Statement by Indian groups and individuals on Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014

Click here for pdf version of this letter.

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February 26, 2014

To,
President Yoweri Museveni, Members of Parliament of Uganda,
and the People of the Republic of Uganda

Through Ms Elizabeth Napeyok, High Commissioner,
Ugandan High Commission in New Delhi, India
B-3/26,Vasant Vihar
New Delhi 110057
India
Fax: 91-11-26144405
Email: [email protected]

We register here our strong condemnation of President Museveni’s signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 into law. The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 violates the basic human rights of the kuchus of Uganda, impeding their right to live and love without harm to others, in enjoyment of the rights of freedom and equality guaranteed by the Ugandan Constitution. In the face of this severe blow to the struggle for universal human rights, we reassert our solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, disabled and HIV-affected people of Uganda, and of all 36 of Africa’s 55 countries where same-sex relations are illegal.

We write as citizens of India, also a former British colony grappling with the multiple legacies of colonialism, of which the inheritance of homophobic laws is only one. We too have been told that homosexuality is a ‘Western import’ that is alien to our culture. This claim flies in the face of a wealth of evidence of same-sex love and desire in our histories and cultures. It is a matter of fact that same-sex love in our cultures, and in parts of Africa including Uganda, was accepted, and in some contexts, celebrated until the advent of the colonial experience. It is a claim that, moreover, is contradicted by the fact that Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, represents the most aggressive institutionalisation of the criminalisation of homosexuality in the history of the Indian subcontinent. It is this legislative initiative of an unrepresentative colonial state that was then replicated in only slightly modified forms in other colonies of the British state, including Uganda. It is homophobia, rather than homosexuality that is a colonial legacy. Today, we are engaged, along with our counterparts in other ex-British colonies, in an ongoing struggle against this legacy of colonialism, a struggle in which we have relied primarily on the activist labours of our people and on the moral and legal commitments of laws and Constitutions that we have given unto ourselves.

As a post-colonial state that is proud of its hard-won independence, we understand, share and support Uganda’s commitment to realising and maintaining democratic decision making processes, in line with your Constitution and in the exercise of your sovereignty, unimpeded by the external world.

In this context, we are concerned by numerous analyses and critical commentaries that have shown the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 is itself an externally sponsored initiative, drafted with considerable encouragement and advice from US-based evangelicals whose moral, theological and political agendas do not prioritise, or rather undermine the welfare of the entirety of Uganda’s people. In this context it is important to emphasise that the Act disregards and devalues the lives of Uganda’s own people. We urge you to listen to those brave Ugandan voices in every walk of life who have stood up for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people in Uganda without regard to considerations of tribe, region, religion, sex, nationality, disability, or sexuality.

We reach out in solidarity against attempts at imperialist control over our political, moral, ethical and cultural lives. The irony of history is that the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, which is an instance of such attempts at control, is being hailed as evidence of the expression of sovereignty. To recognise the rights of all Ugandans to lives of dignity, equality and freedom of expression and assembly, by immediately repealing the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 would be the true assertion of sovereignty.

Signed:

A. Mani, University of Calcutta, Kolkata*

Aarthi Pai, CASAM, SANGRAM, Bangalore

Abhi Tam, Hyderabad

Abhijit Majumder, Fellow, InStem-NCBS, Bangalore

Abhishek Divyam, Guwahati

Achintya Prahlad

Adam Fernandes, Mumbai

Aditi, TISS, Mumbai

Aditya Narvekar, Navi Mumbai

Aiswarya J

Akhil Kumar, Youth Ki Awaaz, New Delhi

Akshata Ravi, Mumbai

Akshay Khanna

Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore

Amborish Roychoudhury, Mumbai

Amritananda Chakravorty, Lawyers Collective, New Delhi

Anand Pendharkar, Mumbai

Ananya Dutta Roy, Youth for Equality, Silchar

Andy Silveira, Hyderabad

Ann Ninan, India

Anshuman Das, Cuttack

Anurag Nair, Bangalore

Aravind Chandrasekaran, Chennai

Aravindh C., Trichy

Archana Shetty, Bangalore

Arunima Dey, Mumbai

Arushi Singh, Rights Activist, Goa

Ashitosh, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Ashwitha, Secondary School Teacher, Mumbai

