The country’s anti-gay bill has been signed into law: Under the new law, the penalty for same-sex conduct is now life imprisonment. The “attempt to commit homosexuality” incurs a penalty of seven years as does “aiding and abetting” homosexuality. A person who “keeps a house, room, set of rooms, or place of any kind for … Continue reading The Terror In Uganda Deepens
President Yoweri Museveni will sign Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill: This is a reversal for Museveni, who had written to members of parliament after the legislation passed in December that he had come to believe that homosexuality was a biological “abnormality” and not something that should be criminalized. He had also told Western human rights activists that he would reject … Continue reading Things Get Much Worse In Uganda
Jon Kelly lists the top 10 “most scandalous euphemisms”: 2. “Discussing Uganda” In 1973, the satirical magazine Private Eye reported that journalist Mary Kenny had been disturbed in the arms of a former cabinet minister of President Obote of Uganda during a party. Variations of “Ugandan discussions” or “discussing Uganda” – the term is believed … Continue reading Ugandan Relations
Rachel Adams interviewed David Bahati, author of Uganda's anti-homosexual bill. The entire episode is a fascinating, if disturbing, window into an incurious mind. This reply to a question about the "research" that informs the bill stands out: We have enough information about how our society works. Family is between man and woman. Anything beyond that … Continue reading Epistemic Closure In Uganda
Uganda's barbaric anti-gay bill is back. Nora Caplan-Bricker helpfully decodes Ugandan politics: Gay rights activist Frank Mugisha told me the bill naturally monopolizes attention at home and abroad, and speculated on Twitter that it may come up for discussion sooner rather than later to distract from two oil bills that are dividing parliamentarians. Many lawmakers believe the … Continue reading An Anti-Gay Smokescreen In Uganda
Yesterday, Ugandan Speaker of the Parliament Rebecca Kadaga renewed the push to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, urging a vote by next Tuesday: Jim Burroway summarizes the most appalling parts of the bill: There has been considerable confusion over what would happen if the bill were to become law…. [I]t’s important to address the persistent false reports in the media that the death penalty has … Continue reading Getting Worse In Uganda
A reader writes: When I saw your post, I felt a soul-crushing sadness. You are grossly misinformed or naive. While I was trying to put together my thoughts for an email to you, I got an AP news item over Twitter and it speaks for itself: "Official: Uganda to pass anti-gay bill this year". After … Continue reading Getting Better In Uganda, Ctd
In a nuanced piece of reporting, Graeme Wood examines how Uganda's reputation for prejudice and persecution has resulted in some successes for the movement:
Since this planet is blighted with societies where gay people are jailed (Egypt, among many others), flogged (Saudi Arabia), or stoned to death (Iran), the question might reasonably be asked: why was Uganda, a country of sickening anti-gay hatred but no executions, whippings, or anti-gay pogroms, singled out as the worst of the bunch? …
For a while, it might well have seemed to outsiders as if anti-gay pogroms were imminent. But with the deft sidestep of a martial artist, the gay rights movement in Uganda has used that moment of ghastly bigotry to raise its public profile, and some of the more extreme elements of the anti-homosexuality brigade have retreated into strategic silence. The situation is still volatile, but the roles have switched in an unpredictable way.
How the narrative is changing:
by Patrick Appel
Alexis Okeowo reports on a courageous LGBT gathering:
“Can you imagine that the worst place in the world to be gay is having Gay Pride?” Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera asked a crowd of cheering gay men, lesbians, transgendered men and women, and queers somewhere in between. It was Saturday afternoon, and we were on the shores of the giant, cloudy Lake Victoria in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, where L.G.B.T. activists had decided to stage the country’s first Pride Parade.
A reader writes:
Thank you for the How to Survive a Plague recommendation. I have tickets to see it tomorrow. I want to strongly recommend the documentary Call Me Kuchu in case you have not already seen it or covered it.
The Dish 