Author Archive

Queer and Trans Ugandans combat state violence in the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

September 29th, 2023 · · Articles No comments - Tags: , , ,

Introduction

Uganda inherited its hostility to homosexuality from British Colonial law. As a result Uganda is now one of the many former colonies that perpetuate harm against Trans persons (particularly women) by criminalizing gender non-conforming persons and persons who engage in sex work (one of few viable options for Trans persons to earn wages in Uganda), as well as their allies. Uganda’s policy has caused an increase in gender based violence which has disrupted utilization and access to basic sexual health services including HIV prevention programs. 

Ugandan Trans Rights activist, Beyonce Karungi, has organized on the ground in Uganda for over 15 years. This article is written by Beyonce Karungi, Toyin Gayle-Sutherland, and  Zee Xaymaca. The report is informed by Beyonce’s experience and reports from Trans women who reside and work in Uganda.  Hope and resilience are key, however Trans women, many of whom identify as sex workers, have had to get creative about meeting their needs under a hostile regime.

The Problem

This Act criminalizes same sex conduct of any kind with the potential of prison time, fines, and, for repeat offences, the death penalty.

On May 29, 2023, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into effect the Anti-Homosexuality Act.  This Act criminalizes same sex conduct of any kind with the potential of prison time, fines, and, for repeat offences, the death penalty.  The law stipulates that consent is irrelevant to prosecution and that persons who knowingly let their premises be used by others “for the purposes of homosexuality” commit an offence. It also levies harsh penalties for witnessing or presiding over a same sex wedding ceremony, advocating for recognition of LGBTQ+ rights or for rendering services or assistance to LGBTQ+ persons. 

This law departs from international standards for human rights in its onslaught against personal autonomy and the right to free association. Trans persons in Uganda now face barriers to accessing public transportation, gathering in community and earning wages, due to legal threats against one’s person. Crucially, individuals are not able to access health care services such as HIV testing, HIV treatments, Tuberculosis treatments and other vital public health interventions.  This has led to a reported rise in communicable diseases within vulnerable communities.

Targeting those who help the Trans community means that organizations in Uganda that operated as safe providers are now forced to turn their backs on Trans persons for fear of long prison sentences and hefty fines.

Despite great care taken in gender nonconforming sex worker communities, Individuals also face an increase in arrests, discrimination and police abuse, extortion, loss of employment and eviction from landlords because of their perceived sexual orientation since allyship is legally prohibited. Targeting those who help the Trans community means that organizations in Uganda that operated as safe providers are now forced to turn their backs on Trans persons for fear of long prison sentences and hefty fines. The Ugandan government has broken its commitments to many International human rights agreements including The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 

Uganda is a tough place to be an advocate. In addition to the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the government has restricted internet access and censored local media in an attempt to prevent uprisings. This measure means that advocates have a hard time keeping in touch with their communities and their allies outside Uganda. 

Assessing Solutions

The ease with which this Act came to pass is indicative of a deep seated hostility toward LGBTQ+ persons’ rights to freedom of expression, privacy, and non-discrimination.  The Ugandan government has refused to honor its obligation to protect all citizens from civil and human rights violations. However, there is little in the way of direct legislative action that can remedy the situation. The way the anti-homosexuality law is written means that any advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights is now illegal under the “promoting homosexuality” statutes. 

We are left with a sticky situation where those who need aid, and have been barred from accessing it due to their gender or sexual orientation will, regardless of sanctions, not have access to necessities. Meanwhile, many who need aid will face new barriers as a result of the sanctions.

Several large non-governmental organizations have cut financial aid to Uganda. The intent is often that the government will feel pressure from a disgruntled public in meeting its mandates and therefore change course. However, the Ugandan president has been adamant that he will not be swayed. We are left with a sticky situation where those who need aid, and have been barred from accessing it due to their gender or sexual orientation will, regardless of sanctions, not have access to necessities. Meanwhile, many who need aid will face new barriers as a result of the sanctions. There is admittedly little to be done individually in the way of direct action and the donor approach of cutting off funding, while understandable, is not without its harms. Beyonce encourages allies around the world to keep this atrocity in the headlines and sustain the outcry that has sprung up around it. Protesting, social media posts, and of course donations to organizations with ties to grassroots organizations are tools of solidarity with our Ugandan siblings. 

