24
Rodney , Uganda
The story shows that Rodney :
• Is a young gay man in a country in which homosexuality is forbidden .
• Is being harassed because of his sexual orientation .
• Struggles to understand his orientation .
• Witnesses the murder of a gay friend , which felt like an indirect attack on himself .
• Is thrown out of his home , becomes insecure , and loses links to his family .
• Makes a living selling sexual services to tourists .
• Experiences sexual assaults and degrading treatment .
• Works for an LGBTQI + organisation ; is discovered , persecuted , harassed and beaten .
• Fears for his own life .
• Obtains help to escape .
Rodney lived in the same house as his parents and helped on the farm they owned . When he was a teenager , rumours started at school that he was uninterested in girls and liked boys . Fellow students threw stones and laughed at him . He felt ashamed to be different from his peers . Rodney tried to restore his standing by imitating the boys in his class . The rumours calmed down and he was left in peace . However , he continued to struggle with shame because he remained interested in boys .
When he was in his early twenties , Rodney witnessed a gay friend being assaulted and killed because of his orientation . Rodney was very upset and felt the attack was indirectly against him too . He was both scared and angry . His parents asked him about these reactions , and he had some heated discussions with them about being gay . In the end , Rodney ’ s family threw him out . They had understood “ what he was ” and could not accept it . In their opinion , he was sinful and dirty . They asked him to go far away so as not to embarrass the family . Rodney took his belongings and left for Kampala .
With no money and no other means of survival , Rodney supported himself by providing sexual services for tourists . The men were bigger and much older than he was . No matter how badly they treated him , he felt so shameful that he thought he deserved it . He carried the words of his family in his mind . Nevertheless , he survived the abuse and used his anger and despair to find another job .
He became a member of a human rights organisation that promoted and defended the rights of LGBTQI + people . All the work took place in secret and in disguise , under the cover of working on HIV / AIDS , because it was a criminal offence to promote homosexuality in the country and those who were found guilty of homosexual practices could be sentenced to death . He was constantly afraid of being discovered .
He began to create a life for himself . He earned enough to feed and clothe himself . He lived unobtrusively and carefully concealed the fact that he was gay .