Anti-gay Credentials.

Sex is always about politics. Or politics is about sex? Or the politics of sex?

One of those ‘teachable moments’ from a feminist. But, there is one thing that I had not appreciated- and that is how much MY sexuality is such a huge political tool.

In Uganda, it is a given. Be a politician, you must be anti-gay. Of course you remember what happened in Zimbabwe, where the opposition has had, per-force to come out gay bashing, because that is what is politically correct. [Latest from Zimbabwe, we are waiting for the trial. You know, I think those guys are going to be 'convicted' and then given a huge sentence so that Mugabe glories in thumbing his nose at the west. Sigh...!]

What really nauseates is the way being religious is by definition, being anti-gay.

No. I am not religious.

But that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the theory that being 'religious' one has to brush up on anti-gay credentials. Ssempa was accusing Kayanja of not being anti-gay enough soon before he came out with his ‘Kayanja is gay’ pastor wars. Orombi and the Church of Uganda drove out Bishop Ssenyonjo because he was pro-gay. Now, I have been following some of the Christian right of America… Engel of TheCall. The story is fascinating, simply because it is a microsm of the whole anti-gay ‘good Christian’ politics of America. And Uganda of course. It’s a deadly mixture. Politics. Religion. Sex. It is volatile, very.

Seems as if no one can be on the side. One cannot be a Christian, and be gay, or gay loving. No, Jesus loved all sinners but homosexuals. That seems to be the underlying theme. And gay hate is love… it is Christian love, however much gay people try to assert that Jesus’ love also included them as members of the human race.

Very interesting, and eye opening.

Why does it concern me? Because this ideaological struggle being played out on a continent thousands of miles away from me, is affecting me in ways that I would not have thought possible. Kind of funny. Thousands of miles apart, culture and politics separating us… yet our destinies intertwined because of ideaologies that concern my sexuality. I would have loved it to be just something between me and my lover…. But seems that that will not be so.

Sigh….!

Talking about Engel, it is kind of tough to say you would want me in prison because I am gay when you are a Christian (professional Christian, I call it), but Engel does articulate that point. 

Influential Right Wing Evangelist Supports Uganda’s ‘Principled Stand’ on Executing Gays.

Far right evangelist Lou Engle is highly influential among the social conservative wing of the GOP (which is pretty much the entire GOP); he has hosted “prayercasts” attended by top Republican politicians including former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, and is involved in many other high profile political activities.

And this “man of God” who has the ear of the GOP leadership believes homosexuality should be criminalized; the nation he admires for their “principled stand” is Uganda. 

Of course, that is the Ssempa, Bahati, and Nsaba-Buturo point of view. No wonder he was really happy to meet them in Uganda when he came. 

As we show in Vanguard's "Missionaries of Hate," during TheCall Uganda, Engle surrounded himself with some of the key backers of Uganda's anti-gay legislation, including Pastor Julius Oyet, Minister of Ethics and Integrity Nsaba Buturo and the bill's author, MP David Bahati.

My musings aside, the Ssempa videos continue to get a reaction from the world. They are interesting, and infuriating. Someone gets to the point of writing an X-rated letter to Martin Ssempa. Is funny to read, and hits some points

Dr Ssempa

I cannot begin to tell you how frightening it is to know that someone like you is "fighting" HIV/AIDS with your bigotry and ignorance. I've just watched your hate filled approach here. among other clips available to the equally ignorant. The downside for you is that people like me also have access to this trash and the passion take you on personally.

I note that you hate what homosexuals do in their own homes so intently that you just couldn't help but to research it, view it and display it. Come on now, admit that it turned you on just a little bit. Because if it hadn't, you wouldn't be so eager to tell everyone about it.

Well, someone is really unhappy about Dr Ssempa’s HIV fighting credentials!!!!

Have a good day. Just watching England try to salvage some pride in the World Cup. Must say it is more interesting than the French debacle…. Was really fun to watch that world class soap opera.

gug

A Gay African’s Worst Nightmare.

Apparently, Chimbalanga and Steven of Malawi, the famous gay couple that got married are having problems.

