Uganda: Fueling anti-LGBTQI sentiment to stay in power
From Al Jazeera - find the original here
The Ugandan government continues to use anti-LGBTQI rhetoric and policies to rally support amid declining popularity.
On May 31, the Uganda police arrested 44 people at an LGBTQI shelter in Nansana, Wakiso district, a few kilometres outside the country’s capital of Kampala. The 44 were later charged with a “negligent act likely to spread an infectious disease”.
The group was held for four days before being released on bail, which is a right under the law, but for people whose lives are already criminalised, they were met with stringent bail conditions and even getting sureties was an enormous challenge, as it usually is. Thanks to the great organising by many LGBTQI rights defenders in the country, they were released shortly before Uganda resumed lockdown measures in the face of the second wave of COVID-19 that is currently raging.