Box Turtle Bulletin

Martin Ssempa Begins Serving Sentence

And he brings the cameras along to turn what was supposed to be punishment for wrongdoing into a canonization of St. Ssempa.

Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa, who had been a vigorous supporter and apologist for that country’s proposal to impose the death penalty on gay people, was found guilty two weeks ago with five others of falsely accusing a rival pastor of having sexual relationships with male members of his congregation. The guilty verdict stemmed from a May 2009 incident in which Ssempa and the others engaged in a conspiracy to coerce a male church member at Robert Kayanja’s Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral to claim that the parishioner had had sex with Kayanja.

The six were sentenced to a fine of one million Shillings each (about US$390) and one hundred hours of community service. Uganda’s NTV caught up with Ssempa — undoubtedly at Ssempa’s invitation — at Mulago Referral Hospital as he started serving his sentence. Ssempa is many things, including a masterful manipulator of mass media, as this clip very clearly illustrates.

Ugandan MP Failed In Call for Africa-Wide Support for Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Uganda President Yoweri Museveni at the Golden Jubilee Independence ceremony in Kampala (Photo by Faiswal Kasirye/Daily Monitor)

Uganda is marking its 50th anniversary as an independent nation this week with dignitaries flying in from all over the world. But as neighboring Kenya’s Daily Nation reported, Uganda’s proposal to execute gay people has become a “blot” on that nation’s Jubilee celebrations when the subject came up in “the otherwise languid Pan African Parliament“:

Dr Moussa Idriss Ndele from Chad moved the motion in recognition of Uganda’s big day which was seconded by his Kenyan counterpart Mr Gideon Mung’aro and unanimously adopted by the House. MPs praised President Yoweri Museveni, saying his leadership had seen Uganda move from a dictatorship to democracy. …But a remark by South African opposition MP Santosh Vinita Kalyan challenging Uganda government’s hostility towards homosexuality momentarily changed the momentum of the debate.

(South African opposition MP Santosh Vinita) Kalyan, the Democratic Alliance’s party whip had started off by showering praises on the Museveni government for placing health ‘on top of its agenda” citing the fight against the AIDS pandemic as an example. However, she said, homophobia was “a blot” in the progress the Ugandan government had made.

“Uganda has a blot in terms of its stand and attitude towards homosexuals. Regrettably, they want to criminalise homosexuality,” Ms Kalyan said while supporting the motion on Uganda.

The issue,she said, was not about “whether one supports homosexuality or not” but it is about their human rights. She praised her country’s constitution saying it allowed gays and lesbians their rights.

Uganda MP Cecilia Atim Ogwal (SABC)

Ugandan MP Cecilia Atim Ogwal stood up to announce that she was proud of Uganda’s proposal. According to the South African Broadcasting Corp:

Ugandan parliamentary member Atim Ogwal Cecilia Barbara told the PAP seating: “Africa must stand up. We must pass a resolution condemning homosexuality because it is not an African culture. We are not allowed to practice polygamy in other countries, why should we be forced to do what is not natural?”

Ogwal offered a second resolution “to uphold the value of God and values, of Africa,” saying:

“We abhorr homosexuality and value our God, culture and there is no way we shall allo a man to step on top of another man or a woman to lie on top of another,” said Ms Ogwal, the leader of Uganda’s delegation to the continental Parliament.

Ogwal’s resolution failed:

South African parliamentary member Santosh Vanita Kalyan says the resolution that Uganda is calling for, is “bizarre.”

Kalian went further to say: “It will never pass in this parliament, especially from members like us who feel that the rights of all should be respected.”

Also making their point across, Namibian member of parliament Peter Katjavivi said: “If that is acceptable to a particular member state, let it be.” But Katjavivi was quick to point out that such a resolution “should never be made a continental-wide affair. We should respect laws as they affect individual countries”, he went on to say.

Here is SABC television’s report:

Uganda TV Coverage of Martin “Eat Da Poo-Poo” Ssempa’s Conviction

Uganda’s pastor Martin Ssempa yesterday was without his usual strut and bravado as he learned that he and fellow pastors Solomon Male, Robert Kayiira amd Michael Kyazze were found guilty of falsely accusing a rival pastor of having sexual relationships with male members of his congregation. The guilty verdict stems from a May 2009 incident in which Ssempa and the others engaged in a conspiracy to coerce a church member at Robert Kayanja’s Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral to claim that he had had sex with Kayanja.

