Uganda Bans NGOs that 'Promote Homosexuality'

(2012-06-20) The Guardian reported today that the Ugandan government has banned 38 organizations accused of promoting homosexuality and thus undermining the country's national culture. It is not yet confirmed whether or not Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), headed by 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate Frank Mugisha, is one of the banned organizations. Says Mugisha:

"We are definitely continuing our operations and we will still hold conferences. We will continue to ask for the oppressive laws that are being used to intimidate us to be abolished."

In Uganda, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) organizations operate in a dangerously hostile climate. This decision to ban the organizations comes two days after Simon Lokodo, the country's ethics and integrity minister, ordered a raid of a gay rights workshop. Police officers wearing riot gear surrounded the location and questioned as many as 15 activists. Mugisha comments:

"The government is trying to use homosexuality to crack down on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. If NGOs are closed down, they will not be able to support human rights."

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