Get to know FARUG – 20 years of supporting the LBQ community in Uganda
By Womankind Worldwide and Freedom and Roam Uganda
Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) is a lesbian, bi and queer (LBQ) womxn and community led, feminist organisation in Uganda. “Feminist in capital letters and bold” as Gloriah, Programs Director, puts it.
This Pride Month we are celebrating the work of Freedom and Roam Uganda – a long term partner of Womankind. Biggie, Gloriah and Amor from the FARUG team shared with us their reflections on two decades of groundbreaking work.
Holistic care, support and advocacy for the LBQ community
“We made it to 20 years on the 4th of July last year and we happen to be not just the oldest LBQ organisation in Uganda, but also in Africa as well. Most of the work that we do is focused on empowerment and rights for LBQ womxn through movement building, feminist popular education, raising political consciousness,creating brave spaces, organising-bridging the local, national and global,strategic political action at key moments and providing access to safe and affirming healthcare through our mini clinic and drop-in centre. We research and document lived realities whilst empowering communities with information, resources and tools on how to respond to violence.” – Gloriah
Much of FARUG’s work focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights for LBQ womxn including the areas of HIV, reproductive diseases, menstrual and mental health. “We’re the first organisation in Uganda that started conversations around HIV and menstrual health within LBQ communities and the programming around it. We’ve also taken up the mantle of advocacy around inclusion of LBQ womxn in broader HIV spaces and for the first time we are going to be present at the International AIDS conference in Munich Germany.” – Gloriah
FARUG also runs the first ever HIV support group for LBQ people, the LBQ legal desk and the gender-based violence support line.
From policy to creativity
FARUG is the beating heart of the LBQ movement in Uganda, mentoring other organisations and sharing good practices. “We currently exist in a context where there are so many young, emerging queer leaders. We’ve taken up the role of mentoring those upcoming leaders and organisations and now, there are over 15 organisations that have been birthed out of FARUG.” – Gloriah
“We work on economic justice and we continue to network with LGBTQ organizations within the country, regionally and internationally. We’ve recently had engagements at CSW with support from Womankind and that’s a space that we are pushing back more on where our voice can be heard. ” – Biggie
“We also use creativity to tell our stories through music and art and encourage our members to engage in creativity. We run a podcast called Ba Queer Twogere a lesbian visibility podcast celebrating queer love, exploring life experiences, representation and busting queer myths. – Biggie
The current climate for LBQ womxn in Uganda
Life for LBQ womxn in Uganda has always come with challenges due to the legal and social implications linked to their identity.
“You need to survive. But then how do you survive and not be who you are because you’re scared to be who you are? There’s a lot of people wanting to seek asylum, a lot of evictions and homelessness. There is an increase in drug and alcohol abuse because people are lonely and looking to survive in the best way they can.” – Amor.
FARUG are now convening their members online due to being evicted from their premises. “Since the eviction, it’s been very hard for us to find a new space because people are not willing to rent to us. Previously there was a lot of threat around the clause in the bill**, which had an obligation for people renting out premises to queer organisations to report it. Even after the court ruling where that part was extracted, people are not yet aware that it’s not there. And more so, they’re still scared to rent out their premises to us.” – Gloriah.
“Right now, if we had a physical drop-in centre (DIC) – a friendly safe space where our community members who suffer from stigma from other health centres come to access health services – people would be scared to come. Because if people see us, they raise the alarm and it’s not safe for our community. Now we don’t have space for our DIC, we are having to do home based care and it’s hard for members to access the healthcare that we have. We’re in more of a survival mode than before, but we are here and we keep doing what we have to do” – Amor
“There’s a lot of hate speech online and outing on social media. It’s scary and insecure. Right now, there’s a lot of forced marriages and pregnancies because they think that’s the only survival mode that they can use. When you have a child, you are perceived to be less of a lesbian.” There is even a popular saying right now that “pregnancy is the new closet”– Biggie
FARUG’s crucial work
It is clear that FARUG are a pillar of support and connection for the LBQ community in Uganda.
“We have the reputation of being a movement building entity because of how much we have sustained and grow healthy and resilient movement by our existence. The work that we do in one way or another is very important to sustaining LBQ community organising.” – Gloriah
From supporting FARUG to hold the Ugandan Lesbian Forum (UGALEF) to them now being one of Womankind’s Strategic Grant partners, this Pride Month we’re celebrating FARUG and all the work they do to support the LBQ community in Uganda.
*womxn is used throughout this piece as this is FARUG’s preferred terminology.
**The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023