The sentence imposed on Ssempa, Male and the others is light, but I suspect that the damage to their reputation may be significant. While Ssempa and Male may receive some support from the West, they have since 2009 seen many prominent Western pastors and organizations cut financial and other ties to them.

This is not the only case in which Ssempa is believed to be involved in launching public accusations against others. There is considerable evidence suggesting that Ssempa had close ties to the now-defunct Rolling Stone tabloid (no relation to the U.S. publication by the same name), which launched an infamous 2010 “Hang Them!” vigilante campaign which featured LGBT advocate David Kato on the front cover. Kato was brutally murdered just a few months later in January 2011.

Martin Ssempa (the “Eat Da Poo-poo” Pastor), Five Others Convicted by Ugandan Court Over False Sodomy Charges

L-R: Pasters Solomon Male, Michael Kyazze and Martin Ssempa in court recently. (Photo via Daily Monitor)

Martin Ssempa and Solomon Male were among four Ugandan pastors, along with a business man and a musician, who were convicted by a Kampala court for conspiring to tarnish a rival pastor’s reputation by accusing him of homosexuality. According to Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper:

Pastors Solomon Male, Martin Ssempa, Michael Kyazze and Robert Kaira, together with Ms  Deborah Anita Kyomuhendo, a businesswoman and David Mukalazi, a musician, were convicted by Buganda Road Grade I magistrate, Julius Borore.

Mr Borore sentenced them to a fine of Shs1 million each and community service of 100 hours or serve six months in prison upon failure to pay the fine and performing community service.  Community service is where a convict is forced perform manual labour like digging, cleaning public facilities such as schools, collecting garbage among other chores.

The six are still being held in a holding cell at Buganda road court as they make up their minds. Meanhile Kayanja’s supporters are chanting outside court.

The magistrate said the case is sensitive in nature adding that genocides around the world have happened after the propagation of false information.

The fine of Shs1 million is equivalent to US$390.

One of the more immediate fallouts of the infamous March 2009 conference put on by Scott Lively and two other American anti-gay activists in Kampala, besides the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill, was a long and fearsome anti-gay vigilante campaign waged by the tabloids and on television and radio, with the full backing and participation by Ssempa and Male. During the anti-gay hysteria that swept Uganda, Ssempa and Male were among other powerful pastors who took the opportunity to launch wild accusations against rival pastors in a bid to increase their own power base and financial clout.

This particular case revolved around charges that Ssempa, Male and others made against Pastor Robert Kayanja of the Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral of being a homosexual, along with “a group of other pastors.” Before they made their charges public in the summer of 2009, Kayanja’s personal aide, Chris Muwonge, was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by armed men and held for five days. His captors allegedly wanted him to make a video statement accusing Kayenja of molesting young boys. Kayanja accused his rival, Pastor Michael Kyazze of the Omega Healing Center of being behind the plot. The ensuring investigation ultimately connected Ssempa and Male to the conspiracy.

Ssempa at one time had been a darling of American Evangelicals, boasting of ties to Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren; Peter E. Waldron, a Christian Reconstructionist and close advisor to Rep. Michele Bachman; Las Vegas megachurch Canyon Ridge Community Church; Willow Creek Church; among several others. Most (though not all) American Evangelicals have broken their ties with Ssempa since 2009. When Warren denounced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, Ssempa issued a sharp video rebuke against his former friend.

As part of Ssempa’s public campaign to push the Anti-Homosexuality Bill through Parliament, he resorted to showing graphic gay porn in his church and at new conferences. When one of those news conferences was filmed for CurrentTV’s documentary “Missionaries of Hate,” the clips of Ssempa alleging that gay people “eat da poo-poo” became an internet sensation.

Kenya Is Not Uganda

Of course Kenyans and Ugandans know that, as do most everybody else in the world. The headline is for the benefit of Americans, who on average possess an abysmal geographic literacy. But when you think of it, there’s not a lot of reasons why Kenya and Uganda should be all that different from each other. They lie right next to each other, they are both members of the East African Community, they are both former British colonies, they share a similar religious makeup, and they both have histories of dictatorships and human rights abuses since independence, which occurred for each country within five years of each other. And both countries criminalize homosexual behavior: Uganda with prison terms of from 20 years to life, Kenya with a prison term of fourteen years.

