Advice for Ugandan schools: Stop expelling LGBT students
Ugandan schools continue to have a narrow-minded, repressive and damaging view of students’ sexuality, but at least one church-related organization has urged schools to stop expelling gay and lesbian students.
Expulsion of sexual-minority students is a common practice in many African countries. See, for example, these articles:
- Ugandan High School Reportedly Expels 20 Students for Being Gay
- Nigerian theological student expelled for ‘homosexuality’
- Ghana: Gay students would have polluted others – Owass Headmaster
The Mothers Union, an international Christian charity associated with the Anglican Church, this month proposed the schools respond to LGBT students with therapy instead of expulsion.
Would that change be an improvement? As Pink News points out, the proposal call for imposition of discredited, disreputable, damaging and impossible “gay cure” therapy.
(See ‘Ex-gay therapy’: What reputable experts have to say.)
The Kampala-based Ugandan newspaper The Observer reported:
Uganda: Schools Advised Against Expelling Homosexuals
Mothers Union Uganda has advised schools to build a foundation for counseling children involved in homosexuality-related behavior instead of expelling them.
Mothers Union is an international Christian charity organization affiliated to the Anglican Church.
The provincial president Mothers Union Uganda, Ruth Sennyonyi says that sexuality problems should be addressed within the school settings in order to avoid extending it to communities.
Sennyonyi made her plea during a symposium organized by the ministry of gender and cultural affairs in commemoration of the International Day of the Family.
The day celebrated on March 15, this year focused on family well-being and promoting family-friendly education. The day highlights the importance of all caregivers in the family, and the importance of parental education for the welfare of children.
She observed that expelling students from school because of homosexuality does not address the problem but rather worsens it since the students involved are likely to continue with it in other schools.
“We cannot keep sending children away from schools because of lesbianism. We have to deal with the problem, because they chase you from Nabingo, they chase you from Gayaza and what do they do? They send them to me; ‘ talk to them, we have expelled them’ Then where are they going? So, we need to deal with that problem in the schools. We are working yes, we don’t want lesbianism, we don’t want homosexuality but we need to prevent it from happening rather than just chasing away”, she said.
Several schools across Uganda have over the years expelled students involved in the vice, which remains illegal in Uganda. It carries the possibility of life imprisonment for those found guilty of homosexual acts.
State minister for gender and cultural affairs Peace Mutuuzo says expelling students from schools due to homosexuality is dangerous.
“It is dangerous because these girls have learnt about this lesbianism from schools to begin with. It is not common for these acts to begin at home, they begin at school. So, dealing with lesbianism from school is critically important. Schools must identify, we used to have prefects, we used to have spies. They still do exist. Those structures should not break. Instead of punishing this child by sending her to go and face the wrath of the world or transfer her behaviours from one school to another, we’d rather deal with the matter from school”, Mutuuzo said.
Mutuuzo suggests that schools and universities should concentrate on sensitizing students about morals and homosexuality instead of punishing students once it is revealed that they are homosexuals.
“Begin with children who have not yet started getting involved in these things. Freshers in university must first be given this kind of information and insight.
“Children who are beginning first year, in senior five must be sat down with and at least every session get a guest speaker to talk about issues at hand, morals. Give these children some boxes where they can write and give information freely and share with the headmaster and the administration. And when you get to these children, don’t punish them like they are criminals in Luzira condemned to death. Meet them and understand where this is coming from”, she added.
Information about “gay cure” therapy:
Related articles about LGBT Ugandans:
- Ugandan artist’s view of state-sponsored homophobia (February 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Artistic appeals for human rights of LGBTI Ugandans (May 2016, 76crimes.com)
- Scarred in Uganda, LGBT refugee is about to reach safety in U.S. (January 2017, 76crimes.com)
- Out of Kampala’s frying pan, into Nairobi’s fire (September 2016, 76crimes.com)
What a bunch of ignorant church and schools. Don’t they read and study sexuality of people, and they would know this is not taught in schools. You can not teach a male or female who is not attracted to another of the same sex to become something they aren’t. When will they leave medical science and people are born with this gene ? These religious people have their heads so far back in time, their heads are in the sand.
In today’s society think times have changed and things and idea’s have no golden rule like yesterday.
It’s acceptable now to be different more so than before, of course there’s going to be hate groups wherever you go. I believe that regardless of who you are you’re somebody.
Whilst generally this is good advice, it opens the door for what is considered in Uganda, and generally most African & Asian values, to the acceptance of non straight, non-orthodox definition of …. etc.
If issues are separated, then yes – this is a good advice.
Looking forward to your next post. Keep up the good work!