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As a American Black Gay Man, I’m starting to feel that I have no good reason to go to pretty much any African country. Seriously. Between the few Cypher Avenue stories on the gay discrimination in Africa; the depressing stories of African Homophobia seen on Rod 2.0 and Sebaspace and the recently passed law in Nigeria making Gay Marriage and Gay PDA illegal with 10-14 year prison sentence for anyone even helping to advocate Gay Equality…I don’t want to spend hard earned money traveling to a countries full of people who want to see me Hanged for being gay.

 

Then came this great documentary, Call Me Kuchu, which tells a balanced story of what it’s like for both gays and people against gays in Uganda. We not only see the views of the editor of the Rolling Stone, Uganda’s tabloid newspaper that Outs gay men by publishing their photos and addresses; we also see the life of a prominent gay rights advocate, David Kato, who is brutally killed during the making of the film.


The funeral scene for the slain Gay Rights Advocate David Kato is both heartbreaking and infuriating. Religious Anti-Gay protestors interrupted their peaceful memorial (with the deceased’s mother present) to spew their rhetoric. You would think that Uganda and Nigeria would have bigger issues to tackle than a supposed “gay influence” from the West. Seriously, is Homosexuality really that much of a threat in Uganda? It almost seems like the “straight” people there are either jealous or obsessed with gays and the happiness of these men and women.

 

This detailed, balanced and thought-provoking film made the rounds at film festivals all over the globe and will be released on DVD in September 2013.