Unbelievable! Uganda police investigate 8-year-old girl for lesbianism

In another sign that hysteria against LGBT people in Uganda is out of control, an eight-year-old girl has now been detained for being a lesbian.

According to Uganda’s The Monitor newspaper, the Jinja Police Child Family Protection Unit confirmed that the child is in police custody.

A “concerned neighbor” reported the girl to the authorities because she was “luring her friends to a nearby farm where she reportedly teaches them how to romantically get involved”.

The newspaper also goes on to uncritically perpetuate the widely held belief in some African countries that children are being indoctrinated into homosexuality, akin to a cult of some kind.

Instead of looking into possible child abuse against the child, it says that the police are investigating if someone “trained the girl and instructed her to pass on the knowledge to her age mates”.

Victor Odero, Amnesty International’s East Africa Campaigner, told The Independent: “The girl should be immediately and unconditionally released if she is still in detention.

“What she needs is protection and respect for her privacy, rather than being treated as a criminal. The state’s responsibility here is to protect the child’s welfare, not to arrest her,” he said.

Colonial-era legislation criminalising gay sex allows the courts in Uganda to imprison anyone found guilty of homosexuality for life.

Following a violent raid on a Uganda Pride pageant last month, organisers were forced to cancel the other remaining planned Pride events. The Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, subsequently announced that he was acquiring a machine that can track down gay people.