Ms Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera:

On the question about why this is happening in Uganda, it is not just happening only in Uganda. We make our stories heard; we put our stories out there. That is why everyone knows about Uganda. Other countries are also going through the same, including our neighbours in Kenya. Even South Africa, which has the most progressive constitution in the world, has the highest number of hate crimes and murders in Africa. The reason it happens in Uganda is because Uganda is a very Christian country, from the first family down to the most lowly family in the country.

They have many allies and friends around the world, some of whom are very powerful. They are called the family in the United States and have exported their fundamental religious views and agenda to Uganda because they are against homosexuality. They sent to Uganda their priests who held a conference over three days in which they preached the anti-gay agenda. Our members of Parliament attended that conference at which they were advised that our law was very weak. They advised parents attending the public seminars that homosexuals would recruit their children and that they were sick. That created anger among the general public in Uganda. People who previously did not have an objection to homosexuality were told all these lies and Members of Parliament, religious people, teachers, students and even young people are now protesting on the streets. There are many protests in the country. Children are being taught in school that homosexuals should not be tolerated, that homosexuality is a sin, that it is against nature and our traditions. A range of people in the country are involved in this.

We want to show the world that we cannot allow this hatred to be imported into the country. The evangelicals who preach this hatred have been coming to Uganda for the past four years and we are now suing them in the Massachusetts courts to show the world that this is unacceptable. They cannot leave their country where their agenda failed and take it to a poor nation. They took advantage of a poor country and are putting a great deal of money into these campaigns, which are happening every day. As I said, the latest was on Easter Sunday. They have continued to send people to Uganda from the United States who in their commentaries refer to homosexuality as being a sickness. It is coming from every angle in the country. We had a debate on the issue with medical students and one would expect medical people to debate the issue using science and to listen to the argument, but instead they were using the Koran and the Bible to debate it and were calling for homosexuals to be put to death.

This issue is uniting everyone in Uganda. It is the only issues which is bringing the opposition and the ruling party together. It is the only issue which is bringing Muslims, Catholics, Anglicans and evangelicals together. There is a religious task force to campaign against homosexuality. There is an east African task force to fight it. All of these organisations are being led by Ugandans and a range of people are involved. If the Bill is passed, it will call on parents, teachers, friends, landlords, brothers and sisters to report suspected homosexuals. They are saying they want to encourage a tradition of the family, but instead they will break up families. A range of issues are involved, but there is a great deal of hatred towards homosexuals.

The problem is that we are being silenced in people hearing our stories. Only the anti-gay groups are given time on the airways. When radio station hosts tried to interview us, they were fined. Radio hosts have been suspended for having us on their programmes. As a result, people are only hearing stories from one side. They are not hearing from the victims. This is terrible because when one wakes up, every channel one tunes in to is broadcasting anti-gay messages. If one goes to church, the message is anti-gay. If one goes to hospital and is identified, one is surrounded. It is becoming unbearable, which is the reason we are losing many members of our movement. Many people are leaving the country. In the past eight months six activists have left. That makes the community smaller and weaker because people are afraid. Many have gone back into the closet because of the media witch-hunt taking place every day. People from among the religious leaders have stood up openly to support us. A bishop has stated openly that we do not need to condemn homosexuals but rather bring them together. He was excommunicated and even denied a pension.

The Government is closing down all of the places where we gather for our meetings. We are suing it, but every time the lawyer who is defending us in court is shown on television, his children cannot attend school that day because other children bully them and say their father is a homosexual. The situation is becoming unbearable. Even the powerful people who want to support us risk being stigmatised in public. People are using the gay issue as a political ladder. They only have to tell their constituents that they will protect their children by supporting the Bill in parliament and the people vote for them.

The President has come out openly and admitted that there have always been people who are homosexual. He has said they were never persecuted or harassed in the past, but that if they have begun recruiting and encouraging children to be homosexual, we must stop them. He is being ill-advised by the people around him, which is a challenge for us. We hope that if we tell him our stories, he will listen to us. He is not homophobic, but we must separate the executive from the parliament. The Members of Parliament are willing to pass the Bill. It is a Private Members' Bill from a ruling party and, therefore, benefits from the President's party, but he has no say in the matter. If the Bill is passed into law and given to him for signature and he vetoes it, parliament can override him and pass it into law. That presents a major challenge.

We tried to lobby the members of the Interparliamentary Union who came to Uganda to engage in dialogue with our Members of Parliament. Most of them told us that it did not go well. They produced a declaration during the meeting, but it was turned down by the government. The Speaker of the parliament refused to meet the group that had come to discuss the Bill. It is a challenge that Members of Parliament believe what they are being told by people from the West.

Mention was made of the violence witnessed. We work with some organisations run by women who are facing a challenge because the government is trying to close down organisations that work with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, LGBT. It has introduced a Bill to provide for the annual registration of non-governmental organisations, NGOs. If they talk openly about LGBT issues, they may not be registered subsequently because the government will see them as a promoter of homosexuality. This presents another major challenge.