Steven has broken up with Aunt Tiwo, and he has apparently fallen in love with someone and is vowing to get married to the lady.

Time to ring the bells?

I don’t think so. Those guys are under enormous pressure right now. They have gone through the stress of the trial. They have become the national horror show. And, they were in prison. I do live in Uganda, but the kind of pressure that these guys have been living is the very reason I stay lurking in the closet. It is every gay Ugandans, gay Africans’ nightmare.

Tiwo will find it very hard to hide. A transgender at the very least, having identified as a woman, come out and with statements made in the media, Tiwo is really out. As out as any African can be as different. Maybe that might work in her favour. The hullabaloo may go down… or maybe some crazed person may try to convert her or to exorcise the demons, or… whatever. I once wrote about a story from the Daily Monitor of a Transperson in Uganda.

His luck ran out last week when a curious young man tried to touch his ‘breasts’ at a drinking joint, only to get amused when a sponge fell down.

The LC1 Chairperson, Mrs Angella Okello and other women, took him to a separate house to check and ascertain his gender but were shocked to discover that he was a mature man. Drama then ensued as he was stripped and beaten by angry residents who forced him to walk naked for over the 5km stretch to Tororo Central Police Station.

 Yeah. Stripped, searched, marched, arrested. For the crime of being different.

Stephen has the luxury of hiding.

But, is it any easier for him? It is a matter of fact that our communities tend to be very intolerant. His whole world knows what has been happening, and even saying that he will get married to a woman (poor lady…!), that might tone down the pressure. But, will it? In Gulu, in Uganda last year, a woman was burnt to death, for the crime of making a pass at another woman. True, that case is in court.

Remember the anti-gay demos in Uganda that Ssempa led? And those in Kenya that turned violent? Well, here is a report of another demo, this time in Ghana. What is happening in Africa?  The rhetoric is depressingly familiar. Ssempa does have brothers and sisters...!

Ghana stage anti-gay protest

Posted on Monday 7 June 2010 - 11:42

John Afful Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Accra, Ghana

Over a thousand protesters in Ghana have staged a massive demonstration amidst a heavy downpour in the oil city, Sekondi -Takoradi in the Western region to express their opposition to the growing activities of gay and lesbians in that part of West African country.

The protesters defied to engineer their displeasure as they went through the principal streets of the metropolis wielding placards following an alleged report that close to 60 gays and lesbians from the Eastern, Ashanti and Central regions of that country, have attended a get-together held in Tanokrom and other suburbs of the city.

The Muslim community in Takoradi with support from other religious groups and concerned citizens took to the streets of the Twin city.

The Leader of the demonstrators, Saeed Hamid, told AfricaNews that the demonstration was meant to draw government’s attention to the conduct of the gays and lesbians in the country, particularly in the Western Region.

According to the anti-gay and Lesbians group, even though people had the right to choose various sexual orientations and associate with whatever group they desire, the constitution also frowns on the activities of gays and lesbians.

GROUPS FORMED... ANTIGAY OF COURSE

Hamid said Ghana as a country is mainly occupied by Christians and Muslims, and the practice should not be embraced, saying it could have dire consequences on the country.

"Ghana will suffer more than the experience of Sodom and Gomorrah, should we embrace this practice in this country".

PLAY THE RELIGIOUS CARD. OF COURSE

In a petition presented to the Western Regional Minister Paul Evans Aidoo, the protesters said, the rate at which the youth in the Twin City are putting up the practice is alarming and is much of a concern since most of the young boys involved have health problems and wear pampers.

"How would you feel, if someone puts his penis into your anus?" He queried.

Adding that, the act could jeopardize their future.

HAVE YOU HEARD THESE THINGS SOMEWHERE ELSE? WHY, PRAY, WOULD YOU HAVE SOMEONE PUT A PENIS INTO YOUR ANUS????!!

Hamid mentioned that a lot of expatriates in Tarkwa and Takoradi working in the mining and oil industry were the ones luring the innocent youth into the practice through the influence of money.

BLAME the FOREIGNERS card...

They are therefore calling on the government to clearly state what the law says about homosexuality and possibly criminalize the practice. He was however worried that Takoradi is gradually becoming a hub for gays and lesbians hence their decision to resist the ‘’ungodly act’’.

