Ugandan gay couple have been jailed until one can demonstrate the ability to conceive. Authorities stated that gay and lesbian couples are being targeted for not resembling traditional families, as they cannot naturally have children.
“We intend to confine same-sex couples and see if they can bear children. If they cannot, then imprisonment follows, since they claim they are capable of starting families,” stated officials. “We outright reject such behavior!”
At the same event, leaders also criticized lesbian women, challenging them to “prove their masculinity” if they want to take on male roles in relationships. “You want to act as husbands to other women? That’s madness, and we refuse to accept it,” they said.
This stance against the LGBT community is not isolated to Uganda but is echoed across several African nations. The late Robert Mugabe, former president of Zimbabwe, also threatened severe consequences for Africa’s LGBT community, including imprisonment and worse. Under his administration, Zimbabwe passed a constitution making same-sex acts a punishable offense, and over 100 members of the group Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe were arrested before the organization’s offices were ultimately shut down for “undermining the authority of the President.”