I know that when I started writing about Uganda in 2009, I don’t think I could have picked it out on an unmarked map of Africa, and I don’t think I would have been able to find Kenya either. But if you had told me these similarities, and pointed them out on the map where I could see them side by side, I would have then assumed that there were other similarities as well. Like, in their attitudes towards LGBT people.  And I would have been wrong:

Uganda Court Grants Bail for Producer of Pro-Gay Play

David Cecil (AP)

David Cecil, a British theater producer jailed last week by Ugandan authorities for staging a pro-gay play, has been granted bail and released. He was freed on bail of 500,000 shillings (US$200) and was ordered to surrender his passport.

Cecil was arrested and charged last Thursday with “disobeying lawful orders” which carries a two-year sentence. He was remanded to Uganda’s notorious Luzira maximum security prison pending today’s hearing. The charges stem from his staging of the play “The River and the Mountain” at two small venues in the Kampala suburbs after the Uganda Media Council banned its performance at the National Theater.

The Uganda Media Council reportedly determined that the play, which depicts a gay business man who experiences harassment by the friends, family and government and is murdered by his employees, was “obnoxious.” According to Daily Monitor, Uganda’s largest independent newspaper:

At issue is whether a letter sent by the Uganda Media Council, which regulates media and public performances throughout Uganda, constitutes a lawful ban on the play’s performance elsewhere.

Cecil will return to court on October 18.

Ugandan Gov’t Web Site Admits Anti-Gay Laws Are Foreign Imports

The recent arrest of British national David Cecil for producing a pro-gay play in the Kampala suburbs has gained significant notice worldwide and inside of Uganda. Cecil, who produced the play “The River and the Mountain” depicting the harsh treatment LGBT Ugandans face in that homophobic society, was charged yesterday for “disobeying lawful orders” for staging his play in two smaller venues around Kampala after the Uganda Media Council banned its performance at the National Theatre. The Uganda Media Council regulates all media and productions inside of Uganda. Cecil faces two years’ imprisonment if he is found guilty of the charges.

One recurrent theme inside Uganda is that Cecil’s arrest is more evidence that homosexuality is “un-African” and is a western import. In an undated post, the Uganda Media Centre, which serves as a press office for the Ugandan government, has picked up that theme and goes further. In an op-ed penned by Joseph Jabo (who has a habit of railing against gay people) and posted on the Uganda’s Media Centre’s web site points out that Uganda’s anti-gay laws are British in origin:

It is ironical that (David Cecil), a British National, would blatantly disregard Uganda’s Anti-Sodomy Laws and go ahead to produce a homosexual play (and have it performed on Ugandan soil) when his British forefathers are the ones who introduced Anti-Sodomy Laws in Uganda in the first place! The still-relevant anti-sodomy laws are based on Christian principles (Genesis 19, Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:24-31). Uganda is not the only country where homosexuality is illegal. Homosexuality is illegal in more than 70 countries worldwide and 41 out of 54 countries in the British Commonwealth uphold anti-sodomy laws.

And, of course, Christianity itself, along with Genesis, Leviticus and Romans are all western imports as well.

Ugandan TV Coverage of Gay Play Producer’s Arrest

This news report is from NTV, Uganda’s largest independent television network.

David Cecil was arrested and charged with “disobeying lawful orders” which carries a two-year sentence. The charges stem from his staging of the play “The River and the Mountain,” which this remarkably evenhanded NTV report describes as:

…a theatre performance that paints a picture of brutal treatment of homosexuals in Uganda and the violation of their freedom of expression…

Cecil is charged with staging the play at Tilapia Cultural Centre in Bunga and at Mishmash Cultural Centre in Kololo without permission from the Media Council. He pleaded not guilty today and was remanded to Luzira Prison until September 17.

Ugandan Police Arrest British Producer of Play About Gay Community

David Cecil waves from a court cell at the Makindye Court on Thursday in Kampala, Uganda (AFP)

Last month, we reported on a pro-gay stage play, “The River and the Mountain,” which premiered at a small theater in Uganda after the government banned its performance at the National Theater. The play’s producer, British citizen David Cecil, has since been arrested on charges that he had the play performed without official authorization. He appeared in court today, charged with “disobeying lawful orders” and was ordered held without bail. If found guilty, Cecil would face a two year sentence:

The Ugandan Media Council sent a letter to David Cecil, producer of The River and the Mountain, on 16 August saying it was considering whether to grant the play clearance to be performed. “In the meantime,” read the letter, “this play is not to be staged in any theatre or public place in Uganda.” The play’s run at the National Theatre was cancelled but it was performed at two small venues in the capital Kampala.

“I was called in by the police and spoken to by several officers from the media offences department of the CID [Criminal Investigation Directorate],” said Cecil. “They said that by staging the play I have disobeyed the Media Council, which is a public authority. I’ve been charged with that offence and they are now considering whether to press on with the case. But I had only taken their letter to be advisory, not the law.”

