Our Mothers, Our Allies.

 

Letter from Our Mothers.

Browsing, I found this on the Monitor website. 

I was floored. Couldn’t believe it, but it was still there.
I read it. Exceeded expectations.
Pdfed and stored it. To read again later. And, I have read it multiple times now.

Why?

Will the President actually read it? Probably not. Nor will the self-important politicians smug with the victory of having passed that bill. Nor the supposed pastors and religious leaders that fruit hate instead of love. [by their fruits..]

That letter was, and is to me. And to every African kuchu on this continent. To every Gay Ugandan, every Queer African, to all who are weathering persecution.
It says things that we don’t hear spoken of in Uganda. Voices unheard, important for their very love, and sheer frank bravery. It resonates 

“Just like our children did not choose to be LGBTQ+, we too did not choose to be parents of LGBTQ+ children, but we have chosen to love our children for who they are.”

Utterly brave.

The ladies are pissed. They have outed themselves as thinking different. They will surely lose social position. The pastors that they have challenged are powerful, ruthless ideologues literally mad in their powers in this little country of ours. They will persecute them, simply because they have called them out.

And it is to kuchus-
because it takes a step and stand to humanise us in the face of the dehumanisation that constantly spills from our supposed elite leaders. They don’t come from an abstract position of ideologue, of ‘culture’ or ‘religion’. Theirs is of a very intimate knowledge of what it means to have a kuchu child.

“As Parents of LGBTQ+ individuals, we are not ‘promoters’ of any agenda; we are Ugandan mothers, who have had to overcome many of our own biases to fully understand, accept, and love our children.”

And, having born us, they loved us, and have cared for us through our self-discovery in very difficult circumstances. They assert that us having grown up doesn’t negate their parenthood. And they assert that it is in their power to protect us, with the little that they have. Maama Lionesses.

To the religious leaders who are ripping apart these mothers families in the name of ‘culture’ and ‘traditional family’, the message is pungent, resonating with kuchu experience

“All our children, no matter their age, sexual orientation and gender identity, need and deserve our love. This is the very basis of what a family unit is about. Home is more than just structures, it’s a safe haven and refuge of love, learning, and belonging.”

I humbly salute these brave ladies.
No, they didn’t want to be nameless. Their courage demanded more; I humbly salute and thank you: Jane Nasimbwa, Sylvia Nassuna, Janet Ndagire, Patricia Naava, Jackie Nabbosa Mpungu, Florence Matovu Kansanze, Josephine Amonyatta, and Shamim Nakamate.
Thank you. You probably cannot know how much Kuchus are grateful for this breath of fresh air, in Uganda’s polluted, poisoned atmosphere.

I contrast your courage to the leaders of the group think making the rounds in Uganda: the Church of Uganda bishops, locked in debate with their peers in the Church of England, spilling their bile on gay Ugandans;
the Catholic Church leaders in Uganda seem decidedly cowardly, given the stated position of the pontiff, Pope Francis. The ‘balokole’ pastors, purveyors of hate; by their very fruits they are known. Cant forget the Adventists, silent supporters.

And, to Monitor Media, our thanks. 
BBC would have no problem publishing such a missive. Monitor took a real risk. Thanks for the courage to publish the letter. I know soon such a gesture could be criminalised as 'promoting homosexuality'

To any kuchu, queer African who hasn’t had the chance to read that letter, I would humbly recommend it. This letter is to you , spend a little time reading it, appreciating it.

 

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More ‘Bad for Business’

 

We Ugandans are quite insular. We can ignore the Business concerns.

When our honourable Members of Parliament wanted to kill off Uganda’s homosexuals in the Uganda Homosexual Death bill, they apparently got a lot of calls in concern. Oh, we wanted our bill. From the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among's lips

“"For your information I got a lot of threats. I was intimidated. We are going to lose out drugs of AIDs, aid is going to be cut off. Tourism, trade, export [is going to be cut] I said so what?"”

Brave woman. She hung in there, and we have our bill. On the President’s Desk now.

I have a lurid suspicion that the ‘calls of intimidation’ were on the consequences of the bill. Bad for business.

