Building a Barometer of Gay Rights (BGR): A Case Study of Uganda and the Persecution of Homosexuals

Abstract

Few countries in the world actually embrace homosexuals as valuable members of their society and even fewer bestow full human rights on their homosexual citizens. The Barometer of Gay Rights (BGR) attempts to systematically quantify how rights protective and respective a country really is. This article will apply the BGR methodology to the Ugandan case study to measure the degree to which Uganda is an "active persecutor" of homosexuals. The BGR measures the constitutional protections afforded homosexuals, their civil, political, and socioeconomic rights, the presence and efficacy of gay rights organizations, and the degree of societal persecution.