Tenfold Spike in Anti-LGBT Attacks in Uganda Since Antigay Law's Passage

[William769]

Sexual Minorities Uganda reports more than 160 incidents of violence and harassment against Ugandans perceived to be LGBTI since the nation's parliament ratified the Anti-Homosexuality Act six months ago.

One of the few surviving advocacy groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex Ugandans reports that anti-LGBT attacks have increased tenfold since the Anti-Homosexuality Act was first ratified by Uganda's parliament last December.

U.K. newspaper The Guardian obtained a copy of the report from Sexual Minorities Uganda, which reveals a staggering 162 incidents of anti-LGBT violence since December, including an attempted lynching, violent mob attacks, arrests, firings, evictions, suicides, and homes being burned down. SMUG reported just 19 incidents of such targeted violence in 2012, according to the Guardian.

"The passing of [Anti-Homosexuality Act] has given permission to a culture of extreme and violent homophobia whereby both state and non-state actors are free to persecute Uganda's LGBTI people with impunity," the report read.

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act, which criminalizes even the "intent to commit homosexuality" with lengthy jail sentences, also prescribes mandatory lifetime imprisonment for anyone convicted of "aggravated homosexuality," which includes any same-sex marriages, repeated instances of same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults, and as well as any such contact where one party is a minor, HIV-positive, mentally disabled, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

http://www.advocate.com/world/2014/05/12/tenfold-spike-anti-lgbt-attacks-uganda-antigay-laws-passage

[Behind the Aegis]

1. MORE READS NEEDED!

[William769]

2. I know!

[William769]

3. Kicking for visibility of the atrocities in Uganda.

[theHandpuppet]

4. Anti-gay trials have started in Uganda

MSNBC
First trial set in history of Uganda’s anti-gay laws
05/09/14
By Emma Margolin

Two Ugandans set to face the first gay sex trial in the country’s history appeared before a magistrate’s court this week after spending almost five months in jail for engaging in acts “against the order of nature.”

Nineteen-year-old Jackson Mukasa and 24-year-old Kim Mukisa were arrested in January on charges of violating a colonial-era statute, known as the Penal Code Act, not the country’s more recent Anti-Homosexuality Act, which drew widespread condemnation from the international community upon its passage. The newer law is currently under appeal in Uganda’s Constitutional Court.

In previous cases, prosecutors have dropped the charges due to a lack of evidence. This time, however, they say they have enough to proceed. If convicted, the two could face life in prison...

... Even though the two Ugandans face charges under a decades-old law, human rights activists see their prosecution as a symptom of the country’s intensifying crackdown on its LGBT community. In the lead-up to the newer law’s passage and in its aftermath, anti-gay attitudes have spiked, often manifesting as violence toward LGBT or perceived-LGBT individuals. A similar slew of homophobic attacks took place in Russia when that country passed a series of anti-gay measures, one banning “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors.” Though Russia’s law carries administrative sanctions, not criminal penalties as in Uganda, both seem to have the same effect of fueling vigilante violence and anti-LGBT sentiment. In fact, when Mukisa and Mukasa were arrested, they were fleeing an angry mob, a local watchdog group told The Guardian.

MORE at http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/uganda-goes-ahead-first-anti-gay-trial

[William769]

6. Thank you for posting that.

[NuclearDem]

5. Kicking.

This shit is despicable.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. But what has DU all upset today is that someone dumped a drink on an anti gay straight!

This thread is nearly empty, but dozens on DU are busily criticizing a spilled bevvie. An attempted lynching, violent mob attacks, arrests, firings, evictions, suicides, and homes being burned down. Slurpee on one's blouse.
Over 100 furious DUers http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024945069

[William769]

8. I wasn't going to go there but glad you did.

I avoided that thread for a reason.

I would gladly take a slushy in the face than a good old ass kicking or a face full of fists any day of the week. Would I throw a slushy? No. But people should try to keep things in perspective.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. They are accepting of the Uganda pogrom, perhaps because Francis and others are supporting

it, but absolutely furious that a pro gay person threw a libation at a bigot. They reek.

[theHandpuppet]

11. And we're still waiting for a word from Rome

The silence speaks volumes.

[theHandpuppet]

10. The global scope of the war against LGBTIs

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/petermontgomery/7865/us_evangelicals__still__exporting_homophobia__brunei_s_sharia_sparks_backlash__lgbts_seeking_aslyum_from__and_in__uganda/

[PeaceNikki]

12. K&R for visibility. This is 2014 and we're concerned about a fucking bigot who got a face full of

slush

[Dawson Leery]

13. US Evangelicals have taken up the cause of slavery.

This act is nothing more than a front. Evangelicals have taken up a fight against an act that all 99.999999999% would agree is abhorrent. At the same time, they are exporting homophobia. The fundies are using the fight against slavery as nothing more than a friendly face to deflect from their reactionary beliefs.