There are two possible motives for David Kato’s death, retaliation for a court judgement or as the police claim, he refused to pay for having sex with another man. The former is part of the wider culture of religiously influenced homophobia, while the latter, made out to be mundane, is being used as a cover for the former.

“I highly think his death is related to the homophobia from the religious groups and to winning the High Court judgement against the newspaper,” said Frank Mugisha, executive director, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG).

Murdered Ugandan gay activist David Kato.

Kato was brutally beaten over the head with a hammer in his home on January 25, and died shortly after on his way to hospital. Police reports state that Nsubuga Enock, also known as Sydney, was arrested and had confessed to the crime.

Against the backdrop of mounting international pressure to cancel the stalled anti-homosexuality bill which criminalizes anyone who is gay and tendered in parliament in 2009 by David Bahati, and scrutiny of abuses against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT), it seems apparent that the Ugandan authorities are deflecting the motive for Kato’s murder from one of retaliatory action for the High Court judgement and the virulent homophobia to besmirching his memory.

The Ugandan state police in a statement issued by Major General Kale Kayihura, Inspector General of Police, and published on the Uganda’s official Website on February 3, while carelessly mistyping the month of the occurrence as February instead of January, said that “Nsubuga on the 25th of February 2011 negotiated with the suspect to be paid money for using him as [a] sexual partner, but the promise was never fulfilled. He claimed the deceased convinced him to play sex with him in the night after making him drunk from a nearby pub. He claims he was provoked to hit the victim because he was demanding to play sex with him that afternoon and yet he was not interested in the same.”

The statement said that Nsubuga has a long criminal record. He was on remand for theft of a phone but also had other criminal records in his home area. The statement does not say whether or not Nsubuga participated in any sexual activity with Kato.

“Nsubuga confessed that he picked a hammer from the bathroom and hit him on the head, which resulted into his death. Nsubuga, further said that he locked the house and took off with some of the items belonging to the deceased,” the statement said. Senoga, a car driver who Kato frequently hired was also arrested and held for further questioning. He had visited the house earlier in the day and like Nsubuga, was seen by neighbours behaving suspiciously.

Kayihura said that investigations so far conducted show no indications that the deceased campaign against the Homosexuality Bill was a contributing factor to his death, “The police has not received any information pointing to a hate crime apart from speculation from the public. In addition, I request sections of the Clergy campaigning against homosexuality to exercise restraint.”

In response, Mugisha, who has known Kato for several years, since their years working together at Integrity Uganda, said, “It is highly unlikely that David would pay anyone for sex.”

As with many others who worked with SMUG, Kato often had to scrounge around for money to help bail people who were arrested, especially if they were LGBT, which meant that they would have been disowned by their families, and on their release from jail would have been homeless, said Mugisha. As part of his work, Kato, he said, had quite likely bailed Enock out of jail and since he was homeless, offered him a place to stay. He added that given the depth of his relationship with Kato, he would’ve known if anyone was staying with him in his home.

Contradicting Enock’s claims and the insinuations made by the police, Mugisha said, “Anyone who knew David knew that he didn’t have any money to promise anyone a house, car, as was reported. The media says David had a house and car, but all the stories are untrue. They are saying that David was trying to give money to a straight person and that SMUG and David were getting money from foreign sources, and that he had lots of money.”

But the story of Kato’s death could be traced back to Oct 2, 2010 when The Rolling Stone newspapers published photographs of Ugandans suspected of being gay with the headline “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos” and a banner “Hang Them”, which prominently featured retired Anglican bishop, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo and Kato side by side. It was as if they and the 98 others, including human rights activist Kasha Jacqueline and Pepe Onziema were suddenly marked as targets.

Even before the publication of Kato’s picture in the newspapers, his work as an advocacy and litigation officer for SMUG, who championed the cause of LGBT rights and in real ways the plight of many who were arrested and jailed, meant that he was the focus of many people’s attention and ire. According to Mugisha, a month before his demise Kato had told him that he was afraid for his safety.

