HOMOSEXUALITY IS A CRIME IN 38 AFRICAN COUNTRIES, AND NEW LAWS IN NIGERIA AND UGANDA HAVE INCREASED
POTENTIAL PUNISHMENTS FOR THOSE CHARGED.
TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION, SOME GAY AND TRANSGENDER AFRICANS HAVE COME TO THE UNITED STATES TO
SEEK ASYLUM.
FOR THOSE FROM UGANDA, FLEEING THEIR COUNTRY IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
VOA'S CARLA BABB TALKED WITH ME ABOUT HER COVERAGE OF THIS ISSUE AND TWO TRANSGENDER
UGANDANS SHE MET AND INTERVIEWED HERE.
AS SHE REPORTS, BOTH ARE VERY AFRAID TO GO BACK HOME.
SO, CARLA, YOUR STORY FOCUSED ON UGANDA'S PROSECUTION OF GAYS AND THOSE WHO HAD ESCAPED
FROM UGANDA TO COME TO THE UNITED STATES.
HOW BAD IS IT IN UGANDA?
IT'S REALLY FOR SOME PEOPLE A LIFE AND DEATH SITUATION.
IF YOU ARE CONVICTED OF AGGREGATED OR REPEATING HOMOSEXUALITY, YOU COULD BE SENTENCED TO LIFE
IN PRISON...ALL THE WAY TO, IF YOU ARE IN A MUSLIM COMMUNITY, LIKE NIKI MAWANDA...
THE PUNISHMENT IS DEATH BY STONING THERE.
SO IT'S A SCARY SITUATION AND IT'S A ONE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE NEED TO GET OUT OF.
"I CAN TELL YOU THAT IT'S SO BAD IN UGANDA.
PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UGANDA."
NIKI MAWANDA RECENTLY FLED HIS AFRICAN HOMELAND.
HE IS TRANSGENDER.
"I'M WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY PEOPLE.
BUT I'M ALSO SCARED THAT WHEN I GO BACK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME."
DEATH THREATS AND POLICE BRUTALITY WERE AMONG THE HORRORS TRANSGENDER UGANDAN, VICTOR MUKASA,
FACED BEFORE GAINING ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES LESS THAN A YEAR AGO.
"I HAVE HAD PEOPLE LAY THEIR HANDS, MEN LAY THEIR HANDS ON MY GENITALS, CHASING THE SPIRIT
OF HOMOSEXUALITY OUT OF ME.
WHEN YOU HEAR THE STORY OF PEOPLE WAGING WAR AGAINST A PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE, THIS
IS NO DIFFERENT."
THESE ANTI-GAY SENTIMENTS THAT WE SEE, NOT JUST IN UGANDA BUT ACROSS AFRICA AS A CONTINENT.
WHAT IS AT THE ROOT OF THIS?
IS IT RELIGION?
WHY ARE PEOPLE HAVING SUCH HATRED FOR HOMOSEXUALITY?
RELIGION IS A BIG PART OF IT.
THERE'S EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS, ON ONE SIDE, THAT DON'T THINK THAT HOMOSEXUALITY SHOULD
BE LEGAL.
THERE ARE MUSLIMS, ON THE OTHER SIDE, EXTREME MUSLIM GROUPS THAT THINK THAT HOMOSEXUALITY
SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.
AND IT'S ALSO A BIG PUSH WITH NATIONALISM, BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON
IN UGANDA.
THERE ARE A LOT OF POOR PEOPLE, THERE ARE A LOT OF CORRUPTION...ACCUSATIONS, AND SOME
PEOPLE, INCLUDING OUR PROFESSOR STEVEN TAYLOR, WHO I SPOKE WITH HERE AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
SAY THAT IS A GOOD WAY TO DISTRACT UGANDANS FROM A LOT OF THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE AT HOME.
