Journalism graduate, Alyssa Eisenstein, traveled to Uganda this past spring to see what it’s like for Ugandan LGBTI activists. Her documentary film, called “Breaking the Chains”, follows the efforts of Ugandan activists as they try and have conversations with people about homosexuality. The responses they get are chilling.

 

I’m sure none of you have forgotten the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that was introduced in Uganda’s Parliament as a private member’s bill. International pressure has caused President Yoweri Museveni to push it one side, but it is still there. And as investigative journalist, Jeff Sharlet, points out in an interview with NPR:

The only thing holding [the Anti-Homosexuality Bill] back, right now, is Museveni, who is afraid of losing support from Western donors. If there was a vote on it tomorrow, it would pass almost unanimously. To vote against it would be political suicide in Uganda.
NPR

When Sharlet visited Uganda this year, the charismatic author of the bill, David Bahati, admited that what he really wants from the bill is to “kill every last gay person.” His straightforward response is in stark contrast to the excuses used by other high-profile Ugandans who have variously claimed the bill is to stop pedophiles or to prevent HIV infections.

We may not be hearing as much about Uganda as we were before, and the bill may be in limbo, but it’s still not legal to be gay in Uganda, and the hate that we hear from Ugandans in the documentary is supported and underscored by the government and churches of Uganda.

(h/t to LGBT Asylum News)

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