Corrective, Curative Rape: What a blasphemy!

Law Failing Lesbians on "Corrective Rape"

Nathalie Rosa Bucher

The 07-07-07 Campaign, named after the gruesome double murder of Salome Masooa and Sizakele Sigaza in 2007 seeks to end the targeting of lesbian women for their sexuality.

CAPE TOWN, Aug 31 (IPS) - "Women are getting killed in the Western Cape," says Ndumie Funda, who runs LulekiSizwe in her "cabin" in the township of Gugulethu near Cape Town.

The project is named after her late fiancée, Nosizwe Nomsa Bizana, who was gang-raped by five men and subsequently succumbed to crypto meningitis, and Bizana's friend Luleka Makiwane, who contracted HIV when she was raped and later died of AIDS.

The initiative provides support for lesbian women in the township, most of them teenagers and young adults, many in their final years of high school. According to Funda, young lesbian women aged between 16 and 25 are most vulnerable and often get evicted by their families.

"Police are often remiss in their investigation and victims are often subjected to secondary victimisation from homophobic police officials, the justice system is slow, struggles to cope with cases of gang attacks and it is hard to convince prosecutors of the importance of hate as a motivation for crimes," Emily Craven, Joint Working Group co-ordinator explains.

There are no authoritative figures on exactly how many incidents of hate crime are committed in South Africa.

The horrific levels of sexual violence in South Africa have been well documented and publicised. According to police statistics, 36,190 rapes and attempted rapes were reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS) between April and December 2007.

The number of unreported cases, however, is estimated to be ten times that. A study released by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in June this year found that of the 1,738 men interviewed 27.6 percent had perpetrated the rape of a woman or girl.

A crime with many names

There are no solid statistics for the frequency of what is known as "corrective rape".

"While the problem has most certainly existed for years, our recorded understandings of the problem has mushroomed over the last couple of years," Emily Craven of the Joint Working Group explains. While she has recorded an increase in reported cases - early June even saw the first trial for a rape case of a gay man - Craven suspects that this is still only the tip of an iceberg.

"There is no awareness around hate crimes and corrective rape," activist Ndumie Funda insists. "We need a programme of action, we need intervention and research, a budget to find out the problems lesbian women encounter."

Bernedette Muthien, co-founder and director of Engender, a Cape Town-based NGO, insists on the term "curative rape": "Curative is more powerful. It’s rape as a cure for your queerness," she says. The 07-07-07 Campaign, named after the gruesome double murder of Salome Masooa and Sizakele Sigaza on Jul. 7, 2007, used the term "hate rape" in a recent press release.

"From New York to Afghanistan, to the Balkans, across Africa, Latin America. I’ve been to many conferences and asked the questions. (Curative rape is) a global phenomenon and it’s often friends and family," says Bernedette Muthien, co-founder and director of Engender, a Cape Town-based NGO.

"It has always been in society since the onset of patriarchy and been used as a tool to control people’s sexuality, women in particular ways and also some men. Many, many of my women friends and comrades themselves are survivors of curative rape."

The MRC report urged a much broader approach to rape prevention. "This must entail intervening on the key drivers of the problem which include ideas of masculinity, predicted on marked gender hierarchy and sexual entitlement of men," it reads.

When the law is no protection

Craven said that one of South Africa's peculiarities is that legally-speaking, it is one of only seven countries in the world that allows same-sex marriage; its progressive constitution and laws were intended to protect LGBTI people but fear and violence reign in the LGBTI community. "People trust those laws and their decision to come out on the basis of them in fact places them in danger by making them targets."

Speaking at the Western Cape End Hate Alliance March gathered in St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Aug. 7, Nozizwe Madladla-Routledge, former deputy minister of health and still member of the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) said: "We don’t have enough understanding of the constitution especially around equal rights. Everyone has inherent dignity."

She also advocated guidelines to be developed. "We need to include these issues into the school curriculum, address issues around gender and sexuality we’ve avoided for too long."

A number of high profile cases, such as the murder of Eudy Simelane, a star player for Banyana Banyana, South Africa's national women’s soccer team, the murder of Zolizwa Nkonyana in Khayelitsha in 2006 or the double murder of Masooa and Sigaza, have resulted in campaigns to create more awareness and demand justice.

"These cases certainly have given momentum to our cause and they are very important to us not just in terms of getting justice for the victims involved - though this is of course a huge priority - but also in terms of setting some legal precedents around hate crime and hate motivation for crime and to send a strong message to the population that no matter how much you may hate gay people you will not get away with assaulting, raping, murdering LGBTI people," Craven states.

"There is no specific hate crimes legislation in South Africa and so setting precedent by getting a judge to find and record that homophobic hate motivated an attack is very important."

