09 June 2011
Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, is one of Africa's best known activists on lesbian, gay, transgender and intersex issues.
UK aid supports Frank and the work of Sexual Minorities Uganda through our partnership with the International HIV and AIDS Alliance. The Alliance supports community action on AIDS in more than 40 developing countries.
Here Frank speaks about his recent campaign to prevent a new Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda becoming law and the panic he feels about the lack of access gay men and other sexual minorities have to HIV prevention, treatment and care services.
I am a gay man living in a country where homosexual acts are illegal. The daily reality of my life, and the lives of many men who have sex with men in Uganda, is one of fear, harassment and hatred.
I came out in the 1990s and was prompted to get involved in the emerging LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) movement in Uganda after meeting other gay men who simply had no information about how to protect their sexual health.
While access to information is easier now, especially via the internet, the stigma and discrimination that gay men experience is as alarming as ever. For activists like me (or those who have publicly disclosed their sexuality), we never know where or when the harassment will come from: the community, the police, anti-gay groups. We plan every route we take, and carry alarms and mobile phones with us at all times to ensure our safety.
'Will it be today?'
Men who are hiding their sexuality, and who may be employed, or married, live in constant fear of being 'found out'. They go into work every morning thinking 'will it be today that my boss calls me into the office?' They go home each day thinking 'is this the day that my wife will find out?' And as they read the newspapers, they nervously scan for stories that might disclose them as being gay.
Then there are the group of men who are most vulnerable. Uneducated, rejected by their families, they turn to commercial sex work to survive. These men experience beatings and harassment from clients and the police every day.
Battling the bill
In 2007, a group of LGBT activists decided enough was enough. We launched a 45 day successful media campaign 'Let us live in peace'. Without outside support or 
any funding, we organised a press conference, read out poems and spoke about our lives on radio and TV. We told the world that gay men in our country just want to be accepted. It created visibility for us and challenged the myth that there are no homosexuals in Uganda.
But in 2009, the latest war on homosexuality began. Several western evangelical clergymen visited Uganda to give a series of talks opposing the "gay agenda". As a result of the anti-gay fervour this created, Ugandan MP David Bahati introduced the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Parliament. Since then, this bill has been the major focus of Sexual Minorities Uganda's advocacy efforts.
The bill was recently postponed from parliamentary readings, but it is highly likely it could return after 12 months of the new parliament. If passed, it will mean that sexual minorities activists like me will be in even more danger of being imprisoned or harassed by the authorities and further rejected by society.
Fighting for acceptance
What would make the biggest difference to the lives of men who have sex with men in Uganda would be if homosexuality was decriminalised and we were
included more in HIV policies. This is key to tackling the stigma and prejudice that we experience and would help us feel a greater sense of belonging to our country.
In addition, we must increase access to services and health information. That's why we are working more with NGOs like Community Health Alliance Uganda who are supported by HIV/AIDS Alliance. By being part of a broader coalition of NGOs (including those focused on HIV, women and human rights) we are able to join a stronger voice to call for improvements in health services for gay men in our country.
Ending the great divide
With the support of the UK government, Sexual Minorities Uganda is also starting to document LGBTI issues in Uganda. Having further evidence of the human rights violations of gay men will help to maintain the international support we have received in recent months while we have been working to prevent the new law from being passed.
It is a long and difficult struggle, but one day I know we will end the great divide in Uganda.
Making zero infections a reality
As infections among vulnerable groups increase, the world will only make progress against the epidemic if we get better at reaching those most at risk. Our new Programme Partnership Agreement with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance will help to reach 3.7 million people through HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services by 2014.