Uganda anti-gay bill close to becoming law
ampala, Uganda - A little more than a week after the Ugandan parliament passed a bill outlawing homosexuality, Frank Mugisha - a leader of Uganda's gay rights movement - turned up at a posh hotel in Kampala, the capital, to attend a gala for Ugandans working abroad.
His decision to attend was a bold move: Homophobia runs deep in Uganda, and the anti-homosexuality bill will see gay men like Mugisha jailed for up to 14 years if found guilty of engaging in consensual homosexual acts. Those convicted of "aggravated homosexuality" - which is defined to include acts committed with children, by HIV-positive individuals, or by authority figures - would be jailed for life.
At a cocktail party before the dinner at the Serena Hotel, Mugisha stood chatting and sipping drinks with two other gay Ugandans, apparently afraid to mingle with other people. Few guests dared join the trio in conversation.
"Serena [Hotel] is one of the places where you are very sure that however much a Ugandan hates you, they are less likely to come and attack you or else they will be embarrassed," said Mugisha, a diminutive man who wears glasses and won the 2011 Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award. But, he added, "if someone was bold enough and said, 'you know what: I do not want these people'", things could go horribly wrong.
The 32-year-old said he has been attacked in a supermarket while shopping, and on another occasion had his car tyre slashed.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/uganda-anti-gay-bill-close-becoming-law-20141681452366858.html