The documentary ‘Out of Uganda’ depicts the harrowing realities of displaced queer people.
‘You are not my son. You are Satan.’ These are the kind of words that LGBTQI+ people in Uganda and elsewhere have to endure. The clergy demand that they are killed in the name of God or Allah. Neighbours, teachers, relatives and even their own parents sometimes believe their children are demons if they are lesbian, gay or bisexual or identify as transgender. In addition to the verbal abuse they experience, they are ostracised, hunted down, tortured and murdered by society. They are not safe, not even from governments: homosexuality is still a crime in sixty-six countries worldwide, with twelve countries even punishing it with the death penalty. In East and West Africa and parts of Asia, consensual same-sex sexual acts are punished severely. For many, the last hope is to leave everything behind and flee.
The documentary film ‘Out of Uganda’ portrays Lynn, Shammy, Hussein and Philip, who experience precisely this in their homeland – East African Uganda. Three of them manage to escape to Switzerland. But even there, they face new obstacles and exclusion.
