Armed with machine guns, batons and pepper spray, police in Uganda stormed the offices of an HIV/AIDS charity they claim “trains youths in gay sex.”
The Makerere University Walter Reed Project in Kampala was ransacked during a police ambush yesterday. At least one person was arrested and interrogated.
Authorities are denying the raid. Patrick Onyango, spokesperson for the Ugandan police, told the Associated Press that the project was voluntarily closed by administrators after a man pretending to be a police officer threatened workers there.
“Yesterday somebody claiming to be a police officer went and arrested one of the workers there,” Onyango said. “Today the management of [the project] has decided to close the place. We are not investigating that place at all.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
But a tweet from Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo tells a different story:
Police burst Water Reed Project in Makerere University#training youths in homosexuality
— Ofwono Opondo (@OfwonoOpondo) April 4, 2014
The Makerere University Walter Reed Project first opened its doors in 1998 and is a non-profit partnership between the Uganda university and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program that offers health and education services to LGBT people living with HIV/AIDS.
The United Nations program on HIV and AIDS reports that 1.5 million Ugandans — around 7 percent of the country’s total population – are infected with HIV.
“A lot of LGBTI people found it comfortable to go [to the project] for anti-retroviral treatment,” Frank Mugisha, a gay leader in Uganda, said.
It looks as though those people may have to find a new clinic to get their much-needed medication.
“The Ministry of Health keeps reassuring everyone that the (new antigay) law will not result in discrimination and stigma in access to health care services and research,” Maria Burnett, a Uganda researcher with Human Rights Watch, said, “but yesterday’s events clearly contradict that. How can Ugandans seek what should be confidential medical services when police appear without a legal basis and question and detain staff?’”
Stache99
This is why this that law is so dangerous. My feeling is just cut all their aid. The UK did it already. It’s never going to get to GLBT people anyways. I mean them just showing up for treatment mean they’ll face life imprisonment.
PozSince1985
The Anti-Gay laws appearing in Africa were sparked by US evangelical leaders. On trips to African country evangelicals held meetings with high level government officials, in which they spewed their venomous hatred of gays, the “homosexuality is attack on the family,” and tired old “all gays are pedophiles” argument.
Shortly after these high level meetings, government leaders started speaking out about the dangers of homosexuality, and the danger pose to children by gay people. Then the laws came along.
I wish we know which evangelical leaders held the meetings, in each of the countries that are now spewing homophobic propaganda, and criminalization. We need to hold them to account for all the beatings, all the arrests, all the property damage, and all the deaths. Now we need to hold them directly responsible for the spread of HIV, and a new round of death from AIDS.
The world has embraced Treatment as Prevention (TasP) as the single most important strategy in ending the HIV pandemic. TasP means testing as many people as you can, and get the people who test Poz on treatment as soon as possible. Once on treatment, the Poz person’s viral load drops dramatically, and they become far less infectious. New data for the European Partner study suggest that once they have an undetectable viral load it may not be possible to transmit the transmit the HIV to any sexual partner.
Uganda’s tactics are the opposite of TasP. With fewer places to get tested, and fewer places for Poz people to get the antiretrovirals they need, HIV rates will skyrocket. And of course the Poz people will eventually die of AIDS.
At least in the western world we advance the cause of TasP. If you are sexually active, get tested every three months. If you’re Poz, get on treatment as soon as possible.
And next time a “Christian” mentions Sodom and Gomorrah, remind them that it’s a story of Men using Rape as a form of Torture and Subjugation. It has nothing to do with homosexuality.
Mezaien
No other Cults have murder more people then Christianity.
jonjct
^ two comments above are made by anti-christian haters and are contrived and false. the stories they portray are lies. besides, no american gay guy gives a crap about what happens in Uganda. you know, drag race is on TV tonight, and THAT’s important.
money718
@jonjct: You are full of it and sound dumb as hell.
Stache99
@PozSince1985: I get it that they went over and told a bunch of lies and should be held accountable. However, the Ugandan’s aren’t children either. All I hear are excuses. It’s that or westerners fault for something that happened a hundred years ago.
These people are full of seething hatred and 100% brain washed right now and it has nothing to do with any western influence. Gays are just convenient scapegoats and one day they’ll realize that their lives have just gotten worse and they’ll either get it together or find another thing to blame it on. My guess is the latter though.
jonjct
@money718: yeah, that’s the ticket, call me “dumb as hell”. name calling always works to succinctly make your point, doesn’t it? I may be full of it, granted, but dumb as hell … nah, not so much. How about you?