An international organisation, Education International (EI), a body that brings homosexuals together has written to Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU), requesting the officials to develop education programmes aimed at fighting intolerance and prejudice against homosexuals.
Fred van Leeuwen, the organisation’s General Secretary wrote: “They must provide professional guidance to class room teachers to carry out these programs effectively. This is not just a matter of sex education and removing stereotyping in textbooks. The trade union movement can play an important role as well.”
Some of the organisation’s expectations from UNATU include fighting for the right of teachers to be open about their sexual orientation at the workplace.
“I see three important tasks for trade unions in general and for national education unions in particular: Number one is of course to protect their gay and lesbian members. We must fight against open or covert discrimination by employers public authorities, by colleagues, by parents, or by students, with all available means. Here there is no room for compromise.
If we believe that teachers have the right to be open about being gay or lesbian we must create the environment in which they can be themselves without fear. Subsequently, unions should be actively engaged in the establishment of anti-discrimination legislation and equal treatment policies in the education sector and in society at large,” reads the letter.
“As for teachers, which I strongly believe should have that right I go even further. I believe teachers should be open about being gay or lesbian. Today our students are led to believe that they are being taught only by heterosexuals – or worse, by non-sexuals. Yet, if we want to effectively fight prejudice and at the same time help students cope with discovering their own sexual orientation, we should stop being so uptight about who we are and what drives us.”
The statement further states that they have made huge progress in, “although the Catholic Church and its allies make every possible effort to protect the continent from what they consider to be moral decline. In Argentina, thanks to the EI member organisation, social security rights now also cover partners of gay and lesbian teachers. Interesting developments also in Brasil, Mexico and in Costa Rica, where dismissals on grounds of sexual orientation, is no longer accepted.”
But unlike Latin America and Europe, the letter states that their efforts in Africa and Asia are yet to yield any positives results.
“The situation in Africa and Asia-Pacific, however, is less encouraging. With the exception of a few countries, many of our member organisations in these regions are not eager to address questions around gay and lesbian rights.”
Education International claims to have a membership of 26 million teachers “in virtually every country on this planet, which includes between one and a half and two million homosexuals. EI will continue advocating their rights and the rights of the students they teach. We cannot expect them to come out as long as these rights are not respected”.
“But we will only be successful if our global initiatives are combined with action at the national and local levels, the kind of action which I hope and believe will be the result of this Conference.”
It is worth noting that the 1995 Constitution of Uganda prohibits same sex engagements.