Jacqueline, the founder and executive director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, on Feb 15 published a statement in the Kampala Dispatch. In it she said that Rolling Stone accused her of having held parties and orgies for homosexuals at her home and that she was involved in brainwashing children into being homosexual, and reputedly quoted her as saying, “We are targeting those as young as 12-years old, as they are easy to persuade to join gay groups.”

The Ugandan newspaper Rolling Stone in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010, reveals the identity of allegedly gay members of Ugandan society and calls for public punishment against those individuals.

The accusation of influencing children to which Jacqueline refers was a tactic used by U.S. religious evangelists, including Scott Lively, who had visited Uganda in March 2009 and advised those who attended a workshop that gays and lesbians in Uganda are receiving funding from international organizations to turn their children gay, and that the gays and lesbians in Uganda are using money to buy, coerce and force children to become gay.

“I have never said such a thing. I have never even thought such a thing – and even if someone was throwing homosexual orgies at my house, they never invited me,” she said. Jacqueline added that those people whose pictures were published in the newspapers were attacked, had rocks thrown at them, many had to abandon their homes, and have gone into hiding in safe houses around the country. Because it was known that there would be no support or relief from the authorities, Jacqueline said they all were too afraid to file police reports.

It was in this atmosphere of homophobic hysteria stirred up by the newspapers that in November 2010 Kato, Jacqueline, and Onziema filed a suit in the Ugandan High Court against Rolling Stone on the grounds that whether gay or straight, all Ugandans have a right to privacy and safety against incitements to violence. Jacqueline said that while she never denied her sexual orientation in her affidavit, the issue concerned the rights that Ugandans should have to be protected from the incitement of violence and violation of their privacy, “No one should ever wake up and see a call for violence and his [or her] home address published in a newspaper.”

On his Facebook page, Giles Muhame, editor of the newspapers, issued a “press” statement where he repeated many unproven and unsubstantiated calumnies against Kato. Drawing on references of child corruption, he said that in the court case, a man named Kagaba swore that Kato “was seriously recruiting kids into homosexual circles,” and that Kato was fired from his job as head teacher of a Christian-founded school in Nkoni, Masaka District, likely because “he could have been sodomizing kids, including one Douglas whom he stayed with.”

Mugisha said that Kato was never fired from his position as head teacher of the school, but it was the naked homophobia, including being physically attacked, as the reason he never returned to the school. The members of SMUG, he added, now after Kato’s death, have to work even stronger, “We cannot give up. This death was an eye-opener for our security. We always underestimated our security. Before we never paid much attention to the church groups, but now we have to.”

Following filing the suit, Justice Kibuuka Musoke issued an injunction against the newspapers prohibiting it from publishing more photographs and awarded the plaintiffs 1.5M Ugandan Shillings ($640) as compensation. Muhame said the paper is appealing the ruling. But, according to Jacqueline, the proceedings turned ugly in December, when as well as being bodily mistreated by court officials, she was attacked by known anti-gay pastor Solomon Male. On Jan 3, she said the judge’s ruling “clarified a nuance of the law, that while certain homosexual acts may still be illegal, maintaining a homosexual identity is not. In Uganda, a person is free to identify themselves however they please, and cannot be persecuted for it. Therefore, a newspaper like The Rolling Stone cannot incite violence against innocent citizens, and cannot invade their privacy.”

As one whose face was plastered on the newspaper’s front page, Bishop Senyonjo on Feb 8 broke his silence surrounding Kato’s death and the High Court ruling. The bishop, a heterosexual married man, was forced to retire and was denied his pension by the Anglican diocese of Uganda because of his work with and for the LGBT community. In an open letter to Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams, other primates, bishops, clergy and people of the diverse Anglican Communion, Bishop Senyonjo said, “A loving Anglican Communion should not keep quiet when the Rolling Stone tabloid in Uganda openly supports the “hanging of the homos,” including a fellow bishop who pleads for their inclusion and non-discrimination! Silence has the power to kill. We have witnessed its destruction this past week in the tragic and cruel murder of David Kato.”

