Frank Mugisha

thumb|Frank Mugisha Frank Mugisha (born 17 June 1979) is a Ugandan LGBT advocate and Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who has won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize 2011 for his activism. Mugisha is one of the most prominent advocates for LGBT rights in Uganda. Quotes I love to read and write. I started feeling the power of saying what I think.” Frank Mugisha began his activism by writing, and has since used writing to counter homophobia in Uganda. “I’ve written articles and expressed myself as a gay man and described how I feel,” he says. He started by posting anonymously to a number of blogs, and no one knew who was behind them. “I wrote, and then I contacted people and encouraged them to come out, and told them they could use my method.” His method consisted of mentioning homosexuality casually in a conversation to find out what the other person thought of it. When people went looking for LGBTIQ+ contacts back then, they usually met secretly in places they wouldn’t be recognized. “They wore hats or caps so as not to show their faces,” he says. “They didn’t give their names or phone numbers, and some even used throwaway cell phones for a single meeting.” They often thought they had made a friend, only never to see the other person again. Then they went back into the closet. “We used to say we had ‘ghost friends’,” Mugisha remarks with a laugh. But then quickly becomes serious. “It was more a form of survival. Every time I went out I wondered how I could advance this movement for LGBTIQ+ rights, how I could improve our lives, how things could become better for us. The government and police declared open season on LGBTIQ+ people and many were arrested and tortured,” he says. “I remember going to the airport with nothing but my passport. I had my passport in my pocket at that time whenever I went out. https://blog.lsvd.de/frank-mugisha-visibility-means-safety-im-no-longer-afraid/] My personal success lies in the safety I’ve gained from being open and visible over the years. I feel secure. I’m no longer afraid of being outed in the papers, or of a call from a friend or family member. I’m no longer worried about that, I’ve overcome that fear. That is my greatest success. The legislation that has been passed by our Parliament, that is pending the signature of the president, is one of the most extreme legislations, anti-gay legislations, to be passed in Africa. This legislation would compel any person who knows an LGBTQ person to report them to the authorities. A Catholic like myself, if I confess to my priest, my priest has to report me to the authorities. Any person who goes to seek treatment from a health practitioner, they would have to report them to the authority. This law, further, would criminalize any landlord who provides housing to an LGBTQ person. This law would outlaw the work I am doing on speaking out for LGBTQ persons, but also it would criminalize anything I post on my social media that advocates or promotes the human rights of LGBTQ persons. This interview that I’m having now, if I had it in Uganda, the studio, the entity, myself would be criminalized. This legislation is here to erase the entire livelihood of the LGBTQ person in Uganda. In an interview There’s already a law that criminalizes same-sex acts to life in prison. We have the sodomy laws that most of the African countries have, that were, unfortunately, introduced by the British. The Ugandan president has had different views on this issue. He has told Ugandans many times that homosexuality has always existed in Uganda, that homosexuals have always been in Uganda. But as a politician, he looks at the majority of Ugandans and what their views are. So, for my thinking is that, when he signed the legislation back then, he was responding to the views of a majority of Ugandans. But right now he’s thinking deeply about, you know, if LGBTQ Ugandans existed in Uganda, why should they be criminalized? Why should they be killed? Why should they be sent to prison? I think those are thoughts that are weighing on in the president’s mind at this moment. Uganda condemns homosexuality but no homosexual has been threatened or publicly humiliated. European tabloids are good at tarnishing the African image. I really don’t understand the gains from such false reporting. Actually, many homosexual Ugandans have been threatened, in fact, it is now under reported because of the misplaced belief that the LGBT community are reporting cases of violence to get sympathy: the comments on some of the newer news articles from Uganda will give you a good picture of this. I do agree though that homophobia is not deep-rooted amongst many Ugandans, though it is condemned. External links Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Human rights activists Category:Activists from Uganda