President Yoweri Museveni, Members of Parliament of Uganda,
and the People of Uganda
Through Ms Elizabeth Napeyok, High Commissioner,
Ugandan High Commission in New Delhi, India
We register here our strong condemnation of President Museveni’s signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 into law. The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 violates the basic human rights of the kuchus of Uganda, impeding their right to live and love without harm to others, in enjoyment of the rights of freedom and equality guaranteed by the Ugandan Constitution. In the face of this severe blow to the struggle for universal human rights, we reassert our solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, disabled and HIV-affected people of Uganda, and of all 36 of Africa’s 55 countries where same-sex relations are illegal. We write as citizens of India, also a former British colony grappling with the multiple legacies of colonialism, of which the inheritance of homophobic laws is only one. We too have been told that homosexuality is a ‘Western import’ that is alien to our culture. This claim flies in the face of a wealth of evidence of same-sex love and desire in our histories and cultures. It is a matter of fact that same-sex love in our cultures, and in parts of Africa including Uganda, was accepted, and in some contexts, celebrated until the advent of the colonial experience. It is a claim that, moreover, is contradicted by the fact that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, represents the most aggressive institutionalisation of the criminalisation of homosexuality in the history of the Indian subcontinent. It is this legislative initiative of an unrepresentative colonial state that was then replicated in only slightly modified forms in other colonies of the British state, including Uganda. It is homophobia, rather than homosexuality that is a colonial legacy. Today, we are engaged, along with our counterparts in other ex-British colonies, in an ongoing struggle against this legacy of colonialism, a struggle in which we have relied primarily on the activist labours of our people and on the moral and legal commitments of laws and Constitutions that we have given unto ourselves.
As a post-colonial state that is proud of its hard-won independence, we understand, share and support Uganda’s commitment to realising and maintaining democratic decision making processes, in line with your Constitution and in the exercise of your sovereignty, unimpeded by the external world.
In this context, we are concerned by numerous analyses and critical commentaries that have shown the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 is itself an externally sponsored initiative, drafted with considerable encouragement and advice from US-based evangelicals whose moral, theological and political agendas do not prioritise, or rather undermine the welfare of the entirety of Uganda’s people. In this context it is important to emphasise that the Act disregards and devalues the lives of Uganda’s own people. We urge you to listen to those brave Ugandan voices in every walk of life who have stood up for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people in Uganda without regard to considerations of tribe, region, religion, sex, nationality, disability, or sexuality.
We reach out in solidarity against attempts at imperialist control over our political, moral, ethical and cultural lives. The irony of history is that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, which is an instance of such attempts at control, is being hailed as evidence of the expression of sovereignty. To recognise the rights of all Ugandans to lives of dignity, equality and freedom of expression and assembly, by immediately repealing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 would be the true assertion of sovereignty.