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, often referred to as the Desmond Tutu of Uganda, is an outspoken advocate for human rights.

The Bishop added that if Anglicans in one country dehumanize, persecute and imprison minorities, that people everywhere must be true to the Gospel and challenge such assaults on basic human rights.

“The key to our ministry must be to educate our people and encourage LGBT people to tell their stories and the impact of homophobia in their lives. Listening to the stories of LGBT people was the beginning of my own transformation,” he said.

Mugisha said that the virulent anti-gay pastor Martin Ssempa reportedly said that Kato was killed because he was living a dangerous life as a gay person.

The newspaper’s editor, in an interview with the Guardian Newspapers on Jan 27, said that he was sorry for Kato’s family and his death, repeated many unproven and unsubstantiated allegations surrounding Kato, “This looks like any other crime. I have no regrets about the story. We were just exposing people who were doing wrong..”

But in comments to his posting on Facebook, one person, Hyena Rubahoma said, “I highly doubt if that Kato guy was murdered, as said by the Police. Chances are 99.5% that he could have been excessively bum-drilled that he lost sense and later died. And besides, death of such evil guys reduces on the number of such evil activists.” As if agreeing, Muhame replied, “hehehe…that’s a good one my dia friend….hehehe….”

The court verdict, Jacqueline said, has shown that indeed, justice is possible in this world and more so in this country. She added that as members of a marginalized community, many people have taken advantage of their oppression to satisfy their political, economic, and social greed and bigotry, “We are victims of oppression in so many ways. And for being just who we are, many have turned us into targets of oppression. But we refuse to be silent. The stories of people fighting against injustice have always been about a minority, because social justice struggles are fought by a minority for a majority.

“The court verdict reminded us all that Uganda is no place for hatred and impunity. Irresponsible journalism has no place in this country. The Rolling Stone tabloid and its editors may not have anticipated that they would be victims of their own actions, but we would never wish for or call for them to be “hanged”. A media that is based on untruthfulness is an enemy of the nation. Let this be the beginning of responsible journalism for justice and equality.

“But one verdict does not mean that we have won the struggle. We still have a lot of sensitizing to do, especially to the people in rural areas, before people fully understand just how big a lie The Rolling Stone published. We have to know that we are all different in many ways and that we cannot all be the same. My hope is that we can learn to live together in this beautiful country of our without stigma and discrimination, but with respect and tolerance.”

The editors of the Kampala Dispatch said that two weeks prior to publishing Jacqueline’s statement, they tried to obtain a comment from at least two people behind the anti-gay vitriol, Bahati and Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo, who would not return any calls.

Antoine Craigwell

Antoine Craigwell is a journalist/writer for Out In Jersey magazine. He has written for several newspapers and magazines, including FORTUNE Small Business magazine. In 2008, he earned two awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists (NYABJ) for his investigative reporting. Antoine obtained a double degree in journalism and psychology from Bernard M. Baruch College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and he is a member of NYABJ, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Deadline Club (the Society’s New York chapter), and the Baruch College Alumni Association. He was a volunteer tutor with Harlem Live – teaching journalism to high school seniors, and was the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Queens Pride House. Antoine’s public speaking included as a guest speaker on “Recapturing the Male Image” for the 3rd Annual Men’s Conference, and the Barbershop Series of the Black Male Initiative, both held at York College, CUNY. He was also a panelist on GritTV with Laura Flanders in Jul 2009, discussing anti-gay violence in the Sacha Barron Cohen film, “Bruno”. He has presented at workshops for the Annual NYC High School Journalism Conference at Baruch College, CUNY and participated in panel discussions discussing the state of the Black gay community in New York, and the media and the Black gay community. Antoine is in the process of completing work on a book and a documentary “You Are Not Alone” about depression in Black gay men.

