Growing up as gay in Uganda is comparable to treason.

 Growing up as gay in Uganda is comparable to treason.

Flag Of Uganda

Uganda is highly conservative and a dangerous place to live in as gay and I have lived my entire life in a lie, the best way I can put it is the life of a ghost or invisible. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, my parents were very protective and did not want to risk that they could rise a prick. They struggled to keep me protected from vagabonds who wanted to make me go astray. There were two attempts when I escaped home and went to the nightclub. I was never allowed to go to parties or functions organized around our town without their approval or my elder brother's watch. My two siblings were also raised in similar circumstances.

 I Am 24 now, and I’ve always known I was never attracted to women in any capacity since I was a teen. Of course, I was in denial and did not understand or even know about this facet of myself and why I did not wish to be like my other classmates, and I was repulsed at the things these boys loved and swooned about. I have never been sexually or romantically attracted to women, even though I have been suicidal and hated myself for this deformity that society has embedded in gay people. I used to be overzealous and thought praying would fix me, but if these people insist that God doesn't want gay people then I will not pray again.

In May 2021, Ugandan Parliament passed a bill criminalizing same-sex relationships and sex workers. Many gay people have been killed like Brian Wassaw who died in October 2019, he was human rights activist. In 2010 activist David Kato was also killed and many LGBTQ+ have fled the country. It has only become more regressive and I always keep my head down about it. I stay in a small town and I’ve been reassuring myself for the better part of my life on the internet, talking to the diaspora, or finding gay like myself in other countries.