Justice delayed

Also speaking at the End Hate March, Craven stated that hate crimes were not "normal murders" and accused government of refusing to engage with the problem. "The police and prosecutors refuse to investigate on the basis of hate, the criminal justice system generally is slow and we live in a violent society. For every one murdered there are scores of victims," she said.

In the case of Nkonyana, the trial has been delayed 20 times.

"Zolizwa is certainly not the only one; people are reluctant to report cases," Funda says. "Cases are not taken serious, the police laughs, they’ll tell you ‘you’ve asked for it because you behave like a man’," she adds.

"Masculinity is key to our understanding of all homophobic hate crime and all gender based violence which we feel homophobic attacks are a part of," Craven elaborates.

Art against hate

South African kwaito singer Thandiswa Mazwai denounces rape and child abuse on her latest album "Ibokwe"; "same sex is shame sex, is assault with intent to grievous bodily harm, is justifiable homicide, constitutional suicide," rails poet Khadija Tracey Heeger in "Untitled Poem".

Dancer and choreographer Mamela Nyamza has conceptualised "Kutheni", a performance piece in which two women in love are faced with hatred and violence.

"Kutheni", Nyamza explains, means "why" in Xhosa. The piece was staged at the FNB Vita Dance Umbrella, South Africa’s premier dance festival earlier this year, and later – more pertinently - in the township of Gugulethu.

"I always wanted to do it and I was scared. But I saw the need," says Nyamza. "In the communities, some people didn’t know it was happening! I want the kids to be educated. The kids were explaining to me what they saw. I hope this can change these kids. Art is a way of changing one's life."

"I wanted to bring it to the people and where it all happened," says Nyamza. "People didn’t bring up issues, they’d say: "Well done, when are you doing it again?"

The piece was staged at KwaMlamli, a shebeen frequently turned into an art space by local art collective Gugulective.

Nyamza said that people were excited about a performance happening in their area. "The neighbours were so supportive, they watched the cars… They were seeing new art, not the African dance they’re used to - which I love, but let’s go beyond our roots," Nyamza explains.

"Kutheni" has since been performed at schools in other disadvantaged areas.

"We understand hate crime broadly - it’s not just about one person saying I am a lesbian and another saying I hate lesbians and killing them or raping them. It’s about gender presentation, it’s about subverting male power in society, it’s about women who don’t need men either for financial support or sexual pleasure, it’s about women who wear clothes that are considered unfeminine or drink in taverns late at night or fight back when attacked."

Asked what she thought was at the root of the violence against LGBTI people, Funda said that perpetrators of hate crimes were themselves scared of something they didn’t know, fuelled by the inability to accept their own sexuality.

Even out and outspoken lesbian say women must be careful. Butch lesbians challenge African patriarchal tradition. "I haven’t been to the bush (reference to Xhosa rite of initiation where young men get circumcised and spend time in the bush), I’m not a man!" Funda concedes.

"I’m very careful. I don’t go to the shebeens. I avoid notorious areas such as Nyanga (neighbouring township). I’m careful about who I sit with, who I talk to," Funda says.

"Townships and rural areas are seen as having higher levels of homophobic hate crimes," Craven explains. "This is where we find that schools show high levels of corrective rape and other abuses of LGBTI learners. Especially in rural areas, beyond the reach of LGBTI organisations and NGOs, the outlook with regards to support for survivors is bleak."

Media's role

Asked about the role of the media in creating awareness about the issue, Muthien thought that the media had helped by publicising the problem and making it more public. "The ways in which it has been reported in the popular media, however, is deeply problematic, either sensationalised or ripped out of context, there’s no exhortation when those cases come to the fore, for communities to take charge, to say that the lesbian who was so brutally murdered, has a mother, might have children, has a father, has brothers, sisters, had neighbours."

"In Khayelitsha you have sections where due to active community policing forums you have lower rates of violence especially gender violence and curative rape. We need to work more consciously at that level seeing that the criminal justice (system) has failed us."

"People hush but I’ve never been threatened," says Funda who has managed to gain the respect of some community members and insists that to do the work she does, she has to live in Gugulethu. Besides offering support, at times shelter to women in distress, she also runs a street soccer club and is affiliated to a range of other LGBTI organisations. "We even hosted Township Pride in 2005 and 2006 right here at the Gugulethu Sports Complex and received an amazing response from the community."

"Mandela said ‘my road is long’. Same here. Nobody knew Madiba. Or Biko. But we fought for them. I’ll fight until the last drop of my blood," Funda states defiantly.

(END/2009)

Raped and killed for being a lesbian: South Africa ignores 'corrective' attacks

Many times, one cannot comment on some of the things that happen in our beautiful world. One of the things the anti-gay agenda has reminded me is the fact that homophobia is not isolated.

