The BBC doco World’s Worst Place to be Gay? had quite an unexpected impact on me.
The one-off show follows BBC1 Scott Mills’ travels to Uganda as he to speaks to everyday people to discover the extent of homophobia in the country – he’s searching for the reasons why Uganda tried to introduce a death penalty for homosexuality.
An outstanding moment was when Mills met a group of gay and lesbian people living together in a slum; hated by their community, rejected by their families, and constantly harassed and beaten – they remain resilient. One brave Ugandan gay man declared:
We are born gay, we shall live (as) gays, we shall die (as) gays.
While we now know the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposing death for gay and lesbian people has not be instituted, the hatred has not passed since Mills’ visit. His interviewees said gays should be hanged and have “everything bad… done to them”. Indeed, some Ugandans take matters into their own hands, administering beatings or worse, such as ‘curing’ lesbianism with rape.
Like 1.5 million other people, I have signed the Avaaz Petition that condemns the bill and any future iteration of it. To change the mindset of the majority of the Ugandan community is a complex issue; but great things can be achieved with small steps – the first step is to watch Mills’ documentary and the second is to sign the petition.
Tags: *, BBC, Equality, Homophobia, Human rights, Melbourne, Politics, Queer, Radio, Scott Mills, Travel, Uganda, Vietnamese
@danvogue
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