Report
Anti-Homophobia Day: Ugandan safe houses for rejected LGBTs
Audio 01:33
Kampala, night view.
(illustration) Getty Images/Yannick Tylle
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
This Tuesday, May 17 marks the World Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.
In Uganda, many human rights associations regularly denounce the stigmatization of the LGBT community and the repression it faces from the authorities.
In the country, homosexuality is considered illegal and punishable by life imprisonment.
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With our correspondent in Kampala,
Lucie Mouillaud
In Kampala, the local NGO Children of the Sun has set up a shelter to welcome LGBT members rejected by their families.
In his dorm, Jeremiah shares the bunk beds with two other residents: “
I have the middle bed where I keep my bag and my clothes.
I don't have much at the moment because I arrived two months ago.
»
Before settling in the shelter, the hairdresser by profession lived with his relatives but, like most of the 13 inhabitants of the shelter, his family never accepted his homosexuality: "
My family discovered the truth about my sexual orientation and to them it was an abomination.
My mother was the only one to support me, so I preferred to leave to find a safer place for me.
»
Limited protection
Residents usually remain under the protection of the reception center for a few months, limited protection in a country where homosexuality is criminalized.
In 2020, all residents of the LGBT shelter, then located in a different area of Kampala, were arrested and detained for 52 days.
Among them, Ashoka.
The young man still fears for his safety: “
I hardly ever go out on the street because I'm scared when I'm alone.
In prison, I was the last of the group to come out and the situation really tortured me.
That's why I don't feel safe, even when I'm around other LGBT people.
I still have this fear
.
»
Read also: Uganda: violent arrests during an unofficial gay wedding
Henry Mukiibi, the president of the NGO which runs the home, had also been arrested.
After his release in May 2020, it took him nearly five months to find a new home and continue to provide refuge for the most vulnerable members of the LGBT community.
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