ANOTHER INTERESTING ASPECT OF THIS SENSITIVITY IS EVEN HOW YOU REFER TO THE INTERVIEW SUBJECTS
IN YOUR STORY BECAUSE THEY ARE BOTH TRANSGENDER, SO THEY STARTED OUT, THEY WERE BORN AS WOMEN
AND THEN THEY'RE NOW LIVING AS MEN.
WELL THEY WERE BOTH BORN IN UGANDA AS WOMEN.
BUT NOW NEITHER ONE OF THEM FELT THAT BEING A FEMALE IS REALLY THE RIGHT CLASSIFICATION
FOR THEM.
SO THEY BOTH CHOSE TO BECOME TRANSGENDER AND THEY REFER TO THEMSELVES AS 'HE', SO I REFER
TO THEM AS 'HE',
ONE PERSON THAT YOU FEATURED, VICTOR, HE NOW DOES HAVE ASYLUM, BUT THIS PROCESS IS NOT
AN EASY PROCESS AT ALL?
NOT AT ALL.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT.
HE HAD TO WAIT MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS TO FIND OUT IF HE COULD BE SAFE HERE.
THE ASYLUM RATE IS ABOUT A LITTLE BETTER THAN 50 PERCENT IN THE UNITED STATES.
THAT IS THE LATEST STATISTICS, SO THAT'S A GOOD SIGN, BUT WAITING TO FIND OUT IF YOU
ARE GOING TO BE ONE OF THOSE FIFTY SOME PERCENT IS A VERY SCARY ORDEAL AND WHILE YOU ARE FEARFUL
FOR THAT, YOU HAVE NO WAY TO SUPPORT YOURSELF, BECAUSE ASYLUM SEEKERS IN THE UNITED STATES
AREN'T AUTHORIZED TO WORK.
SO HE HAD TO RELY ON FRIENDS TO HAVE A PLACE TO STAY, TO HAVE FOOD TO EAT.
HE SAID YOU'RE GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAFE, BUT PLEASE GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY
TO PROVIDE FOR OURSELVES WHILE WE ARE WAITING.
WHAT STRUCK YOU MOST DOING THIS REPORT ABOUT THE TWO PEOPLE YOU FEATURED - VICTOR AND NIKI
- AND THEIR STORIES?
DEFIANTLY THE STRENGTH OF BOTH OF THEM.
TO BE ABLE TO TELL THEIR STORY BECAUSE ... FIRST OF ALL, THE NATURAL INSTINCT TO PROTECT YOURSELF
IS TO HIDE.
YOU KNOW, TO COVER UP WHO YOU ARE OR TO STAY IN THE SHADOWS.
BOTH OF THEM WERE OUT FRONT AND CENTER FOR YEARS IN UGANDA BEFORE COMING TO THE UNITED
STATES AND VICTOR STILL HAS MADE IT HIS MISSION TO MAKE SURE HE GETS THIS OUT THERE AND HE'S
WILLING TO STEP UP AND TALK TO PEOPLE EVEN WHEN IT IS ABOUT PAINFUL MEMORIES OF HIS LIFE
AND PAINFUL THINGS IN THE FUTURE BEING WITHOUT HIS DAUGHTER ...AND NIKI IS THE SAME WAY.
IT WAS REALLY HARD BECAUSE IT'S REALLY FRESH FOR NIKI.
HE JUST CAME HERE.
HE HAS ALL OF THOSE FRIENDS BACK HOME, BUT HE STILL SAID 'I'M STRONG ENOUGH TO DO THIS
AND I WANT TO BE AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHERS WHO ARE IN MY POSITION'.
UGANDA'S NEW ANTI-GAY LEGISLATION IS AMONG THE HARSHEST IN AFRICA, AND IT HAS COME AT
A COST.
THE WORLD BANK AND OTHER DONORS HAVE WITHHELD MORE THAN $118 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF AID
AND LOANS TO UGANDA, CAUSING THE COUNTRY'S CURRENCY TO FALL.