The Guardian’s report last week  indicates that Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo is behind the ban:

Ugandan ethics minister Simon Lokodo said the play was not granted clearance because “this play is justifying the promotion of homosexuality in Uganda, and Uganda does not accommodate homosexual causes. We will put pressure on anyone saying that this abomination [homosexuality] is acceptable.”

A scene from “The River and the Mountain,” as posted on the play’s Facebook page.

Lokodo, a defrocked former Catholic priest, has led raids against two conferences to discuss human rights for LGBT people. He also announced that he would try to ban thirty-eight NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) for “receiving support from abroad for Uganda’s homosexuals” so that LGBT people in Uganda could “”recruit” young children into homosexuality.

A report with Radio Netherlands provides this timeline:

‘The River and the Mountain’ ran from 17 to 23 August in a small cultural centre in Kampala managed by Cecil and his girlfriend.

On 6 September, Cecil was charged for ignoring an advance warning from the Uganda Media Council that the play was not to be staged until official “clearance” was obtained. The warning was issued on 16 August, the day before the play premiered. On 29 August, after the showings had ended, the Media Council ruled that the play was not to be staged because parts of the production “implicitly promote homosexual acts”, which “are contrary to the laws, cultural norms and values of Uganda”.

Cecil says he and British playwright Beau Hopkins, together with Ugandan director Angella Emurwon and the Ugandan actors, decided to go ahead with the staging because the Media Council’s initial warning letter “in no way” made reference to any potential legal consequences. Cecil says: “Even my Ugandan lawyer read the letter and said: ‘It does not clearly constitute a legal order’.”

Cecil said that if the original warning was clearer, he probably would not have staged the play. The British citizen also says he has “fallen into the trap” of local politicians who regularly charge that homosexuality is “un-African” and is being “imported” by Westerners.

Pro-Gay Play Staged in Uganda

While there continues to be police raids of LGBT meetings in Uganda, there are, also, signs of incremental improvement in the atmosphere LGBT people in Uganda find themselves in. Yet another small sign is in a stage play, “The River and the Mountain,” which premiered last Friday in a little-known theater in Uganda after the government banned its performance at the national theater. So far, and contrary to expectations, police have not raided the venue:

Pepe Julian Onziema, a prominent gay activist in Uganda, praised the staging of the play here as “revolutionary,” saying it could help reduce the stigma suffered by homosexuals.

“I think it’s time that we opened our minds to the things happening in our midst,” Onziema said on Monday.

The play itself reflects the tensions that are very well known in Uganda, but contains elements that many Americans can identify as well:

The main character is a 29-year-old corporate businessman whose mother desperately wants him to get married. The woman pays a Christian pastor to “cure” her son after she learns of his homosexuality. When the cleric fails to achieve her objective, she wants her money back. Then she enlists the services of a private dancer and, finally, a witchdoctor. She never succeeds in her mission.

At his workplace, the gay character’s employees are so shocked to learn he is gay that they wonder aloud, “But he is a good man.” In the end their new hatred for their boss overpowers any affection they previously felt for him, and the play ends as they swing machetes, baying for his blood.

Sexual Minorities Uganda Denounces “Anonymous” Hacking Attack

Sexual Minorities Uganda has issued this statement denouncing the vandalization of Ugandan governmental web sites by the “hacktivist” group Anonymous:

IT has come to the attention of the office of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and its collaboration of partners that yesterday a Ugandan government website was hacked into and shut down by the activist group that calls itself Anonymous. SMUG and its partners do not condone this action.

No member in our office, network, or in the Ugandan LGBTI community was consulted or involved in this action by “Anonymous” in any way. The hacking of government websites and the corresponding statements by Anonymous do not reflect the views of SMUG and its partners, allies and/or friends. As Ugandans ourselves, we stand with our community and equally share in the burden of this illegal and counterproductive action. In our view, the act opens every Ugandan citizen to the potential of danger and hinders the operations of our sovereign nation. Additionally, it has the unfortunate potential consequence of further targeting the LGBTI community – the very individuals Anonymous claims to be supporting through their action. If a member of Anonymous had contacted any person in this office or in the LGBTI community, they would have learned this from us directly.

