By Jerina Messie (28/7/2009)
RWANDA – 28 July 2009: Two years after the parliament brought, for debate, a Bill criminalising homosexuality, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) organisations in Rwanda, are still uncertain about their future since they are presently not protected by law.
For Naome Ruzindana, Director of Horizon Community Association (HOCA), an LGBTI organisation in Rwanda, absence of the law protecting homosexuals is frustrating as they do not know if they are stepping on anybody’s toes by doing their work.
Ruzindana says initially Rwanda did not have law criminalising homosexuality until parliament proposed the anti-gay bill in 2007, which “up to now it’s still being debated upon.”
“If the Bill is passed it will be almost impossible for us to operate, if it stays the way it’s portrayed without being amended, we will be doomed.”
Ruzindana further states that with or without law, things have always been difficult for LGBTI people and organisations in Rwanda due cultural influence and religion.
Meanwhile, recently the Rwandan government has proposed a Bill demanding compulsory HIV testing before marriage and forced sterilization for women deemed as mentally ill, laws that, according to human rights activists, are a clear indication of that country’s disrespect of human rights.
Under the proposed Bill, all individuals will be required to have HIV testing and provide a certificate before getting married and married individuals could also be required to be tested for HIV/AIDS upon request one of the spouses in a marriage.
The World Health Organisation alongside the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights have condemned this Bill arguing that compulsory HIV testing and disclosure of results could put women at increased risk of abuse while undermining public trust in the health care system.
*****
There are actual laws against homosexuality as well as fierce cultural taboos. I imagine this causes a strain on homosexuals living outside of the largest urban areas (most likely anywhere but Kigali) because in addition to the strong cultural tradition in Rwanda there is also nowhere private to go ever. There are people everywhere. You would very literally have to be in the closet to act on one's inclination towards the same sex IF there were any closets to be had in poor Rwandan homes. So I imagine it is very, very difficult to be an LGBT adolescent or adult living here, frankly.
I'm not sure what the punishments are for being caught engaging in homosexual activity. I assume it is rarely dealt with outside of the mediation or small community courts in the rural areas. If there are prosecutions, they are not discussed openly in the media and given the pieces that run about how America is going to hell in a hand basket because of its leniency on same sex relations, I would think it might get media coverage.
So the take home message: there is no homosexuality in Rwanda, officially. Thus, they don't have to ask the gay people to leave - they aren't here.
However, I will say that every time I go out in Kigali, much like every other African country I've partaken of the night life in, I've been hit on by sex workers. (you may be interested to know that Rwanda also does not have sex workers, officially.) I know, that doesn't mean anything because most likely it's my skin not my gender/sex they're banking on. I've also seen plenty of man-on-man action of a variety that defies explanation through rationalization of the female to male ratio in the night club. Nor am I thinking about the man of Indian descent and the Chinese man who ended up in each other's embrace when the fast song turned to slow and a very outgoing African woman pushed them together, both shuffling slowly with their faces frozen in a look of "what has Africa done to me." I'm thinking more of a group of three men who obviously love dancing and touching one and other, particularly as they get drunker through the night. I see them consistently and their behavior clearly indicates more than platonic, masculine love of music, beer and each others' company. At one night club I've been to, there seems to be a dark corner of the dance floor for men only, which reminds me very much of the dark corner of the dance floor at Climax in Conakry which was very clearly also for men only.
But, of course, we can easily extrapolate that these men are all from Kenya or Uganda because there is no homosexuality in Rwanda, unless someone else brought it here. (kigalilife.blogspot.com, 7/2008)
****
"It is true that homosexual culture is not Rwandan and is therefore susceptible to challenges. Rwanda has not spoken much about homosexuality, but certainly it is against the practice. If homosexuality is not African then it cannot certainly be Rwandan!
It is against this background that a mini survey was done to know if there are gays in Rwanda or not.
RWANDA’S SILENCE ON GAY RIGHTS IMPACTS ON LGBTI ACTIVISM
By Jerina Messie (28/7/2009)
RWANDA – 28 July 2009: Two years after the parliament brought, for debate, a Bill criminalising homosexuality, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) organisations in Rwanda, are still uncertain about their future since they are presently not protected by law.
For Naome Ruzindana, Director of Horizon Community Association (HOCA), an LGBTI organisation in Rwanda, absence of the law protecting homosexuals is frustrating as they do not know if they are stepping on anybody’s toes by doing their work.
Ruzindana says initially Rwanda did not have law criminalising homosexuality until parliament proposed the anti-gay bill in 2007, which “up to now it’s still being debated upon.”
“If the Bill is passed it will be almost impossible for us to operate, if it stays the way it’s portrayed without being amended, we will be doomed.”
