Open Letter to the Ugandan Parliament

Dear Sirs and Madames,

I am writing to you to express my concern for the proposed anti-gay legislation some of you trying to pass that adds the death penalty to your existing laws that criminalize sexual orientation.

Mr. David Bahati, who introduced the Bill to Parliament last year, has based his position on discredited sources that erroneously and maliciously blame all dangerous behaviors toward children on gay people and declare that homosexual behavior can be eliminated.

I urge you to distance yourselves from those American fundamentalist Christian Right, anti-gay extremists who have descended on your country and are fanning their homophobic hate. Their agenda, if adopted,  could have grave consequences for your country's human rights. They are not doing your country any favors.

I am a Christian myself. I am also a transgender woman. I live in Canada and I am grateful to live in a city and country that has afforded me the ability to live without fear. Additionally, I am thankful to live in a day and age when my condition is recognized by the medical profession and that there are medical professionals throughout the world who have dedicated themselves to learning everything they can about how to help individuals like me to live healthy and productive lives.

Even though gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things that must be understood and discussed separately, they have one thing in common. Neither of them is a choice. One does not choose to be gay or transgender any more than one chooses to be straight. It is, therefore, inhumane to single out those who don't happen to conform to the binary view of sexuality and criminalize their personhood.

Additionally, to make it a crime not to report a gay person within twenty-four hours is beyond evil. To lay charges against family, friends, counselors, ministers, doctors, landlords, employers, and neighbors will turn your country into a land full of suspicion, tyranny, and fear. Where, then, can someone ostracized and persecuted for being deemed different turn to for succor? How much more inhumane can laws become?

In closing, please know that the legacy of your tenure as a Member of Parliament will be how you protected the human rights, the dignity and the diversity of all the citizens of Uganda. Please repeal and abolish all laws that target any minority group, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Ugandans.

Respectfully yours,

Lisa Salazar

Vancouver, Canada