Tourism?
The desire to travel has quite a number of motivations. Uganda has spent quite a lot of money promoting the country as a destination. Would the Homosexual Death bill make a dent in the tourist numbers?
I have absolutely no idea. But, I can reasonably speculate that gay tourists from other countries would hesitate to book that trip to a country that has the Homosexual Death Act  on its books. Why? Because they are subject to the laws of the country that they visit.

I wrote this post tongue-in-cheek, but would Lil Nas X dare come to the country? [get post]

Nyege Nyege…!
A very Ugandan thing, that festival. Pulls in tourists, and us fun loving ones. Would the 500 plus want to shut it down? Pretense that gay Ugandans love it? Oh, I do, I do love it!

What of the other millions of potential tourists who now know, and yes, will remember Uganda the Intolerant? They might not be kuchu, but they might know of a friend, and a friend of a friend, who is gay. Will they come spend their hard earned dollars? And pounds, and euros, and lira.
Uganda the Intolerant, Uganda of the Homosexual Death bill. We are building up quite a brand.

I can speculate that the Uganda Homosexual Death bill has been worth millions of hard currency in bad advertisement for the country.
Well, we don’t care, do we?

 “Anti-LGBT discrimination has significant economic costs, the coalition said. According toa 2019 study it conducted, Kenya loses the equivalent of up to 1.7% of its GDP annually as a result. 
What would the figure be, for poor, little Uganda?

I certainly care.
I am a Ugandan. A poor kuchu. Like most of my country mates.
Honourable Anita Among can say she doesn’t, but I do. The lady sits, with the ‘500 plus’ other honourables, at the spigot, tap of the tax collectors results. They control the tap of tax payer funds, at the gusher, the very mouth.
They actually determine their salaries and other earnings. It is in the Constitution.
Most Ugandans earn less than a million Uganda shillings a month. As an MP, the Rt Honourable Speaker earns a basic salary in tens of millions of Uganda shillings a month. That is besides the emolument as Speaker, plus others. Many MPs are literal billionaires, ahem, ahem. Uganda Shillings!
More important, they can give themselves more money, care of the tax payer. Like 50 cool millions for every member to do ‘CORVID sensitization’. Just a matter of a supplementary budget, at which quorum will not lack.

Why does it matter?
When ‘the people’ hurt economically, the 500 plus will be the last to feel any economic pain. They control the tap. Literally.

I, and most other Ugandans will hurt if the US budgetary support doesn’t come in.., almost 1 Billion USD every year. If the European Union is also constrained, [I am not sure Russia or China will close the gap as pain free as we think. Strings and strings attached.] The west does run most of our HIV, Ebola and CORVID health support, no?
Thumbing our collective noses at ‘donors’ right before we go to them with our begging bowl doesn’t sound like good policy.., from my poor kuchu point of view.

Bad for business?
Well, perhaps the assessment of economic impact the bill got was accurate. [It is a requirement for every bill.]

 

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Bad for Business?

 

Yes, Bad for Business.

By the speed these things move, this is quite fast. The bill out of parliament 21^st March, and by 26^th March 2023 a statement from some of the worlds giant corporations. On poor Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023?
Anti-gay activists will jump to conspiracy that we kuchus have lobbied …, [thus proving our gay super-powers.] 

“A business group including corporate giants such as Google says it opposes Uganda's anti-LGBTQ legislation, calling it “a concern for global businesses and investors operating or planning to invest” in the East African country….

Though it sounds fantastic to claim super powers, This is more likely business concern, in my opinion.

Here, on Blogspot, I am hosted by Google. [For free of course, I don’t have the wealth anti-gay people accuse me of harbouring. No, it is not a special arrangement. You can also get yourself a blog with Blogger]

I am shouting out that I am gay.
Big deal [not] in most countries. But, in Uganda, with the new bill as law, that is criminal. I am committing ‘homosexuality’, Ugandan definition. 20 yearsin Ugandan prison. 

I am also rather aggressively complaining about the injustice of being penalised for being gay. And pointing out others who are in prison because they are gay in Uganda. AKA, I am ‘promoting’ homosexuality. 

Because Google is hosting me here, Google is also guilty of ‘promoting homosexuality’.
Google should hand my details to the Ugandan authorities, to comply with the new bill, soon to be law. The penalty would be peanuts to Google. But it also includes 10 years suspension of business licence. Or permanently . That is not business as they know it. Not as any multinational knows it, for that matter.

