The Ugandan LGBTI HIV/Aids fight is joined by TASO

http://sebaspace.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/the-ugandan-lgbti-hivaids-fight-is-joined-by-taso/

In the same week that the much-maligned Speaker of Uganda’s Parliamentlaunched a civil rights booklet to educate Parliamentarians about legislating responsibly for all, The Aids Support Organization (TASO) also stepped to the plate and embraced the gay cause in the fight against HIV in Uganda. TASO apparently invited Spectrum Uganda (Spectrum), an LGBTI advocacy group, to a two-day orientation workshop, having got information that they had oriented health workers from Kampala Capital City Authority) (KCCA) under a project funded by AMfar.

There is no doubt at all that this is good news. With such notable organizations getting on board the program to support HIV/Aids programs in the gay community in Uganda, the central government can surely only follow.

Below is the (edited) report Spectrum have produced following the engagement with TASO:

Spectrum was invited by TASO staff for a two-day orientation workshop, having got information that Spectrum had oriented the health center 4 health workers from KCCA under our “GMT’ project funded by AMfar….

During this workshop, Spectrum used  community MSM and beneficiaries to give testimonies to the TASO staff about the myth that homosexuality is imported and doesn’t exist in Uganda… These acted as the messengers for the LGBTI community and assured the staff that actually they were born gay and weren’t influenced to be so. Some of  the TASO staff really didn’t know that gay people are actually real in Uganda. Initially some even left the room, on the [wrong] impression that Spectrum was trying to preach and promote homosexuality in Uganda.

TASO staff posed all kind of questions ranging from what gay people look like, what sort of sex they have, how they relate with the rest of the community, where they stay , how they dress, walk, if they have religions, believe in God, have culture/family, if they have real relationships, experience domestic violence and so on.

All the questions were answered carefully and Spectrum reports that the TASO staff came round to understand that gay people didn’t deserve to be hated or discriminated against, but rather needed to be embraced. During the workshop, one of the men having sex with men (MSM) helped  the TASO participants reflect on an often glossed over reality that is the root-cause of much of the spread of HIV in Uganda: 

“We sleep with you husbands, they call us in the middle of the night. In the morning we meet your sons and in the evening your daughters, and the following night yourselves. Yet when we come to health centers you discriminate against us not knowing that the results of this sexual network  affects you all”

TASO  members shared their experiences some of them as HIV patients and how they faced a lot of stigma during their coming out and it was evident that they really have no space for discrimination.

By the end of the workshop, the 20 counselors and doctors reached a consensus of serving LGBTI persons with no finger-pointing and agreed to be as friendly as never before and to even go ahead and train peer educators in order to reach all corners of MSM. They  agreed to procure lubricant as part of safe sex practices and condoms, do circumcision, give support and care to HIV clients and maintain the highest level of confidentiality as one of their core values, assist in other projects like VCT/HCT, do programs like moonlighting for sex workers at their bases, establish focal persons at all TASO centers for easy service delivery, participate and join us celebration annual calendar public days like IDAHOT, world Aids Day and involve LGBTI community in there IGA’s (Income generating Activities) and they welcome all kind of partnership from community organization…

All Spectrum’s services are free.  Spectrum can be reached at spectrumugandamission@yahoo.com or on +256 771 656 093