In the Eyes of the Pandemic

"As a community, we still remain vulnerable regardless of whatever situation because every time government officials or homophobic people get an opportunity, they will use whatever they have to actually...push the LGBT community in a corner, take away our rights, and remind us how we are second citizens..."

From East African Visual Artists (EAVA), a non-profit human rights media organisation established in 2012 to tell the stories of the marginalised and to celebrate the diversity and inclusion of all, this video explores the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic poses to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) community in Uganda, as well as the opportunities the crisis presents to continue advocating for social justice.

Featuring a variety of interviews with members of Uganda's LGBTQI community and organisations working with them, the video begins with the country's first diagnosed COVID-19 case and the fear that engulfed the population as a lockdown was announced on April 12 2020. Not only did all people suffer the dearth of information about how the virus is transmitted and what the lockdown regulations meant, but there was counter-information that created a lot of misunderstanding. Beyond that, the LGBTQI community experienced particular vulnerabilities. For example, one interviewee and her partner had just given birth to their daughter, but Ugandans were not permitted to travel to the doctor without permission - let alone in this case, with the women having to explain they are both parents and their need to go to the hospital together. Sex workers were also high risk of contracting the disease, had trouble accessing condoms, and were left out of many of the social-economic programmes the government put into place to assist those who had lost their jobs. Some transgender people felt excluded from centres set up to help people due to the assumption of binary genders and the stigma/criminalisation around certain communities. One interviewee said, "LGBT persons live under constant fear of repression and are pushed to survive in unwelcoming environments."

Another issue covered is access to justice. Because the courts were closed during the lockdown, 23 LGBTQI persons were arrested in a raid on a shelter - perhaps homeless due to the inability to live with their homophobic families ("stay at home, stay safe" does not always mean the same thing for those already affected by discriminalisation, interpersonal violence, and/or criminalisation) - and were held in jail for almost 60 days. The argument was that these are more than 20 people in the same house, and they're going against the COVID-19 regulations, but the interviewee suggests that this was just a "convenient excuse" and that the real reason was discrimination based on their sexuality. Lawyers faced a number of roadblocks trying to travel to the courthouse in a timely manner; while languishing in prison, those arrested were beaten due to their sexual orientation and denied access to HIV services.

As reported here, this is not the first time the LGBTQI community in Uganda has been persecuted. Previously, tabloids have published full names, addresses, photographs, and preferred social hangout spots of LGBTQI people and called for them to be killed. Policymakers have pursued renewed legislation, and religious leaders have come out openly to to denounce homosexuality; in fact, some religious fundamentalists have used moralising language in suggesting that COVID-19 a punishment that is meted out because of homosexuality. One interviewee suggests that this is another moment to educate people to reject this kind of misinformation; COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus, and any agenda that blames or criminalises the LGBTQI community actually puts the entire population at risk.

Furthermore, COVID-19 has impacted the support structures that keep LGBTQI persons feeling connected, as in-person gatherings have been prohibited. Some interviewees discuss the way organisations that serve LGBTQI communities have had to change the way they do their community outreach and how they provide psychosocial support due to COVID-19 safety measures. Like other organisations, they have had turned to telephone conversations, Zoom meetings, social network services whereby peers link to each other within a cell, and so on. As such groups continue to work and fight for justice, there is need to build the capacity of communities in terms of learning and knowing how to use these tools - also in a way that protects the identity of people who might be vulnerable. A more fundamental challenge is to ensure that people have access to the internet and relevant technologies. Organisations need to engage with supporters to ensure the burden of investment does not rest on one partner.