Gay Couple to face life sentence Uganda - Face of Malawi

Contents:

• THE STORY OF A YOUNG UGANDAN GAY UPLE
• GAY COUPLE TO FACE LIFE SENTENCE UGANDA
• UGANDA PASSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S HARSHT ANTI-GAY LAWS. LGBTQ PEOPLE SCRIBE LIVG THERE AS ‘HELL’
• A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.
• UGANDA MAY IMPOSE SOME OF THE WORLD’S STRICTT ANTI-GAY MEASUR: ‘YOU’RE FEARG FOR YOUR LIFE’
• GAY COUPL UGANDA
• A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED
• NO, UGANDA IS NOT MAKG ILLEGAL TO BE GAY (AGA)

THE STORY OF A YOUNG UGANDAN GAY UPLE

WORRIED: Ms Kalen fac an uncerta future after the tablg of an anti-gay law Parliament.

GAY COUPLE TO FACE LIFE SENTENCE UGANDA

Although Mr Bahati said he was not a hate mpaign, he uld not expla the lack of facts to back his se --- the proposed law seeks to improve on the penalti prcribed the Penal Co, which already crimalis homosexualy --- or provi evince to back claims that European gays were recg Uganda.

A proposed anti-gay law uld make Uganda perhaps the most dangero place for homosexuals and drive the gays of Uganda further unrground. The Sunday before last, Val Kalen listened quietly as her pastor’s sermon digrsed to a soft tira agast homosexuals. If Ms Kalen did not know her pastor to be an honourable man, a father figure, his sudn anti-gay remarks would have left her shiftg unfortably her chair, wonrg if those dread words were meant for her.

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

Then Ms Kalen head for the door, leadg the way to her veranda, away om the children she nsired too young to know she was gay, for the sake of children she wanted to protect. In October, Ndorwa Wt MP Bahati brought an anti-gay law to the Hoe, proposg his document a new felony lled “aggravated homosexualy”, mted when the offenr has sex wh a person who is disabled or unrage, or when there is HIV transmissn.

A GAY UPLE RAN A RAL RTRANT PEACE. THEN NEW NEIGHBORS ARRIVED.

The crime should attract the ath penalty, he proposed, while nsentg homosexuals should be imprisoned for life.

The proposed law, which has the tac approval of Print Meveni, would also penalise a third party for failg to report homosexual activy, as well as crimalise the actns of a reporter who, for example, terviews a gay uple. In a untry where homosexualy is still taboo, the bill had exced the homophobic sentiments of many Ugandans, and also looked set to shg off human rights ncerns. As the Canadian ernment lled the law “vile and hateful”, and as the Swedish ernment threatened to cut aid over a law a mister scribed as “appallg”, the thori Kampala were sayg they would ph for the troductn of legislatn that would make Uganda one of the most dangero plac for gay people.

Ms Kalen has been openly gay sce 2002, several years before she beme a rights activist wh the group Freedom and Roam-Uganda, six years before she met the woman she lls the love of her life. First meetgIn October 2009, around the time Mr Bahati was preparg his anti-homosexualy law, Ms Kalen’s partner, a 25-year-old woman she did not wish to name, left for the Uned Stat, where she is now a stunt and the regular senr of hopeful msag to a partner livg thoands of away. The uple met November 2008, one openly gay and the other closeted, but soon found the nnectn that spired them to exchange rgs a recent private ceremony.

UGANDA MAY IMPOSE SOME OF THE WORLD’S STRICTT ANTI-GAY MEASUR: ‘YOU’RE FEARG FOR YOUR LIFE’

In prs nferenc hastily lled to nmn the gays of Uganda, Ethics Mister Nsaba Buturo has been revvg up the rhetoric, tellg reporters that homosexuals n “fet about human rights”. In a recent prs briefg, Dr Buturo asked homosexuals to “leave alone”.

It’s not about gays…Homosexualy is not about sodomisg young boys. It was Ms Kalen’s way of sayg that homosexuals have people their liv who treasure them, men and women who may not let their silent aversn to gays terme the urse of their iendships.

GAY COUPL UGANDA

But is difficult to predict how loved on would react to a revelatn that a dghter or sister is gay, Ms Kalen said. ” Then, moments later, she found her rhythm, sayg firmly that “she was dog for the whole LGBT [lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr] muny”. Already, Speaker Edward Sekandi has spoken out to say Uganda should do whatever is necsary “to stop” homosexual relatnships Uganda.

If passed s current shape, the law would drive Ugandan homosexuals --- there are no reliable figur on their numbers, and most gays appear public wearg masks --- further unrground. Homosexualy is the romantic or sexual attractn or behavur among members of the same sex, suatnally or as an endurg disposn.

As a sexual orientatn, homosexualy is nsired to lie wh the heterosexual-homosexual ntuum of human sexualy and refers to an dividual’s inty based on those attractns and membership a muny of others who share prevalence of homosexualy is difficult to terme accurately; studi suggt between two and twenty percent of the populatn exhib some gree of homosexual sensibily, though many cultur homosexual relatns have been prevalent. Throughout history, dividual aspects of homosexualy have been admired or nmned acrdg to var societi' sexual norms.

A NEW ANTI-GAY LAW UGANDA LLS FOR LIFE PRISON FOR THOSE WHO ARE NVICTED

When praised, those aspects were seen as a way to improve society; when nmned, particular activi were seen as a s or a disease, and some homosexual behavur was prohibed by law. Sce the middle of the 20th century, homosexualy has been gradually listed as a disease and crimalised nearly all veloped untri. However, the legal stat of homosexual relatns vari wily by untry and there rema jurisdictns which certa homosexual behavurs are crim wh severe penalti cludg homosexual people hi their feelgs and activi out of fear of disapproval or aggrsn; they are monly said to be closeted.

Efforts toward emancipatn of homosexualy as is currently unrstood began the 1860s; sce the mid-1950s there has been an acceleratg trend towards creased visibily, acceptance, and civil rights for lbian, gay and bisexual people. Currently the most mon adjectiv e are lbian for women and gay for men, though some prefer other terms or none at all.

One of the ccial issu the public discsn about homosexualy is whether or not the ndn is a mental illns.

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

Many regard homosexuals as a threat to relig eedom, to the culture generally, and to the stutn of oppose-sex marriage (which they generally refer to as tradnal marriage). A variety of groups, nsistg of most gays, lbians, bisexuals, their iends and fai of orig, relig liberals and progrsiv, secularists, mental health profsnals and their associatns, civil libertarians, human sexualy rearchers, etc, favour equal rights and protectns for persons of all sexual orientatns, cludg the right to marry.

Most regard homophobia -- any nial of human rights based on sexual orientatn -- to be as profoundly immoral as is sexism and racism. Ugandan Print Yoweri Meveni has assented to the ntroversial anti-homosexualy bill, spe nmnatn of Wtern untri and human rights activists. In the new law, the offence of homosexualy is now limed to gay sexual acts.

Members of the public will also be required to report to the thori any form of homosexual abe agast children or other vulnerable people.