John Abdallah Wambere

Wambere was born in Mbala, Zambia on 2 November 1973.[1] His family was Christian; his mother was midwife for the government and his father was in politics.[5] In an interview on Legal Lines with Timothy Lynch, an LGBTQ Massachusetts Bar Association production,[6] Wambere said of his childhood, "We heard about gay people. [People] spoke about gay people. But they were never condemned, they were never persecuted. No one went to torch their homes. They lived as part of the society, and some of them were appreciated as people of uniqueness, different people. And no one ever called them pedophiles."[5]

Although he first realized his sexual attraction to men at eight years of age, Wambere wrote in his application for asylum that he "struggled with [his] emerging sexuality throughout [his] childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood... Living in an extremely anti-gay environment made me fear for my safety and the safety of my family should my sexuality become publicly known."[1] However, he writes that in 1998, at twenty-six, "I realized that being gay made me happy because it is who I am. That was my truth, and that day, I washed my hands (and myself) of any notion of feeling sinful for who I am."[1]

In 2001, Wambere became involved in Homo Uganda, which evolved into Spectrum Uganda Initiatives (Spectrum) in 2002.[1] Founded in 1998, Spectrum is a community-based organization under Sexual Minorities Uganda that focuses on providing support and sexual health education for the LGBTI community. They hold workshops to encourage people to check their HIV/STI status and use condoms and proper lubricants; they also provide advocacy support to help combat LGBTI discrimination.[5] Wambere hosted Sunday gatherings at his home to "talk about issues pertaining to our sexuality and health, discuss our experiences in our communities, and generally offer opportunities to meet and socialize with other members of the community."[1] Wambere was elected to serve as Secretary of Spectrum in 2004.[1]

Uganda has a history of anti-gay laws that date back to its colonization by the British Empire.[7] The Penal Codes of 1950, enacted by the ruling British government, contained sodomy laws that are still in force today.[8][9] However, recent, intensifiying anti-homosexual sentiment in Uganda has been associated with the dissemination of anti-gay rhetoric by evangelical Christians, particularly Scott Lively, who came to Kampala in March 2009.[10] According to Stephen Langa, who organized the visit, Lively gave a series of talks about "the gay agenda — that whole hidden and dark agenda" — and the threat homosexuals posed to Bible-based values and the traditional African family."[10] Later that year, a Ugandan politician proposed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, which threatened the death penalty to those convicted of homosexuality.[11] It did not pass.

However, on December 20, 2013, the Parliament of Uganda proposed the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014.[12] The bill, which was signed into law by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on February 24, 2014, proposed a maximum sentence of life in prison for those found guilty of "the offence of homosexuality," "aggravated homosexuality," "conspiracy to engage in homosexuality," and "promotion of homosexuality," among others.[12] Museveni was criticized by the UN, who said the law "violates basic human rights and endangers lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the country."[13] The law was later annulled by Uganda's Constitutional Court on August 4, 2014, because it did not have the requisite quorum needed.[14]

Wambere visited the United States on 20 February 2014 to rally support against the increasingly violent crackdown on the LGBTI community in Uganda.[3] Three days after he landed, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014, into law.[19]

Facing death threats and life imprisonment if he returned home, Wambere worked with GLAD to file for asylum with the U.S. Government.[2] On 11 September 2014, the U.S. Government granted him asylum, pending a routine background check.[20] "This has been a very, very difficult decision for me," said Wambere in a statement to the media. "I have devoted my life to working for LGBTI people in Uganda, and it gives me great pain not to be with my community, allies, and friends while they are under increasing attack. But in my heart, I know it is my only option, and that I would be of no use to my community in jail."[4]

Wambere has a sixteen-year-old daughter who is still in Uganda, staying with relatives.[17]