Mar 18, 2011

BEING A ¨PARIAH¨ IN AFRICA: ¨I am a pariah. And, good hearted believers in god and gods will seek to kill me in the name of the purity of the country and continent I share with them...¨

Another bleak message from Uganda
Religion!!!!!

¨You know, I cannot seem to leave this topic. Cause, I am queer, and African, and I am bashed left right and centre by people who claim they know god.


Friend of ours has been having problems. He is straight, married, with family. A believer, a Christian. But, he is also a friend to us, a gay couple. Doesnt believe in the bigotry that the rest of the believers have. He is friends with kuchus in Uganda generally.

But, that is the problem. He is eating with sinners. Maybe he promotes the sin? The sin of homosexuality....!

So, he was thrown out of his church, with his family.

Talking about being more Christian than Christ.... don't know the details. Heard them second hand. Doesnt stop me from being mad, mad, mad. Because, far as I know, Jesus did eat with sinners.. and he was condemned by Pharisees for that. I don't mind being called a sinner. Fellow Ugandans think I am worse than a demon. Their pastors tell them so. But, my friend minds, and so I have to mind....

African activist takes a look at the constraints that religious people in Africa generally hold on our human rights. Not as just against gay people. An article worth reading actually. He examines the stance of the former president of Botswana. Clearly, the guy has his concerns. And, he is logical. He doesnt understand the stand by the zealots to violently condemn what they don't understand. Or, what they don't believe. Why arent gay people worth of human rights. [Of course, unless they are not human....]

¨I did not come out in support of gay rights but I did come out in support of human rights. I am not a pro-gay activist. I say I don't understand the sexual preference but they are entitled to it and therefore they should not be discriminated against, it should not be criminalised.


I can't understand why you say that homosexuality is un-African when there is evidence that it has always existed and exists today as it does elsewhere in the world. And therefore it appears to me that homosexuality whether we understand it or not or whether we like it or not is as African as it is European as it is Asian...We are trying to pursuade the rest of Africa and show them that homophobia is unjustified.¨


Being an activist does not make me lose my sense of what is logical, and the fact that my ally may find it tough to support me. I accept what my ally offers to me, a space for dialogue, as opposed to those who want no dialogue, because, quote, being gay is un-African...¨ read it all, By Gay Uganda, HERE

·  Thanks to Gay Uganda, sidebar
·  Thanks to African Activist, sidebar

1 comment:

Calamity Jane said...

Keep up the good work Leonardo.