“Why Are You Gay?” -- From Viral Clip to State-Sanctioned Violence

In 2012, a Ugandan TV host asked trans activist Pepe Julian Onziema a now-infamous question: “Why are you gay?” The clip went viral, spawning internet fodder around the world – but behind the memes lies a chilling reality. In this episode of Rights & Wrongs, host Ngofeen Mputubwele looks at Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, a 2023 law that punishes same-sex intimacy with life in prison or even death. He speaks with “Emmanuel,” a young man in Kampala whose Grindr date turned into a violent police sting. Human Rights Watch researcher Oryem Nyeko explains how the law has fueled mob violence, extortion, and fear. But amid the repression, mothers of queer children are speaking up, leading the resistance in one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT climates. Oryem Nyeko: Senior researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch