Suprises in Uganda

It is Sunday evening. I have just been to a bar with my lover.

Its very interesting. A bar that is well attended, and me, a gay man was with my partner at that bar. And we were there with more than 20 other gay ugandans. This is a fact. I am not dreaming it. I am not faking it. On a Sunday evening, without any previous plans to do so, twenty and more gay ugandans gathered to have fun- talk, laugh, flirt with one another and also just be happy.

Ok, if you are outside the country, or outside Africa (and not in S. Africa), this may sound strange to you. Gay people are gay because they are gay. Despite the many problems and roadblocks that society may throw up, gay people naturally tend to be gay. We will meet and have fun. We will be happy and enjoy ourselves despite a society that is solidly homophobic like Uganda is. So, in the west, this is a phenomenon that is very common. It is the norm, rather than exceptional. In Uganda, it is a new phenomenon.

We do meet. I mean, we have had parties, when we get together with a lot of other people and just have fun. But this has not been the norm. It has been considered safe for us to meet at parties where we know that we are all gay. But for 20-30 of us to meet spontaneously at a bar without prior arrangement, when people, gay people are just coming in, meeting, laughing, and enjoying themselves, that is a phenomenon that is new. And I must say I have just seen it this year.

Maybe it is the place, we love it. Maybe it is the fact that more and more of us are feeling comfortable meeting others.

Whatever it is, this thing is great, for us and for every gay Ugandan.

I know that there are thousands of other gay Ugandans out there who would be horrified about this. They do not know that we are there. They do not meet more than 5 other gay ugandans in any place. It is a shame that I cannot identify the place that we were, to direct them. (and it is a matter of fact that we gay people are very snobbish and fashion conscious. The place is en Vogue today, tomorrow it may have lost that identity!) But to all gay Ugandans, we are there, and we are meeting, socialising, and having fun!

While we were there I fell into conversation with someone. I was raving about the fact that we were so many of us in one place, and talking about how rare this was. I told the guy that nevertheless we do have to be careful. Just last month, there was a story in Bukedde, a newspaper in Luganda, about a gay couple whose neighbours broke down their door when they were having sex. They were arrested. They were detained. It happens, and it is something that is always like so. We are in a homophobic environment where the law and society is very much against us. It is something that is at the back of my mind. And that has to be remembered.

We can have fun, but it is always with us looking over our shoulders.

gug