You may just want to 'heal' us, or send us to prison, or make the law tougher, or take away our sense of pride and dignity. You may compare us to Nazis, blame us for the Rwanda genocide, and in the same breath swear vehemently that you do love us.

It is all the same thing. You hate us. As much as those men in South Africa who are putting us at risk. Who are raping, and killing, and defiling us.

You hate us. Same emotion. Same justification. Because we are gay.

Duh, the camoflage of religious, Christian, etc does hang thin and too transparent.

gug

• Women living in fear of brutal assaults by male gangs

• Country's 'macho politics' lead to lack of action

Annie Kelly guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 March 2009 17.49 GMT

The partially clothed body of Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa's acclaimed Banyana Banyana national female football squad, was found in a creek in a park in Kwa Thema, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Simelane had been gang-raped and brutally beaten before being stabbed 25 times in the face, chest and legs. As well as being one of South Africa's best-known female footballers, Simelane was a voracious equality rights campaigner and one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian in Kwa Thema.

Her brutal murder took place last April, and since then a tide of violence against lesbians in South Africa has continued to rise. Human rights campaigners say it is characterised by what they call "corrective rape" committed by men behind the guise of trying to "cure" lesbians of their sexual orientation.

Now, a report by the international NGO ActionAid, backed by the South African Human Rights Commission, condemns the culture of impunity around these crimes, which it says are going unrecognised by the state and unpunished by the legal system.

The report calls for South Africa's criminal justice system to recognise hate crimes, including corrective rape, as a separate crime category. It argues this will force police to take action over the rising violence and ensure the resources and support is provided to those trying to bring perpetrators to justice.

The ferocity and brutality of Simelane's murder sent shockwaves through Kwa Thema, where she was much known and loved for bringing sports fame to the sprawling township.

Her mother, Mally Simelane, said she always feared for her daughter's safety but never imagined her life would be taken in such a way.

"I'm scared of these people that they are going to come and kill me too because I don't know what happened," she said. "Why did they do this horrible thing? Because of who she was? She was a sweet lady, she never fought with anyone, but why would they kill her like this? She was stabbed, 25 holes in her. The whole body, even under the feet."

The Guardian talked to lesbians in townships in Johannesburg and Cape Town who said they were being deliberately targeted for rape and that the threat of violence had become an everyday ordeal.

"Every day I am told that they are going to kill me, that they are going to rape me and after they rape me I'll become a girl," said Zakhe Sowello from Soweto, Johannesburg. "When you are raped you have a lot of evidence on your body. But when we try and report these crimes nothing happens, and then you see the boys who raped you walking free on the street."

Research released last year by Triangle, a leading South African gay rights organisation, revealed that a staggering 86% of black lesbians from the Western Cape said they lived in fear of sexual assault. The group says it is dealing with up to 10 new cases of "corrective rape" every week.

"What we're seeing is a spike in the numbers of women coming to us having been raped and who have been told throughout the attack that being a lesbian was to blame for what was happening to them," said Vanessa Ludwig, the chief executive at Triangle.

Support groups claim an increasingly aggressive and macho political environment is contributing to the inaction of the police over attacks on lesbians and is part of a growing cultural lethargy towards the high levels of gender-based violence in South Africa.

"When asking why lesbian women are being targeted you have to look at why all women are being raped and murdered in such high numbers in South Africa," said Carrie Shelver, of women's rights group Powa, a South African NGO. "So you have to look at the increasingly macho culture, which seeks to oppress women and sees them as merely sexual beings. So when there is a lesbian woman she is an absolute affront to this kind of masculinity."

A statement released by South Africa's national prosecuting authority said: "While hate crimes – especially of a sexual nature – are rife, it is not something that the South African government has prioritised as a specific project."

The failure of police to follow up eyewitness statements and continue their investigation into another brutal double rape and murder of lesbian couple Sizakele Sigasa and Salome Massooa in July 2007 has led to the formation of the 07-07-07 campaign, a coalition of human rights and equality groups calling for justice for women targeted in these attacks.

Sigasa and Massooa were tortured, gang raped and shot near their homes in Meadowland, Soweto in July 2007, shortly after being verbally abused outside a bar.

Human rights and equality campaigners are hoping that the public outrage and disgust at Simelane's death and the July trial of the three men accused of her rape and murder will help put an end to the spiralling violence increasingly faced by lesbians across South Africa.

Despite more than 30 reported murders of lesbians in the last decade, Simelane's trial has produced the first conviction, when one man who pleaded guilty to her rape and murder was jailed last month.

