David Kuria, the first openly gay candidate for the Ugandan Senate, has announced he cannot not finish the senate race because of lack of funds to cover campaigning and personal security.
Throughout his run for a seat in Kiambu, near the capital of Nairobi, Kuria faced numerous death threats. One cabinet minister warned of open revolt if he was elected.
Kuria, one of the subjects of the documentary Out Run, was disheartened about having having to withdraw, telling the Guardian:
“I had seen changes in the way our people in the villages view gay people. For many people, gay people and gay rights are perceived though mediated interpretation of politicians and religious leaders. For the first time it was possible to talk with the people, answer their questions as well as point out the nexus areas of different forms of marginalisation, including poverty and other challenges that affect them, too.”
Kuria made his announcement in late November, but promises to stay active in the struggle for LGBT equality. Another run for office, though, isn’t likely: “In the struggle for rights, some individuals have to make sacrifices that can not be merely compensated by the realisation of these rights,” he says. “I just think I was not the right person for this.”
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John Doe
If only we had a few political leaders in the USA that were as bold in standing up for LGBT equality. Most of our politicians waited until the political winds indicated that it was safe for them to say something favorable about gays and equality.
Here it is 2012 and some countries have had gay marriage for over 10 years. We’re finally getting to the point that our president can support full equality. Then again he still hints that it should be up to the states vs. him saying that it is a civil rights issue that must be addressed immediately. Makes me wish Kennedy or Johnson were here. Leaders who stood up against discrimination when the public wasn’t ready for equality yet.
John.SA
David Kuria is the first openly gay candidate in the Kenyan (not Ugandan) senate race. Pretty inaccurate reporting.
2eo
@John.SA: To be fair, most American pop culture journalists couldn’t even find the continent of Africa on a map of Africa. It doesn’t surprise me the attitude of “It’s all one country innit” is prevalent among the group.
leliorisen
For the sake of your credibility, you really need to update your story to show that David Kuria is a Kenyan, not a Ugandan. It was rightfully pointed out to you in a comment 5 hours ago. Isn’t this moderated?
John Doe
I think that things are not closely watched or moderated. I can’t expect that they would be. Lots of other things to be doing other than to read everyone’s comments here. At the same time, some errors are rather glaring.
3 – 4 days ago “Sao Paulo” was spelled incorrectly in a headline…. but not changed when this mistake was mentioned in a comment.
3 – 4 days ago it was said in an article that Brazil just had their first same-sex marriage. In reality, the first same-sex marriage in Brazil was about 1.5 years ago. The recent news is that same-sex marriage can now occur via a local notary office (in SP State) vs. needing a court order. A big difference. Saying that Brazil just had their first same-sex marriage is quite wrong. 3 – 4 days later the article is still incorrect.
2eo
@John Doe: The group that run Queerty don’t actually have a moderator for the comments, hence why we all just repost blocked posts with creative corrections instead of wait for approval.
They also don’t have a proper content delivery system, and no system of second reading in place. It is all wordpress based content management and the “journalists” can’t be arsed to correct themselves. Hence why they’re online pop culture journalists and not proper journalists.
Freddie27
How is it even journalistically possible to cite a Guardian article clearly referring to Kuria as running in Kenya and then say it’s in Uganda.