The Best Practices Policy Project is working with Beyonce Karungi to keep informed on the backlash against LGBTQ+ and Trans sex worker communities in various parts of Uganda. As circumstances deteriorate, we try to support grassroots organizations with resources that can help mitigate healthcare access issues, i.e. money for private transportation or higher service fees for Trans persons. It is our responsibility as onlookers to stand in solidarity with Ugandan LGBTQ+ persons, not just in the acute phase of these moments of persecution but over time as our siblings on the ground recreate their normalcy and mount their resistance. Donate to BPPP’s Uganda support fundraiser at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/uganda. 

Further reading

World Bank halts Loans to Uganda

Jerving S. Uganda’s “anti-homosexuality” bill already affecting care. Lancet. 2023 Apr 22;401(10385):1327-1328. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00814-0. PMID: 37088085. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37088085/


Full text of the Anti Homosexuality act https://www.parliament.go.ug/sites/default/files/The%20Anti-Homosexuality%20Act%2C%202023.pdf

Sex Workers Respond to Gilgo Beach Arrest

September 3rd, 2023 · · Press Release No comments

Press Release: August 2023

Re: Sex Workers Respond to Gilgo Beach Arrest

U.S. Sex Workers rights organizations have gathered in response to the arrest of the Gilgo Beach suspect, Rex Heuremann. We hope that the families affected by this case can gain some comfort in knowing that a suspect is being held in custody and we may be one step closer to keeping our communities safe. 

However, as many family members and Sex Worker rights advocates know, the investigation into who has been murdering community members and leaving their bodies at Gilgo Beach has been botched for years. The fate of those left on Gilgo Beach has been overshadowed by ongoing violence perpetrated by law enforcement enabled by political corruption in Suffolk County. 

Rex Heuremann is far from the first serial killer that has harmed Sex Workers at their leisure for years/decades at a time. This will continue until law enforcement and the government recognize that violence against us is condoned, and at times, perpetrated by the very people sworn to protect everyone in every community. This case is a reminder that law enforcement continues to harm Sex Workers and the injustice system is still not a safe place for survivors and families of victims. 

It is deeply traumatizing that our communities face this on a daily basis due to criminalization, stigma, misogyny, and hate. It is a great emotional cost to be asked for a quote, an interview, a blurb, etc., as a community and our  families have lived in fear from those who can easily maneuver murderous activities. Since Heuremann’s arrest another victim’s body has been found and her name was released before her family was notified. Journalists can do better. Please take the time to listen to Sex Workers about what the issues are here, and  do so in ways that are not triggering and traumatizing.

We ask that the press and social media handle coverage of Gilgo Beach with depth and sensitivity rather than painting a tragic picture of who Sex Workers are and uncritically depicting police in Suffolk County as heroes and saviors. The real heroes here are the families of those found at Gilgo Beach who have fought for years for the cases to be investigated, and Sex Worker rights organizers who have been in solidarity with this case all along.

Desiree Alliance

New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance

Best Practices Policy Project

The Black Sex Workers Collective

The Outlaw Project

Spoken Word/Poetry/Music Competition for International Whores Day 2023

May 5th, 2023 · · Art Comments Off on Spoken Word/Poetry/Music Competition for International Whores Day 2023 - Tags: ,

Entries due by 11.59 pm ET May 19, 2023

If you are a sex worker/person in the sex trade and have a connection to New Jersey (live here or work here, or come from here, or have good friends here, or similar), then contribute a poem to the International Whores Day podcast competition by May 19, 2023. New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance (NJRUA) will select several of the pieces to read for our International Whores Day podcast (produced in collaboration with Moral High Ground Productions). Contributors maintain copyright of their art and will provide permission for it to be shared on our podcast. All selected entrants will receive compensation for their participation.