On sentencing, the judge said that Simelane's sexual orientation had "no significance" in her killing. The trial of a further three men pleading not guilty to rape, burglary and murder will start in July.

In Soweto and Kwa Thema, women seem unconvinced that Simelane's case will change anything for the better.

Phumla talks of her experience of being taught a "classic lesson" by a group of men who abducted and raped her when she was returning from football training in 2003. She says that "practically every" lesbian in her community has suffered some form of violence in the past year and that it will take more than one trial to stop this happening.

"Every day you feel like its a time bomb waiting to go off," she said. "You don't have freedom of movement, you don't have space to do as you please. You are always scared and your life always feels restricted. As women and as lesbians we need to be very aware that it is a fact of life that we are always in danger."

Lesbians and HIV in Africa

Equable weather. The sun not so hot as mild, a breeze from the lake, and a beautiful shadowing to the rays’ harshness by an overcast.

Once or twice it has threatened to rain, but not past threatening. Something within my bones say there will be no rain. At least not today.

Came across an article on HIV that caused me to blink.

From South Africa. Women who have sex with Women (WSW (ugh!) apparently have a lot of HIV.
Lesbians with HIV.

Reminded me of once when we were in a seminar for the Kuchu community. An HIV positive lady came up to talk about the fact that she was positive. I was seated besides another lady. She was flabbergasted.

“Have you heard her?” she demanded, turning to me, “ She says she got HIV, how could she? Where could she have got it from? Maybe from a man…’

I listened to the other talk. Was not revealed where she got HIV from, but the fact was impressed on us, even lesbians can and do get HIV from one another. Not the preserve of the ‘straights’ as many Ugandans believe. Curiously, in Uganda, gay men believe that they are not at risk of HIV.

Why should they be, when in 25 years of the epidemic, they have not heard of any gay HIV prevention concerns? The HIV preventive programs are more intent on preventing HIV spread by implementing the law against sex between men. Don’t believe me? Check out Ssempa’s words here.

I have looked at the available literature. It is a matter of fact that gay men are a high risk group. And also a matter of fact that gay women are a low risk group.

But you cannot generalize with that without research. In South Africa, lesbians are at risk because of a number of factors, including ‘curative rape’, unprotected sex, and the lack of knowledge. Would be interesting to ask lesbians in Uganda whether they are at risk. Bet you they would say they are not.

Gay men were asked, and they did not think they were at risk.

One of the problems, a hidden, closeted society. A society of the shadows.
One thing is sure. Kuchus will have to work on an HIV prevention campaign themselves if they are to go past the official inertia and homophobia.

GayUganda

The Closet

Yesterday, couldn’t go to the party. Drag queen show. Apparently it was fabulous.

Many attended, despite the chilly, rainy day. And they did have fun.

We are growing up. And I feel a sense of pride in it.

And yesterday, I met another Kuchu. One who reminded me of all the bad things of the closet. The Gay Closet in Uganda.

Young man, presentable, personable. Acknowledging his sexuality. And deathly scared about it being found out by any other person.

A painful reminder of what it used to be like for me, in the closet. Oppressed, more by the sense of a secret that I know of myself, that the world cannot tolerate, and for that matter I was in a cage made by my own mind. Till freedom tore it apart, knowledge giving me more maturity and happiness than I would have expected.

The guy was scared of us. Me and my friend. Had heard of us, from a friend of a friend. Wanted to meet us, see who these curious guys are.

So, we meet, but not in a usual ‘kuchu’ bar, because he was scared of those. And when we were feeling lazy and tired and in need of a change, I suggested the kuchu bar. He recoiled. Impossible. We, (he), could not go there.

Realised at that time that he was actually recoiling from the word kuchu!

And when one of us mentioned gay and lesbian, he almost ran away from us. ‘How could we so openly mention the G and L words, he demanded.

Why not? we asked in turn.

He turned to look around the bar. The nearest people were a couple of meters away.

Nevertheless, he went out a couple of minutes later. Thought that he had gone to the loo. We paid up, and after some time went outside, thinking he would meet us there.

He was seated at the doorway. Outside, waiting for us. Reason, we asked. We were talking too loudly of forbidden subjects.

Well, it was time to try and tease him out of his closet. Once the crack is opened, the smell of freedom will tempt him.

The closet. We do still live in the closet. I will be very happy, the day I proudly put my name on this blog. But I cannot, at least not yet.

But the closet is something that is tangible, and made more of our thoughts and imagination, than the hostile world around us.

By the end of the evening, the guy was a little relaxed, though regrettably that may not have benefited him much.

And I was very thoughtful. When I was deep in my closet, I was very fearful of being outed. Well, of now, I am not really out of it. Still cautiously peering out. But at least I have less oppression from my own very self.

