A lesbian woman due to be deported from Britain to Uganda has been told by a Ugandan MP that she must "repent or reform" when she returns home.
The politician, David Bahati, intervened in the case of Brenda Namigadde, due to be deported on Friday, saying he would drop a clause making homosexuality punishable by death in a bill he introduced to the Ugandan parliament.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campaigners were sceptical of his pledge to drop the death penalty, and said that Bahatia's intervention meant Namigadde was in "desperate trouble" if deported.
Gay sex is a criminal offence in Uganda punishable by a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Bahati told the Guardian: "Brenda is welcome in Uganda if she will abandon or repent her behaviour. Here in Uganda, homosexuality is not a human right. It is behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned. We wouldn't want Brenda to be painting a wrong picture of Uganda, that we are harassing homosexuals."
Asked what would happen if she did not "repent" he said: "If she is caught in illegal practices she will be punished. If she comes to promote homosexuality, if she is caught in the act, if she is caught in illegal acts, she will be punished. I would be surprised, if she was promoting homosexuality, if she were not arrested."
His bill, currently in committee stage, would impose life imprisonment for consenting adults who have gay sex, and the death penalty for people with HIV, "serial" homosexuals and those who have sex with under-18s, if it became law.
Bahati said he was "willing to drop the death penalty" because of international concerns, but "key clauses", including life imprisonment for gay people or gay marriage, imprisonment for the "promotion" of homosexuality and for those who fail to report an offence under the act, would remain. He was "confident" the bill would be passed following elections in the country next month, he said.
Speaking from Yarl's Wood detention centre, Namigadde, 29, who fled Uganda in 2003 after being threatened and her house destroyed over her relationship with her Canadian partner, said: "I'll be tortured or killed if I'm sent back to Uganda. They've put people like me to death there. Most of my friends in Uganda have disappeared."
Her initial asylum claim was rejected in part on the basis that there was not sufficient evidence that she is a lesbian.
Namigadde's lawyer, Alex Oringa, from Cardinal Solicitors, who submitted a fresh asylum claim on Monday, said he was "very worried" for her safety. "The moment she arrives at Entebbe airport she will be arrested. They will detain her and you never know what happens in detention. They think she has humiliated the Ugandan government."
Gay rights groups, including AllOut, a US-based gay right group and LGBT Asylum news, have petitioned Theresa May, the home secretary, to grant Namigadde asylum.
The UK Border Agency, said: "Ms Namigadde's case has been carefully considered by both the UK Border Agency and the courts and she has been found not to have a right to remain here. She has submitted further representations and these will be reviewed by the UK Border Agency prior to any removal."
Read the original article here.
Your field guide to gay men's health. The blog is no longer active, but is still available to use as an information resource.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
select key words
2007 National HIV Prevention Conference
2009 National LGBTI Health Summit
2011 LGBTI Health Summit
2012 Gay Men's Health Summit
2012 International AIDS Conference
abstinence only
ACT Up
activism
advocacy
Africa
african-american
aging issues
AIDS
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
anal cancer
anal carcinoma
anal health
anal sex
andrew's anus
athlete
ball scene
bareback porn
barebacking
bathhouses
bears
big bold and beautiful
Bisexual
Bisexual Health Summit
bisexuality
black gay men
black msm
blood ban
blood donor
body image
bottom
Brian Mustanski
BUTT
Center on Halsted
Charles Stephens
Chicago
Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus
Chicago Task Force on LGBT Substance Use and Abuse
Chris Bartlett
chubby chaser
circumcision
civil rights
civil union
Coaching with Jake
communication
community organizing
condoms
Congress
crystal meth
dating
dating and mating with alan irgang
David Halperin
David Munar
depression
disclosure
discrimination
domestic violence
don't ask don't tell
douche
downlow
Dr. James Holsinger
Dr. Jesus Ramirez-Valles
Dr. Rafael Diaz
Dr. Ron Stall
drag queen
Ed Negron
emotional health
ENDA
Eric Rofes
exercise
Feast of Fun
Feel the love...
female condom
fitness
Friday is for Faeries
FTM
gay culture
gay identity
gay latino
gay male sex
gay marriage
gay men
gay men of color
gay men's health
Gay Men's Health Summit 2010
gay pride
gay rights
gay rugby
gay sex
gay youth
gender
harm reduction
hate crime
HCV
health care
health care reform
health insurance
hepatitis C
HIV
HIV care
HIV drugs
HIV negative
HIV positive
HIV prevention
HIV stigma
HIV strategic plan
HIV testing
hiv vaccine
HIV/AIDS
homophobia
homosexuality
hottie
hotties
how are you healthy?
Howard Brown Health Center
HPV
human rights
humor
hunk
Illinois
IML
immigration
International AIDS Conference
international mr. leather
internet
intimacy
IRMA
Jim Pickett
leather community
leathersex
Leon Liberman
LGBT
LGBT adoption
LGBT culture
LGBT health
LGBT rights
LGBT seniors
LGBT youth
LGBTI community
LGBTI culture
LGBTI health
LGBTI rights
LGBTI spirituality
LGV
LifeLube
LifeLube forum
LifeLube poll
LifeLube subscription
lifelube survey
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
love
lube
lubricant
Lymphogranuloma Venereum
masturbation
mental health
microbicides
middle
Monday Morning Perk-Up
MRSA
MSM
music
National AIDS Strategy
National Gay Men's Health Summit
negotiated safety
nutrition
One Fey's Tale
oral sex
Peter Pointers
physical health
Pistol Pete
pleasure
PnP
podcast
policy
politics
poppers
porn
post-exposure prophylaxis
PrEP
President Barack Obama
Presidential Campaign
prevention
Project CRYSP
prostate
prostate cancer
public health
public sex venues
queer identity
racism
Radical Faerie
recovery
rectal microbicides
relationships
religion
research
safe sex
semen
Senator Barack Obama
sero-adaptation
sero-sorting
seroguessing
sex
sexual abuse
sexual addiction
sexual health
sexual orientation
Sister Glo
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
smoking
social marketing
spirituality
STD
stigma
stonewall riots
substance abuse treatment
substance use
suicide
super-bug
superinfection
Susan Kingston
Swiss declaration
syphilis
Ted Kerr
Test Positive Aware Network
testicle self-examination
testicular cancer
testing
The "Work-In"
The 2009 Gay Men's Health Agenda
Tony Valenzuela
top
Trans and Intersex Association
trans group blog
Trans Gynecology Access Program
transgender
transgender day of remembrance
transgendered
transmen
transphobia
transsexual
Trevor Hoppe
universal health care
unsafe sex
vaccines
video
violence
viral load
Who's That Queer
Woof Wednesday
writers
yoga
You Tube
youtube
No comments:
Post a Comment