Signed:
- A. Mani, University of Calcutta, Kolkata*
- Aarthi Pai, CASAM, SANGRAM, Bangalore
- Abhi Tam, Hyderabad
- Abhijit Majumder, Fellow, InStem-NCBS, Bangalore
- Abhishek Divyam, Guwahati
- Achintya Prahlad
- Adam Fernandes, Mumbai
- Aditi, TISS, Mumbai
- Aditya Narvekar, Navi Mumbai
- Aiswarya J
- Akhil Kumar, Youth Ki Awaaz, New Delhi
- Akshata Ravi, Mumbai
- Amborish Roychoudhury, Mumbai
- Amritananda Chakravorty, Lawyers Collective, New Delhi
- Anand Pendharkar, Mumbai
- Ananya Dutta Roy, Youth for Equality, Silchar
- Andy Silveira, Hyderabad
- Ann Ninan, India
- Anshuman Das, Cuttack
- Anurag Nair, Bangalore
- Aravind Chandrasekaran, Chennai
- Aravindh C., Trichy
- Archana Shetty, Bangalore
- Arunima Dey, Mumbai
- Arushi Singh, Rights Activist, Goa
- Ashitosh, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
- Ashwitha, Secondary School Teacher, Mumbai
- Association of Transgender/Hijra in Bengal, Kolkata
- AUD Queer Collective, New Delhi
- Avinash Matta, Hyderabad
- Bharat, New Delhi
- Brenda Lias, Orlando, Florida, USA
- C Moulee, Orinam, Chennai
- Chanakya, India
- Chayanika Shah, Member, LABIA, Bombay
- ChemsEddine HAKIMI, Algiers, Algeria
- Chhandita Chakravarty, Hyderabad
- Chiranjoy, Guwahati
- Citizens’ Collective against Sexual Assault, New Delhi
- CREA, New Delhi
- Cynthia Tiphagne, Sudhathra, Madurai
- Danny Bhotia, New Delhi
- Deep Nand, Mumbai
- Deepak, Thrissur
- Deeptaarko Dutto, Malda
- Deepti Murali, Mumbai
- Deepti Sharma, New Delhi
- Deya Bhattachaya, Femin Ijtihad, Calcutta
- Dhamini Ratnam, Journalist, Mumbai
- Dolly Koshy, Secular Humanist, Bengaluru
- Dr. Gilles DENIZOT, Chennai
- Dr. S. Rajgopal, Coimbatore
- Felix, Orinam, Chennai
- Garima Sharma, Mumbai
- Gayatri Chawla, Patna
- Gayatri Menon, Bangalore
- Gayatri Sekar, Chennai
- Goutam Sahoo, Bhubaneswar
- Gowthaman Ranganathan, Lawyer, Bangalore
- Gulshan Kumar Mittal, Guwahati
- Hari Menon, Bangalore
- Hariharan, Chennai
- Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Campaigner, Mumbai
- Harshavardhan Goel, Student at the National Law School of India, Bangalore
- Henri Tiphagne, Convenor, WGHR, New Delhi
- Himangshu Kalita, Guwahati
- India HIV/AIDS Alliance, New Delhi
- Isha Singh Sawhney, freelance journalist, New Delhi
- Janani Vaidya,
- Jaya Sharma, New Delhi
- Jayant Iyer, Bangalore
- Jayesh Gopi, Mumbai
- K Rahul Sharma, New Delhi
- Kabi S, Bombay
- Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Feminist and Human Rights Activist, Mumbai
- Karishma Dorai, Mumbai
- Karthik Umapathi, Chennai
- Karuna Nundy, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi
- Kaveri R I, LesBiT, Hyderabad
- Kaveri, India
- Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA, New Delhi
- Kavita Srivastava, Jaipur
- Kavya Murthy, Bangalore
- Ketaki, Delhi
- Keval Patvi, Mumbai
- Kiran Shaheen, Media Action and Research Group, New Delhi
- Krishna B, Karur, Tamil Nadu
- Kunal Kochhar, Panchkula
- L Ramakrishnan, public health professional, Chennai
- LABIA Queer Feminist LBT Collective, Bombay
- Lena Ganesh
- Lenin, New Delhi
- Lesley Esteves, Queer Rights Activist, New Delhi
- Linda Dale, Leek Staffordshire, UK
- Madhana RNR, Lancaster, PA, USA
- Maisnam Arnapal, Delhi University, New Delhi
- Maksoom Ali, Pahal Foundation, Faridabad
- Mamatha Karollil, Ambedkar University, New Delhi
- Manak Matiyani, Delhi Queer Pride, Community-The Youth Collective, New Delhi
- Manojkiran C, Chennai
- Mario da Penha, Mumbai
- Maya Sharma, Vikalp (Women’s Group), Baroda
- Mayur Suresh, Lawyer, Bangalore
