Pride celebrations in Kampala were cancelled this week after the Minister for Ethics and Integrity— Simon Lokodo— allegedly put pressure on the venue operators and deployed police to intimidate organisers.
It’s the second year in a row that Ugandan Pride has been stopped with LGBT+ activists saying their constitutional rights have been violated.
The US Embassy has now released a statement, speaking out for the human rights of LGBT+ citizens.
“The US is disappointed with reports that the Ugandan government has forced the cancellation of LGBTI pride week events," a
Under Uganda’s constitution, all individuals and organisations have right to associate freely in private and in public, without fear.
“It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that human rights of all citizens, including LGBTI citizens, are respected and protected.”
Ty Cobb from the Human Rights Commission has also spoken out against the decision, saying Ugandans have the right to peaceful assembly.
“The Ugandan government must reverse course and permit this gathering to proceed. Anything less is an assault on fundamental human rights," .
The events that led to the cancellation of Pride
The executive director of international LGBT+ rights group All Out has written an account of what happened in Kampala this week.
Matt Beard said that leading up to the first Pride event—a private opening gala—negotiations with the police had been positive until Minister Lokodo showed up.
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“The Ugandan Minister of ‘Ethics and Integrity’, Simon Lokodo, had visited the Sheraton Hotel that morning and put pressure on the venue to cancel,”
“He then deployed police around the venue in an intimidating show of brute force.
“Just half an hour later, I got the devastating news from Isaac that the Sheraton had cancelled the event, stating that they could not proceed in the face of the Minister’s opposition.
“The mood was bleak: Lokodo’s threats were now, unsurprisingly, directed at the other events planned for the week, including the main Pride parade itself.
“After months of painstaking planning and so much anticipation in the community, there was a sense of disbelief that – once again – Lokodo would deny LGBT citizens in Uganda the simple right to be together.”
Organisers debated whether they could go ahead with a “watered down” version of the planned Pride events but ultimately decided on a small gathering at a public bar.
“But just three hours after we agreed the plan, Lokodo was aware of it and was issuing bullying threats of arrest by text message to activists,” says Beard.
“Those already at the bar fled before the arrival of the police. Those who were on their way, turned back.
A small party was eventually held in secret at a hotel, with attendees pretending they were celebrating someone’s birthday when staff entered the room.
You can ban peaceful gatherings, you can silence dissent, you can use hard, raw power to bully and coerce others,” Beard writes.
“But you will never extinguish the hunger for freedom, respect and dignity that are at the very heart of the Ugandan LGBT movement. The struggle continues.”