Freedom is of the mind, and, curiously, we must give it to ourselves, before we demand it for ourselves and others.

GayUganda

SEXUAL MINORITIES UGANDA (SMUG) Commonswealth Peoples’ Space, Kampala 2007 REPORT

P.O.BOX 70208,CT-KAMPALA

TEL: +256 312 296 858

Email:

info@.sexualminoritiesuganda.org

SEXUAL MINORITIES UGANDA (SMUG)

Commonswealth Peoples’ Space, Kampala 2007 REPORT

In the event of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2007 UGANDA) Sexual Minorities Uganda -SMUG lobbied for an opportunity to participate and were invited by British Council to the Commonwealth Peoples’ Space (an event of CHOGM) scheduled for Friday November 24, 2007. SMUG invited representatives from Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK) and Horizon Community Association (HOCA) and other LGBTI people to join us in this space.

Today East African homosexuals came in peace to CHOGM to speak, as citizens of the Commonwealth. Ugandan and Kenyan lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) speakers scheduled to address the public at the CHOGM Peoples’ Space, Speaker’s Corner.

The Peoples’ Space was designed to provide opportunities to share in the diversity and richness of the Commonwealth people and was specifically designated as a space open to all people to interact and influence social change.

Although we were scheduled for Friday, SMUG received another invitation to a film festival from a non-LGBT film organisation in Kampala, Amakula. On Thursday November 23, 2007 we attended the two films addressing homosexual issues and later had a decent and lively discussion/debate between LGBTI people and the public present including two key religious people. The tent was so packed that other interested or curious people peeped over shoulders.

Friday November 24, 2007 16:30 was meant to be thee day for East African sexual minorities. We walked in at 12:45 our speakers clad in black T. Shirt with the words “Sexual Minorities Uganda Embraces CHOGM”. We were this early because we wanted to acquaint ourselves with the space before our presentation. In the crowds were some elements that identified us because of the T-shirts and messages on them. As we walked to claim safe space, we ran into a prominent anti-gay pastor- Martin Ssempa who heads the Inter-Faith Rainbow Coalition against Homosexuality. He said “hello” and hell broke loose. In less than 5 minutes we were surrounded by people who shouted and ridiculed us as cameras flickered and recorders pointed at us. An elderly woman asked; “Would you be here today had your mother been a lesbian…” Pastor Ssempa gave a devilish smile as other twentysomethings of his brigade from Makerere University yelled and shouted; “You don’t deserve to be on earth, not here!! Lesbians, lesbians… Where is security? Police, security take them away and lock them up…”

LGBTI front-liner stands up to Pastor Martin Ssempa

Next thing the manager of the space one Anne pulled the Co-chairperson of SMUG Julian Pepe away and took her to the reception to only receive the bad news from organizers.

“We’re sorry but the programme has changed. You had your time yesterday so you can’t proceed as planned because you’re attracting a lot of attention and you will divert the people from Prince Charles who is coming in at 15:00...” the organizers chorused.

Pepe was shocked and disheartened; “Why didn’t you communicate? How do you expect me to tell my people that we have come for nothing...?” She was given a copy of the programme and our presentation was not there. With a heavy heart she went and pulled Victor out of the mammoth crowd and gave her the bad news. Before we knew it, we were being escorted out by both plain clothed and uniformed security. We felt safe being escorted by them because the same plain clothed security had protected us the day before, until we approached the exit that their tone changed. They gave us 10 minutes to leave the premises of the Peoples’ Space. That’s when we took this space outside and made it ours. There was exchange between the security guards outside and members of SMUG and GALCK. Whoever was identified inside was immediately thrown out. Kasha was literally held by the arms by two guards and thrown out.

While outside, we collectively demanded for the meaning of “Peoples’ Space”.

Victor Juliet Mukasa the former chairperson of SMUG told those who felt they could not handle the waiting and protest, to leave immediately. Those who took the space outside were- Nikki Mawanda, Kasha Jacqueline, Georgina, Pouline Kimani, Leenah Najib, Victor J. Mukasa, Maniriho Emma and Julian Pepe. We made it clear that unless we were let in or given a proper explanation, we were not leaving. Some of us sat down in protest as others made phone calls to allies like Amnesty International, IGLHRC, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders, etc. Some of our members who stayed inside were; Frank Mugisha co-chairperson SMUG, Sheila, Brian, Naome (HOCA), Gerald, Sandra, Sharifah, Thomas and others were ridiculed. Some members of Amakula were locked out too for speaking to us. Amakula showcases African cinema. It is known for its celebration of African talent, professionalism, human diversity, and creativity. The police continued their aggressive affront.

