Meet the LGBT activists fightg Uganda's anti-gay law | Uganda | The Guardian

Contents:

• LGBTQ ACTIVISTS UGANDA ' SHOCK' OVER ANTI-GAY LEGISLATN, FEARG MASS ARRTS
• MEET THE LGBT ACTIVISTS FIGHTG UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW
• UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• UGANDA ARRTS 16 LGBT ACTIVISTS ON SPICN OF GAY SEX
• UGANDAN LGBTQ ACTIVIST RALLI SUPPORT FOR PATRTS AFTER ANTI-GAY BILL
• UGANDA ARRTED 16 LGBTQ ACTIVISTS. HERE’S WHERE ELSE GAY RIGHTS ARE A BATTLEGROUND THE WORLD.
• GAY ACTIVIST SAYS UGANDA LGBTQ MUNY ' SHOCK' AT NEW LAW

LGBTQ ACTIVISTS UGANDA ' SHOCK' OVER ANTI-GAY LEGISLATN, FEARG MASS ARRTS

KAMPALA, April 13 (Rters) - (This April 13 story has been rrected to remove reference to crimalisg intifyg as LGBTQ, a provisn dropped the draft stage, paragraph 3)When Frank Mugisha me out two s ago, beg gay Uganda uld be lonely and unfortable, but was rarely a matter of life and then, as Mugisha has emerged as the untry's most proment LGBTQ rights activist, the perils have multiplied. Policians and relig anisatns have fanned anti-gay sentiment and lobbied for harsh laws, culmatg parliament's passage last month of one of the strictt piec of anti-LGBTQ legislatn anywhere the world. "If I was seven, ne, twelve, fourteen, I don't thk I would tell anyone I am gay right now, " he yet, Mugisha says he will not give an ch the face of the new bill, which is awag Print Yoweri Meveni's bill passed wh near unanimo support parliament.

If Meveni signs - as he is wily expected to - Mugisha's work uld land him jail unr a provisn that punish the "promotn" of homosexualy wh up to 20 years Mugisha said he feels an obligatn to fight back on behalf of LGBTQ Ugandans, many of whom have left the untry or fled their hom for safe ho sce the bill was passed. "I gus I am gog to be trouble a lot bee I am not gog to stop, " Mugisha bill also impos the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated homosexualy, which clus havg gay sex while OUT[1/5]Ugandan LGBTQ activist Frank Mugisha pos for a photograph after a Rters terview Makdye, suburb, of Kampala, Uganda March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaA practisg Catholic typilly seen a blue su and whe shirt, Mugisha had what he lls a normal childhood, gog to school and playg soccer his Kampala realised he was gay as early as the age of seven but did not start to e out until he was 14.

Mugisha said he enuntered no overt hostily om iends about his sexualy, although some kept their distance for fear they would be spected of beg gay 2007, Mugisha took over learship of Sexual Mori Uganda (SMUG), an advocy group he had earlier joed as an the followg years, he saw a harng of anti-LGBTQ views, which he attribut to mpaigng by ultra-nservative Christian groups, some om the Uned Stat. WorldMembers of Uganda's LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after parliament passed a new law that mak a crime to intify as gay, and impos tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said on Wednday.

MEET THE LGBT ACTIVISTS FIGHTG UGANDA'S ANTI-GAY LAW

Ll for Ugandan ernment to rensirUgandan Member of Parliament John Mira drsed an anti-LGBTQ gown gtur as he leav the chambers durg the bate of the Anti-Homosexualy bill, which impos tough new penalti for same-sex relatns durg a stg at the Parliament buildgs Kampala, Uganda, on Tuday. (Abubaker Lubowa/Rters)Members of Uganda's LGBTQ muny are shock and fear beg arrted after parliament passed a new law that mak a crime to intify as gay, and impos tough sentenc that clu the ath penalty certa s, an activist said on "Anti-Homosexualy Bill, 2023" was passed wh a near-unanimo majory by lawmakers the east Ain untry where anti-LGBTQ sentiment ns Mugisha, one of a few Ugandans who live openly as gay, told Rters he was sred the law will trigger "mass arrts of lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) persons and mob vlence toward LGBTQ muni. A Ugandan transgenr woman who was recently attacked and currently beg sheltered watch a TV screen showg the live broadst of the ssn om the Parliament for the anti-gay bill, at a lol chary supportg the LGBTQ Communy near Kampala on Tuday.

(Stuart Tibawwa/AFP via Getty Imag)Law nmned ternatnallySame-sex relatns were already illegal Uganda, but supporters of the new law say is need to punish a broar array of LGBTQ activi, which they say threaten tradnal valu the nservative and relig East Ain clus steep sentenc that clu ath for "aggravated homosexualy" and life prison for same-sex relatns.

Aggravated homosexualy appli to same-sex activi wh people unr the age of 18 or when the perpetrator is HIV posive, among other tegori, acrdg to the pass bill crimalizg people for intifyg as LGBTQAS IT HAPPENSUgandan activist vows to keep speakg out spe new law that bans intifyg as LGBTQU. The legislatn passed by the Ugandan Parliament yterday, known as the Anti-Homosexualy Act, is appallg and abhorrent – no one, nowhere, should have to live fear bee of who they are or whom they love.

