The problem is the way I dress. Everyone is asking, ‘is that a boy or a girl?’ In clubs, when ladies can get in for free, they push us, tell us we are not ladies and that we have to pay. They scream: ‘Is she boy or a girl? Is that man or a woman?’ As tom-boy, everyone looks at you.
“We the undersigned wish to express our deep sadness at the murder of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato on 26th January 2011. David’s activism began in the 1980s as an Anti-Apartheid campaigner where he first expressed a strong passion and conviction for freedom and justice which continued throughout his life. David was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda where he first served as Board member and until his death as Litigation and Advocacy Officer and he was also a member of Integrity Uganda, a faith-based advocacy organization.
David was a man of vision and courage. One of his major concerns was the growth of religious fundamentalism in Uganda and across the continent and how this would impact on the rights of ordinary citizens including lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered / Gender Non-Comforming and Intersex [LGBTIQ] persons. Years later his concerns were justified when the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill backed by religious fundamentalists was outlined in 2009. David was also an extremely brave man who had been imprisoned and beaten severely because of his sexual orientation and for speaking publicly against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Has there been a deafening silence from African artists and musicians following the murder of gay activist David Kato? This Is Africa seems to think so, and I can find nothing to contradict them. As that blog points out, musicians are usually the first to speak out on behalf of the underdog. But not if you’re lesbian or gay, apparently.
Joining the musicians are some media houses – usually the first to complain when they’re the subject of censorship.
By Heather Doyle
I first had the opportunity to meet David Kato three years ago when he and another colleague from the gay rights organization Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) flew from Uganda to Kenya to help us understand better the human rights situation in the country. David came to the meeting with his arm in a homemade sling after he was beaten by an angry mob who accused him of immorality because he was gay. After the attacks, he continued his human rights work with serious personal sacrifice.
Frank Mungisha, an Ugandan gay rights activist included in The Advocate’s “Forty Under 40” list last year, will speak at The New School in Manhattan tomorrow night about his experiences. From the promotional material:
He has played a leading role in combating the “Anti-Homosexuality” bill proposed by the Ugandan legislature that threatens lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and their family members, with harassment, imprisonment and even death. In November 2010, Mugisha was targeted for elimination by the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone, which urged the public to hang him along with 100 other suspected homosexuals.
More information here.
Brett Davidson
Regional lobby group, the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), has drafted an equal rights manifesto in conversation with civil society, cultural and religious leaders from around the continent. It presents the arguments for why equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people are a crucial element of African culture and Christian philosophy, in addition to being a public health and human rights imperative.
The manifesto goes into detail on four aspects of homophobia in Africa: African Culture, Christianity, Public Health, and Human Rights.
ARASA is calling for comments on the document by the 14th of October, after which they will invite individuals and organizations to endorse it and make use of it to begin changing attitudes and policies. Go check it out.
This is depressing:
State radio on Friday quoted President Robert Mugabe saying that Western rights groups have called for constitutional reforms to include gay rights. He calls that “insanity.”
Same-sex acts are illegal in Zimbabwe. Mugabe once described homosexuals as “lower than pigs and dogs.”
Condemnation of gays is common in Africa. Ugandan lawmakers have proposed imposing the death penalty on some gays. A gay couple is on trial in Malawi, charged with unnatural acts and gross indecency.
As @ekapa correctly noted in his comment on my post about “Homophobia as National Sport” in South Africa, “… depressing as this is its a symptom/result of the increasingly vocal and visible African and Coloured activists who are no longer willing to hide and suffer in silence but now demand the rights and protections set out in the South African constitution.“
So I am posting this excerpt from the excellent South African TV program, “The Big Debate.” Though the format encourages “conflict,” we get to see South Africans debate the relationship between sex and culture. In this clip (12 minutes long) they debate whether homosexuality is un-African. It will surprise you.
Radio Netherlands International has a 51-minute, really good, program on the hysteria and violence against gay people on the continent. Guest include Ian Swartz, founder of a gay rights organisation in Namibia, and Scott Long from Human Rights Watch in New York.
“…. In the last six months we have seen the expression of homophobia with the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill; the arrest of gay Malawian couple, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, for getting married; most recently the appointment of homophobic journalist, Jon Qwelane as South Africa’s ambassador to Uganda,” writes Black Looks.
* The photograph–one of my favorites–is from Zanele Muholi’s series “Being”
