Uganda ‘will arrest’ anyone who takes part in Pride
The Ugandan government has threaten LGBT activists with arrest if they take part in a Pride parade.
A Pride event is reportedly set to take place in the country’s capital, Kampala, on Saturday.
But following a raid on a Pride event earlier this summer, the Ugandan government has again threatened to round up activists who take part in the event.
Simon Lokodo, an extreme homophobe who is the so-called Minister of State for ‘Ethics & Integrity’, threatened protesters with arrest.
He claimed that Pride events contravene the county’s colonial-era Penal Code, which bans gay sex.
In a statement circulated to AP and the Ugandan Monitor, he said: “The organisers of the planned Gay Parade on Saturday 24th September 2016 are advised to stop their activities immediately or otherwise they will be arrested and prosecuted in the courts of law.
“The public is called upon to refrain from joining and participating in Gay activities.”
In a shameless attempt to link the gay rights activists to paedophilia and prostitution, he claimed: “We are aware that there are inducements, including money, being offered to young people to promote the practice. ”
He provided exactly zero evidence for the assertion.
Lokodo added: “We wish to emphasise that whereas the promotion of homosexuality is criminalised under the Penal Code, there is no violence against the LGBT community in Uganda – contrary to some claims made loosely by proponents of this movement.”
There is extensive documented evidence of brutal police raids, murders and vigilante attacks targeted at the gay community, alongside a long history of state-sponsored bigotry.