Receiving the petition on behalf of the President, the Western Regional Minister Paul Evans Aidoo assured the demonstrators that steps would be taken to address their concerns.

The Minster advised the group not to take the law into their own hands by attacking the alleged gays and lesbians in their communities since that would be a breach of the law.

INTERESTING... A GOVT SPOKESPERSON ACTUALLY DEFENDING GAYS?

The group has given indications that it would organize a nationwide protest if no positive response is heard from the government after two months.

The Western Regional Police Commander DCOP Mahama Hamidu, who led his team to offer protection to the demonstrators, described the march as peaceful.

Hey, the capitals are mine. Couldnt help editorializing a little.... Here is the full article. 

But, not all news is bad news in Africa... Here is something else from Zimbabwe and South Africa. I am not gay, ask my wife.And the reporter did go ahead to ask the question! Ahem, I guess gay queries are taking place all over Africa, yes? Oscar Wilde had a quip about this sort of fame…. Better to be talked about, than to rot in our cupboards.

BULAWAYO —Prominent actor and playwright Bhekilizwe Bernard Ndlovu (pictured) has been forced to quell rumours that he is gay after he tackled the controversial subject in his thesis for post-graduate studies.

Ndlovu who was one of the leading actors in the popular soap Amakorokoza and had a high profile marriage with singer, Sandra Ndebele is studying at the University of Witwatersrand, in South Africa.

He said those questioning his sexuality should ask Ndebele who has since had a baby with another man.

“Me gay, of all people, ababuze umaNdebele phela (they must ask Ndebele),” he told this reporter through the social network forum, Facebook.

“Yes my research at Wits was on gay rights. My thesis was about exploring the model that is anti-homophobia for Zimbabweans in South Africa.

“Am proud of my findings and involvement in the kind of work and I must say, I discovered a lot.”

Ndlovu popularly known as AK after his starring role in Amakorokoza could not divulge more details about his findings.

“But I am certainly not gay,” he said. “I actually have to deal with my own homophobia at times (sic), but it is worthwhile.”

Hmmmmm!

Well, life goes on. Me, I am gay. Ask my man.

gug

From here and there

Clouds, and the promise of rain over Kampala.

Seems as if the sun of the last few weeks is soon giving into rain. No problem. Like it all. But rain is one of those things which can be a blessing and curse. For some people. Everything is anyway, so why grumble??!

My internet connection is apparently getting slower and slower. [Tired of complaining to the ISP again. Lightning speeds are always promised, never delivered. But, I am one of the few with this access, so maybe even partial access is a very good thing.]

Going through the world press, just wondered about how intrusive the state or society should be. We are a gossipy lot, us humans. Why, why, why do we have to know what happens in the beds of a couple of people who have decided to commit to one another? It is kind of ridiculous, given the fact that we all tend to do things which would surprise everyone else in the privacy of our bedrooms. But, we tend to have this hypocritical attitude. We write into law what should be done in bed, when we have sex. Anyway, this case is in Pakistan.

Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN) -- Malik Muhammad Iqbal is a man. Rani was born a man but lives as a woman.

Both are locked up in a northwest Pakistani jail awaiting trial because police say they tried to get married.

In Pakistan, that's a crime.

"Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal," says the country's penal code, "shall be punished with imprisonment. "

Eighteen-year-old Rani says Iqbal, a 42-year-old fertilizer dealer, is a friend - not a lover.

"We were only celebrating my birthday," Rani said.

But prosecutors say it was a marriage that was taking place. Police smashed their way in, broke up the party, arrested 43 dancing guests, Rani and Iqbal.

Iqbal says he was just another guest at the party.

"This was not a gay marriage," he said. "These are just false allegations."

Peshawar police Chief Shoukat Ali disagrees. Officials say they have photographs and a wedding dress to prove it.