Pepe was warned by police for taking pictures. In a split second, Victor was pushed to the ground and kicked to get up by one of the uniformed police and Alice Smits the Co-ordinator of Amakula Film Festival was grabbed by the throat for filming us.

“They threw me down,” Victor said bitterly, “Kasha who came back to help me up, faced it rough. She was caned on the back for doing so.” she stood her ground and declared: “I am not moving a single step from this place”.

“6 policemen in uniform came to us saying that they had orders from higher authorities that we should leave the place immediately. I told them they had no right to violate our rights to be in this space.” Agitated Georgina (a member of Queer Youth Uganda) noted.

Kasha; “This is crazy! The word ‘people’ officially lost meaning today. They’re plainly saying we’re not people”

Pouline from GALCK was disgusted; “Police brutality, public discrimination of any individual is unconstitutional. My experience at the people’s space clearly shows the need for our governments to support explicit fundamental human rights for all. Peoples Space should have had the unsaid quote ‘out of bound for African homosexuals’”

Frank Mugisha co-chairperson of SMUG who managed to get in had this to say; “I was in there, but someone came and whispered over my shoulder that I better leave because I’m being looked for. I did just that and joined you out here. Paul and I moved around looking for international press to inform them of what was happening to LGBTI people in this space.” Paul a medic who cares about our issues said he was pointed at and called a lesbian.

“One of the top security officials in plain clothes came and stopped them from beating us up. Those who were violent were immediately taken away and others brought to keep around us” Victor added.

“On Thursday, this same group was part of a discussion about homosexual rights after a film screening about homosexuality and discrimination. Yesterday the debate was heated, but there were no fights. It was really good,” Alice Smits said. “It was the first time a real debate about homosexuality happened in Uganda.”

Naome of HOCA said; “Over the years our society has been subjected to diversity, the greatest of all being the violation of fundamental human rights at CHOGM, even with the presence of numerous heads of States. LGBTI people were denied the right of being with others at the forum that they so-called ‘Peoples’ Space’…”

The most aggressive policeman was identified as Eric Ociti. Those who violated us were immediately taken off the scene. We remained standing outside the gate in quiet protest, waiting to be allowed back in to deliver our speeches. What was supposed to be one of the greatest moments in our struggle became a disappointment. We were there for a total of seven hours, bitterly disappointed and embarrassed. Adding to the discrimination and violence carried out by police at the Peoples’ Space was an affront to basic human rights in Uganda

Both homosexuals and straight Ugandans are increasingly becoming fed up with the violence and discrimination being directed toward people of different sexual orientations and minorities in this country. Heterosexual Ugandans have begun to speak out against such police brutality, stating that they will not tolerate any kind of violence against another human being, regardless of their sexual orientation.

After futile attempts to secure entrance, Pepe went to one of the media houses- The Daily Monitor, Georgina and Victor also did exclusive interviews with The New Vision newspaper to have these violations exposed. But were told that the articles would not be out immediately.

On a lighter note; the term homosexual was not in use this day. Whoever the public suspected to be homosexual was called a lesbian. These people need to be enlightened.

Report prepared by:

Julian Pepe

Co-chairperson

Sexual Minorities Uganda- SMUG

How deeply can prejudice shade my sight?

The simple answer is prejudice can blind. Prejudice can and will blind a person to thinking.

Take Dr Watson. A guy so brilliant that when much younger, he helped unravel the mysteries of DNA. Went ahead to win the Nobel Prize. A living legend in his own lifetime.

Yet a few weeks ago, this icon of human thought came out with his ideas on why Africa will err, never develop. Negroes are inferior; something which the politically correct fail to take into account. The world was horrified, and he lost most of his credibility because of it.

At the moment, racism is politically incorrect.

The same guy had once stated that, if a gay gene was found to be present, a mother would be right to screen her unborn child and abort the baby if it was going to be a homosexual.

What a statement. At the particular time that Dr Watson said this, it was not really politically correct form. He was derided, in some quarters. But it did not diminish his stature. Not like this time when he showed his touch of political incorrectness.

Prejudice has been a heavy shade to my thinking. Oh yes, I imbibed prejudice with my mother’s milk. So does everyone. The world we grow up in always has its own set of prejudices. And we do not escape them.

I did not. And though I think I have worked a lot of them out, I still harbour some glaring logs in my eyes.

What set me on this thought track was an opinion piece in the Monitor Newspaper today. The opinion is written by Owekitiibwa (Honourable) Joash Mayanja Nkangi.

He is a very well respected and elderly politician in Uganda. And he has been talking about homosexuality, and how bad it is.

