Tag: uganda gay rights
The Gay Pride festival in Uganda this weekend defied local law and taboo
Members of the Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community celebrated their fourth annual Pride Uganda festival this weekend, defying strict laws criminalizing homosexuality with up to 14 years in jail. Crowds of gay and transgender Ugandans traveled to the shores of Lake Victoria on Saturday to walk in the festival’s gay pride parade, which… Read more »
Uganda gay pride rally held a year after law overturned
Activists in Uganda have held a gay pride rally, a year since a law requiring homosexuals to be jailed for life was overturned. Crowds danced, sang and waved rainbow flags at the event held outside the capital Kampala, the culmination of a week of celebrations. One of those attending hoped it would be a “step… Read more »
Ugandan rights activist Frank Mugisha: We need visible LGBT role models
PinkNews speaks to Ugandan rights activist Dr Frank Mugisha to talk about the long road to acceptance in his country. The executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, Dr Mugisha and his organisation were very involved in fighting the Anti-Homosexuality Act – internationally referred to as the “Kill the Gays” bill. After the act was struck… Read more »
Ugandan tabloid publishes photos of ‘bum drillers’ at Birmingham Pride ‘mega sex fest’
A tabloid in Uganda has published photos of Ugandan people celebrating pride in the UK, referring to pride as a “mega sex fest”. The newspaper ‘Hello Daily’, published an article with photos from Birmingham Pride, making ridiculous claims that the pride event was an “anal sex fete”, and a “mega sex festival.” Referring to gay… Read more »
Constant threats ‘part of life’ for top Ugandan LGBT activist
New York (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In Uganda, homosexuality is considered akin to pedophilia, and prominent LGBT activist Frank Mugisha regards the threats he constantly receives as “part of life.” “I get lots of threats on Facebook, I get threats on the phone…I get dozens of them,” Mugisha said in an interview with the Thomson… Read more »
Kutesa lashes out at pro-gay activists
Kampala – The President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Mr Sam Kutesa, yesterday directed a salvo at pro-gay activists and international rights campaigners who last year pushed a petition to block his ascension to the UN seat. Mr Kutesa, who is in the country on an official visit since his election last June… Read more »
Breaking: LGBTI Ugandans launch Bombastic Magazine as a Christmas present
Uganda’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) community launches Bombastic Magazine, the symbol of our ‘Reclaiming the Media’ Campaign today. Bombastic Magazine is a compilation of stories, testimonies and opinions by LGBTI Ugandans. The objective of this campaign is to end violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people countrywide. In continuing to criminalize… Read more »
LGBTI Ugandans tell their stories in their own magazine
The Ugandan LGBTI community has launched its own magazine to tell their stories to the nation. “Bombastic Magazine is a compilation of stories, testimonies and opinions by LGBTI Ugandans. The objective of this campaign is to end violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people countrywide,” the introductory press release states. Supporters of the magazine… Read more »
Uganda’s leading gay activist: We live in fear of violence, blackmail and extortion
Ugandan gay activist Frank Mugisha talks to PinkNews about the threats facing Uganda’s LGBT community – and what the rest of the world can do to help. Frank Mugisha is the Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), winner of the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He is one… Read more »
Uganda drafts new anti-gay laws
Politicians want seven-year prison term for ‘promotion’ of homosexuality, according to leaked copy The Ugandan government could introduce new wide-reaching anti-gay laws before the end of the year, which could see people jailed for up to seven years for “promoting homosexuality”, activists warned on Saturday. The move comes nearly a year after Ugandan politicians passed… Read more »
Uganda Report of Violations Based on Sex Determination, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation
Produced by: Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL) Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) Rainbow Health Foundation (RHF) Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) Support Initiative for Persons with Congenital Disorders (SIPD) Introduction The impetus behind the Uganda Report on Violations Based on Sex Determination, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation is the… Read more »
Uganda: Judge receiving death threats for striking down anti-gay law
A Ugandan judge responsible for striking down an “illegally passed” anti-gay Ugandan law has revealed she has received death threats. In August, the country’s Constitutional Court struck down the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill which called for repeat offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in prison and made it a criminal offence not to report someone… Read more »
Ugandan Pride festival takes place in Entebbe
Days after its anti-gay law was declared ‘null and void’, Uganda’s local LGBT community celebrate with beachfront Pride rally Just days after the Uganda’s Constitutional Court struck down the country’s notorious anti-gay law – which threatened gay people with life imprisonment – jubilant LGBT citizens have been celebrating with a gay Pride parade on a… Read more »
Museveni okays ‘private’ gays
In an apparent change of attitude towards homosexuality, President Museveni has told NRM legislators that any re-enacted anti-gay law should respect the rights of two consenting adults who engage in same-sex relationships. Addressing the ruling party caucus at State House Entebbe on Monday, Museveni cautioned MPs to tread carefully on the mooted plan to return… Read more »
Confirmed: Uganda Speaker will bring back anti-gay law
Rebecca Kadaga has said the bill will be re-tabled this month and parliament will vote as soon as possible Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament has said the anti-gay law will return. Rebecca Kadaga, who previously called the passed law to be a ‘Christmas gift’ to the population, has said the bill will be re-tabled this month.… Read more »
Uganda anti-gay law struck down: Lawmakers strike back