Come closer to Africa, in Zimbabwe, the politicians looked around for a talking point, and, in lieu of corruption, etc, etc, they remembered the ‘homosexual plague’. So, the President condemned them again, and blamed the opposition. The opposition also went ahead and condemned them. No politician wants to be seen as outdone on the condemnation bit. But, when they are really looking for something to stir up the population, politicians want a bit more than condemnation and a few words in the print. It seems it didn’t work. So, a couple of Zimbabwean gay activists are arrested. Oh, forget the fact that GALZ has been up and running in Zimbabwe for years. They swoop in and arrest a couple of people that they find in the office on that day, and also raid another officers home. Now, just in case no one noticed, the ‘Veterans’ are weighing in. A new revolution. Against homosexuality of course. 

Zimbabwe’s ageing liberation fighters have made a vow : “there will be no room for gays in Zimbabwe". They say it is against what they fought for during the liberation struggle.

"You cannot change the direction of a struggle, but only improve the road. Do you think those who died for the liberation of the country died for gay marriages?", asked Jabulani Sibanda, the veterans leader.

He added, “Imagine being a father receiving a letter from your son informing you that he will be bringing his husband home to meet you. It’s really shocking. We are not going to accept that. We will defend the revolution."

His comments came barely a week after state security agents stormed offices of a gay rights group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe and arrested two workers.

Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi where charged for ‘insulting the office of the President’ and for allegedly possessing ‘pornographic material’.

---

The catholic church, in the bid to weed out gays from the priesthood, may be glad about this. We gay people may actually have gaydar, a special sixth sense. Now, how useful is that? Problem for me is that I find it completely useless…! We tend to hide too well, in Uganda, or my gaydar is underdeveloped, I don’t know.

A report from South Africa about the endemic violence there. 

Tumi Mkhuma is showing me her photo album in the small room she rents in a tough neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg. "That's me when I was 11 - wearing trousers of course," she says. "I knew I was gay even as a young child."

Tumi has only had sex with a man once. That was last year, when she was dragged from a bar, beaten unconscious, and then raped. "A month later I got morning sickness - that's how I found out he raped me," she says.

To be poor, and black, and a lesbian in South Africa is to live in danger. "Corrective rapes", beatings and murders are disturbingly common in conservative communities where homophobia remains deeply entrenched.

I first watched it on BBC. There is something inherently perverse in a person who thinks that rape can be ‘corrective’. Glad that the girls have formed a self support group. Sometimes we kind of think that it is easier in South Africa. But, well, it is not that much easier, inspite of the better legislative atmosphere.

----

I will end with a comment on Pastor Martin Ssempa, PhD's fight for anti-gay rights.

A Bizarre Window Into Uganda’s Gay Hate

Not safe for work, or life, really… But perhaps an important thing to understand in terms of just how fucked up the gay rights advances are in certain parts of the world: A bizarre look at a anti-gay rally in Uganda, where the speaker spools out ridiculous ignorance to a degree that’s almost hilarious if the horrifying state of gay rights in Uganda wasn’t so very real.  As my friend who send me this video noted, “His argument that the modern gay agenda is to eat the poo poo of Ugandan children is particularly compelling.”

Wanna have a look at the video? Its here.

Have a good day.

gug

Farce in Zimbabwe

It is on-going. Now, the usual suspects launched a biological weapon on the unsuspecting people of Zimbabwe. Haven’t you heard? The wmd that caused Iraq to be invaded were found. Britain did it, and spirited them away, to the US’s utter shame.

Now, they have done a test run, in poor, post colonial Zimbabwe.

Cholera as a biological weapon…

No, these are not my words. They are from a minister of the Government of Zimbabwe, the minister for (dis)-Information.

Zimbabwe blames cholera on Britain

Nearly 17,000 cases of cholera have been reported across Zimbabwe [AFP]

Zimbabwe's information minister has blamed the British government for a cholera outbreak which has killed almost 800 people, claiming his country has been a victim of a "biological" attack.

Sikhanyiso Ndlovu made the accusation on Friday, a day after Robert Mugabe, the president, said his government had brought the epidemic under control.

"I would like to affirm with factual information on how cholera was brought to Zimbabwe," Ndlovu said.

"This is a serious biological-chemical weapon; a genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British [who are] still fighting to recolonise Zimbabwe and using their allies."

