LGBTQ Ugandans continue to face Discrimination and Harassment despite Interventions

In Uganda, openly identifying as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer person can be dangerous. LGBTQ Ugandans can face long prison sentences. They can also face harassment and discrimination in the workplace. In our special features segment today, we look at the challenges LGBTQ people face, and how they are treated by society.

The constitution of Uganda supposedly provides for equality and non-discrimination for each and every Ugandan. In article 21, the constitution says “all persons are equal before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life and in every other aspect and shall enjoy equal protection of the law.”

But Ugandans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) face a very different reality, living at the edges of a country described as the ‘worst country in the world’ to be gay, according to the 2015 Gay Happiness Index.

Brian Wasswa, a Ugandan LGBTQ activist and paralegal, died last year after being attacked at his home. Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a local advocacy group, said that his death was the fourth LGBTQ-related murder in three months in the country.

Days after Wasswa’s death, Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo told reporters that parliament planned to introduce a bill that would include the death penalty for “grave” consensual same-sex acts. However, a government spokesperson afterwards said that the government "does not intend to introduce any new law with regards to regulation of LGBT activities in Uganda because the current provisions in the penal code are sufficient."

In 2014, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was dubbed a “Kill the Gays” bill in Western media. It included death sentences for some LGBT citizens for crimes that included gay sex, and drew intense condemnation. The death penalty punishment was swapped for one calling for lengthy prison sentences, and the Constitutional Court nullified the law on procedural grounds.

Nakato, a 28-year old transgender woman has seen it all. For nearly two decades, she bore the crushing weight of her secret. Though assigned male at birth, Nakato (last name removed to protect her identity) said she always knew in her heart she was a woman. At age 20, she started living as one. As Kato became Nakato, she felt she had finally found freedom. But it soon turned into a nightmare.

Me am a transgender woman sex worker. I was born a man, but I feel like I want to be identified as a woman. We want equality. We want people to respect our identities and respect us for who we are, but people have failed to really get it. They feel like that we are abnormal, something is not right with us because of who we are." Nakato says

Since religion and family play significant roles in many ordinary Africans’ identity and social practice, for people within the LGBT communities, attacks from these platforms can undermine their very existence and place in society.

"In the community that we live in, people perceive us negatively because of our gender identity, our sexual orientation then expressions. We are so much discriminated in communities, in families that we come from. We expect people to treat us like any other human being. When you go to churches, they preach about homosexuality and condemn us how bad we are and you feel like you even don’t want to go back to church the next Sunday. We've been denied health services in hospitals”. She adds

Nakato is not alone. Winnie used to have a stable, well-paying job at one of the biggest hotels in Kampala. Then tabloid newspapers outed her as a transgender woman. Her employer and colleagues started to avoid her or verbally abuse her. The insults forced her to quit. Now she depends on sex work and handouts from friends for survival.

"Most of the clients who could come in, they could look at me with a bad eye. Most of them left the gym. When you come to ask, can I help you, someone is like, I don’t need help from a homo, I don’t need help from a gay person and then they walk away. They give you that bad attitude. And then when some of my friends started coming in like my community friends, then they start talking badly like 'the whole gym is becoming more of homosexuals. Then some people started to leave. So I felt like it was too much discriminating. I actually left the job because I felt like I wasn’t feeling safe." Winnie says

Due to family rejection, young LGBT people are often forced to either run away from home or be kicked out, leading to a higher rate of homelessness experienced by young people from these communities.

These stories are typical of how discrimination often forces LGBT youth to hustle in Uganda. Many have lost meaningful employment because of their sexual orientation. Some have even sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Kenya hoping to find a better life there.

Thirty-year-old George Mubiru (not his real name) explains how he fled Uganda for Kenya after losing his job because he was gay.

"It is really, really hard for a gay person in Uganda, because the very moment they learn that you are gay, if you are employed and you are employers know that you are gay then you are fired and you can't be able to get another job because wherever you go to looking for a job, they ask you why you were fired from your previous job. So it would be very hard for you to get a job. You know gay people are being arrested, their homes are being raided by the police. So it's really really very hard for gay people in Uganda to live there. It is good for me to stay here because I fear for my life in Uganda and I am free here."

But being gay is also illegal in Kenya, despite a High Court challenge last year.

Recent opinion polls found increasing public acceptance of LGBT rights in Uganda. Yet when it comes to the workplace, studies show that attitudes and discrimination towards LGBTQ staff is still common.

According to a poll carried out by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, attitudes towards LGBTQ people had significantly changed by 2017. Some 49 percent of Ugandans agreed that gay, lesbian and bisexual people should enjoy the same rights as straight people and 56 percent agreed that they should be protected from workplace discrimination

However, despite some improvement, 54 percent of Ugandans said that people who are in same-sex relationships should be charged as criminals.

Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a Kampala-based advocacy group, says his organization has come across many cases of discrimination, even if attitudes in some areas appear to be changing.

He points to the role of the media, and also so-called ‘hate preachers’ who continue to whip up hatred against people in the LGBTQ communities. Pastor Martin Ssempa, chairman of the National Task Force Against Homosexuality in Uganda preaches violent sermons against homosexuality, even showing gay pornography to his congregation and asserting that gay men ‘eat the poo-poo’.

"If people know you're public, then they will harass you from all corners. And then for those that are in the closet, those that are not out already, they'll be harassed by the media because they'll be outed. And for those that are out like in the rural areas, they could easily get thrown out of their villages and they have nowhere to live or get thrown out of their homes. So I've seen that but at the same time I'm seeing a shift. You know that civil society is gaining support and work with us. And then I'm seeing the local community is becoming more aggressive and part of the form of homophobia I've seen has been fuelled by evangelical or very homophobic churches or preachers from here. I say preachers in particular because there are some I know." Mugisha says

Although homosexuality is still illegal in Uganda, and creating an inclusive atmosphere is not easy for businesses, some employers like Magezi Ronald, who runs a restaurant in Kampala, take a different approach when it comes to hiring new employees.

"I think it important for organisations to come up with policies that accommodate people from the LGBTQI community by putting in place policies that create a safe and effective work place and be able to counter any forms of harassment and discrimination. it is important for all employees to be able to bring themselves wholly into an organisation as one" Says Magezi

Still, research shows that many employees do not disclose that they are LGBT for fear of discrimination or even losing their jobs.

Jacqueline Kasha is a gay rights activist. She emphasizes the need for employers to promote a work environment where LGBT employees can feel comfortable to be themselves. She says they also need a safe and effective outlet for complaints if they do come across any homophobic behaviour.

"Every day we've seen newspapers coming out exposing people, our addresses, our pictures, what we do, and so many people actually have gone back into hiding. Many people have lost their jobs and others actually fled to neighbouring countries which are also not very good. We have 30 people registered in the camps in Nairobi and it's very weird for Ugandans to be in refugee camps because we are the only country in the entire region that are not having a conflict. And all the people who are going to the camps and are from Uganda, they are easily targeted because they know the reason why they are running from Uganda is because of the anti-gay law. So even in the camps where they've gone for refuge they know, they're not safe"

In June 2019, the Kenyan government sent a group of LGBTQ refugees, who had been living in Nairobi, back to the refugee camp where they had faced homophobic attacks, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

Isaac Semakadde, who is a leading Uganda public interest litigation lawyer, said “discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation in the workplace needs to start being seen by society and employers in the same unacceptable light as discrimination on the grounds of race or gender.”

This story was produced with support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation. More information at www.trust.org/media-development/. The content is the sole responsibility of the author and the publisher.