Days after Uganda's president signed into law an anti-gay bill that punishes sex between homosexual couples with a maximum sentence of life in prison, Richard Lusimbo was outed in the most public of manners. He was alerted by a friend that his picture was splashed across a tabloid newspaper under the headline 'How I Became Homo'. "I just went silent, I didn't know what to do," Lusimbo recalled of that day.
Despite the threat to his life, Lusimbo said he has no intention of leaving Uganda. "I have a right to be there. Uganda is home. It's where my family is. It's where I've grown up and there's a lot of work to be done. I also have a right to contribute to [Uganda's] development."
Black African MSM appear twice as likely to contract HIV as other ethnic groups
(Sigma Research, 2011)
BAME MSM make up 0.1% of the total population in the UK, but 13% of MSM diagnosed with HIV.
(Nastal-3, PHE, 2013)
Black MSM are also twice as likely to report homophobic attacks in their local area compared to the white population - 13% compared to 6% respectively
(Stonewall, 2013)