John Abdallah Wambere
John Abdallah Wambere | |
---|---|
Born | 2 November 1973 Mbale, Uganda |
Known for | Ugandan LGBT rights activist |
John "Longjones" Abdallah Wambere is a
Early life
Wambere was born in Mbala, Zambia on 2 November 1973.[1] His family was Christian; his mother was midwife for the government and his father was in politics.[5] In an interview on Legal Lines with Timothy Lynch, an LGBTQ Massachusetts Bar Association production,[6] Wambere said of his childhood, "We heard about gay people. [People] spoke about gay people. But they were never condemned, they were never persecuted. No one went to torch their homes. They lived as part of the society, and some of them were appreciated as people of uniqueness, different people. And no one ever called them pedophiles."[5]
Although he first realized his sexual attraction to men at eight years of age, Wambere wrote in his application for asylum that he "struggled with [his] emerging sexuality throughout [his] childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood... Living in an extremely anti-gay environment made me fear for my safety and the safety of my family should my sexuality become publicly known."[1] However, he writes that in 1998, at twenty-six, "I realized that being gay made me happy because it is who I am. That was my truth, and that day, I washed my hands (and myself) of any notion of feeling sinful for who I am."[1]
Spectrum Uganda Initiatives
In 2001, Wambere became involved in Homo Uganda, which evolved into
Tensions in Uganda
Uganda has a history of anti-gay laws that date back to its colonization by the British Empire.[7] The Penal Codes of 1950, enacted by the ruling British government, contained sodomy laws that are still in force today.[8][9] However, recent, intensifying anti-homosexual sentiment in Uganda has been associated with the dissemination of anti-gay rhetoric by evangelical Christians, particularly Scott Lively, who came to Kampala in March 2009.[10] According to Stephen Langa, who organized the visit, Lively gave a series of talks about "the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda" — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family."[10] Later that year, a Ugandan politician proposed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, which threatened the death penalty to those convicted of homosexuality.[11] It did not pass.
However, on December 20, 2013, the
Increasing violence
In 2005, The Red Pepper, a Ugandan news tabloid, publicly outed Wambere as a gay man.[1] It listed his name, place of work, and home and work addresses.[1] Since then, several newspapers have described Wambere as a "feminine, dreadlocked homosexual who recruits young boys for sex."[1] He was forced to move homes and change phone numbers several times; still, he continued to receive death threats.[1] On 1 March 2014. In the article, Wambere was accused of being part of a "Ugandan Homo Cabinet."[15] The tabloid was criticized by the Human Rights Watch for putting these men in danger of increased government harassment.[16]
On WGBH-TV, Wambere said of Ugandan media, "I never outed myself. The media outed me… but at one time I found that I had to live the reality... We are Ugandans and we are Africans. And we were born homosexuals."[17]
In the spring of 2009, Wambere was physically attacked by several men as he left Capital Pub, a local bar in Kampala. He was grabbed from behind and knocked unconscious; he later woke in a friend's car with a chipped tooth.[1]
Wambere and David Kato, a friend of Wambere's and one of Uganda's most prominent LGBTI leaders, were both featured in Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright's film Call Me Kuchu. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 11 February 2012. About a year before the film was released, on 26 January 2011, Kato was brutally murdered; he had just won lawsuit against a magazine which had published his name and photograph identifying him as gay and calling for him to be executed.[18] Wambere began to receive death threats that he would be the next to die.[5]
Asylum in the United States
Wambere visited the United States on 20 February 2014 to rally support against the increasingly violent crackdown on the LGBTI community in Uganda.
Facing death threats and life imprisonment if he returned home, Wambere worked with
Family
Wambere has a sixteen-year-old daughter who is still in Uganda, staying with relatives.[17]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wambere, John. "Statement of John Abdallah Wambere on being granted asylum in the United States" (PDF). Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ a b c "John Wambere". Our Work. Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ a b Dreisbach, Tom (21 September 2014). "Ugandan LGBT Activist Recommended For Asylum In U.S." NPR. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ a b "In re Wambere". Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b c d Lynch, Timothy. "Legal Lines: John "Longjones" Abdallah Wambere: Ugandan gay activist; 6-18-14". Massachusetts LGBT Bar Association. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "Legal Lines". Mass. LGBTQ Bar Association. Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association. Archived from the original on 28 October 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ Han, Enze; O'Mahoney, Joseph (30 October 2014). "The British colonial origins of anti-gay laws". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ "Penal Code Act 1950". Free Access to Ugandan Law. Uganda Legal Information Institute. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ Kalende, Val (30 October 2014). "Africa: homophobia is a legacy of colonialism". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
- ^ a b Gettleman, Jeffrey (4 January 2010). "Americans' Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "The Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009. Memorandum" (PDF). Public Eye. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ a b "The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014" (PDF). The UN Refugee Agency. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
- ^ "New anti-homosexuality law in Uganda violates basic human rights, stress UN officials". UN News Centre. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ "Uganda court annuls anti-homosexuality law". BBC News. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
- ^ "Ugandan Newspapers Outing Members of the LGBTI Community". Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "Ugandan 'gay' name list condemned". BBC News. 8 September 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ^ a b "Greater Boston Video: Gay Ugandan Activist Seeks Asylum In Boston". WGBH-TV Youtube. PBS. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (27 January 2011). "Ugandan Who Spoke Up for Gays Is Beaten to Death". New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ Karimi, Faith; Thompson, Nick (24 February 2014). "Uganda's President Museveni signs controversial anti-gay bill into law". CNN World. CNN. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ^ "Recommended Approval by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services" (PDF). Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.