Homosexual Persecution
An interview with FNUR co-manager Talcott Broadhead.
By Ross Reynolds & Matthew Streib
Aired at 10:51 am Thursday, July 17, 2014 on 94.9 FM – KUOW/NPR – Seattle, WA
Read the article and listen to the KUOW/NPR podcast at:
http://kuow.org/post/flee-or-die-olympia-quakers-support-ugandas-underground-railroad
Talcott Broadhead, Friends New Underground Railroad co-manager (social worker, author, illustrator, publisher, parent, professor and activist) is interviewed by Ross Reynolds on KUOW, 94.9 FM – Seattle News & Information – NPR Radio – airing today, Thursday, July 17, 2014 from noon – 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Ross Reynolds and Marcie Sillman on The Record, 7/17:
Major David Tucker on returning from the warzone, and Olympia Quakers organize an “underground railroad” for gay people in Uganda.
Talcott Broadhead says: “Only lgbtq Ugandans know what lgbtq Ugandans need. We are honored to support their needs through this crisis.”
Listen live: http://kuow.org/programs/record
Most show segments are available online and as podcasts by 5 p.m. the day that they air.
Talcott Broadhead:
email: talcottbroadhead@friendsnewundergroundrailroad.org
website: http://www.talcottbroadheadmsw.com
By Christian Walters – Towleroad – 07/15/2014
“The plight of gay Ugandans is well-known here, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the rest of the world. A group of Quakers calling themselves Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR) formed to take action and help gays and lesbians in Uganda escape persecution.”
Read the whole article and please read the comments too:
http://www.towleroad.com/2014/07/quakers-form-underground-railroad-to-ferry-gays-out-of-uganda.html
[Friends New Underground Railroad] “… is work we would prefer not to do. We are doing it because we were asked to by people who had direct threats on their lives,” says one organizer, who took the pseudonym Levi Coffin II in honor of a Quaker associated with the original Underground Railroad. “Names were read out over radio stations, with broadcasts calling for their arrests, imprisonment, castration, and sterilization. They have been many incitements to mob violence. People have been burned out of their homes (and burned themselves), thrown out of their jobs, expelled from schools. Hospitals are refusing to treat LGBTQ individuals.”
While he’s grateful they’ve been able to help individuals, Coffin doesn’t call the project a success. “It is not a win. It is not an answer. It is what we can do.”
Read it at:
http://www.newnownext.com/today-in-gay-15/07/2014/
American Quakers are Running an ‘Underground Railroad’ to Help LGBT Ugandans Flee
Newsweek – By Zoë Schlanger – Filed: 7/11/14 at 11:45 AM
“A group of American Quakers are operating what they call a “new underground railroad” to help a few LGBT Ugandans flee their country, where a recent law imposes harsh penalties for homosexuality.
“The Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR), based in Washington state, sees itself as continuing the work of Quakers who historically helped slaves escape the American South.”
Read the article and comments:
http://www.newsweek.com/american-quakers-are-running-underground-railroad-help-lgbt-ugandans-flee-258363
A Group of Quakers Has Established a “New Underground Railroad” For LGBT Ugandans
Higher Learning: The Knowledge Exchange – July 13, 2014 – by mbiyimoh g.
“In February, Uganda enacted arguably the harshest anti-gay legislation in the world.
“The Anti-Homosexuality Bill not only makes same-sex intercourse punishable by life in prison, it also puts people in prison for not reporting homosexual activity within 24 hours.”
Read the article:
http://thehigherlearning.com/2014/07/13/a-group-of-quakers-has-established-a-new-underground-railroad-for-lgbt-ugandans/
Quakers have ‘underground railroad’ to help gay Ugandans escape the country
by Nick Duffy – Pink News – 11th July 2014
“The Friends New Underground Railroad smuggles LGBT people out of Uganda
“A group of Quakers have formed an underground network to help gay Ugandans escape the country.
“According to Buzzfeed, members of the religious group – also known as the The Religious Society of Friends – have formed an organisation called the Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR) to help smuggle gay people out of Uganda.”
