Uganda’s gays fear health discrimination
KAMPALA, Uganda — The medical workers who knew he was gay ignored him, attending to those who arrived after him as they openly gossiped about his homosexuality.
Pepe Julian Onziema, a prominent gay activist in Uganda, said Wednesday he recently was forced to confront nurses at a private clinic after they neglected to serve him in apparent hostility toward his sexual orientation.
Now that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed a new law imposing harsh sentences for gay sex, life is expected to become even more difficult for the country’s homosexuals, including getting health care.
Uganda’s health minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that gays will not be discriminated against by medical workers despite the strengthening of criminal penalties against homosexuals.
But Onziema said he and other homosexuals have experienced prejudice when seeking health care.
“I once went to a clinic where I stayed in the queue (line) for hours and people who came after me were being served,” he said. “You stand in the queue and they ignore you. And you hear them saying, ‘That is a gay person. We can’t serve him. We shall not serve him.’ ”
The new law has spread fear among gay Ugandans and many now are trying to flee the country, said Onziema.