Ugandan gospel artiste, Julie Mutesasira, has come out publicly to state that she is gay, adding this is the reason she left Uganda.
Julie, ex-wife to Pastor Steven Mutesasira of the Anointed Upper Room Church in Kamwokya, relocated to Canada in 2017. Subsequently, reports began to emerge, that she was in a love affair with another woman.
In 2020, photos of Julie and another woman kissing, during what was reported to be their wedding, went viral online causing uproar.
She has now further confirmed her sexual orientation, in a behind-the-scenes interview she did at Canada’s Got Talent after her two singing kids, Esther and Ezekiel Mutesasira, put up a captivating performance during their audition for the popular singing competition.
“I decided to leave Uganda because I came out because of my sexuality. Being a gay woman in Uganda and married to a Pastor, that’s an abomination,” Julie Mutesasira, famed for songs like Nkulembera, Lwana Nabo and Ekikunyumira, said in a clip posted by City TV on YouTube.
Esther and Ezekiel who won East Africa’s Got Talent in 2019 paid tribute to their mom for being their music tutor.
They also recount the five years when they were separated with their mom (Julie being in Canada while they were in Kampala) as being “hard”.
“She has helped us through the phone, those past five years when we were going to sing somewhere. She has helped us a lot. All this time, she has really been like our music teacher,” Esther said.
In the same clip, they promise their mom that if they win Canada’s Got Talent, they would want her to take some time off because she works too much. Ezekiel says they would take her to Las Vegas.
Following his 2016 divorce with Julie, Pastor Steven Mutesasira married a one Judith, in 2020. This is his third marriage after Jane and Julie.
Julie and Pastor Steven were married 14 years, having met in 1996. It is not clear whether her sexuality was at the heart of their separation.
She has not been shy to publicly express her affection for her partner. She regularly posts photos of them together on her Instagram and writes affectionate messages.
In a previous interview, Julie hinted at the sacrifices that come with getting married to a pastor.
“In most cases, pastors’ wives sacrifice their emotional feelings on the altar of fitting in their husband’s callings. For instance, they have to act as if they are super human, smiling all the time, regardless of how they feel. Also, pastors’ wives have to be emotional shock-absorbers to the people with emotional challenges in the church,” Julie said.
Julie’s story is akin to Keko’s, another Uganda singer who in 2017 moved to Toronto, Canada, due to her sexuality as gay.
For her, leaving Uganda for Canada meant she got to live her life without being judged with the stereotype that Ugandans view gay people through. Keko had openly revealed she was gay and that she came out because “people need to live freer lives”.
