Uganda activists still busy, though fearful
Human rights and anti-AIDS activists in Uganda are busy doing good work, even though the Ugandan parliament seems poised to pass a bill that would put them in even greater danger because they defend the rights and health of sexual minorities.
“The LGBTI community is already experiencing the adverse effects of this bill, even before it is passed,” says Frank Kamya, secretary/administrator of the AIDS-fighting Youth on Rock Foundation.
Some prominent activists are thinking about whether they should start the process of seeking asylum in case the Anti-Homosexuality Bill passes, which would make their work a criminal offense, Kamya said.
But meanwhile, preparations are under way to take part in celebrations of International Women’s Day on March 8. Transgender women from Trans Equality Uganda will march with others, followed by speeches and a performance by the foundation’s Rock Angels.
Activists are also planning an intensified outreach program in April to LGBTI and sex-worker communities — “the most marginalized groups we have in Uganda,” Kamya says. That campaign is an outgrowth of the recent Standing on the Side of Love conference in Kampala.
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