Perhaps inspired by US evangelists, Ugandans are embracing a Bill that could drive homosexuals underground, writes Jody Clarkein Kampala
IT’S SUNDAY night in Kampala’s biggest gay club. But not that you’d know it from looking around the open air venue. There’s a David Attenborough documentary on TV, and on the sound system is some generic hip-hop nonsense about “sweet ass cars” or something or other.
Not a verse of Madonna within hearing distance.
But “This is the big night” insists Gerald Sentongo (32), dragging on a bottle of the local 7.5 per cent-strong Guinness. “There should be over 100 people here by 10pm.” It’s 9.30pm, and I’m not convinced. The Ugandan parliament has tabled an anti-homosexuality Bill that proposes the death penalty for gay sex acts. Surely this is the last place you would want to be seen in the run-up? “Drinking is about the only thing we can do freely” says Sentongo. “As long as we don’t do it with another man, of course.”
At least that’s the way it’s been since Ugandan independence in 1962. It’s never been illegal to say that you were gay in Uganda. But if the new Bill comes into force, any person alleged to be homosexual is at risk of life imprisonment or, in some instances, the death penalty. The Bill also proposes a three-year sentence for anyone aware of evidence of homosexuality who fails to report it to the police within 24 hours. And it is this aspect of the Bill worrying many people in the gay community.
“Families will be broken up” says Brian (25), one of the leaders of Ice Breakers Uganda, a human rights group. “If a mother knows her son is gay, then she has an obligation to tell the police. So it doesn’t just affect the LGBT community. It affects our families as well.”
It could also have a devastating impact on Uganda’s HIV rate, ironic given the country’s success in tackling the issue. Many gays are already forced to marry and raise a family. “That raises the rate of HIV because they end up sleeping around with men. If this Bill ends up pushing more people back into the closet, organisations like ours will not be able to reach out to them any more.”
It’s not difficult to put an exact time on the rise of Uganda’s “anti-gay” movement. In March last year, Scott Lively, an American evangelist, visited Uganda with two other US fundamentalist Christians warning about “the gay agenda” and the threat homosexuals posed to the traditional African family.
“That’s when the crap started,” says Sentongo. Not long after, David Bahati, an MP, proposed the anti-homosexuality Bill in parliament. There are claims he is receiving funding from US evangelical groups, but Bahati has vehemently denied these.
Either way, the government says it has good reasons for introducing the Bill. For starters, “99 per cent of Ugandans support it”, says Dr James Nsaba Buturo, minister for ethics and integrity.
“Ugandans have strong spiritual and cultural values. The main import of this Bill is to prevent the widespread promotion and funding of local groups to recruit young people into this lifestyle. A few countries have been using our NGOs to target young people . . .”
However, international pressure is taking its toll and, when pushed, Buturo admits the death penalty will probably be taken out of the final draft. Uganda is a large recipient of international aid, and Sweden has already said it will withdraw all aid if the Bill is passed. Gordon Brown and Barack Obama have also condemned it outright.
But winning support among ordinary Ugandans for gay rights is not so easy. “The majority of Ugandans can’t differentiate between what their religion says and what the law says,” says Gideon Byamugisha, a canon in the Ugandan Anglican Church who is leading the fight against the Bill. “The majority do not appreciate what is regarded as sinful in religious language and what is criminal in law. So I think our success will depend on whether we will get more members of parliament to see that the intention of the Bill is not well-conceived.” The Anglican and Catholic Churches have both condemned it, but there is a growing movement away from the established churches to pentecostal ones. This is worrying some in the gay community.
“The majority of Ugandans are poor, desperate people who go to church seeking God’s intervention,” says Sentongo. “They will believe anything unless they have a very good sense of judgment.” So what will he and others do if the Bill goes through – emigrate? “I don’t want to have to leave my own country and become an asylum seeker. I am a Ugandan and this is where I want to stay.”