afrol News, 22 August - Thousands of Ugandans took part in anti-gay rally in the capital Kampala, asking the government to sustain the ban on gay sex, despite immense pressure from the international community.

The Spokesman of the Interfaith Rainbow Coalition Against Homosexuality, Pastor Marin Sempa, said the development is a clear indication that Ugandans condemned gay sex.

Uganda is billed to host the Commonwealth Summit in October this year. Ahead of the event, the East African country has been under strong international pressure to lift a ban on same sex affairs.

A maximum of life imprisonment awaits those found guilty of homosexuality in Uganda.

Despite representing over 500,000 of the country’s population, Ugandan gays have been crying against discrimination. They deem it fitting to use the summit to shame, coerce or intimidate the government to change stiff homosexuality laws.

Covering their faces in masks [for security reasons], gay activists vented their anger at a news conference last week, calling on the Ugandan government to give equal rights to all its citizens, including the gay community who have been forced to adopt double lives for fear of harassment and violence.

Some years back, a Ugandan doctor, Steve Kabiku, fled to South Africa after President Yoweri Museveni said gays should be locked up. Dr Kabiku feared being imprisoned for his sexuality. He said to escape arrest and societal aggression, his family had advised him to remove his jewellery and avoid putting decorating his hair.

In most African countries, homosexuality is considered a taboo. Except South Africa, no other African country legalised same-sex marriage.

Presidents of Zimbabwe and The Gambia - Robert Mugabe and Yahya Jammeh - both openly abhorred homosexuality. Mugabe said homosexuals are worse than pigs and dogs while Jammeh threatened them with harsh punishments.

However, homosexuality is practiced in most African countries, though most of them prefer to go under ground. South Africa became the 5th country in the world to legislate same-sex marriages, but gay activists fear deadly attacks on gays and lesbians. In the past few months, three lesbians had been killed in South Africa.

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories