84% Reject Homosexuals
Africa News,
September 29, 1999
http://www.africanews.org/east/uganda/stories/19990929_feat10.html
New Vision (Kampala) — Eighty-four per cent of
Kampala residents do not want homosexuality legalised, a New Vision opinion
poll on sexual behaviours has revealed.
The survey done last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, revealed that 23% of the
city residents know at least one homosexual. Fourteen per cent want the
practice legalised while 2% are undecided.
According to the survey, 64% of the residents do not want prostitution
legalised, 33% endorse it, while 3% are undecided.
Twenty-seven per cent want defilers killed, 15% want them castrated, while
28% recommend life imprisonment, the survey revealed. Seventeen per cent
suggest less than seven years imprisonment, while 12% want them counselled.
The survey done for The New Vision by team led by Bennet Kizito, a
statistician, covered 505 male and female respondents of all age groups and
educational standards as a representative sample.
They were found in offices, business premises, streets and residences in
the city centre, Wandegeya, Makerere, Mulago, Nakawa, Ntinda, Bukoto, Rubaga,
Kasubi, Mengo, Nakulabye, Namirembe, Makindye, and Nsambya. The media recently
carried reports of gay marriages in Kampala and the defilement of a
three-month old baby by a 20-year-old man.
The respondents were asked whether they think homosexuality or prostitution
should be legalised. They were also asked what punishment they recommend for
defilers, among five options.
Sympathy for both prostitution and homosexuality was higher among men than
among women. Forty per cent of the male respondents and 26% of the females
wanted prostitution legalised. On homosexuality, 17% of the males and 10% of
the females wanted it legalised.
Female respondents, however, preferred harsher punishment for defilers.
Whereas 24% of the females wanted defilers castrated, only 8% of the males
agreed with them. Twenty-nine per cent of females and 25% of the males wanted
defilers killed. Of the 14% who want homosexuality legalised, the majority
have secondary school education. Twenty-one per cent of those with O-Level
education and 14% of those with A’Level education said homosexuality should
be legalised. Thirteen per cent of those with primary education, and 10% of
those with tertiary education agreed. But none of the illiterate respondents
wanted homosexuality legalised.
President Yoweri Museveni on Monday ordered the arrest and prosecution of
homosexuals, saying it was an imported Western practice unacceptable in
Uganda. The poll was conducted over the weekend before Museveni spoke.
The illiterate respondents, however, showed overwhelming support for
prostitution, with 67% wanting it legalised. Only 30%, 32%, 43%, and 19% of
those with tertiary, A-Level, O-Level, and primary education said prostitution
should be legalised.
The illiterate respondents also opted for tougher punishment for defilers,
with 33% saying the defilers should be killed. Another 33% said defilers
should be castrated, but none said they should be counselled.
Comparatively, 16% of the respondents with tertiary education wanted
defilers counselled. 19% wanted them executed and 42% imprisoned for life.
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