Anonymous by nature is an unknown, secretive entity who acts independently against the governments and organizations it opposes. Its members did not reveal themselves to us or provide us with any communication on their proposed actions. Further, as an organization that advocates and practices only peaceful and legal pathways in its effort to ensure that basic human rights are guaranteed to all Ugandan citizens, SMUG and its partners would like to distance and distinguish themselves from the organization that calls itself Anonymous.

Sexual Minorities Uganda does not condone the activities of this group and shares in the dismay, frustration and anger that our fellow citizens have experienced. We are prepared to work with the Ugandan government to ensure that those responsible for this action are found and held accountable.

How Not To Support LGBT People of Uganda

In March of 2009, three American anti-gay activists parachuted into Uganda, a country which was (and still is) a powder keg of anti-gay hysteria just waiting to blow up. They gave their talks, stirred up a hornets nest of trouble, and swiftly flew out of the country leaving the local LGBT community to deal with the growing and unrelenting backlash that ultimately led to the introduction into that nation’s Parliament a proposal to kill anyone who is “repeatedly” gay and imprison anyone and everyone who would come to their defense. While the Ugandan LGBT people suffered through beatings, arrests, and even murder, the three Americans were safely ensconced in their comfortable homes, not quite a dozen timezones distant from the now dangerous streets of Kampala, but nevertheless an entire universe away from the havoc they wrought.

This past week, we’ve had disturbing word of yet another group of westerners wreaking havoc on Uganda while safely ensconced in their comfortable homes. The Internet “hacktivist” group Anonymous hijacked the web sites of Uganda’s office of the Prime Minister and  posted an obscene message along with a statement saying:

LGBT People of Uganda, Anonymous and Elite Society do not speak for you. You have inspired us with your pride, courage and self-respect. YOU are OUR heroes LGBT people of Uganda.

Anonymous is right, if not a bit paternalistic, in announcing that they don’t speak for the LGBT community in Uganda. But they nervetheless presumed to place themselves — outsiders with little at stake — as the protector and defendor of Uganda’s LGBT community. And they chose to show their respect for Uganda’s LGBT community by vandalizing at least one of the nation’s official web sites without bothering to ask the LGBT leaders whether they even wanted Anonymsous’s “assistance.” And after this group of foreigners took it upon themselves to hack these web sites and leave messages of support for Uganda’s LGBT people, they leave it to those very same people to deal with whatever fallout that may come from local police, politicians, political leaders and media. Val Kalende, no shrinking violet herself (she bravely became the face of Uganda’s lesbians in an important local newspaper profile in 2009 following the introduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill), articulated her concerns to Melanie Nathan:

My concern is the manner in which Anonymous claim to speak on behalf of Uganda LGBT activists with no consultation whatsoever. Has SMUG or any other organization asked them hack government websites? Do they understand how their actions could be perceived by Ugandans? I question the motive of Anonymous. They need to be advised. Those well-meaning interventions can cause severe backlash for activists on the ground. Hacking government websites to “help” victims of state-sponsored homophobia? Who does that? I think this extremist violent intervention MUST STOP. I would advise you speak to activists on the ground for their views on this.

For the past several years, I’ve watched from afar as the Ugandan LGBT community came together and responded bravely and effectively to the backlash caused by those three anti-gay Americans in 2009. While there was considerable international outrage and attention paid to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, there are many other stories of successes on the ground in Uganda that we don’t hear about, successes which are directly attributable to the brave men and women who live and work there. And more than a few LGBT leaders there are getting a little tired of all of the negative publicity and are frustrated that signs of progress brought on by their very hard work are too often overlooked. In fact, that was one of the reasons they celebrated Pride to begin with. Val Kalende reinforces that point again today in a piece for the Huffington Post.

Anonymous’s actions show an appalling disregard for the efforts of Ugandan LGBT leaders and a gob-smacking huberis that they, from the comfort of their bedrooms and coffee shops, know better than the Ugandan LGBT people on the ground. Meanwhile, those very same Ugandans are on Facebook bracing themselves for what may come.

Uganda’s Dr Semugoma: Optimistic and Living With Hope

Longtime BTB readers will recall our good friend, the anonymous blogger GayUganda. To get you caught up to date, he’s no longer blogging and he’s no longer anonymous. Meet Dr. Paul Semugoma:

Dr. Semugoma was in Washington D.C. for the International AIDS Conference last month. In this video he talks about the barriers to AIDS prevention caused by homophobia and discrimination — a situation that he says is exacerbated by the influence of American anti-gay evangelicals in Uganda. He points out that Uganda’s anti-gay laws currently are virtually identical to those of Kenya and Tanzania, both of which border Uganda and are also, like Uganda, former British colonies. Yet Kenyan and Tanzanian HIV/AIDS prevention efforts include special programs for those nations’ LGBT communities, while Ugandan authorities claim, falsely, that similar efforts in Uganda are prohibited by law. Dr. Semugoma makes the case that this stance works against the interests of the entire country, not just LGBT people.

