Uganda's LGBTQ muny is ' shock' over new measure, gay activist says

Contents:

• ‘WE WILL HUNT YOU’: UGANDANS FLEE AHEAD OF HARSH ANTI-GAY LAW
• DISPLACED TWICE: GAY UGANDANS ON THE N FACE UPHEAVAL KENYA
• UGANDA'S LGBTQ MUNY IS ' SHOCK' OVER NEW MEASURE, GAY ACTIVIST SAYS
• UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’
• GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN KAMPALA, UGANDA
• UGANDA TO JAIL PEOPLE WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ONE OF WORLD'S MOST ANTI-GAY LAWS
• NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)

‘WE WILL HUNT YOU’: UGANDANS FLEE AHEAD OF HARSH ANTI-GAY LAW

KAMPALA, March 21 (Rters) - Uganda's parliament passed a law on Tuday makg a crime to intify as LGBTQ, handg thori broad powers to target gay Ugandans who already face legal discrimatn and mob than 30 Ain untri, cludg Uganda, already ban same-sex relatns. The new law appears to be the first to outlaw merely intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ), acrdg to rights group Human Rights Watch. 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 addn to same-sex terurse, the law bans promotg and abettg homosexualy as well as nspiracy to engage homosexualy.

[1/4]Bugiri Municipaly Member of Parliament Asuman Basalirwa, addrs the hoe as he participat the bate of the Anti-Homosexualy bill, which propos tough new penalti for same-sex relatns durg a stg at the Parliament buildgs Kampala, Uganda March 21, 2023....

DISPLACED TWICE: GAY UGANDANS ON THE N FACE UPHEAVAL KENYA

Meveni has not mented on the current proposal but he has long opposed LGBTQ rights and signed an anti-LGBTQ law 2013 that Wtern untri nmned before a domtic urt stck down on procral recent weeks, Uganda thori have cracked down on LGBTQ people after relig lears and policians alleged stunts were beg reced to homosexualy month, thori arrted a sendary school teacher the eastern district of Jja over accatns of "groomg of young girls to unnatural sex practic" was subsequently charged wh gross cency and is prison awag police said on Monday they had arrted six people acced of nng a work that was "actively volved the groomg of young boys to acts of sodomy".

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 anizatns have fanned anti-gay sentiment and lobbied for harsh legislatn, culmatg parliament’s passage last month of a bill that would crimalize even intifyg as LGBTQ.

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

“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.

UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’

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. ” Like many gay people stgglg to survive a untry that has ed Covid-19 as an exce to clamp down on human rights, Ssenyonga is ed to arrts and before the panmic Uganda was labelled the worst place to be gay after s parliament proposed the ath penalty for some homosexual acts.

The nstutnal urt annulled the law 2014, but secury agenci ntue to hound gay people – relyg on rmatn om muny vigilant to attack and smoke them out of plac they thought were safe. But memori are not as easily first sign of danger, he says, was seeg green boots through a gap unr the people were still bed at the shelter, which has given Ugandan gay people a home durg lockdown.

GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN KAMPALA, UGANDA

Everybody was expected to go back to a lovg home, and people who are unable are punished, ” Owamparo Rights Watch says Uganda is g the ver of ronavis to margalise and target gay people. Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson, 24, a gay man om Uganda, a safe hoe Otieno for The New York TimIn a spartan safehoe wh flimsy curtas and no furnure northwt of the Kenyan pal, Nairobi, people om neighborg Uganda clung to the few valuabl they uld snatch while fleeg harsh new legislatn targetg them back home. A lbian uple clenched the one smartphone that held photos om happier days, gog on dat and dancg began leavg after Uganda’s Parliament passed a sweepg anti-gay bill late March that threatens punishment as severe as ath for some perceived offens, and lls for life prison for anyone engagg same-sex relatns.

“The ernment and the people of Uganda are agast our existence, ” said Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson, a 24-year-old who fled wh a sgle backpack days after a hostile crowd, cludg children, rnered him as he bought groceri near a gay shelter the pal, Kampala.

UGANDA TO JAIL PEOPLE WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ ONE OF WORLD'S MOST ANTI-GAY LAWS

He spoke hours after the European Parliament nounced the legislatn follows a groundswell of anti-gay rhetoric that has swept Ain untri recent years, cludg Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. Last month, lawmakers om more than a dozen Ain untri gathered Uganda and promised to troduce or pass measur their own untri that they said would protect the sancty of the fay and children agast “the s of homosexualy. And while anti-gay rhetoric has long existed Uganda, has taken a severe turn the past year, wh thori removg rabow lors om a park and parents chargg to a school bee they thought a gay person tght latt move to target L.

NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)

And anti-abortn stanc, acrdg to the Southern Poverty Law Ugandan bill has drawn nmnatn om human rights groups and the Uned Natns, and the Bin admistratn has lled “one of the most extreme” anti-gay measur anywhere the world. The East Ain natn, a close secury ally of the Uned Stat, receiv more than $950 ln annually health and velopment months of mpaigng agast , gay rights activists Uganda are now planng to challenge the measure urt if is signed.

In terviews, more than a dozen gay Ugandans who had fled to Kenya scribed how their iends, fay and neighbors turned agast them over the past year, as renewed anti-gay sentiment swept over the nservative Parliament, lawmakers promoted the basels allegatn that there was a plot to promote homosexualy schools.

In the streets, Mlims marched agast them, and Christian church, clerics urged ngregants to rema watchful about efforts to lure their children to Augt, the thori took their most drastic actn yet when they closed Sexual Mori Uganda, the untry’s leadg gay rights Parliament adopted the bill March, dozens of L. ” It would also “jeopardize” Uganda’s progrs toward endg AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, the statement Ugandan bill is already spirg others across the ntent, cludg Kenya, where a recent Supreme Court cisn had allowed gay rights groups to register legally — a lg that has drawn vol cricism om the print and others. There is rampant harassment and discrimatn agast gay people ernment stutns, shoppg malls, hospals and public transport, ” Naturibale told Al Jazeera om Nairobi.