Ugandan youth worker says being unemployed makes young men gay

A youth worker in Uganda has suggested that being unemployed makes young men gay.

Ishahak Mugema also said he wants the government to open more factories for youths to work in, and suggested that this would keep young people away from same-sex activity.

Mugema made the controversial comments in The Observer, a Ugandan newspaper. In the same article, he also said he believes young people are being “recruited” into the gay community.

Mugema – who is the youth councillor for the Luweero district – also said that a decay in moral values was making young people gay.

The comments were made in relation to a study completed by the Makerere University school of public health which looked at rates of homosexuality in one town.

33 young people in the town reported that they had engaged in same-sex sexual activity in the study, which was conducted in June.

Uganda: A tense environment for LGBT+ people

Homosexuality is still illegal in Uganda, meaning life can be extremely difficult for LGBT+ people there.

In 2009, Uganda tried to introduce the death penalty for gay people. The legislation became known as the “Kill the Gays” bill.

The anti-gay law was eventually passed in 2014 with the death penalty provision taken out and replaced with life imprisonment.

ISAAC KASAMANI/AFP/Getty

However, Uganda’s constitutional court struck the law down soon after on procedural grounds.

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