Over the years being gay in African countries has not been easy, in most countries it has become a rather sensitive issue if rather a burning issue from the streets to the parliament. As in Uganda in December 2009 many gay and lesbians feared for their lives as being gay could be punishable with a death sentence penalty. And yet again at that point they could be jailed for 14 years for engaging in any homosexual acts.
For whatever reason being gay in most African countries has recently been seen as an uncultured behavior, it is considered non-African or un-African , really one wonders if it true or due to the increase of religious and or cultural influence in the region.
For a long time now, the Ugandan president has been openly disregarding and condemning gay people but now he is under the influence of many international donors who aid the country.
In February 2010, the president of America, Barack Obama called the Ugandan Anti-gay Bill odious, as it is a rather insensitive bill, it called for ,long term jail sentence or death penalty in any case of homosexuality. In his own words, Obama said “but surely we aggress that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbian for whom they are”.
In between the hate and being under pressure of the international bodies the Ugandan Anti-gay Bill has to be changed. A recent positive is that Uganda after a long period of international pressure has bared its media from outing gays; a high court judge has ruled the identities of gay people should not be revealed as many were attached after they were revealed on a newspaper.
Now that some action has been taken against the media publishing peoples identities on their sexuality, does it mean the government of Uganda will still sit-down and formally debate the Anti-gay Bill. Let’s hope so. To show support for the LGBT right movement please visit the following websites. Open yourself to knowing them better.
http://ilga.org/
Hopefully that will be of good help to you and please do enjoy the read and do support our marginalized population remember they are as important as you are to someone, treat them with respect and care for them like everyone else.
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