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Since the bill currently before the National Assembly targeting homosexuals in Nigeria has not yet been passed into law, there will not be any need to comment on it. Rather this article is more concerned with the existing laws, which outlaws same sex relations in the country.

Much has been said about the history of these laws, and the fact that most of them derive from the colonialists, however, this article will argue that even in a country where discrimination and violence against people based on their sexuality is rampant, it is still possible to secure the rights of individuals within that class.

This, coming against the backdrop of arguments raised predominantly by people who hinge their debate on morality, claims that same sex relations are unconstitutional. On the contrary, the constitution of Nigeria did not make any provisions banning homosexuality.

The Nigerian state is founded on the ideal of freedom, equality and justice. The right to freedom from discrimination is expressly granted every Nigerian by the constitution in S.42 (1) (a). The section provides that “A CITIZEN OF NIGERIA OF A PARTICULAR COMMUNITY, ETHNIC GROUP, PLACE OF ORIGIN, SEX, RELIGION OR POLITICAL OPINION SHALL NOT, BY REASON ONLY THAT HE IS SUCH A PERSON – A) BE SUBJECTED EITHER EXPRESSLY BY OR IN THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF ANY LAW IN FORCE IN NIGERIA OR ANY EXECUTIVE OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT,TO DISABILITIES OR RESTRICTIONS TO WHICH CITIZEN OF OTHER COMMUNITIES, ETHNIC GROUPS, PLACES OF ORIGIN, SEX, RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL OPINIONS ARE NOT MADE SUBJECT TO.”

Despite the statement credited to the past minister of foreign affairs at a summit abroad a few years ago, claiming that there are few gay people in Nigeria, it might come as a shock to him that there is indeed a gay community in Nigeria and this community has in fact grown substantially over the years. A community is defined by BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (NINTH EDITION) to mean “A SOCIETY OR GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR RIGHTS OR INTERESTS.”

The provisions of the constitution cited above are very important to every Nigerian citizen. The framers of the country’s constitution realized this fact, which is why section 42 of the 1999, constitution is not part of those sections of the constitution that can be restricted upon or derogated as is provided for by section 45.

This argument must be made because the Nigerian legislature will always rely upon section 45 of the constitution in making laws that tend to derogate the fundamental rights of citizens. Section 45 indeed allows laws, which are reasonably justifiable, in the interest of Defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public health or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom of other persons. The section only covers sections 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the constitution.

It is my belief that in the light of what has been written above, provisions of the CRIMINAL CODE 2004, cap 28, which specifically target same sex relationships are indeed discriminatory against the gay community.

Section 217, of the criminal code act, is inconsistent with section 42 of the constitution. The constitution is “the barometer on which the constitutionality or otherwise of a statute is measured. Where a statute is inconsistent or in conflict with any provisions of the constitution, the provision of the statute will be null and void. This is essentially the language of section1 (3) of the constitution,” per justice Niki Tobi (j.s.c) in A.G LAGOS STATE V. A.G FEDERATION (2003)12NWLR (PT.833)1, SC, PAGE 244, PARAGRAPHS A-D.

The time has come for the country to see the truth about most of these laws, which have been relied upon to destroy the reputations of many people in our society. These laws are being championed by the sentiments of fanatical religious leaders and their fundamental followers. The argument about law and morality has been going on for years. These religious bigots and hypocrites have succeeded in twisting what they feel is a sin in the eyes of their religion into what they feel the law should be for all. Even the courts have held that morality or sentiments have no place in the administration of justice. Why can’t the legislature borrow a leaf from the judiciary? And for how long will they rely on selfish sentiments to make laws, which are inimical to the peaceful existence of a particular community?

The whole essence of anti gay legislation is based on the attempt by the legislature to protect and safeguard public morality. But how does an act between two consenting adults injure or corrupt public morals? In his ESSAY ON LIBERTY (1859), JOHN STUART MILLS distinguished between conduct or ideals that affect only the individual from conduct that may do harm to others. He argued that governmental intrusion is justified only to prevent harm to others, not to influence a person’s private morality.

