We left the sauna and, after further conversation, civil but stilted, went our separate ways.
No, he did not think the subject worthwhile. No, he did not wish to discuss the subject I was interested in. The priest was embarrassed: to have been chanced upon at this place to have had his small evasions revealed. But I would never have the experience firsthand. Supposedly, he loves to dish male colleagues with campy female nicknames. I had heard that he is a gossip, a social operator whose calendar is a blur of drinks and dinners with cardinals and archbishops, principessas and personal trainers. Yes, his plans had changed, he said, but he was leaving again the next day and would return only after I was gone.ĭuring the previous few days, I had heard a lot about this man. “How lucky for me: you’re here!” Startled, the priest talked fast. “I thought you were out of the country,” I said. When we were alone, I spoke his name, telling him mine. Yet as I looked at the man more closely, I saw that it was definitely him. He had told me that he’d be away and couldn’t meet. My friends told me that this priest was gay, politically savvy, and well connected to the gay Church hierarchy in Rome.īut this couldn’t be that priest. He looked like a priest with whom I’d corresponded after mutual friends put us in touch, a man I had wanted to consult about gay clerics in the Vatican Curia. I had not met this man before, but as I entered the sauna, I thought I recognized him from photographs.
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda under a 1950s penal code that remains in force and prescribes jail for those found guilty of homosexual acts.Naked but for the towel around his waist, a man of a certain age sat by himself, bent slightly forward as if praying, in a corner of the sauna at a gym in central Rome. However, Museveni said last month that the country needed to consider the impact on trade and economic growth that such a crackdown could have.Ĭritics said the president signed the previous law to win support ahead of a presidential election scheduled for 2016, which will mark his 30th year in power.Īlthough very popular domestically, the previous law was branded draconian and “abominable” by rights groups and condemned by allies and donors including the EU and the US.īarack Obama had described the legislation as “a step backward for all Ugandans”. Homophobia is rife in the socially conservative country, but activists held a gay pride rally in August that was granted permission by the police. The government has not commented on the draft, although Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has been under pressure for several months from his own party to ensure that anti-gay legislation is passed. He believed upcoming elections were the motivation for politicians to make a renewed assault on homosexuality and that activists would seek to have the draft law abandoned. Mugisha said the legislation would result in violence against gay people. The new draft also outlaws “funding for purposes of promoting unnatural sexual practices” and “exhibiting unnatural sexual practices”, and deems consent invalid as a defence. It’s actually worse because the ‘promotion’ part is harsher and it will punish the funding of LGBT and human rights groups.” “They have just twisted the language but it is the same thing.
Their plan is to present it to parliament as soon as possible, before the end of the year,” Mugisha said. “We have confirmed that the draft comes from the cabinet. All human rights groups that include LGBT rights defence in their activities could be accused of promotion.”Īccording to the draft, anyone convicted of “promoting” homosexuality would be liable to seven years in prison. My Twitter account could be seen as promotion. If newspapers report about homosexuality it could be seen as promotion.
According to a leaked copy of the new draft law, MPs have instead focused on outlawing the “promotion” of homosexuality – a potentially far more repressive and wide-reaching measure.įrank Mugisha, a gay-rights activist, said: “People don’t realise that the ‘promotion’ part of it will affect everybody.