Ndlovu said his government needed more foreign aid to help arrest the raging epidemic.

Utterly shameless! And fascinating… Do the people of Zimbabwe believe this official truth? Its very funny. They just might be.

Poor Zim.

gug

Pissed

Uh, that is what I am.

Totally unrelated to this, but, seems as if human being everywhere have this capacity to act stupid. Very stupid!

My American friends are dealing with the Auction for the Obama senate seat. Seems all things with the Obama monica are selling like hotcake in this depressed world of ours. Closer at home, errrr, the sewage of politics is bubbling with the usual ferocity.

I don’t claim to be very clever, but mate, human beings are stupid! I mean, as a race we have this outstanding ability to realy deceive ourselves. And the way we convince each other of how good we are, our ability to self deceive is realy phenomenal!

Zimbabwe, my, oh my….

Mugabe is with good reason termed Mu-garbage. My mind cringes when I think of what he has done to that once beautiful country. Once upon a time, we thought of him as a sterling example to redeem African pride. He has really drugged us through the sewage. But no more so than this.

Remember the cholera epidemic that has been raging in that Southern African country? Well, the president of the country has declared the epidemic over. For political reasons!!!!

Zimbabwe cholera is over - Mugabe

Breaking News

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has said his government has stopped a cholera outbreak that has killed nearly 800 people in the crisis-hit country.

"I am happy we are being assisted by others and we have arrested cholera," Mr Mugabe said in a speech, despite UN reports of a growing death toll.

He also claimed Western powers were plotting to use cholera as an excuse to invade Zimbabwe and topple him.

"The cholera cause doesn't exist any more," Mr Mugabe said.

Talk of playing Ostrich. By the way, that much maligned bird supposedly does not go into that stupid behaviour. Hiding its head in the sand. Apparently only humans are stupid enough to do it!!

Ha ha ha; right, I am fine.

the beauty of life’s

near invisible without

the ugly interludes to

contrast and laugh at!

(gug, 10 Dec. 08)

Be well, and enjoy the day wherever you are.

GayUganda

Mugabe of Zimbabwe

‘s hard to blame Mugabe
nor will I dare do so,
for he’s more than twice my age,
and I still have my wits about me
before the senility of old age
makes pampers a welcome distraction,
and logic so much stupidity
beloved by the youngsters.


He lives in a never-never dreamland
where reality is my will
however absurd that is;
despite all the years gone by
and the silver crown on his head-
immortality he still seeks,
such an elusive goal!
Believing ones own desperate lies,
the madness of power, illusions of deity.


Its hard to believe the stupidity
forcing people me to love
my gun at their head, knives in the stomach;
hunger pangs, needy wails of their children in their ears
yet I believe they love mad me,
the fear in their eyes a strangely satisfying love
proving the desperate assertion of devotion
flowing from their slow lips.


That immortal thing, adulation,
regard, when I’m soon to be gone
my legacy spit on the road
my memory a nightmare of shame-
the Amins of this world;
Hitlers, Stalins- cruel mortal men;
Mugabes, dare I say the Excellency
of this more than fair land?


Indeed, is old age a curse?
[he’s frightening me, shaming silvery wisdom]
when the lessons of age are un-learnt
and, despite prayers to be a Mandela-
living saint in life-
one’s an ogre, like the Burmese generals
leaders of the dead, living Pol Pots,
a curse on all humanity, while I still live?



GayUganda 26 June 2008

Sunday, Before Noon

Strange unsettled weather pattern.

It is morning, soon slipping into the afternoon. But it has been a strange, blustery, blowing morning, mixed with times when the sun was bright, but not convincingly hot. Clouds in the sky, racing to the west. The dirty, pregnant wool of rainy promise. But something tells me that rain today may not be likely.

A reflection of my mood.

Dark, with flashes of brilliant light interspersed. Had a good night, no great. And the early Sunday morning in bed was fantastic. Read what you want in that! Got out late, read a poem, wrote another, and have been lazy and not want to commit to anything.

My lover promised to groom me, something that I do like, a lot. I mean, just lying there as someone does these very personal things for you. Reminds me that no one else can do them. Problem was that I had ‘sinned’. Done something which he doesn’t like.