In a society where security of lives and property has become an issue, where corruption has completely destroyed public service, it is extremely hard to fathom the reasoning behind these anti gay laws. How does murder (an act that affects the lives of other citizens and that is indeed dangerous to society) fit into the same category as an expression of love conducted between two consenting adults?

In the light of the above, it has now become expedient for the gay community in Nigeria and Africa in general, to come together and form a unified body, which, alongside other liberal and progressive organizations representing the interest of minorities in other marginalized communities in the country and on the continent, will fight to preach a message of love, tolerance, and justice for all.

Most gay people in Africa are deeply religious, but it has become quite clear for the world to see that it might possibly take another century for the major religions on the continent to recognize same sex relations as no treat to humankind.

There is a consensus of opinion amongst gay people in and outside Nigeria of the need for an organization of the type mentioned above, but the argument has been whether such an organization has to be a religious body or a political one. I am sure a compromise can be reached between these two schools of though. The most important thing is the realization that it is constitutional for every citizen of Nigeria to strive to identify and belong to an organization that fights for his or her interest, recognizes his or her rights and does not discriminate against his legitimate rights. Whether this new organization would ultimately lead to the emergence of a new religion that embraces gay rights, or a strong political lobby group, is immaterial. Either way, the time is right for gay Africans to get actively involved in their immediate political, religious and socio-economic environment.

GBENGA ASIWAJU

DIRECTOR STRATEGIC ALLIANCE FOR MINORITY EQUALITY
ABUJA, NIGERIA.

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GBENGOOS

im from nigeria...a gay rights activist and a believer in equality of mankind

“Imagine. Gay Pride in Jamaica.” The words of William Urich, the chair of InterPride Committee on International GLBTI Human Rights, on the first public Pride even on the Caribbean island which was staged in Montego Bay, Thursday April 8, 2010.

Officially, it was the Walk for Tolerance from Howard Cooke Park, along Howard Cooke Boulevard and ending on the beach.

Reverend Elder Nancy L. Wilson and supporters on Jamaica Gay Pride march

“Thursday was an amazing day, here in Montego Bay,” Mr. Urich said. “My eyes well up at the very thought of the day’s outstanding and astounding success.”

“Encouragingly, the walk had police support,” he added.

Around 100 people took part in the walk, which was headed by Reverend Elder Nancy L. Wilson, the openly lesbian presiding bishop of the International Movement of Metropolitan Community Churches.

One participant commented: “I never thought I would live to see the day that this could happen in Jamaica.”

Jamaica Gay Pride, Thursday April 8, 2010, Montego Bay.

And other ‘buzz phrases’ heard at the event included “I’m exercising my rights,”…“I feel so liberated”…“I have validation,” and “exuberant.”

The Walk for Tolerance was organised by Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), Jamaica’s oldest and largest Non-Governmental Organization working in the area of HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and care.

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Jack Dee

I've been an IT consultant for over 15 years. Strange to get paid for doing what you love. May be in danger of being called a geek... but who cares? I actually enjoy every opportunity to drive through the concepts, design, and creative framework on even personal web-based projects. My other passion is travel: 72 cities in 35 countries at the last count.

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Watch out for the man on the ‘Down Low’ there might be one near you! This warning was the last phrase from an article in a well known women’s lifestyle magazine. The writer was referring to a so called ‘new’ phenomenon in the United States of men being ‘on the down low.’

This term has appeared in the last fifteen years and there are more than a handful of books and articles about it. Even health professionals are now interested in these men! So what is it about men on the ‘Down Low’ that we should all be careful about? Dr. Cheikh Traore guides us through the maze of it.