This year’s theme will be “Storming the Sanctuary” in celebration of the original action that inspired International Whores’ Day in 1975. It is also a call to action that our allies need now more than question how safe any of us are. We have to fight for and maintain our safe spaces. Our rights and all civil rights are under attack, Sex workers need collaborators and co-conspirators.

The competition will be judged by members of NJRUA. The NJRUA poetry podcast will be recorded/edited by PJ Starr and N’Jaila Rhee and released on soundcloud on June 1, 2023. The podcast builds on a tradition begun by Robyn Few, who read a poem created by her friends for International Sex Worker Rights Day in 2010. And our own podcast in 2022 and in 2016

Contribute your poem, words, lyrics, music, etc to newjerseyrua@gmail.com by May 19, 2023 by 11.59 pm Eastern to be in the running to win a t-shirt and/or have your poem read for inclusion on the podcast for which you will be compensated If you would like to record a reading of your own poem for consideration, we can receive the recording via email or any other file transfer service you would like to use. You may contribute anonymously (i.e. we don’t have to read any name on the podcast) or you may provide us with a name and short bio if you wish. Also please indicate that we have your permission to use your art/poem/words for our podcast.

If poetry is not something that interests you, you can also send us original music for consideration for the podcast, lend your voice to reading a poem or donate to our cause. All is welcome

Good luck!

Sex Worker Rights are Labor Rights (biting the hand)

February 22nd, 2023 · · Articles No comments

This is real world advice about concrete issues. Change is very straightforward. For a long time BPPP has thought of sharing about what should change on a fundamental level in relationships between those who have and give money and the recipients. This is the first posting. We call this impromptu series “Biting the Hand (that did not feed us).” We know it is hard for those without funds to say anything to those in power because the fear of being defunded or systematically shut out of circles and opportunities is very great. We also internally police ourselves, concerned that if one group or person says something, the funding “opportunity” will be “ruined for everyone.” The reality is that the only reason that sources of funding and donations exist today is because of those who fought for recognition, payment, spaces and so much more. The ones who were and are a “problem.” We honor all such disruptors. And we thank you. We need to keep going to create the change we seek.

Today’s suggestion: sex worker rights are labor rights.

We received an email from a funder asking for us to fill out a survey to provide feedback on their funding guidelines. That is a great suggestion. The survey is a highly detailed set of ten questions. Once again, great. Dig deep. Change. The problem? Asking sex workers to do this work without payment and/or any social capital to build our renown. Our response is below, anonymized. To be clear we have received many such requests from funders to fill our surveys without compensation. We hope this is helpful for funders and others with cash to give out, in the future. No. No. We do not dance for free.

Dear Colleagues: We really want to help you but we cannot do this work unpaid. Nor can we ask any unpaid individual sex worker to do this.
We have already given many hours of our time helping [insert name of just about any funder globally] and we have raised this issue ever since [your fund started being interested in funding sex workers].
We looked over the survey, it requires our professional input as sex workers, fundraisers and organizers.
A funder [insert any of the following: dedicated to justice/labor rights/gender equality/set up in our name/working with sex workers] should model Sex Worker rights from the ground up. That would include paying Sex Workers their hourly rate for this labor. Sex Worker rights are human rights and labor rights. Pls live these values.
Pls [insert name of funder] and co, refrain from explaining all the reasons why [insert the name of any funder or donor] can’t pay Sex Workers as consultants. We already received those emails and we don’t need to read them again. We want [you, the funder] to change. And when [you, the funder] changes, pls publicly acknowledge the groups that pressured for this with a thank you. That helps us build, be acknowledged as the thought leaders we are and be acknowledged for the advocacy we have to do (amid the trauma of lack of funding). You did not come up with these ideas on your own, we developed these ideas and work-shopped so many ways to be clear when speaking to you. We and others like us had to take a risk to speak back to you. You might see us as the “angry ones who can’t be nice.” Yet we had to struggle to make you change: painfully many times we have had funders dismiss us to our face when we stated that our work is of equal value. We will be so happy when these attitudes change and you give us our due.
This is our feedback.
BPPP