Kasha's fight against homophobia in Uganda

What's it like being a lesbian in Uganda?
In Uganda people are often ignorant about homosexuality. When you go to Kampala and ask about gays they’ll say: ‘Kill them!’ And when you ask why, their answer is ‘Because my preacher in church says that it’s a sin against God. Because politicians say it’s a crime. So we should kill them.’

Being gay here means living in fear. You face a lot of problems. In Uganda, acts of homosexuality are illegal, but being gay is not a crime. But now that the gay community has raised its voice, politicians and religious people say we take advantage of the current law. That’s why they propose a tougher bill, so that being gay can be classified as a criminal offence.
How was life for you as a student?
I’ve been expelled from about five schools. Once it was just because I wrote some nice letters to fellow women. It’s strange, but it’s real. People can be expelled here for being dressed differently. At the last university I attended I almost got expelled because I didn’t dress ‘as a proper woman’.

They told me I had to show myself every evening to the school administration in skirts and not wearing baseball caps and sneakers. I refused, so I got suspended. It was my last year, and my mother really wanted me to finish school, so she told the board of my university I had a disease and there was no cure for it.
Was it then that you became an activist?
Yes. I thought: why is this following me from school to school? I did not undertand why me being a lesbian caused so many problems. So I went to an internet café and gathered information about homosexuality and Uganda. I saved up a lot of money because I spent days and days in the internet café. The internet was new and very expensive at that time.
So that’s when I found out it was illegal to be gay. I turned to my gay friends and told them we had a big problem. Everyone was in shock, because they didn’t know! I was openly living a gay life, and people thought I did that out of stubbornness. But actually, it was because I was naïve, I had no idea.

I contacted a South-African LGBT-organisation and started the organisation FARUG (Freedom and Roam Uganda) and later fused with LGBT-organisation SMUG (Sexual Minorities Uganda). Our strategy was simple: to raise awareness in our own community. We gave workshops, held meetings and tried to analyse the penal code and constitution.
But one day the law needs to be changed?
Our long term goal is to change the laws against homosexuality, but we are not in a rush. We cannot just change the law on paper if the mindset stays the same. People wouldn’t act upon the new law, homosexuality would still be a crime. We need to sensitize people, create awareness, change attitudes and mindsets. It’s a big challenge, but in the end we want to be liberated, we want equality, we want justice.
This year, your name appeared in the Ugandan press…
The Ugandan media is known for its homophobia. In 2006 tabloids began a campaign to expose suspected homosexuals. They published names, photos, descriptions, where they worked, what they looked like. In 2010 I appeared in a tabloid.
[related-articles]
The title of the article I was in was ‘Hang them’. In the tabloid they quoted me as saying I was going to recruit children under the age of twelve for our association. That was not true, of course! I wanted to sue the newspaper, so did David (Kato, red.) and Pepe (Onziema, red.) We won the case, and just after that my friend David was murdered. I fled the country for two months.
After the first shock we all said: ‘This is when we need to stand together and fight.’ But others in the community got scared and  went back into the closet. The way David was murdered was so brutal. And the government said it wasn’t linked to Kato's sexuality.
Who is your role model?
My biggest role model is my mother. Despite all the harassments she supports me; she never gives up on me. A lot of my friends were disowned by their family, but my mother helped me and inspired me a lot.
What's your opinion on the Netherlands?
Your country for me is a very developed country. Being in contact with the LGBT community here makes me realize that people really do care, even if they are free, like they are in The Netherlands. That keeps me motivated, knowing that someone out there cares about what’s happening in my country.