Ethics Minister shuts down gay rights conference

By Martin Ssebuyira

Posted Tuesday, February 14 2012 at 17:09
There was drama at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe today when State
Minister for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo broke up a secret gay rights
activists conference.

The two week conference organised by Freedom and Roam Uganda, an association
that lobbies for the recognition of same sex relationships in Uganda ended
prematurely when the minister ordered them to disperse.

"I have closed this conference because it's illegal. We do not accept
homosexuality in Uganda. So go back home," Minister Lokodo told the
participants.

Hotel staff had been asked by the organisers not to direct anyone to Elgon
hall where the conference was taking place unless the person had been cleared.
This would have required a phone call from the organisers.

The Minister said the hotel's management apologized for hosting the event.

Lokodo ordered for the arrest of the organization leader, Jacquline Kasha, but
she escaped.

The two weeks residential conference attracted 30 participants and was
supposed to close on February 14 with an evening barbecue at the hotel's pool
side.

This comes on the heels of a private members bill recently tabled in
Parliament by David Bahati that seeks to punish "aggravated homosexuality," and
proposes the death sentence for someone deemed to be a "serial offender."
Although homosexuality is illegal under the penal code, public assembly of gay
persons is not a crime. But that would change once Bahati's bill is signed into
law.

mssebuyira@ug.nationmedia.com

Fonte: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1327440/-/b0qolnz/-
/index.html

Pubblicato da Lorenzo Bernini