Google doesn’t have to be in Uganda. 

“Among the coalition's members, Google, Mastercard (MA.N) Unilever (ULVR.L), Standard Chartered (STAN.L), PwC and Deloitte (DLTE.UL) have operations in Uganda”

Would LGBTQ employees in those companies be at risk? The Uganda Homosexuals Death law is sweeping in its provisions. These companies think the law would impact them. Their reasoning is, reasonably, with regards to their businesses, not idealistic or ‘moral’. They include; 

“undermine companies’ ability to recruit a diverse and talented workforce”

“a provision that would require companies to report those suspected of being LGBTQ would put them “in an impossible situation”

“"Either they violate the law in Uganda or they are going against international standards of corporate responsibility as well as human rights laws of the countries in which they are headquartered,"”

‘Bad for Business’ indeed.

Would any other such corporates want to come to Uganda?
How many international companies will hesitate, even if the President lays out red carpets for investors?

At the last election, Facebook got into a tiff with President Museveni and the ruling party. Museveni suspended Facebook, for the crime of being ‘arrogant’. 2 years down that road, META (Facebook) has refused to blink. As recently as December 2022, His Excellencyis quoted saying. 

““It has been two years since Facebook was chased out of Uganda. When I checked, boda bodas and taxis were still moving [in absence of Facebook]; even matooke and milk were still coming. I hope Facebook now knows who is in charge of Uganda! When they stop playing games we shall open them,"”

Speak of awkward.
Do they actually mind? 2 years while business is closed? Ahem, Mr President, think again. They are telling you the Uganda market is miniscule to them.

But, this is just a symptom.
His Excellency is literally crawling around, begging for ‘investors’ to come to Uganda. But, he doesn’t believe in creating an enabling environment.
The untutored 500 plus [MPs] are even more obtuse and belligerent.

Is Uganda ‘Open for Business’?

Actions speak much louder than words. Facebook is a member of that coalition. The ‘Facebook Uganda’ affair  plus the current Anti-Homosexuality Bill, aka Uganda Homosexuals Death bill, show the business door was only slightly open. Liable to be slammed shut any moment!

The corporations are worried. And, it is a justifiable concern. [not ‘intimidation’ nor ‘threats’.]

 

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Papal Intervention

  

It is a curious position in the Catholic Church. In our eyes at least. I usually think of the Catholic Church as this monolithic edifice. A powerful institution, influencing the lives of many.

Pope Francis, in statements quite consistent from the beginning of his papacy, is relatively benign. Not benign enough to allow the ‘sacrament of marriage’ but enough to allow us freedom of body and life. Literally. [Blog post, Papal position]

That position seems to contrast sharply with what the ‘Fathers’ in Uganda believe.

““If Pope Francis would say that he doesn’t want any Roman Catholic priest, nor any Roman Catholic Bishop, to sign onto a law that criminalizes LGBT people in Africa, then the bill in Uganda dies. All the bills in Africa will die. His bishops, his priests are the ones championing the criminalization of LGBT people in Africa.””

So, should any remaining Kuchu Catholics in Uganda, and Africa appeal to the Pope to intervene?

It is a serious question.

We are not agitating for gay marriage. We have to be alive to get married. We have to be free of prison to get married. From statements from the Archbishop in Kampala, it is obvious that the Uganda Homosexuals Death Bill is a pre-emptive strike against gay marriage.

If the Pope offers us freedom and life instead of prison and death as offered [by proxy] by the ‘Fathers’ in Uganda.
We will take his deal, and lay off the ‘Sacrament of Marriage’. Seriously.

No, we will not debate about ‘charity’, ‘sin’ and other minutiae. It is a question of survival. The Pope has a better deal.

If the Pope would intervene…, Pretty Please.

 

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The Uganda Catholic Church’s Problem with Pope Francis

 

Horror of horrors! Am I implying there is a break with the Supreme Pontiff? With regards to homosexuality?
That is a serious allegation.

Gay bashing is a national sports in Uganda. The last quarter was ‘finals’ in a way; the party to beat all parties. The Uganda Catholic Church’s voice was curiously absent, muted.[previous post]
But, Pope Francis has been vocal.

The Pontiff has always had a frank opinion on homosexuality. Part of his job, so to say. Problem is that opinion contrasts black to white with the majority of Ugandans. And it contrasts [apparently] with the views of Uganda’s Church Fathers.., the most likely reason they are yet to release their ‘opinion’ 

Pope Francis’ views, as reported in Uganda, in an article in the Sunday Monitor on Sunday, January 29, 2023.[article] These are the Pontiff’s words, as reported.

On Wednesday (25^th Jan 2023), an interview with AP

“being homosexual was "not a crime ... but it’s a sin".”

“"It’s not a crime ... but it’s a sin," he said, adding: "It’s also a sin to lack charity (love for) with one another."”

On Saturday (28^th Jan 2023), in a letter in Spanish, translated into English on the website ‘Outreach’ Pope Francis says

“People who criminalise homosexuality are "wrong",”

“"to clarify that it (homosexuality) is not a crime, in order to stress that criminalisation is neither good nor just"."”

“I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin,"”

“"I would tell whoever wants to criminalise homosexuality that they are wrong,"”

“'It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage.'"”

Pope Francis is pretty cool, with regards to my sexuality. That is a matter of fact observation. The Monitor reported that he had written earlier to the same priest, thanking him for his ministry to LGBTQ individuals and stressing.

“the inclusive nature of Catholicism and writing that God "loves each of his children".”

Those statements from the Pontiff are pretty strong. I am no Catholic, but, I understand that it is much better to be unable to receive the ‘sacrament of marriage’ than risk death and prison, for being gay.

Ahem, and the whole ‘charity’ or love thing?
I don’t know whether any Kuchus in Uganda have been feeling any love from the Catholic Church, but I can confidently assert that, whereas we feel warmth from Rome, the wind from Rubaga blows cold when it deigns to blow.
Oh come on, which independent observer would try parse the language ofArchbishop Ssemwogerere here as the essence of love? 

I dont need to quote Jesus on love. I just need to quote Pope Francis.
The irony of it.

 

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The Catholic Church in Uganda; Missing in Action

 

Missing in Action?

The last couple of months have been eventful in Kuchu world terms; our world awash with commentary.
In casual conversation, the airwaves, (TV and radio, social media a flood); it was comments free for everyone. Know what voice has been missing?

The Catholic Church in Uganda. Missing in action.

I thought I had just missed it till this article surfaced. Of Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere of the Archdiocese of Kampala of an article on 29^th March.

““Regarding what has come out of Parliament once we have the entire Bill, as Fathers of the Catholic Church we will come together to discuss that Bill and give the position of the Catholic Church in Uganda.””

Does it mean that the Catholic Church in Uganda has not weighed in on the Uganda’s Homosexuals Death bill? That is what it seems to imply.

The free for all occurring over the country has been deafening. For the Church not to have received its invitation to the party, it must have been blind, deaf and dumb!
Or is the Catholic Church playing blind, deaf and dumb? There are clear differences.

 Not even a consensus statement to date?

Why is input from the Catholic Church important?

[Ahem, ahem, why should it be important?
Maybe because I know Pope Francis’ take on the topic. I wait, bated breath, for their interpretation…]

But, some statistical input. via Crux

“Uganda is among the most heavily Catholic nations in Africa, with 40 percent of the population belonging to the church. By 2050 it’s projected to have the second-largest Catholic population on the continent, at 56 million.”

Indeed. Father Lokodo was a former Catholic priest. And I know the number of the Catholic faithful amongst the ‘500 plus’ MPs is considerable.

“one of the principal sponsors of the legislation, a Member of Parliament named Charles Onen, is a former Catholic priest who left the ministry to go into politics, and the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Anita Annet Among, a major proponent of the bill, is also Catholic.”

The Catholic Church in Uganda is large and powerful. Indeed, it is very, very powerful. The Pentecostals might shout their lungs out, the Protestants go their quiet way, the Catholics in Uganda are a major force.

How come the Catholic Church in Uganda has not yet been able to release a statement on the Uganda Homosexuals Death bill? Must be stuck in the bureaucracy.

Or, why is the Church playing Blind, Deaf and Dumb?

 

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