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Historic gay, lesbian rights meeting held in Uganda
28 Oct 2007- Kampala -
A Uganda chapter of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) has been
launched in Uganda following a successful meeting attended by over 100 gay men
and women, transgender people, human rights activists and other supporters.
“Never before has there been
such a far reaching well organised and professional gay public debate in this
country,” said Pastor Kiyimba Yususf Brown who is the country coordinator for
IDAHO.
Among the organisations which
were represented were “Open Door Counselling Ministries, Spectrum-Uganda, Queer
Youth Uganda, Ice Breakers, Uganda Youth Health, Breaking the Silence and MUSLA”.
Among the participants who
addressed the conference was East Africa ILGA representative, Sam Ganafa who was
described by Pastor Brown as “a pillar of equality”.
Also attending was Sam Opio,
chairperson of Queer Youth Uganda (QYU), a vibrant organisation that is
concerned with youth health and rights.
Led by QYU, the conference
also discussed the way forward for gay and lesbian rights in the country. In
addition to LGBT rights, the conference addressed issues relating to HIV, which
were raised by the audience.
The guest speaker was
Professor Louis-Georges Tin, the international coordinator of IDAHO.
He stressed the need for unity
among LGBT people and other human rights campaigners and spoke about the
achievements of IDAHO to date – and the need for the United Nations to adopt a
resolution for the Universal Decriminalisation of Homosexuality.
Speaking in London, Derek
Lennard, the IDAHO UK coordinator commented that the fact that this meeting took
place at all is astonishing.
“It is clearly up to
campaigners in Uganda to decide how they can address the oppression they face,”
he said.
“However, I am sure that all
those involved in IDAHO campaigns and initiatives in the UK will want to support
Uganda in whatever ways we can, and express our pride in working alongside them
to fight the international scourge of homophobia and transphobia”.
Gay and transgender people in
Uganda continue to suffer from the oppression of homophobia, which has resulted
in many losing their jobs and even their lives, with many others facing trauma.
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