Two documentary filmmakers traveled to Uganda last year to help tell the story of Uganda’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community — a community that is besieged by a hostile administration, media, and culture. Their film, Call Me Kuchu (“kuchu” is a slang term for Ugandan LGBTs), centers largely on David Kato, one of Uganda’s most outspoken LGBT activists.

The story behind the film shifted abruptly after Kato was murdered this January. The filmmakers returned to Kampala to document the impact of this loss; the resulting film both celebrates the courage of Kato and the LGBT community and mourns his death. The official description:

Call Me Kuchu examines the astounding courage and determination required not only to battle an oppressive government, but also to maintain religious conviction in the face of the contradicting rhetoric of a powerful national church. As we paint a rare portrait of an activist community and its antagonists, our key question explores the concept of democracy: In a country where a judiciary increasingly recognizes the rights of individual kuchus, yet a popular vote and daily violence threaten to eradicate their rights altogether, can this small but spirited group bring about the political and religious change it seeks?

The filmmakers are looking for funding to help edit the film on Kickstarter. If you’re able to donate — even $1 — please do.

Posted in human rights, LGBT | 4 Comments

This is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with David’s friends and family, and with the Ugandan GLBT community as a whole.

Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was found murdered yesterday, just weeks after winning a court case against a local newspaper that had called for Ugandans to “hang” homosexuals.

…

Uganda has been in the news for gay rights issues since October 2009, when Member of Parliament David Bahati tabled a bill that would provide for life imprisonment or the death penalty for not only homosexuals but also anyone found to be supporting or promoting gay rights.

The proposed bill has stirred up considerable anti-gay sentiments in Uganda, including the publication by local newspaper Rolling Stone [no relation to Rolling Stone Magazine] of a list of 100 suspected homosexuals and their addresses. Kato was on the list, and his face was on the paper’s front page.

Read the full post on Global Voices Online »

Posted in global voices, human rights, LGBT, uganda, ugandan blogosphere, ugandan media | 2 Comments

Frank Mugisha, head of Ugandan GLBT activist group Sexual Minorities Uganda, is speaking in New York City March 22 (details here).

Mugisha will be joined by the Rev. Kapya Kaoma, an Episcopalian Priest from Zambia and author of Globalizing the Culture Wars, a report on how Christian evangelicals in the US have influenced attitudes toward sexual minorities in Africa.

For more information on what Ugandan sexual minorities face, check out my posts on the issue or the blog GayUganda.

For more about Rev. Kaoma, read this review of Globalizing the Culture Wars by Ethan Zuckerman.

Posted in LGBT, new york, uganda | Leave a comment