Oh, one of many things, but this one we cannot talk too much about. He is extremely jealousy of my attention to anyone else, including my relatives. And well, he would like to have me acknowledge him above them. Or something like that. Have not yet figured out how!

So, he groomed me, because he had promised, in a thunderous silence, and now refuses to talk to me. Needs a kiss and a cuddle to make up. Funny thing is, we all agree that he is unreasonably jealous, but doesn’t stop him from acting like so!

The communist has put up a hilarious post. Wondering why nobody is supporting Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Seems to offend his sense of ‘fairness’.

Idealists!

I wondered aloud at his blog why none seems to support the Austrian grandfather/father House of Horrors man. Surely the lack of support for this excellent example of humanity should also be highlighted?

I used to be an idealist. Very much so. Until I realized that the practical lessons of life, especially in Africa, demand that one is a realist, not a ‘head in the clouds’ kind of person. Forcing life to bend to our perception of it. Life is not kind to one who tries to do that. Not in Africa. Sight, perception has to be as clear as possible, even when we know that it is not ‘politically correct’.

Its great. I have managed to write this much. I thought that I would not be able to. The day is beautiful, but I have to push away quite a lot of the cobwebs. To see the sun’s smile.

Have a good Sunday. Have a kiss and cuddle to give to someone.

GayUganda

Life is not Politics

Cant stop thinking.

That kind of day, bright and sunny at the break of day, but has become overcast. A strange, grayish light all around. It is supposed to be a public holiday.

Well, it is. But my love is already off to work, and I will be following. Soon.

Life is not politics. What do I mean by that?

I have gotten tired of following the ups and downs of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It is boring, really. They are playing a high stakes game, trying to score points off one another. Like children in the field, their game is ridiculous. So ridiculous that it is painful watching them play, knowing that the result will be the most powerful ‘individual’ on our planet.

But life is not politics. However high the stakes are for Obama and Hillary, they are playing a fools' game of public opinion. It will not change what they are, what they were, before they began playing this stupid game. But, us human beings do mind it. A lot.

Closer at home, I just read of more political games. Uh, not in Zimbabwe, where the farce is continuing. But in Uganda. An article in the government daily talked of a strange incident, when two men drew up at the petrol filling station owned by the guy who challenged the incumbent president at the last elections. As the pump attendant started loading their car with fuel, they got out and stood aside. Soon after, the car engine ‘caught fire’.

Strange fire it was. Nobody was inside the car. The engine was switched off. And the two men ran off, as the Pump attendants put out the fire. Needless to say, the car was not claimed.

Strange happenings. Right out of a thriller.

What makes me think that they were state 'security' agents?

Politics is a strange game, where, for some very apparently huge margins, very stupid things are done. Any wonder that the Zimbabwean opposition leader has opted to stay out of the country as the ‘votes are counted’?

But life is not politics. It is a down to earth struggle, fight for survival. No surrogates employed, or hired. And, so often, it is our very lives on line, in a day to day struggle that is almost too much to believe.

Talked of the neighbour’s wife who is in hospital for a broken leg. She is still there.

Our hospitals are a strange callous mixture of cruelty and inhumanity, where compassion is expected. I am not sure that we have the worst hospitals in Africa, maybe not. I am no expert.

Her leg is broken. She does not have the money for an operation, so she stays on the ward. Waiting for the months it will take to heal. Meanwhile, she looks on at the misery around her, and hears of the struggle to meet ends at home. (With her out of the equation, home finances are not going to be better.) And to get treatment, pain relief, a doctor to push her case, etc, etc, money is needed. A very real struggle. A far cry from the pretend struggles of political surrogates and ideologies.

Life is certainly not politics, nor the pretend struggles of politics.

It is much more than that. Yet human beings are such political animals that they will continue equating life with politics.

Labour day, May 1^st. A new month, and a new beginning, everywhere. Have a good month.

GayUganda

Freedom is of the Mind

He refuses to get out of bed. Something to do with the late night that we had. And the fact that he was a might, a little bit, over the top.