Association of Transgender/Hijra in Bengal, Kolkata

AUD Queer Collective, New Delhi

Avinash Matta, Hyderabad

Bharat, New Delhi

Brenda Lias, Orlando, Florida, USA

C Moulee, Orinam, Chennai

Chanakya, India

Chayanika Shah, Member, LABIA, Bombay

ChemsEddine HAKIMI, Algiers, Algeria

Chhandita Chakravarty, Hyderabad

Chiranjoy, Guwahati

Citizens’ Collective against Sexual Assault, New Delhi

CREA, New Delhi

Cynthia Tiphagne, Sudhathra, Madurai

Danny Bhotia, New Delhi

Deep Nand, Mumbai

Deepak, Thrissur

Deeptaarko Dutto, Malda

Deepti Murali, Mumbai

Deepti Sharma, New Delhi

Deya Bhattachaya, Femin Ijtihad, Calcutta

Dhamini Ratnam, Journalist, Mumbai

Dolly Koshy, Secular Humanist, Bengaluru

Dr. Gilles DENIZOT, Chennai

Dr. S. Rajgopal, Coimbatore

Felix, Orinam, Chennai

Garima Sharma, Mumbai

Gayatri Chawla, Patna

Gayatri Menon, Bangalore

Gayatri Sekar, Chennai

Goutam Sahoo, Bhubaneswar

Gowthaman Ranganathan, Lawyer, Bangalore

Gulshan Kumar Mittal, Guwahati

Hari Menon, Bangalore

Hariharan, Chennai

Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Campaigner, Mumbai

Harshavardhan Goel, Student at the National Law School of India, Bangalore

Henri Tiphagne, Convenor, WGHR, New Delhi

Himangshu Kalita, Guwahati

India HIV/AIDS Alliance, New Delhi

Isha Singh Sawhney, freelance journalist, New Delhi

Janani Vaidya,

Jaya Sharma, New Delhi

Jayant Iyer, Bangalore

Jayesh Gopi, Mumbai

K Rahul Sharma, New Delhi

Kabi S, Bombay

Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Feminist and Human Rights Activist, Mumbai

