25 Apr Stop the human rights violations in Uganda!
A message to the world from a member of Rainbow Riots Uganda:
Discrimination, homophobia and victimization is a reality for LGBT people in Uganda. Especially for us who are living in the slums. Everyone knows everyone’s business. You fear for your life every day. People in the community support the “Kill the gays-bill” and want our president to sign the bill. That could be a death sentence for us.
As an LGBT person you receive threats even just walking down the street. Every day you hear the hateful words behind you, as you pass the shops and markets, trying to live your life. Even when they don’t necessarily identify you as LGBT, you can hear their homophobic words, and they cause hurt and torment. It is terrible, the things they say about us.
They say we are demons, child molesters, animals. That we don’t deserve to live.
As a result I have struggled with my sexuality. The other day I was forced to wear a dress because the women I work with were pointing fingers, talking about me and saying that I dress like a man. This sort of thing happens every day.
We are now victims of these parliamentarians, the mosques and the churches who all spread violent homophobia. They say that LGBT people are not real Africans, but that we are recruited with money from rich Western LGBT organisations. It really shows how little they know us, yet they hold the power to curse us, like Jesus was crucified by those who didn’t know him.
We now fear that the government will give people permission to hunt us down. Can you imagine?
I don’t understand why our leaders are crucifying us. I wish they could understand that it is painful and that they could just come and talk to us. We are human beings.
Please support the Ugandan LGBT community in the fight against this dangerous bill.
Together, we can work towards a world with love, dignity, and equality for all human beings.
Support Rainbow Riots by donating here: https://rainbowriots.com/support-us/