Uganda Official Orders Pride March Organizers to Cancel Parade

The organizers of Uganda's gay Pride parade due to take place this weekend have been asked by local police to cease their operations, NewNowNext reports.

Simon Lokodo, minister of Uganda's ethics and integrity cabinet, issued a statement, saying:

The organizers of the planned Gay Parade on Saturday September 24 are advised to stop their activities immediately or otherwise they will be arrested and prosecuted in the courts of law. The public is called upon to refrain from joining and participating in Gay activities.

We wish to emphasize that whereas the promotion of homosexuality is criminalized under the Penal Code, there is no violence against the LGBT community in Uganda - contrary to some claims made loosely by proponents of this movement.

Lokodo is known for his strong anti-LGBT stance in a country where homosexuality is still illegal, and people accused of being involved in same-sex activites are subject to life imprisonment.

Last month, the minister authorized a violent police raid at a Pride celebration.

In the past, Ugandan LGBT leaders have been outed in the local press, had their lives threatened, and have been victims of assault and gruesome murders.

The death of David Kato, a gay rights activist found executed in 2011 after being outed in local tabloid The Red Pepper, inspired the award-winning documentary God Loves Uganda. Watch the trailer below: