Homos meet in Kampala

May 26, 2004

UGANDA is hosting the first-ever conference to discuss the rights of homosexuals.

By Charles Ariko

UGANDA is hosting the first-ever conference to discuss the rights of homosexuals.

The conference at Muyenga International Hotel, organised by the Uganda Humanist Association and the International Humanist and Ethical Union, has attracted a cross section of participants, mostly lesbians and gays.

Jim Herrick, a founder member of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association of Britain,
said the 25-year-old association had about 400 registered members.

“Our organisation has supporters from across the world. Being gay is about love and deep feelings. I have been gay since I was 17 years old. Some people say homosexuality is sickness. It is not. It is about feelings,” he said.
Herrick refuted allegations that they recruited members.

“We do not recruit. It is a myth. You cannot change someone. It is something instinctive. We only associate with and help those who approach us,” he said.

Herrick, who is on his first visit to Africa, said Britain legalised homosexuality in 1967.

“If you persecute homosexuals, they go underground and live quiet lives. Homosexuality cuts across society and there is a wide range of people who are homosexuals,” he said.

In her paper on women’s sexuality in the African context, gender activist and Makerere University lecturer Dr. Sylvia Tamale said it was high time the Government decriminalised homosexuality.
Tamale said laws on sexuality such as on prostitution, criminal adultery, abortion and homosexuality needed review.

“Persistent arguments that homosexuality is unAfrican is not true because it was practiced in some communities before even the colonialists came to Africa,” she said.

According to Ugandan laws, homosexuality is illegal and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on conviction.

Victor Mukasa, 29, said she led a lesbian association, the Freedom & ROM Uganda, whose members included politicians and Members of Parliament.

“There is a lot of homophobia concerning us. But we are human beings with feelings. We are everywhere,” she said.

Mukasa, who was dressed like a man and preferred to be addressed as such, said she realised she was a lesbian during her primary school days in Jinja.
She said it futile to fight homosexuals.

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