First of all the term ‘Down Low’ seems to refer only to black men. Secondly, the ‘DL’ phenomenon is about black men who are sexually attracted to other men, and this is still a hugely controversial subject in certain communities. Another interesting observation is that the term ‘DL’ is used by ‘DL’ men themselves in classified sections of the US press, or online right here in the United Kingdom. The real question is why don’t these men call themselves ‘gay’ or ‘bisexual’? I asked Simon Nelson, a former UK health development worker with black gay men at The Terrence Higgins Trust. He feels, along with others in the sexual health sector, that the term ‘DL’ has not fully appeared yet in the UK’s popular vocabulary. So are the warnings in the women’s lifestyle magazines premature?

Maybe not. What is called ‘DL’ in the United States has always been with us and will probably always be with us. According to Simon Nelson, many men who are sexually attracted to other men in the black community will always choose to operate under cover out of fear of ridicule, attack or worse. They will do so not only because it is a safe option – but many of these men actually feel under pressure to have children and families, or may even want to become responsible fathers or be seen as fully deserving and contributing members of the community unlike their ‘gay’ counterparts.

So are UK black men who are sexually attracted to men rejecting terminologies and identities such as gay or bisexual? Again, according to many sexual health workers, the answer is a resounding, yes. Obviously this poses huge challenges for sexual health promotion which is used to targeting men who have sex with men through a network of bars, clubs and publications known loosely as ‘the gay scene.’ So how do you reach people who you call ’gay’ when they reject that term, and any lifestyle associated with it, in favour of a ‘black’ identity that may or may not be ostensibly ‘macho heterosexual’ and hiding in a closet near you?

Understanding this dilemma and the problems it poses for sexual health promotion to all sexually active men and women is not easy. To explain what’s happening, perhaps we need to look at how various sections of the black community define these issues. Part of the problem is that there is hardly any research on the sexual behaviour of black people in Britain. You can find all manner of social research on poverty, class, race, gender and even sexuality, but research on sexuality and ethnic minorities in the UK is very poor indeed.

We all know how difficult it can be to raise issues of sexual behaviour amongst black communities in Britain or elsewhere for that matter. Uganda is considering a law that would make being gay punishable by prison, or even death. An irrational fear or hatred of same–sex relationships in countries like Malawi does not stop men from having sex with other men. As a form of social control, like ridicule, homophobia only drives men into hiding who they are and what they do sexually with men and/or women. It is very interesting to note that all of the main musicians associated with anti-chi-chi-man lyrics (homophobic) have been criticised or ridiculed by the community for being gay early on in their careers. Now musician Buju Banton is looking at a lengthy jail sentence on drug charges in Florida. I wonder how that will go down with the prison inmates, if he’s convicted?

The problem with having to hide your sexual desires in a hostile environment is that it usually leaves you totally uninformed about the dangers of unsafe sexual practices as well as having you running around trying to prove by any means necessary, and to anyone who will listen, that you are really not who you truly are. Performed in paranoid privacy, shrouded in secrecy and guilt or not, unsafe sexual practices have the same detrimental effect on the long-term well-being of the entire community whether practiced heterosexually or otherwise.

Without realising the obvious links between the denial of sexual freedom and openness with the current rise in sexually transmitted diseases, many opinion leaders wrongly believe that discussing ‘gay issues’ is a complete waste of time. They seem to think that homosexual men and women are some identifiable mass out there unconnected to the people amongst their own family and friends. These opinion leaders will rely heavily on religion, the bible or the qu’ran to dismiss the subject or anything related to it.

The well-known musicians at the centre of Peter Tatchell’s campaign against homophobia in black music also rely heavily on the bible to justify their views of ‘burning’ the brothas simply because they love other men. As a race of disenfranchised people in the world, haven’t we more important things to be singing about than the killing of our own? Yet even the Anglican Church is now witnessing its own dilemmas on the subject of samegender love. During the ordination of the first openly gay Anglican bishop in New Hampshire, we heard a great many dissenting voices mostly from Caribbean and African church leaders. Just one country had a systematically different view: South Africa. Desmond Tutu and his successor, Njongonkulu Ndungane, are the only leaders who offered up support for the new bishop.