Read the whole article and comments:
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/07/11/quakers-have-underground-railroad-to-help-gay-ugandans-escape-the-country/
Thank you to reporter J. Lester Feder who did a lot of research about the Friends New Underground Railroad project for this article which came out today:
But human rights activists in the region aren’t cheering
Posted on July 10, 2014, at 4:35 p.m. – J. Lester Feder – BuzzFeed Staff
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/american-quakers-have-created-an-underground-railroad-in-uga
A Kenyan activist, Ugandan asylum-seeker, and the American Jewish World Service hope to raise awareness about east Africa’s beleaguered LGBT community, even as hundreds reportedly flee Uganda.
by Thom Senzee – June 27 2014 – The Advocate
“The common LGBTI person in Uganda is struggling to even make ends meet,” Mawanda says. “The common LGBTI in Uganda today — I’m talking about a trans man, a trans woman, who is seen as being a typical gay person today in Uganda … is homeless, because they were evicted from the small homes where they were living before the law was passed, because the law says their landlord had to evict them. The average LGBTI person in Uganda cannot go to hospital to get antimalaria or [antiretroviral]s because the doctors fear being jailed because of the new law.”
Read the article:
http://www.advocate.com/world/2014/06/27/activists-hundreds-lgbt-refugees-have-fled-uganda
AIW #F:
UUA Support for “Uganda New Underground Railroad” to safely extract LGBTQ people from persecution in Uganda.
Our Unitarian Universalist principles, faith and values call us to witness and advocate for human worth and dignity, justice, equity, compassion and the goal of world community.
In Uganda, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) people are being rounded up and killed at an escalating pace.
As of February 2014 a Ugandan law now criminalizes homosexuality. The penalty can be as severe as life imprisonment. Supporters who are perceived as aiding and abetting LGBTQ people can be jailed for up to seven years. According to the newly formed Quaker group, Friends New Underground Railroad (http://friendsnewundergroundrailroad.org/), there have been many arrests with few emerging from the jails. University and high school students are being expelled, seminarians are being dismissed from theological colleges, people are being fired from their jobs and evicted from their homes. Lawyers are afraid to represent LGBTQ people and their allies for fear that they themselves may be prosecuted.
The Friends New Underground Railroad is working with the Friends’ “Safe Passage Fund,” which was created to “provide travel funds and support to LGBTQ individuals and allies who face immediate threats of arrest, attacks, violence and persecution in countries where harsh laws have fostered a climate of extreme homophobia.”
As of late June 2014, the group reports:
In two different incidents in two different locations, we’ve had 58 LGBT people evicted from their “safe” houses and running for their lives. This follows on the heels of suicides by two people who lost hope of getting out, and also with the names of LGBT folks who are being hunted read out over the radio. Due to some extraordinary acts of heroism on the part of several of our conductors, the 58 are now in two separate locations (32 and 26 people respectively) and temporarily out of harm’s way.
The UUA has a proud history, working with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) to rescue persecuted people in harm’s way. The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UUUNO) has been a strong voice at the United Nations on behalf of LGBTQ people in developing countries, especially since President Museveni came to power in Uganda.
Therefore, be it resolved that the UUA General Assembly call upon Unitarian Universalists everywhere to:
Therefore, be it resolved that the 2014 General Assembly encourages us to join with the Quakers in this movement.
What could be a better symbol of “Love Reaching Out” than to join with Quakers in support of the New Underground Railroad.
—
UUA General Session VII, General Assembly 2014 – http://www.uua.org/statements/uua-support-uganda-new-underground-railroad-safely-extract-lgbtq-people-persecution (pdf file)
[With some amendments, AIW F, UUA Support for “Uganda New Underground Railroad” to Safety Extract LGBTQ People from Persecution in Uganda (PDF), is adopted.]
You can watch the video “GA 2014 Event 503 General Session Captioned” here: http://www.uua.org/ga/virtual/2014/business/vii/index.shtml
The part of the video where they discussed and voted on this is from 35:30 to 49:20 minutes.
Thank you, Unitarian Universalist Association!