At about the 7:00 mark, Dr. Semugoma talks about his own process of coming out recently and the difficulties that poses in his country and in his practice. Before coming out, he had been using his standing as a medical doctor to provide medical-based arguements for a more inclusive approach to HIV prevention and treatment. But even doing that generated questions about his sexuality, questions that he has only recently been answering. He is also preparing to move to South Africa where he can live without the kinds of fears and stresses that he experiences in Uganda.

Toward the end of the video, he describes further the obstacles that UGanda’s government places on prevention efforts. He describes the case of an HIV/AIDS clinic that recently opened in Kampala with the mission of providing care for LGBT citizens. The government moved to close the clinic because it “promoted homosexuality.” Doctors in the country joined the government in saying that the clinic was not needed because they don’t discriminate against LGBT people if they don’t ask about sexual orientation:

At the same time, doctors were asked, Ugandan doctors, that, “Do you think this clinic is necessary?” And to them it was not necessary, and their reason was, “We do not discriminate because we do not ask patients about their sexuality.” In actual fact that shows their ignorance because for a doctor to sit with their patient and to be able to counsel you about your HIV prevention needs, I need to know your sexual practices. So if you’re going to talk to a gay person like you’re going to talk to a heterosexual person, then you are missing the point. You’re going to advise him to use condoms, while he actually needs condoms and a water-based lubricant. You’re going to advise him to get married and stick to his partner when in actual fact he cannot get married in the country. You are going to advise him to be faithful and abstain, and he will think in his mind, “I abstain until when?” because he cannot get married. That is the kind of problems, structural issues, that are there.

He says that we have the medical knowhow and the tools to end the epidemic. The problem is not medical, but structural. He nevertheless closed on a note of optimism. Five years ago, the LGBT community was invisible. Now people know that it’s there. “I am optimistic. I mean, I am a human being and I think we live with hope.”

Uganda’s Gay Pride

I have such admiration for Uganda’s gay activists. They knew that if they held a gay pride event that the police would hear about it. They held it anyway. They knew that if they showed up for the event, so would the police. They showed up anyway. They knew that if they dared be themselves, some would be arrested. They dared anyway.

The New Yorker has an article on Kampala’s first gay pride weekend.

“Can you imagine that the worst place in the world to be gay is having Gay Pride?” Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera asked a crowd of cheering gay men, lesbians, transgendered men and women, and queers somewhere in between. It was Saturday afternoon, and we were on the shores of the giant, cloudy Lake Victoria in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, where L.G.B.T. activists had decided to stage the country’s first Pride Parade. Nabagesera, a lesbian activist covered, for the occasion, in glitter and neon spray paint, with homemade angel wings, was being half-sarcastic. A barrage of media coverage has painted the country as a hell for gays—a place where they are suffering and being attacked constantly—and, despite the need to combat such threats, L.G.B.T. Ugandans were tired of hearing a story that ignored their nuanced experiences of both joy and hardship. But Nabagesera was also sincerely pleased: a crowd of nearly a hundred people had come out, fears of arrest notwithstanding, to celebrate their existence. The air was thick with confetti, paint fumes, and anticipation.

Play Depicting Uganda’s LGBT Human Rights Struggle Premiers Thursday

If you are in the Los Angeles area this week, you may be interested in a new play which will premiere there on Thursday. Ugandan-American playwright and actor Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine’s A Missionary Position will premiere on Thursday, June 28 at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.  According to the press release:

A multimedia solo work for the stage written and performed by Ugandan American artist Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, A Missionary Position is a searing response to the rampant homophobia now gripping Uganda. The noted Los Angeles theater artist incorporates raw video footage and still photography—gathered over recent months on the front lines of the African nation’s LGBT movement—and layers this documentary material with his portrayal of riveting figures drawn from in-person interviews. A Missionary Position reveals Uganda’s LGBT community as seen through the eyes of a Ugandan government official, a transgender sex worker, a gay priest and a lesbian activist, and creates a complex investigation of the burgeoning resistance to state-supported oppression.

I’m told that longtime BTB readers may find much that is both familiar and revealing. The premiere is at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, with additional performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $20-$25 for general admission, with discounts for students and groups. You can find more information here.