Ruzindana further states that with or without law, things have always been difficult for LGBTI people and organisations in Rwanda due cultural influence and religion.
Meanwhile, recently the Rwandan government has proposed a Bill demanding compulsory HIV testing before marriage and forced sterilization for women deemed as mentally ill, laws that, according to human rights activists, are a clear indication of that country’s disrespect of human rights.
Under the proposed Bill, all individuals will be required to have HIV testing and provide a certificate before getting married and married individuals could also be required to be tested for HIV/AIDS upon request one of the spouses in a marriage.
The World Health Organisation alongside the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights have condemned this Bill arguing that compulsory HIV testing and disclosure of results could put women at increased risk of abuse while undermining public trust in the health care system.
*****
There are actual laws against homosexuality as well as fierce cultural taboos. I imagine this causes a strain on homosexuals living outside of the largest urban areas (most likely anywhere but Kigali) because in addition to the strong cultural tradition in Rwanda there is also nowhere private to go ever. There are people everywhere. You would very literally have to be in the closet to act on one's inclination towards the same sex IF there were any closets to be had in poor Rwandan homes. So I imagine it is very, very difficult to be an LGBT adolescent or adult living here, frankly.
I'm not sure what the punishments are for being caught engaging in homosexual activity. I assume it is rarely dealt with outside of the mediation or small community courts in the rural areas. If there are prosecutions, they are not discussed openly in the media and given the pieces that run about how America is going to hell in a hand basket because of its leniency on same sex relations, I would think it might get media coverage.
So the take home message: there is no homosexuality in Rwanda, officially. Thus, they don't have to ask the gay people to leave - they aren't here.
However, I will say that every time I go out in Kigali, much like every other African country I've partaken of the night life in, I've been hit on by sex workers. (you may be interested to know that Rwanda also does not have sex workers, officially.) I know, that doesn't mean anything because most likely it's my skin not my gender/sex they're banking on. I've also seen plenty of man-on-man action of a variety that defies explanation through rationalization of the female to male ratio in the night club. Nor am I thinking about the man of Indian descent and the Chinese man who ended up in each other's embrace when the fast song turned to slow and a very outgoing African woman pushed them together, both shuffling slowly with their faces frozen in a look of "what has Africa done to me." I'm thinking more of a group of three men who obviously love dancing and touching one and other, particularly as they get drunker through the night. I see them consistently and their behavior clearly indicates more than platonic, masculine love of music, beer and each others' company. At one night club I've been to, there seems to be a dark corner of the dance floor for men only, which reminds me very much of the dark corner of the dance floor at Climax in Conakry which was very clearly also for men only.
But, of course, we can easily extrapolate that these men are all from Kenya or Uganda because there is no homosexuality in Rwanda, unless someone else brought it here. (kigalilife.blogspot.com, 7/2008)
****
"It is true that homosexual culture is not Rwandan and is therefore susceptible to challenges. Rwanda has not spoken much about homosexuality, but certainly it is against the practice. If homosexuality is not African then it cannot certainly be Rwandan!
It is against this background that a mini survey was done to know if there are gays in Rwanda or not.
[...]Like any other form of prostitution, it is denied, and practiced indoors--a thing that has made it remain in obscurity.
There is a community of gays in Rwanda, even though one will be hard put to produce evidence to clearly prove it. One gentleman, who did not want to be mentioned, caused laughter in public when he complained thus: 'I was surprised when a man of my age approached me to be his boy friend. He was serious and promised to offer me some good money. This is horrible! Suppose I was a young man with problems of money; the amount he offered would have really seduced me into the nasty demands of the son of devil.'
There is a community of gays in Rwanda, even though one will be hard put to produce evidence to clearly prove it. One gentleman, who did not want to be mentioned, caused laughter in public when he complained thus: 'I was surprised when a man of my age approached me to be his boy friend. He was serious and promised to offer me some good money. This is horrible! Suppose I was a young man with problems of money; the amount he offered would have really seduced me into the nasty demands of the son of devil.'
[...] It takes a lot to recognise a gay person; but sometimes young men go around with treated hair, tinted, walking like a woman, or forcing the voice to soften like that of a woman and speaking with abnormal gestures,etc. They cannot go out in the open and shout it out because they would be ridiculed.
[...] There are in fact very many reasons that call us to worry about homosexuality. These reasons go beyond the fact that homosexuality goes against the Rwandan cultural norms and morals. Homosexuality is harmful for society since it does not engender reproduction, thus threatens the survival of society. It poses a great threat to children, and leads to depressing and miserable lifestyles. Generally, homosexuals are obsessed with a sexual lifestyle that is unnatural, and so the society should stand warned well in advance." (New York Times, 3/2008)
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