Podcast episode: Unholy Treatment

• In 2024, Uganda’s parliament signed into law one of the world’s toughest anti-homosexuality acts. The Act includes a subsection on the “rehabilitation of homosexuals.”
• In 2021, an investigation from Open Democracy found multiple clinics in Uganda offered what they called “anti-gay therapies.”
• Radio Workshop collaborated with a reporter in Kampala to produce an audio documentary about a queer man who was forced into conversion therapy by his family.

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Bana Mwesige was raised in a religious family. Like almost 85% of the Ugandan population, he’s a Christian. Growing up, his mom and siblings were devout followers of the Anglican faith and Bana went to church because it was expected of him. It was only when he joined the church choir at 12 years old that he felt a connection to God.

“There’s a way like you connect with the music more than someone telling you that all this Bible verse or that.” – Bana Mwesige

But now, at age 28, Bana can’t bring himself to sing gospel anymore. It’s not his faith in God that has wavered, it’s his faith in the church. Ten years ago, Bana went through “conversion therapy” with his pastor. It destroyed Bana’s relationship with the church and took the joy out of singing.

In the Radio Workshop podcast episode Unholy Treatment, Bana speaks about his experience in conversion therapy ten years ago, and how the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 is emboldening pastors to reinstate conversion therapy practices.

This episode was produced by Radio Workshop, a non-profit that works with youth reporters across Africa to broadcast on local radio and create podcasts. Radio Workshop provides the tools and teaches the skills, and youth bring their creativity, experience, and passion for tackling the issues that matter to them and their communities. Radio Workshop’s documentary-style podcast has won numerous awards, including Best Standalone Documentary from the International Documentary Association in 2023.

Radio Workshop’s editorial director, Lesedi Mogoatlhe, says, “Stories like Bana’s are important because they bring our attention to the harmful and dangerous efforts still acted out on LGBTQI+ people to change their sexual identity, orientation and expression. Conversion therapy is bogus, not only because of feedback from those who’ve endured this process and who feel scarred as a result, but also because there is absolutely no medical or scientific research backing it up. It’s scary to think it still happens and is considered to be a reparative measure.”

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Bana attended a Christian school in Uganda. He was a student leader, an academic high achiever and took part in sports. But he knew he was different. He couldn’t understand why boys didn’t talk about having crushes on other boys the same way they spoke about girls. As curious as he was, he didn’t dare ask others if they felt the same.

“Even people who are not queer are stigmatized for the way they look, if they are feminine or if just their body looks different. The society we live in somehow trains you to stigmatize people.” – Bana Mwesige  

Eventually, Bana found out he wasn’t the only one who was queer. Just as Bana was getting comfortable with his sexuality, one of his friends was outed, and then Bana himself was suspected of being gay. This set off a series of actions that ultimately landed Bana in a camp for “at-risk youths.”

No matter how much Bana protested and denied being queer, his family wanted to prove to his school and church that he wasn’t. So they started finding measures of proof. First, Bana was sent to a doctor for a ‘sexual activity examination’. Human Rights Watch calls these examinations a form of sexual assault. When that wasn’t enough, they consulted a priest who claimed he could “cure” Bana. The priest suggested that Bana join him for one-on-one sessions and that he attend camp during the school holidays.

“I would go every day and have sessions, pray with him. And then, he would sort of psycho-analyze me. He’d ask, what is causing this? Why do you think of this? What do you think when you’re thinking of this?” – Bana Mwesige

Bana attended these camps every school holiday for two and a half years: eight times in total. The camp kept him busy from sunrise to sunset. The idea being that if Bana was busy, he wouldn’t have time to “think homosexual thoughts.” The day would start with one-on-one sessions with the pastor, who asked Bana who recruited him and if he knew any other queer people, among other questions. The sessions lasted hours. Bana says the pastor would probe and probe, and Bana quickly realised that if he lied and made up names of people and places, he’d get out the sessions faster.

The reality is, Bana’s sexuality remained unchanged. Research consistently shows that conversion therapy can cause severe psychological damage and that it is not successful at changing a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s been rejected by mainstream medical and mental health professionals for decades.

But because social bias against LGBTQI+ people continues, so does the practice. An investigation by Open Democracy in 2021 found that multiple clinics in Uganda were offering what they called “anti-gay therapies.”

Bana’s therapy ended when he graduated high school. We’re now ten years past the experience, and Bana’s distanced himself from his family and finds comfort in surrounding himself with people who accept him for who he is. But Bana still can’t sing.

“I associate singing with church abuse and I have not been able to detach my trauma from music and church generally.” – Bana Mwesige

An independent UN expert called for a global ban on conversion therapy, stating that it is wholly unscientific and goes against international human rights law. But Bana says Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 has emboldened churches and clinics to continue with their anti-LGBTQI+ programs, despite global critique.

Thank you to the Stephen J. Hendrickson Foundation, the Ann Levy Trust, the Shin Creek Trust, and the Ford Foundation for their support in making this episode.

Listen to Unholy Treatment on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. To find out more about Radio Workshop, visit www.radioworkshop.org or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.