UGANDAN ‘ETHICS MINISTER’ DEFENDS RAIDS ON GAYS

Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity has justified the continued persecution of gay and lesbian activists by claiming that they are perverting children, in the process revealing his astounding ignorance of human sexuality.

In an interview with journalist and photographer Rachel Adams, published on her blog, Simon Lokodo said that he had concluded that LGBTI rights NGOs were “going around implanting in the minds of small children and persons below 18 attitudes of perverted, disoriented feelings in their sexual expressions”.

He said that these NGOs were raising funds from overseas for these purposes under the “guise of promoting humanitarian concerns,” which is why he has asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ban these organisations.

Lokodo, who is a former Catholic priest, warned that if every Ugandan accepted homosexuality “we would cease to be”, insisting that “sex is for procreation”.

He added: “In time there will be a build-up of homosexuals. A lot of young people will opt for that because it will put in sex as pleasure, not child bearing.”

When asked if he thinks that people are born gay, Lokodo responded: “What I know [is] that born or become [sic] it is a perversion. I know it is an ailment. It is a sickness. It is not a status to be applauded. I am told that if a child is in a mother’s womb and there are situations that are negative that person will come out with a negative attitude towards that gender.”

In February, Lokodo, accompanied by a police escort, personally closed down a gay rights workshop in Entebbe. He threatened to arrest organiser Kasha Jacqueline Nabagasera, a prominent LGBT rights activist, after she challenged his order to disband the meeting.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda. The country’s parliament is currently considering the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which will further criminalise homosexuality and may introduce the death sentence as a possible penalty.