Uganda: African Hotbed of Homophobia
One of the most homophobic nations in the world is the tiny central African nation of Uganda, where popular prejudice and official acts have forced gay men and lesbians into a virtual state of seige. While we celebrate the continued expansion of our rights at home, it becomes all the more incumbent on us not to turn away from those who suffer the worst kind of abuse. And Uganda is among the worst.
Since it became an independent nation in 1962, a destabilizing series of civil wars and military coups has severly impacted Uganda's economy, politics and human rights. In 1986, Yoweri Museveni deposed Idi Amin and remains in power to this day.
Musevini won reelection in 2006 amidst widespread allegations of intimidation. His administration scapegoats LGBT activists, and harasses, detains and arrests them. His officials ignore or outright condone anti-gay violence.
Anti-gay laws and cultural prejudices date back to Catholic and Protesant missionaries, who arrived shortly before the United Kingdom declared the area a protectorate in the late 1800s. Two-thirds of Ugandans are Catholics or Anglicans.
Peter Tatchell of the British gay rights group OutRage! has campaigned in support of Ugandan LGBT activists. What fuels the nation's homophobia, he says, is "evangelical churches that are funded by the religious right in the U.S.," largely through abstinence-only AIDS programs in the AIDS-ravaged nation. The Anglican Church "has also been preaching strongly against same-sex relationships."
The church hasn't dealt kindly with anyone who disagrees with its institutionalized homophobia. It excommunicated Bishop Christopher Senyonjo for speaking out against the church's homophobia.
"Most of the homophobia we face is perpetrated by religious leaders, who play a big role in the law processes," adds Pepe J. Onziema, who heads Sexual Minorities Uganda.
Press, Church, Politics, Culture: a Caldron of Hate
Further compounding state and church actions are the press. The tabloid newspaper Red Pepper, has in the last year or so outed nearly 100 people, according to Tatchell.
Ugandan religion, politics, laws and culture have combined to impose a debilitating stigma.
"It's horrendous. People who are out, and even people who are suspected, live with daily harassment and threats to their lives." says Pastor Rev Pat Bumgardner, chair of the Global Justice Ministry for Metropolitan Community Churches.
"Gay people live in an environment of fear and intimidation." says Kizza, who heads Gay Rights Uganda. Kizza currently lives in exile in Kampala and London. Kizza (he asks that we only use his first name for safety reasons) recalls witnessing commonplace incidents of "torture, arbitrary arrests and detention." Examples of institutionalized torture include instrumental rape, beatings and even decapitation.
Those who are lucky enough not to be detained often face discrimination. "A big number of LGBT people are illiterate, unemployed, and homeless," says Kizza, who adds that anyone unmarried after a certain age face the suspicion or assumption of being gay. "This has led many into living double lives and lack of true love expressions. Lesbians end up as hetero-wives and gay-men as hetero-husbands."
Widespread superstition common in many villages and towns blames gay men and lesbians for infertility and crop failure. "People consider this a bad omen brought on them by the gay people in the community," Kizza notes. Local traditions, he adds, stipulate that "anything bringing a bad omen be incinerated. Unfortunately, due to poor communication infrastructure and poor record keeping, many of these deaths cannot be accounted for."
Uganda's penal code imposes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for "carnal knowledge against the order of nature" with a maximum of seven years for "attempts at carnal knowledge." Those who commit "procurement of or attempts to procure gross acts of indecency" between men in public or private face up to five years in jail.
Tatchell sees these lengthy anti-gay punishments as a legacy of the British colonial administration in the 19th Century. Although homophobia may be a result of colonialism, it's also ingrained in the African indigenous culture. Many Ugandans believe homosexuality itself is "unnatural and un-African," Onziema notes. But, he adds, "Homosexuality has existed in this country since time immemorial. In the Buganda kingdom, the King is called 'Ssabasajja,'" which literally means owner of men; both men and women address him as their husband. The Uganda Martyrs were a group of young men who reportedly rejected the advances of a local king in the late 1880s.
International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission Executive Director Paula Ettelbrick notes that when people do organize or fight back, the government comes down hard.
"Often, the government is not one which people feel they can challenge," she says. "People literally put their lives at risk when they challenge the political system by insisting on having an open, visible presence."
The consequences of challenge have been felt by Onziema. Currently, he and two others are awaiting prosecution for criminal trespassing. They were arrested at a recently concluded HIV/AIDS Implementers meeting in Kampala. He and his colleagues peacefully protested and demanded the inclusion of LGBT people in the HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
Onziema, whose prosecution has been delayed, says their actions were triggered by comments from Kihumuro Apuuli, who heads Uganda's AIDS Commission. Apuuli has been widely quoted as justifying the exclusion of HIV funding to the gay community because "gays are one of the drivers of HIV in Uganda but because of meager resources we cannot direct our programs at them at this time."
Kizza likens the lack of HIV/AIDS funding to "a slow genocide of the LGBT community, which has got one of the highest number of HIV cases in the world. Refusing to provide health care is a death sentence to every LGBT person in Uganda."
What we can Do
"We have only occasional glimpses here in the U.S. of what it means to fear for your life because of who you are," notes Bumgardner. She encourages Americans to become politically involved in the global struggles for gay rights.
"Keep the pressure on the Ugandan government to guarantee the safety" of Onziema and the other AIDS Commission protesters," Bumgardner pleads. "The only reason they're alive right now is because people across the globe expressed our collective outrage."
Onziema himself recommends contacting "a key person in your government to call upon the Ugandan government to stop the violence against its LGBT community."
But it could be a double-edged sword. Ettelbrick cautions against "just reacting to events without realizing its impact on the local activists."
Anyone interested can sign up for ILGHRC's "Action Alert" list. Global letter writing campaigns could also be helpful. Kizza recommends lobbying the U.S. State Department to act to stop discrimination and specifically to ensure that the LGBT community has access to the same health programs as the other citizens.
Although it's sometimes difficult to assess the effect of writing a letter or sending an e-mail to an embassy or the Department of State, the cumulative effect has been known to yield results.
"Uganda is a country that has relations with the U.S. and European countries," Ettlebrick points out. "When Germany or the U.K. or France has communicated their position on other issues, it's been quite effective."
Bumgardner believes its time for American gay men and lesbians step up to the plate and become involved-"not only in terms of queer people being harassed, but for policies that amount to a death sentence." To that end, she advocates continued personal, local and international pressure on the Ugandan government, especially concerning distribution of AIDS funding,
"I don't think that kind of pressure endangers anyone's life," she says. "It preserves it."