HIV Positive Transwomen discriminated Against

For about 8 months i have held in y office a team of trans women in Uganda,
While many people do not want to identify with them
they are as good as we are and the only difference in their gender orientation

We have discussed HIV at length and a number of them have quit sex work for other work for survival
confidence levels have been propelled to the extent they can now speak i meetings and forums of national calibre

However the transgender women have been coming about 2 weeks to my office for capacity enhancement
the thunderbolt yesterday befell them

The National Coordinator/ Executive Director of National Forum of People Living with HIV in Uganda (NAFOPHANU)chased them for the premises. She called them without even informing me and asked my pals to stop coming to this entity. They are also HIV positive and if they cant be protected by the Forum of PLHIV who then will protect them. the claim was that the government has offered them a building which is paid for by grants for PLHIV and the same NAFOPHANU houses several PLHIV Organisations. This follows if you study critically the anti homosexuality bill where transgender people are often mistaken for being Gay.

The Organisation for which i work has been housed by NAFOPHANU from 2008 and we thank them for that but to chase PLHIV is unacceptable

The ED is hiding her head in the sand. when she needed information form them to conduct a national stigma index survey she related with them now that the survey is over she has chased them.

The transgender women are furious they intend to sue and for me i will be their witness and am ready to support them all the way through

We cant continue to claim we are human rights defenders yet we discriminate against other vulnerable communities. If i don't eat pork, it doesn't mean i should abuse those that eat it.

I will keep World pulse informed about the case and progress ensuing therefrom

What a shame!!!!!!!!