‘Make no mistake the gymnastics and simple technicalities will never rule this country’ Uganda’s humiliated lawmakers have struck back after the anti-gay law was nullified earlier today (1 August). In an incredible victory, the Constitutional Court’s judges agreed with the gay rights activists that parliament did not follow proper procedure when they passed the law.… Read more »
Uganda Anti-Gay Law Struck Down by Court
Nairobi — A Ugandan court on Friday struck down a punitive anti-gay law that has strained Uganda’s relations with the West, but the court ruled on narrow technical grounds, preserving the possibility that the measure could be revived. In front of an overflowing courtroom, a panel of five judges announced that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which… Read more »
Ugandan LGBT rights workshop ‘promotes illegal same sex acts’
The Ugandan High Court has endorsed the government closure of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights workshop, saying that workshop participants were ‘promoting’ or ‘inciting’ same-sex acts. The judgement relied on a single statement from an ‘ex-gay’ who said that the organisation was ‘training homosexual youths to safely engage in the same-sex practices… Read more »
Ugandan Police Arrest Five Amid Government Efforts To Reassure Donor Nations About Anti-LGBT Law
Ugandan Foreign Ministry says new anti-gay law “has been misinterpreted as a piece of legislation intended to punish and discriminate against people of a ‘homosexual orientation.’” Update Human rights lawyers who investigated the arrests following publication of the original report by a Ugandan newspaper found that the five had been arrested on June 26 and… Read more »
Activists: Hundreds of LGBT Refugees Have Fled Uganda
A Kenyan activist, Ugandan asylum-seeker, and the American Jewish World Service hope to raise awareness about east Africa’s beleaguered LGBT community, even as hundreds reportedly flee Uganda. Hundreds of LGBT refugees — whose existence has been criminalized under Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act — have fled Uganda for neighboring Kenya after facing threats and being blackmailed,… Read more »
High Alert: Homophobia in Uganda peaks
In the wake of anti-gay legislation and escalating violence, activists show unimaginable courage You don’t forget the first time you watch a person beaten to death on camera. The cacophony of cracking bone, the wriggling body in its death throes and the enthusiastic camaraderie of the mob I’m watching aren’t part of a Faces Of… Read more »
Ugandan Court Rules Government Can Stop LGBT Groups
“This is like a second or third nail into our coffin.” A Ugandan court essentially sanctioned a crackdown on LGBTI rights organizations in a ruling issued Monday morning, worrying activists that government officials will be further empowered to pursue a witch hunt among civil society organizations under the guise of combating homosexuality. Although LGBTI activists… Read more »
US HIV/AIDS funding to Uganda to continue
The United States has assured Uganda of continued funding for HIV/AIDS research and treatment despite the recent storm over the passing of the controversial anti-homosexuality Act. Dan Travis, the public affairs officer at the US embassy in Kampala, said Uganda has been allocated $323m (about sh805b) for this fiscal year 2014 under the US President’s… Read more »
The LGBT Refugees Who Are Seeking Asylum In the World’s Most Notoriously Anti-Gay Country
If they’re seeking sanctuary in Uganda, just imagine what they must be running from. Kampala, Uganda — With one of the world’s most infamous anti-gay laws, Uganda seems like the last place on Earth an LGBTI person would go seeking safety. But almost 100 LGBTI refugees have sought help from an NGO in Uganda’s capital… Read more »
How One Reverend Is Defying Uganda’s ‘Kill The Gays’ Act
Uganda made international headlines when President Yoweri Museveni signed Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” Act into law, jailing people for 14 years to life for loving someone of the same sex and leading to massive spikes in hate crime violence. But one Reverend in the country is generating press for a different reason: hosting prayer sessions… Read more »
Uganda Drafts New Anti-Gay Law Targeting NGOs
Kampala (Reuters) – Uganda has drafted a new law that would bar non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from promoting homosexuality, tightening rules further after anti-gay legislation in February was widely condemned as draconian. The draft, now being studied by the cabinet before being introduced in parliament, would also ban foreign NGOs from meddling in the east African… Read more »
Fear Drives African Gays to Seek Asylum in US
Homosexuality is a crime in 38 African countries and new laws in Nigeria and Uganda have increased potential punishments for engaging in gay sex. These strictures have driven some gay and transgender Ugandans to seek asylum in the United States. “I can tell you that it’s so bad in Uganda. People just don’t know what… Read more »
Uganda police raid U.S. military AIDS clinic, order it shut
Activists in Uganda report that plain-clothes police raided a U.S. military-affiliated AIDS services clinic in Kampala today, accused it of promoting homosexuality, and ordered it to close. [A spokesperson for the clinic said the program decided to temporarily suspend operations to ensure the safety of its staff. — Editor] The clinic has been one of… Read more »
Church Abandons Ugandan Cleric Who Ministers To Gays
The Anglican church has severed ties with a Ugandan cleric who ministers to gays. Rev. Christopher Senyonjo, 82, told the AP that he now lives off “gifts” to support himself after the Anglican church cut off his pension. Senyonjo’s sympathetic views toward gay people got him barred from presiding over church events in 2006. He… Read more »
I am a gay Ugandan about to go home. This law will tyrannise my life
A day after the anti-homosexuality act was passed, a tabloid listed me as a ‘homo’. This hatred is new to my country, and driven by US evangelicals Growing up in Uganda, homosexuality was not something we talked about much. I knew I was gay from a young age, and I came out to those close… Read more »
David Kato’s life and death in Uganda
HIV/AIDS plays but a bit part in Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s documentary Call Me Kuchu, but its toxic shadow looms large in this depiction of violent, anti-gay sentiment in Uganda. Like many other African countries, colonial-era laws banning homosexuality remain on the books in Uganda. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic exploded there in the… Read more »
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