Mayanja Nkanji. His pedigree is impressive. I think not too long ago, he was cited as one of the most brilliant Ugandans. I know that he was the Kabaka’s Katikiro (Prime Minister) during the 1966 crisis, when the Kabaka was deposed and exiled. He only handed over his instruments of office recently, when the Buganda kingdom was reinstated. After 1986, when the current president took over, he is one of the opposition politicians whose power base was co-opted, after he was ‘duped’ into working with his political opponents. He held various ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Justice and Constitutional affairs.

A grandfather, he still combs his full head of hair in a 1960s type hair style with a ‘road’ parting the grey on one side. That is what I remember most striking about him! Apart from his grandfatherly look, and reputation to brilliancy.

He believes that the Government should tighten the screws on gays and lesbians in the country. It should not dare loosen them.

I was reminded of myself. Here is a man who cannot get past some of his prejudices. And he uses the gifts he has to explain to the world why these prejudices are correct.

He is very sincere. He is very convinced of what he is saying. ‘Govt must tighten screws on gays, lesbians’.

Gays and lesbians in Uganda are deeply stigmatised. They cannot talk in public. They cannot have an HIV prevention programme. They are punished for speaking out, other Ugandans believing that they shame them so much they should just hide their shameful beings out of sight, mind and thought. This is what is politically correct in Uganda at the moment, and an elder statesman has waded into the fight. There are Ugandans who deserve rights to be affirmed as human beings. That does not include homosexuals.

It reminds me of a quip I saw about the People’s Space in the Commonwealth Head of Governments meeting recently held in Uganda. The people’s space was for all people to come out and talk about their grievances. All people.

Except homosexuals.

Who were thrown out of the People’s Space and sat at the gate for 7 hours. The People’s Space? No. ‘The Some People’s Space’. Certainly not homosexuals. Because homosexuals are not human beings.

Guess what? I should ask Mayanja Nkangi how deeply government should tighten screws on homosexuals in Uganda. Maybe an island in the lake will do for us gay Ugandans? Marooned till the day we die, then there will not be any gays in Uganda. Out of sight, sound, even thought.

Poor Uganda. Are the likes of Mayanja Nkangi, Nsaba Buturo, and Martin Ssempa able to follow the logic of their suggestions? At least the Mufti was very clear on what he thought the logical conclusion should be.

GayUganda

I saw the face of the Enemy

Yesterday,
I saw the face of the enemy;
it was ugly beyond belief.

---

One can be lost
in mournful contemplation
of one’s pain.

---

Sometimes, many times, we forget that what we are dealing with in this ‘struggle’ are very serious issues. Sometimes, I am too concerned by the various rivalries and jealousies between kuchus. Concerned with the gossip of who is sleeping with who, and the juiciest titbits from the rockiest relationships. They are titillating, these bits of detail. They are what makes us so human.
But they are also blinding to some of the things that can happen.
I am a gay Ugandan, and a kuchu. Sometimes I forget how risky that is. I do live in a very violent country. In a country that is decidedly homophobic and proud of it. But I do forget it. Familiarity, indeed, breeds contempt.
Yesterday, I did see the face of the enemy. And I was reminded of my mortality.
I don’t doubt that I am a pariah in the eyes of many Ugandans. Seeing Ssempa in person, in action brought it back to me. He is a handsome man. Charismatic. Presentable. Charming. I knew him from tv. I first noticed him when he was suavely telling a woman about the ‘Rainbow Coalition’. I had just entered, and did not know as yet what had happened.
When I realised that, when I heard his chuckle, His chuckle replete with malice, filled with his own self congratulation, I looked at him. I saw the guys that were talking with him, followed him, eavesdropping as he proceded towards the other gate of the enclosure, I suddenly knew the gift that I have in my own anonymity.
When I was in the midst of the crowd from Ssempa’s church, when they were egging the policemen on, to go on and beat up, and throw out the kuchus, I understood that only my anonymous cloak was covering me. These guys were violent, and they were not ashamed to be so. They felt justified in what they were doing. They had had the horrible ‘lesbians’ and homosexuals chucked out. They wanted them to be beaten up. Harmed. It was a shame that the policemen did not go ahead.
When I was looking for ‘official help’ and understood that I would not get it because the bureaucrats did not think my cause merited their help, I did realise that we are in this alone.
The girls and guys are brave to shade their anonymity. But the closet is a real protection. We become weary of it, and want to shed it. Yet it may be the difference between life and death for us. Life and death.
I am sure that, if it was not the fact that the People’s Space was supposed to be free, and that there was foreign and local press there, the kuchus who had dared show their faces to the world would have been roughed up. The crowd was wholly behind that action. They were disappointed that the police was constrained. That the police did not go ahead and beat up the kuchus as they had started doing. Gone was the guise that they were supposed to have a Christian love for the homosexual. They clearly wanted the kuchus hurt.
It is a struggle that is very real, in the blood and tears that can be shed. In the potential loss to life and limb.
I saw the face of the enemy, and I was afraid.

