I am currently living in Kampala, Uganda, Africa with my partner of a year and a half. It has been a rollercoaster ride getting here and the way in which things have taken off for me since coming to Uganda.
Why am I in Uganda? Well my partner got a job here and it was her dream post and of course I was going to support it but I was also in the middle of my degree and was repeating first year due to issues I had faced the previous year with an ex of mine and other various issues that will come up in this piece. So I had to think long and hard about what I was going to do but also my partner and I had to think long and hard too, are we serious enough about this relationship and each other to make it work? That was the question we had to ask ourselves, also is going to be safe in Uganda for us as a gay couple. All these things had to be considered, in the end we decided we loved each other deeply and wanted to see where our relationship would take us, so I committed to coming to Uganda so we could make it work. Initially I was going to come for the summer and for Christmas and continue my degree however I ended up deciding it would be better to take a year out and just spend the year in Uganda with my partner and work and help there as much as I can.
So my biggest issue with coming to Uganda was having to go back in the closest. This idea was very tough for me as I am an advocate for change and for no discrimination against any marginalised group that causes no harm to others. I am a very OUT person and an activist for Human Rights mainly focusing on women’s rights against violence and rape and for LGBTI in all the troubles they face all around the world on a daily basis. People assume if you are living or from a western part of the world that there would be no such thing as homophobia or that everyone is open minded and wouldn’t think twice of these things. This is not the case however the real issues for the LGBTI community are worldwide and what we need to realise is that unless we all work together in every country to make things better for all of our community members then things will never be better.
What brought me to being an activist? I think it was my life. I have had a very complicated life and a very challenging life. Things have not in any way come easy for me and this is not just because I always felt different in regards to my gender and sexuality. It’s a reason I hate labels and I didn’t realise how much until I stopped trying to fulfil all the labels and expectations that come with those labels and just decided to let myself be me. This was a very hard struggle to get to this point. I had many aspects to deal with, mainly my issues with myself that came from my life to this point.
YOU CAN READ THE REST ON THE BLOG BELOW:
Stepping out of the Shame
adriennevlynch: I am currently living in Kampala, Uganda, Africa with my partner of a year and a half. It has been a rollercoaster ride getting here and the way in which things have taken off for me since coming to Uganda. Why am I in Uganda?
