OUR WEEK OF SHAME

Illustration: Martin Perry

BY ALEX HOPKINS

Shame is the one word that sums up this week for LGBT rights. Both in the U.K. and abroad we have seen heinous assaults on our community’s freedom and dignity. Unsurprisingly, fervent discrimination in Africa is in the spotlight with the murder of Ugandan activist David Kato. Yet, closer to home, the U.K. establishment’s behaviour has once more been lacking in integrity.

Kato was bludgeoned to death in a ferocious attack at his home on Thursday. His death came shortly after his address was published by the Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone which had called for the hanging of homosexuals. If the scene of the murder had been made out to resemble a robbery, it is clear to the international community that the resulting carnage stems from Uganda’s controversial anti-homosexuality bill.

Appalling scenes followed at his funeral, with Anglican pastor Thomas Musoke urging all homosexuals to “repent or be punished by God.” The actions are incomprehensible to any right thinking individual and, yet again, highlight the fervent homophobia that continues to blight this nation.

If this was not shameful enough, in the wake of the murder, the British government continued to press for the deportation of Ugandan lesbian Brenda Namigadde. She was escorted to Heathrow on Friday as the U.K. border control authorities hconcluded that she was not homosexual and therefore had no right to seek asylum in the U.K. The dangers that she would face upon her return to Uganda do not need reiterating.

At the last moment, the British authorities granted her a temporary reprieve. How very big of them. The reasoning behind their initial decision to deport her is mind-blowing. Whether she is gay or not (and all evidence points to the affirmative), what caring government could possibly consider it appropriate to send a woman back to a country where even the mere suggestion of homosexuality can result in death? It is clear what we are dealing with here – the cold machinery of bureaucracy getting in the way of good old fashioned humanity.

Yet why should our government’s actions surprise us? Look at the travesty that our legal system has become. This week those responsible for the murder of Ian Baynham two years ago were handed out a paltry six to seven years imprisonment. The fact that they were brought to trial on a manslaughter charge instead of murder is disgraceful enough. The subsequent sentences are beyond insulting.

It is time to face the hard facts. Those who run this country may give lip-service to LGBT rights, but their actions do not back up the rhetoric. Just look at the furore surrounding the appointment of Dr Hans-Christian (there’s that word again) Raabe, a Manchester-based GP who is now on the Government’s drugs advisory committee.

According to Raabe the gay lifestyle is self-destructive and inherently wrong. Why such a bigot has been given such an important role is beyond understanding. It beggars the question of what sort of checks are being carried out before such appointments are made?

Why has Raabe not been dismissed in the wake of his remarks? Perhaps the natural conclusion is that those in power simply cannot be bothered to stand up and fight for us. Make no mistake, these are the same thoughtless, weak jobsworths who are responsible for the disgusting mishandling of Namigadde’s asylum.

The unpalatable truth is that we cannot count on those in Whitehall to defend us. Our legal system is thwart with problems. Those at the helm would sooner shuffle papers and quote jurisdiction that no longer works to defend decisions that threaten to destroy our rights.

It is a cop out. It is the unacceptable alternative to over-hauling an archaic system of laws that are out of synch with the empty words our Prime Minister spouts about equality. It is something that we have tolerated for too long and this week’s news should signal the end to our apathy.

Lazy cowards. Those are the two words that sum up those who govern our country. With one hand they pretend to give our community rights and then with the other they shatter our hopes. As David Kato’s loved ones tried to bury him with dignity this week the scene was disrupted as Thomas Musoke grabbed the microphone to pour scorn on our international LGBT community. Every time our own government fail to live up to their promises they do exactly the same. They disrupt our hard-won pride and self-respect and are just as unwelcome in our lives as the vile Musoke. Shame on them all.



NOTE FROM OUR EDITOR:


For our FREEDOM ISSUE released in 2010, OUT THERE worked with the IGLHRC and Sexual Minorities Uganda to highlight the fight that David and his counterparts had against their own government. Proud to be Ugandan, David and many strong, likeminded individuals stayed in Uganda despite the danger, to campaign tirelessly and actively for the community they represented, to take brave steps to combat the danger from legal persecution, violent attacks and other horrors like corrective rape and murder. Why? So that LGBT's in Uganda and the wider population can access basic human rights.

We drew your attention to the bigotry and absolute disregard for humanity, furthermore fueled and funded by the religious right in the USA. Churches in a developed country, where collections from the so-called 'Christian good' goes into funding violence against LGBTs in less developed ones.

We urge you to do all you can to stop this nonsense. You can help the IGLHRC in their ground level work with sexual minorities Uganda by petitioning the Ugandan government in your own country. You can also help the IGLHRC and Sexual Minorities Uganda with your time, expertise or through a small donation that will help them carry out their ground-breaking work to stamp out the institutional homophobia.


For more information and to find out more about what you can do, including template letters and contact addresses, not just for Uganda but for the 81 countries in the world that still criminalises same-sex intimacy, visit iglhrc.org