The past year has seen a steady wave of state-sanctioned, anti-gay hysteria in Uganda. There is finally some good news to report. A Kampala court rules the "continuing suppression" of gay and sexual minority rights groups is unconstitutional. The ruling is being celebrated as a landmark victory by the East African nation's lgbt community.
The Guardian reports, "A judge ruled in favour of gay rights activists Victor
Mukassa and Oyo Yvonne in their law suit against the attorney general
of Uganda over an illegal raid on Mukassa's home in 2005.
"Judge justice Arach ruled that constitutional violations to privacy, property and human rights had occurred during the 2005 raid and accepted that the attorney general was accountable for the actions of local police officials, reported Afrol News. During the raid, police officials searching for "incriminating materials" seized private documents and arbitrarily arrested Mukassa's colleague, Yvonne, who was then forced to strip at a local police station to 'prove she was a woman'. "
Mukasa is a transgender lesbian and one of the few LGBT activists in Uganda willing to publicly speak out.
Uganda already has some of the most draconian anti-gay legislation on the planet—sex between two people of the same sex is a criminal offense and punishable by life imprisonment—and under new legislation it would be illegal just to be gay. Last year, a cabinet minister warned gays and lesbians to leave the country. At the same time, Uganda's leading Muslim cleric suggested all gays should be detained, marooned on an island in Lake Victoria and left to die.
amen!
great news
somebody go run and tell rick warren and his bbff barack obama!
peace
ab
Posted by: alicia banks | 30 December 2008 at 13:38
Very good. That act is a step forward.
Posted by: Mel Smith | 30 December 2008 at 14:48
wow.
sigh.
This is good news....look out for Tanzania as well...it's all about power of course but they are getting a momentum in the West and the pres is really wanting to be an icon, so, sigh at least this will show change..
Posted by: Rowan | 30 December 2008 at 15:39
Very good news, especially from a place where news about us is usually bad.
Posted by: Taylor Siluwé | 30 December 2008 at 20:16
Why does Africa continue to be fixated with Christanity and Islam? ARE THESE RELIGIONS INDIGINEOUS TO THE CONTINENT? Is homosexuality really un-African? What were the attitudes of the African people towards sexuality BEFORE Jesus and Allah came into the picture?
Posted by: Kevin Perez | 30 December 2008 at 22:13
So somehow Allah and Jesus are un-black/ not African? So anything that happened in Africa 'before YT' arrived' was necessarily okay? Homosexuality wasn't accepted all over the continent either, you know. And even if it was it was in that 'boy-wife/warrior woman-gets-a-wife heterosexualizing of homosexuality' type of way...
But on to the news, I'm glad they are fghting this and its only a shame that so few are willing to do so, but hell, how can you blame them?
Posted by: saywhat? | 31 December 2008 at 08:45
Baby steps! Sometimes they wobble,some times they fall on their butts, but as long as they continue to get up and move forward, one day they'll learn how to run!
Posted by: James Hipps | 31 December 2008 at 10:10
saywhat?:
You should read my post again. Those were questions, not claims. Would you be so kind to explain me how Christianity and Islam are Black/African then? Because so many seem to get upset at the strong glorification of the two religions that many have CLAIMED are not indiginenous to Africa and are used as scrapegoats against LBGT folk in that region.
In fact, I also here that Black people are some sort of lost tribe of Israel or something. So there for man on man is a NO. Maybe it's Rastas I'm thinking about. I'm not dumb enough to not know there were countries were the act of homosexuality was NOT TOLERATED, so it's just not certain parts of Africa either.
Hell, then again, there are claims that Natives of the West Indies and the Americas praticed it before colonial times. However, there's so much opposition on both sides for such claims, so it does leave me wondering.
Posted by: Kevin Perez | 31 December 2008 at 10:57
Kevin, we cannot scapegoat Islam and Christianity because man is responsiblie for using religion to oppress others. Not all Christians and not all Muslims use their religion to oppress gays. Only those that are prejudiced and brainwash do so.
Posted by: Mel Smith | 31 December 2008 at 13:25
Also read "Boy Wives and Female Husbands." African traditional cultures did not have a problem with gay people or homosexuality. Brothers and sisters, you guys need to study your history and don't become brainwash by what prejudice people tell you.
Posted by: Mel Smith | 31 December 2008 at 13:28
Mel Smith:
*sighs*
The point I made was these religions are used to scrapegoat LGBT folk in Africa. So, yeah, what's Africa's take on homosexuality? This includes lesbians and the transgendered. Again, history has shown that not every country in the world was open to it. So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if their was opposition before Jesus and Allah where shoved down the throats of African people.
Posted by: Kevin Perez | 31 December 2008 at 16:06
I'm sorry, I meant ''the throats of the African people''.
Posted by: Kevin Perez | 31 December 2008 at 20:12
Kevin, if you research the information on your own, you would know how history responded to homosexuality. For starters, read "Boy Wives and Female Husbands" by Bill Roscoe and William Murray. It will provide some insight into how traditional African cultures viewed homosexulaity. Research the information; don't make a conclusion based on popular prejudices.
Posted by: Mel Smith | 31 December 2008 at 22:21