LGBT Ugandans dying in ‘crimes against humanity’
Nikki Mawanda was 13 when his stepfather kicked him out of his family’s home because he thought he was a lesbian.
The executive director of Trans Support Initiative-Uganda, a group that advocates for transgender and intersex people in the East African country, had returned home late after visiting his girlfriend.
Mawanda, 32, told the Washington Blade during an emotional interview on April 28 that he heard noises coming from his mother’s bedroom. He said he opened the door and found his stepfather strangling her because “she gave birth to me.”
“I was sent out,” said Mawanda. “Then there was a big fight. Neighbors, so many people came.” Mawanda, who now identifies as trans and uses male pronouns, spoke with the Blade slightly more than two months after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law that imposes a life sentence upon anyone found guilty of repeated same-sex sexual acts. Reports this week emerged that Ugandan lawmakers are slated to introduce a measure that would ban non-profit organizations from promoting homosexuality.
Mawanda is among those included in a list of “200 top homos” that a Ugandan tabloid published after Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. -
See more at: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/04/30/lgbt-ugandans-dying/
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