Gay school teacher almost nabbed.

Moses Anapa (L) with his mates on a social event

Across Africa, LGBTQ persons find themselves contending with a disturbing regression of progress, facing relentless protests against their identities, and confronting formidable obstacles to their legal and social rights.

In Uganda, enforcement organs, political and government figures, used traditional and social media to spread misinformation and hatred against LGBTQ people, leading to an uptick in attacks and harassment against them and LGBTQ rights groups. A few lucky ones have escaped the brutality fleeing abroad to civilized countries like Germany, united kingdom, Netherlands among others, whilst others not being so lucky.

There have been reports of physical brutality from the Mob and also law enforcement agencies leaving the victims with nowhere to seek refuge let alone Justice. It is to be noted that by Ugandan law same sex or gay sex is punishable by a death sentence and the anti homo sexuality bill imposing life imprisonment or still the death penalty for the would be culprits.

This means that the few who can gather resources have abandoned ship and fled the country, their homeland. While the less fortunate ones have stayed underground living in constant fear for their lives from every angle of society.

When the anti-homosexuality bill was passed, Ugandan Parliament speaker Anita Annet Among tweeted, “The president has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. As the parliament of Uganda, we have answered the cries of our people.“

Anita Annet Among, addresses MPs as the anti-LGBTQ+ bill was passed. She urged the courts to begin enforcing the law immediately

Towards the end of last year, a high school chemistry teacher at St. Edward High School Rubaga known as Anapa Moses was nearly lynched by a mob on school grounds where he lived. This came after he was exposed to be in an intimate relationship with a male companion.

Speaking to someone on the inside (source withheld), it was revealed that on this fateful day, Moses was conducting a class screen casting from his phone to a larger screen. At some point he needed to excuse himself to collect some apparatus from the laboratory and it is during this period that his partner Simon sent him explicit texts reminiscing about the intimate time they had the night before. These were projected to the screen as his phone was still casting and the popped messages were there for all to see.

Word spread like a wild fire and within a few moments he was called up to the principal’s office where he was informed that his actions don’t align with the school’s values and image. Homosexuality had no place in their environment, as it is against the laws of the country and God himself and because of the above reasons he could no longer be part of that community.

‘’I told him that the police had been made aware of the situation and advised him to gather what he can and rush out. As I was on the lookout, he used the small gate and fled. Police later arrived and searched his premises but he was long gone. As his close friends we were also questioned about his vice and his possible where abouts’’ our source exclaimed.

It is said that on the very next morning, a section of parents, particularly from Moses’s class stormed the school demanding answers of why a gay man was hired and also demanding an investigation if their children weren’t recruited into homosexuality or any acts of being molested by that teacher. These accompanied by an angry mob demanded to see the man and when they were informed he had fled they went on to ‘check’ where he stayed to confirm his absence and in the end destroying everything that was left behind.

‘’His own family disowned him, he had no one left on his side let alone a few of us who see everyone for whom they truly are. He received threatening messages yet he could not report anywhere or requests for security from law enforcement. He told me he was processing to flee to Germany informing me I might take long to hear from him as he was going to terminate his socials and contacts for his own safety’’ our source exclaimed.

The Anti-gay law dehumanizes gay community as human beings; it doesn’t treat them as citizens. They are literally criminals and they are illegal in their own space that they call home. Nowhere is safe for any queer person living in Uganda.