Exploring attitudes to same sex relationships in black communities is never an easy task. In Britain, perhaps the debate about the white gay activist, Peter Tatchell, and his campaign to ban the concerts of Jamaican reggae artists known to sing about ‘eliminating batty men’ and lesbians can offer up some clues.

The black press have largely reacted vigorously against this campaign and described it as racist. Similarly, the gay press is rife with citings of fascism and
homophobia, they ask, “How would the public feel if well known artists such as Madonna and Cher sang inflammatory lyrics calling for the shooting and killing of Black people or Jews?” It’s a very good point. The problem with this current debate is that the voice of black same-gender-loving men and women of Jamaican parentage is almost non-existent. Is it because they have nothing to say? Or is Peter Tatchell’s ultimate failing that he has been unable or unwilling to gain the public support of like-minded black men and women on the podium?

Amongst the ‘old-guard’ of our communities there is little doubt that many people view homosexuality as a ‘white man’s problem’ or a symptom of modern Western decadence. Most sane individuals wouldn’t dream of killing gay people. They do, however, feel affronted when ‘gay people’ try to ban musicians and music they love much more for the beat than for the lyrical content. The general view is of white gay rights activists trying to impose their white man’s ways and ‘immoral behaviour’ on our (innocent) communities. So maybe our community’s resistance to the gay rights ‘agenda’ is in fact similar to an anti-colonial struggle. Some might argue this point but there is an interesting irony that actually counteracts this view.

Homosexuality has been a punishable crime in Britain for centuries. The ‘anti-buggery’ laws, were only repealed as recently as 1967. Most former British colonies have not only kept these laws but they also enforce them. The punishment against same-sex relations is enshrined in the penal codes of almost all former countries of the British Empire. Any historical analysis of the punishment for homosexual behaviour in African, Asian or English-speaking Caribbean countries will see a clear legacy of the British Empire at play. So are our views on the subject a result of a colonised mind? Maybe not, and then again, there will be many right now who will be reaching for their bible.

With the global spread of HIV-infection and other sexually transmitted infections, can we really afford to remain Victorian about our attitudes to people’s sexual habits and talking honestly and openly about sex? The ‘DL’ phenomenon is nothing new. Black men have been disguising their sexual attraction to other men for years. What is new is a combination of the fear of AIDS and its association, a perceived homophobia within certain communities, an inability or unwillingness to connect with ‘gay culture’ and, finally, the role of the internet in letting like-minded people know that they are not alone. This is probably why the ‘DL’ phenomenon is a subject of research and interest from health professionals in the USA and UK. The fact that many women are warning each other about ‘DL’ men could also be related to this same anxiety about unprotected sex, disease and death. HIV infection rates are rising fast amongst African American women. The HIV epidemic in the UK may not be comparable to the US situation, but we do have a serious and rising problem of chlamydia and gonorrhoea right across London.

The health issues are a warning that it is high time for a (calm) debate amongst black communities on the subject of sexuality. The debate will never be constructive if our only starting point is AIDS, gay rights or racism. Maybe we need to start from the basics, and acknowledge that love, sexual attraction and desire is given to mankind whether poor or rich, gay or straight, black or white, male or female. Men on the ‘DL’ looking for other men on the ‘DL’ may just be seeking love and affection, or even if it’s just sexual gratification, who are we to legislate against consenting adults attracted to each other?

It may be a long time before we have a good and rational debate in public but in the meantime, we can all have a rational internal debate in our own minds. So…before we move off to our next money making venture, perhaps we could all stop and think for a second, “What is it that makes us sexually attracted to another human being?”

Jack Dee

I've been an IT consultant for over 15 years. Strange to get paid for doing what you love. May be in danger of being called a geek... but who cares? I actually enjoy every opportunity to drive through the concepts, design, and creative framework on even personal web-based projects. My other passion is travel: 72 cities in 35 countries at the last count.

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