I do remember meeting the police roadblock, it was after midnight. Cant close nearer than that. Old Kampala Police station, near the Mosque. Usual traffic jam site, but a jam at that time?

No, police.

Making sure that they were arresting those who drunk and drove.

My heart sunk. Contemplated a night in the police cell. That is the routine, whenever they decide to do these middle of the night arrests. Suprisingly, we passed the initial screening test, and drove away carefully. I am with all Kampala drivers. Breathalyzers, that is technology meant to encroach on our freedom to drink and drive, and kill of course.

Beautiful morning. Very beautiful.

Golden sunlight. Green leaves, shadowed and sprinkled with the sunlight. A breeze making them dance and wave. Shadow and light beneath the trees. Cool, calm. The heat will be in a couple of hours. Throw off shirt and sweat freely.

Thinking of Mugabe this morning, I wondered, would a Mugabe imprison my soul?

He has done quite a bit, apart from bringing to ruin a good economy.

He has beaten and killed opponents, abused and laughed at challenge, inside and outside the country. He has made Zimbabweans the laughing stock of the continent. Reminds me of Life President, Dr. Al Hajj General Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Conqueror of the British Empire (damn, have left out some of the titles, like Ssalongo etc). He also killed and raped and destroyed a country. Yet humanity is resilient.

Burma will come out of the ashes when the strangle hold of the generals is broken. So will North Korea. China is a bulging, burgeoning, feasthood of humanity.

Can a Mugabe imprison my soul?

That is important for me, because in as much as I would love political and other freedoms, I have realized that freedom is of the mind. Of the soul.

A person, a gay person in the Scandinavian countries would think of my life as a horror. Closeted for life, suffering indignities which their countries left in the distant past of the 18^th Century.

Yet, despite the physical lack, the economic needs, the real life problems that are undeniable, I am free. Free in the mind. I have challenged life as it was given to me, and dared to break out of the mold. I have found love and happiness. I have found a man to love, who loves me back. The world may not acknowledge us, my community and society may be hostile and condemning, but I have found my life and love and happiness.

Yes, I have passed through a lot in life. I will most likely pass through more. My life is on an uncharted sea, easily able to founder and sink without a trace. I have many battles to fight, in future. Some I may lose. A few I may win. Many I may never get the chance to see through. But I am happy that I have opened my eyes to the freedom of the mind, the freedom of thought.

Freedom is of the mind, and I am deeply thankful that I have found that freedom.

I will use what weapons I have to teach others, to free others. I will understand that some will willfully stay slaves and prisoners. But, and I have to respect that, that is their will, their journey, their life.

Can a Mugabe imprison my soul? My physical body, definitely. Pain to my body, my heart, torture, the indignity of poverty, stupidity and physical need and confinement. But freedom is of the mind, and I find that today, this morning, with my love resting late in bed, and my world full of sunlight and sunshine, I know that freedom is of the mind. And that it is mine to lose. Mine to keep.

Have a great day.

GayUganda

Evening

The sun is westering.

Bright orb of brilliant light too bright to look at. I see it, but soon, very soon, it will be over the horizon. Hidden by the hills of Kampala.

Downtown I am, at the moment. So the hills round town will shade the orb for a time, before darkness closes in fully.

Friday evening. Freedom out there, to party and relax, wind up the week. Will I join in? Will we join in? Maybe.

But for the moment, bars of steel shield me from the freedom of the open air.

Mugabe.

Did he win? Unlikely, as finding ice in the Sahara.

Did he lose? Most likely. But now a runoff is mandated, even before the Electoral Commission declares what the results are in Zimbabwe. African democracies can be truly interesting. Apparently, borrowing a leaf from one of my friends, they (ruling party) has already started the campaign. Endorsing its front-man. Taking hostage the media, and reminding all and sundry who ‘brought’ the gift of independence. And that the opposition is ‘homosexual’ and pro-west. Apparently, those two things are synonymous. DeTamble should be able to say something about that, in very colourful language.

For a few minutes, I will be here, then I will be off. Seems like time is coursing faster, with the sun westering. But it is a beautiful time of day, dusk approach, night not far off, the sun an orb, crown jewel over Namirembe hill.

Have a good evening.

GayUganda