In Uganda, homosexuality has been criminalized for over a century. But today, gays and lesbians are being threatened with one of the most punitive laws ever to be conceived. If passed by Uganda\u2019s Parliament, it could lead to the execution of people who have gay sex more than once, the imprisonment of heterosexual people who fail to turn homosexuals over to the police, and the abolition of all organizations that support gay rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although it has not passed yet, the law is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the gay community in Uganda. Each day no decisive action is taken to shut down the bill, homophobia is allowed to grow. Furthermore, the bill has allowed political and religious leaders to use the issue for personal gain, by scapegoating the gay community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Auf Usaam Mukwaya is a 26-year-old out gay man in Uganda. He has been involved in gay rights activism in Uganda for years. As a result, he has been arrested and jailed twice, and has been harassed and threatened by his neighbours since he was outed in one of the local papers, which led to his face being shown on television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of these images document Auf\u2019s life, and his story of enduring prejudice, discrimination and loss shared by most of his gay friends. This draconian new law, if passed by Uganda\u2019s Parliament, is tantamount to a death sentence for all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started this photo story to give a voice to LGBTQI Human Rights defenders. I wanted to show how they live their lives in the increasingly homophobic environment of Uganda, and how they have chosen to fight against this bill, where many have opted to look away. Their struggle is not only about fear and violence; it is also about the joy and solidarity of a movement in its formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the bill is passed, persecution against the LGBTQI community will increase, but over the last year the gay community has also strengthened its resolve to continue its fight for equality. I hope these images succeed in demonstrating this hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also important to say that this story is not only about Uganda, indeed it illuminates a common struggle amongst the LGBTQI community throughout Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Uganda, homosexuality has been criminalized for over a century. But today, gays and lesbians are being threatened with one of the most punitive laws ever to be conceived. If passed by Uganda\u2019s Parliament, it could lead to the execution of people who have gay sex more than once, the imprisonment of heterosexual people who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":8592,"menu_order":311,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"edicion":[208],"class_list":["post-8654","finalistas","type-finalistas","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","edicion-208"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n