Karishma Dorai, Mumbai

Karthik Umapathi, Chennai

Karuna Nundy, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi

Kaveri R I, LesBiT, Hyderabad

Kaveri, India

Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA, New Delhi

Kavita Srivastava, Jaipur

Kavya Murthy, Bangalore

Ketaki, Delhi

Keval Patvi, Mumbai

Kiran Shaheen, Media Action and Research Group, New Delhi

Krishna B, Karur, Tamil Nadu

Kunal Kochhar, Panchkula

L Ramakrishnan, public health professional, Chennai

LABIA Queer Feminist LBT Collective, Bombay

Lena Ganesh

Lenin, New Delhi

Lesley Esteves, Queer Rights Activist, New Delhi

Linda Dale, Leek Staffordshire, UK

Madhana RNR, Lancaster, PA, USA

Maisnam Arnapal, Delhi University, New Delhi

Maksoom Ali, Pahal Foundation, Faridabad

Mamatha Karollil, Ambedkar University, New Delhi

Manak Matiyani, Delhi Queer Pride, Community-The Youth Collective, New Delhi

Manojkiran C, Chennai

Mario da Penha, Mumbai

Maya Sharma, Vikalp (Women’s Group), Baroda

Mayur Suresh, Lawyer, Bangalore

Meena Seshu, Director, Sangram, Sangli

Minal Hajratwala, Bangalore

Mohnish Malhotra, Queer Rights Activist, New Delhi

Monica Narula, New Delhi

Mridul Dudeja, Mumbai

N. Jayaram, Journalist, Bangalore

Namrata Bajaj, Mumbai

Nandini Rao, New Delhi

Neal Sen, Youth for Social Change, Mumbai

Noor Enayat

Nuzhat Nasreen, Student

Oishik Sircar, Academic and Lawyer, Kolkata

Orinam, Chennai

Padmini Baruah, WHaQ, Bangalore

Pankaj Nanda, Delhi

Paroma Mukherjee, Photographer, New Delhi

Partners for Law in Development, New Delhi

Pawan Dhall, Varta, Kolkata

Payoshni Mitra

Ponni Arasu, Chennai

Pramada Menon, Gurgaon

Prasanna R, Orinam, Chennai

Pratik Bahekar, Mumbai

Priyank Verma, Mumbai

Pronoy Rai, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA

Punita Gupta, Photographer, Mumbai

Purwa Bharadwaj, Delhi

Rachit Sai Barak, Media Professional, New Delhi

Rafiul Alom Rahman, DU Queer Collective, New Delhi

Rahil Chatterjee, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Rahul Patel

Rahul Rao

Raj Patel, Goa

Rajendra Parihar, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Rakhi Sehgal, Labour Activist

Ram Chakraborty, Kolkata

Ranjana Padhi, New Delhi

Ranjita Sinha, Kolkata

Regina Hansda, University of Cambridge, UK

Richa Jha, India

Ricky Patel, London, UK

Rituparna Borah, Delhi

Robin Bose, Chennai

Rohit K Dasgupta, University of the Arts, London, UK

Ronald, Mumbai

Roshni Sen, Youth for Social Change, Mumbai

Rupa Kanapathipillai, Australia

Ryan Figueiredo, International Planned Parenthood Federation, South Asia Office, New Delhi

Sadia Saeed, Delhi

Samira Obeid, University of South Florida, Florida, USA

Samraj Kundi, Park Surgery, Middlesbrough, UK

Sandhya Luther, India/USA

Sapan Parekh, Mumbai

Saptarshi Mandal, Lawyer, New Delhi

Sarabjeet Singh, Mumbai

Sathya Bose, just a lover of equality, Mumbai

Satnam Kaur, Saheli, New Delhi

Satya, Sampoorna [For Trans* Indians – By Trans* Indians – Across the Globe], India

Saurabh Bondre, Mumbai

Saurabh Shabdik, Silchar

Sayan Bhattacharya, Kolkata

Shalini Krishan, New Delhi

Shambhavi Madhan, Chennai

Sharmi Surianarain, African Leadership Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa

Sharmila C, India

Shilpa Ahluwalia, Professional Social Worker

Shiv Sahoo, New Delhi

Shiva Karthik, Preston, United Kingdom

Shobhna S. Kumar, Mumbai

Shreyas Kumari, Santa Clara, USA

Shridhar Sadasivan, Orinam, Chennai

Shrinkhla Agrawal

Shruti Gautam, Delhi

Shubham Bose Roy, Delhi Queer Pride Committee, New Delhi

Sibi Mathen, Yaariyan and Queer Azaadi Mumbai, Mumbai

Siddhant, Mumbai

Smriti Nevatia, writer, feminist, Mumbai

Smruthi Narayan, LGBT individual and activist, Hyderabad

Sonal Sharma, Researcher, Ambedkar University, New Delhi

Sonia Singhal, Mumbai

Soorya Sriram, Humanist, Chennai

Soumya Tejas, Campaigner at Must Bol, New Delhi

Sreekala MG, New Delhi

Subhankar Das, Punjab

Sudeepthi, Chennai

Suhas Vasudev, New Delhi

Sumathi. N, Bangalore

Sundar Jeyaraman,

Suneeta Dhar, India

Sunil Mohan, Bangalore

Sushil Rathi, Kharagpur

Swati, Boston, MA, USA

Sylvester Merchant, Lakshya Trust, Gujarat

Tanushree Gangopadhyay, Ahmedabad

Tanya Joshua, Chennai

TARSHI, New Delhi

Thaddeus Alfonso, Goa

Udayan Dhar, Diversity Consultant at Mingle, Mumbai

Uma V Chandru, PUCL-BLR Member, Bangalore

Vaasu, Mumbai

Vic Advani Friman, India/Sweden

Vidya Pai, Bangalore

Vihang Ghalsasi, Heidelberg, Germany

Vikram S, Chennai

Vinay Chandran, Executive Director, Swabhava Trust, Bangalore

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression, India

Yadavendra Singh, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, New Delhi

Zoya Chhabra

 

*All cities are in India, unless specified