UGANDA ANTI-HOMOSEXUALY BILL: LIFE PRISON FOR SAYG YOU'RE GAY

"The law vlat fundamental nstutnal rights like privacy and ee speech, so purely based on the law, I thk will be a strong se, " said lawyer Adrian | LGBTQ activist Uganda endur threats:Day 69:14Ugandan LGBTQ activist says threats and vlence won't stop the fight for civil rightsUgandan LGBT activist Pepe Julian Onziema helped shut down a 2014 law that lled for the ath penalty for homosexual acts.

"There weren't any queer reprentatns around me growg up, and ma me feel alone; I was nvced I was gog to hell when I nnected my feelgs to the anti-homosexual teachgs the Bible, " Kiki says. Uganda is a untry loted East Ai, and the muny has been h wh humane anti-LGBTQ+ laws – members of the LGBTQ +muny who are nvicted of “aggravated homosexualy” are subjected to the ath penalty. The 28 year-old is the founr of KAKYOPROJECT, a safe space for queer the anti-gay laws were put place, Kakyo grew up as a cur and open-md thker immersg herself arts and crafts, which fueled her sire for a project like KAKYOPROJECT.

UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS

When Frank Mugisha me out two s ago, beg gay Uganda uld be lonely and unfortable, but was rarely a matter of life and then, as Mugisha has emerged as the untry’s most proment LGBTQ rights activist, the perils have multiplied. “If I was 7, 9, 12, 14, I don’t thk I would tell anyone I am gay right now, ” he yet, Mugisha says he will not give an ch the face of the new bill, which is awag Print Yoweri Meveni’s bill passed wh near unanimo support parliament. If Meveni signs — as he is wily expected to — Mugisha’s work uld land him jail unr a provisn that punish the “promotn” of homosexualy wh up to 20 years Mugisha said he feels an obligatn to fight back on behalf of LGBTQ Ugandans, many of whom have left the untry or fled their hom for safe ho sce the bill was passed.

“I gus I am gog to be trouble a lot, bee I am not gog to stop, ” Mugisha bill also impos the ath penalty for so-lled aggravated homosexualy, which clus havg gay sex while outA practicg Catholic typilly seen a blue su and whe shirt, Mugisha had what he lls a normal childhood, gog to school and playg soccer his Kampala realized he was gay as early as the age of seven but did not start to e out until he was 14.

”Mugisha is one of the activists who, together wh ne other petners, is seekg to overturn a tough anti-gay law that was signed by Uganda’s Print Yoweri Meveni Febary, threateng anyone nvicted of homosexualy wh a life sentence, and banng the promotn of gay mpaigners are argug that the law, which they scribe as dranian, is valid bee was passed parliament whout the necsary quom of lawmakers. Photograph: Lda Nyld Photograph: Lda NyldIn recent years, legislative homophobia has been sweepg slowly across Ai wh Nigeria passg new anti-homosexual legislatn this January and the lik of Ethpia and the Democratic Republic of Congo threateng to follow s footsteps. Sce at least 2009, when MP David Bahati first tabled the anti-homosexualy bill, Uganda has very much been at the vanguard of this spread of homophobiaSpurred on by radil US evangelils such as Stt Lively, Ugandan MPs and relig lears have long been fomentg homophobia.

UGANDA ARRTS 16 LGBT ACTIVISTS ON SPICN OF GAY SEX

They have acced homosexuals of beg a risk to children and of tryg to “rec” others to their e, and have nsistently lled on ernment to take more heavy-hand actn agast what they see as “immoral” and “un-Ain” tabloids have also got volved, most famoly October 2010 when Uganda’s Rollg Stone published the photos of 100 alleged homosexuals unr the headle “Hang Them!

UGANDAN LGBTQ ACTIVIST RALLI SUPPORT FOR PATRTS AFTER ANTI-GAY BILL

Many onlookers rema the opposg si, LGBTI groups, human rights anisatns and some Wtern ernments have fought agast the homophobic trends, and was perhaps thanks to their prsure that a vote on Bahati’s bill end up beg postponed for so long. In Febary, however, after half a of to-g and o-g, the ferrals fally me to an end and, the face of overwhelmg domtic support for the anti-gay bill, Meveni signed to this rnatn of the act, the ath penalty proposed the origal draft had been removed, but life sentenc were troduced for so-lled “aggravated homosexualy” and, what’s more, the “promotn of homosexualy” was outlawed for the first might have been expected, however, the specific legal ntent of the act was not as important as the basic msage sent out to society, and after the bill’s signg, homophobic cints skyrocketed by somewhere between 750% and 1, 900% acrdg to statistics gathered by SMUG.

UGANDA ARRTED 16 LGBTQ ACTIVISTS. HERE’S WHERE ELSE GAY RIGHTS ARE A BATTLEGROUND THE WORLD.

Ined, is partly thanks to the systems that many groups have been able to ntue providg support for those need, while activists are, now as ever, still llg upon fellow human rights anisatns for assistance, meetg wh policians the hope of fdg alli, and fightg hard the urts to challenge the nstutnaly of the anti-homosexualy act.

GAY ACTIVIST SAYS UGANDA LGBTQ MUNY ' SHOCK' AT NEW LAW

It has also been about advotg for change, anisg gay pri march to give the LGBTI muny a sense of digny and uny, and tryg to change the mdset of Ugandan LGBTI muny wants to be unrstood, accepted and loved, not jt to survive. Homosexual acts are already illegal Uganda but this bill troduc many new crimal well as makg merely intifyg as gay illegal for the first time, iends, fay and members of the muny would have a duty to report dividuals same-sex relatnships to the was passed wh wispread support Uganda's parliament on Tuday eveng.