GayUganda

I owe you an answer to your Questions. Because you are part of the 95%

I have to answer these questions. They were seriously asked. And as a member of the homosexual minority in Uganda (3%) vs the 95% who disapprove of us, I have to educate the others. We shall never be a majority. We depend on the majority to be educated, and to be conversant of the fact that they are persecuting us when they do certain things.

Blogger: A man from nowhere.

GayUganda, Now that the court has agreed to hear some of your cases like those two lesbian ladies who dragged the Attorney General to court alleging that their rights had been violated, is this a sucess to your side.

do you see this as a new twist in demand for your rights?


It is a definate success. Two human beings' privacy was invaded. Because they were gay. Just because of that, the house was broken into, searched, the guest arrested and then humiliated at the police station. When we say we are persecuted because we are gay people ask for proof. So, this is a case where someone got the guts to go to court over the issue. She had broken no law. It was just that she was gay.

I respect who you are.but i doubt wether you were born like that.

Thanks for respecting who I am. I was born this way. I know it. But also science agrees with me. Please read the Wikipedia article on Homosexuality. You dont have any reason to believe me. Except that I am. Your belief or unbelief does not take away my sexuality. I am, and was born gay.

I also don't support police and the public harassing you.
I can assure you that it will take you to climb mt Rwenzori to get your rights.


Thanks for not supporting the harrasment. There you agree that I am a human being. Now, Ssempa was at the court. Why was he there? I leave it to your imagination. I think he believes that the premise that a homosexual's privacy is invaded is something to demonstrate about. That the homosexual does not have the right to privacy.
I am willing to try to climb the Rwenzori. Accepting myself as a human being means standing up to anyone who thinks I have to be persecuted. Even when I am in a minority of 3%


Any way let me ask you.
Do you have kids?


No, I dont have kids. For all these answers I am going to link back to a post that further explains the answer to the question.

do you play sex for fun or with a purpase?


Well, I talk so much about having sex that I will link back to one or two posts. Enjoy! Yes, before you ask, I do love him.

what really makes you have feeling for your fellow men yet there are women there.

You know, that is something that I have always asked myself. When I look at a woman, I do not feel stirred. When I look at a good looking man, I am. It is not that I cannot get women. It is that they do not do that for me. I am sexually attracted to men, not women. And I am a man. Look at this post
And also at this one. My gay identity.

when did you realise that you were a gay?
what did you do when you learnt that you were a gay?

Gosh, somethings are tough to talk about. But look at this post, it is the same as the one above.

is your family aware that you are a gay?


Yes, thanks be to a god I do not know that they know. I could not tell them. But I lived in such a way that they could pick it up. And they did.


Is there any thing we can do to help you ?
I can get for you at caunsellor to help you.


Yes, you can do something for me. Please, dont ask a gay person to get a cousellor for his or her gayness. They are not sick. And you are going to make them hurt. Please.
Yes, you are a member of the 95%. Know that we are. Know that we are human beings. Know that we are normal. Oh yes, we are. We do have some special problems. We can tackle them ourselves, but not if you are so keen on throwing us in prison. STOP PERSECUTING US.
That is all we ask. You may not like us, please do not actively persecute us.

How many boyfriends do you have?



Only one boyfriend. I no longer call him boyfriend. We are way past that stage. Check out this post.


is being a gay likely to increase AIDS infection rate in Uganda.



No, definately not.
Gay people have always been here, in Uganda. They are more susceptible to HIV than heterosexuals. They have also been more infected. But that is because there is no programme for HIV prevention in the gay communities in Uganda. Paradoxically, to lower the HIV prevalence in the whole of Uganda now, we have to target this vulnerable group. Which we have not been targeting. And we have to reasses our priorities.

is it possible for you gays to use condoms?

Definately! We have the same organs. But there are some things which change. I will not go into those.

Where are you guys getting money to organise those activities?



Gosh, has Ssempa convinced you that it is the money coming from out that is making us gay? No or yes?
I must say that for me to blog here I am using my own money. For the connection and other things. And something else, the lack of an HIV programme is such a glaring hole that I can get money that way. The same way that Ssempa gets money for his Abstinence campaigns. Does that answer your question?

Can any any one become a gay at an adult age?


One is born gay. You may not realise it at first, but when you do, then you know. Sexual orientation is a very interesting subject. Read up this post. Many gay people get married thinking that it is a phase that will pass. And then later they find that they are just not confortable. And when one is gay, you are gay for life. Dont mess yourself up by trying to change.

.let the debate continue...

True, let the debate continue.....

Powered by ScribeFire.