Uganda's embattled LGBT community was profiled on Monday by Al Jazeera's AJ Stream. The first guest was Frank Mugisha, the director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the sole LGBT rights organization in the East African nation. Mugisha was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award last November—the first time that an LGBT rights activist has been honored by the prestigious award.
Watch the interview AFTER THE JUMP ...
Mugisha says daily life is "difficult" for LGBTs in Uganda. The re-introduction of the extreme Anti-Homosexuality Bill—which seeks the death penalty or life imprisonment for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for a second time—has created some dialogue.
"There has been some level discussion which has been huge for us," said Mugisha. "But at the same time there has been an increase in harassment. .... Those that are closeted are afria dto come out. And those who are out can be harassed or thrown out of their homes."
Mugisha worked closely with the late David Kato, who was the spokesman of SMUG. Kato reportedly received numerous death threats after his name and photo made the front page of an anti-gay tabloid with the headline "Hang Them". Kato was later brutally killed in his own home on January 25. Enock Nsubuga was arrested one week later and police claim he confessed to Kato's murder over a sex-for-pay deal gone wrong. Authorities refuse to link Kato's murder to his activism.
Watch the interview AFTER THE JUMP ...
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