- Meena Seshu, Director, Sangram, Sangli
- Minal Hajratwala, Bangalore
- Mohnish Malhotra, Queer Rights Activist, New Delhi
- Monica Narula, New Delhi
- Mridul Dudeja, Mumbai
- N. Jayaram, Journalist, Bangalore
- Namrata Bajaj, Mumbai
- Nandini Rao, New Delhi
- Neal Sen, Youth for Social Change, Mumbai
- Nuzhat Nasreen, Student
- Oishik Sircar, Academic and Lawyer, Kolkata
- Orinam, Chennai
- Padmini Baruah, WHaQ, Bangalore
- Pankaj Nanda, Delhi
- Paroma Mukherjee, Photographer, New Delhi
- Partners for Law in Development, New Delhi
- Pawan Dhall, Varta, Kolkata
- Ponni Arasu, Chennai
- Pramada Menon, Gurgaon
- Prasanna R, Orinam, Chennai
- Pratik Bahekar, Mumbai
- Priyank Verma, Mumbai
- Pronoy Rai, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA
- Punita Gupta, Photographer, Mumbai
- Purwa Bharadwaj, Delhi
- Rachit Sai Barak, Media Professional, New Delhi
- Rafiul Alom Rahman, DU Queer Collective, New Delhi
- Rahil Chatterjee, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
- Rahul Patel
- Raj Patel, Goa
- Rajendra Parihar, University of Delhi, New Delhi
- Ram Chakraborty, Kolkata
- Ranjana Padhi, New Delhi
- Ranjita Sinha, Kolkata
- Regina Hansda, University of Cambridge, UK
- Richa Jha, India
- Ricky Patel, London, UK
- Robin Bose, Chennai
- Rohit K Dasgupta, University of the Arts, London, UK
- Ronald, Mumbai
- Roshni Sen, Youth for Social Change, Mumbai
- Rupa Kanapathipillai, Australia
- Ryan Figueiredo, International Planned Parenthood Federation, South Asia Office, New Delhi
- Sadia Saeed, Delhi
- Samira Obeid, University of South Florida, Florida, USA
- Samraj Kundi, Park Surgery, Middlesbrough, UK
- Sandhya Luther, India/USA
- Sapan Parekh, Mumbai
- Saptarshi Mandal, Lawyer, New Delhi
- Sarabjeet Singh, Mumbai
- Sathya Bose, just a lover of equality, Mumbai
- Satnam Kaur, Saheli, New Delhi
- Satya, Sampoorna [For Trans* Indians – By Trans* Indians – Across the Globe], India
- Saurabh Bondre, Mumbai
- Saurabh Shabdik, Silchar
- Sayan Bhattacharya, Kolkata
- Shalini Krishan, New Delhi
- Shambhavi Madhan, Chennai
- Sharmi Surianarain, African Leadership Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Sharmila C, India
- Shilpa Ahluwalia, Professional Social Worker
- Shiv Sahoo, New Delhi
- Shiva Karthik, Preston, United Kingdom
- Shobhna S. Kumar, Mumbai
- Shreyas Kumari, Santa Clara, USA
- Shridhar Sadasivan, Orinam, Chennai
- Shrinkhla Agrawal
- Shruti Gautam, Delhi
- Shubham Bose Roy, Delhi Queer Pride Committee, New Delhi
- Sibi Mathen, Yaariyan and Queer Azaadi Mumbai, Mumbai
- Siddhant, Mumbai
- Smriti Nevatia, writer, feminist, Mumbai
- Smruthi Narayan, LGBT individual and activist, Hyderabad
- Sonal Sharma, Researcher, Ambedkar University, New Delhi
- Sonia Singhal, Mumbai
- Soorya Sriram, Humanist, Chennai
- Soumya Tejas, Campaigner at Must Bol, New Delhi
- Sreekala MG, New Delhi
- Subhankar Das, Punjab
- Sudeepthi, Chennai
- Suhas Vasudev, New Delhi
- Sumathi. N, Bangalore
- Sundar Jeyaraman,
- Suneeta Dhar, India
- Sunil Mohan, Bangalore
- Sushil Rathi, Kharagpur
- Swati, Boston, MA, USA
- Sylvester Merchant, Lakshya Trust, Gujarat
- Tanushree Gangopadhyay, Ahmedabad
- Tanya Joshua, Chennai
- TARSHI, New Delhi
- Thaddeus Alfonso, Goa
- Udayan Dhar, Diversity Consultant at Mingle, Mumbai
- Uma V Chandru, PUCL-BLR Member, Bangalore
- Vaasu, Mumbai
- Vic Advani Friman, India/Sweden
- Vihang Ghalsasi, Heidelberg, Germany
- Vikram S, Chennai
- Vinay Chandran, Executive Director, Swabhava Trust, Bangalore
- Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression, India
- Yadavendra Singh, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, New Delhi
- Zoya Chhabra
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