Romesh Ranganathan ‘incredibly upset’ over ‘disgusting’ homophobia encountered in BBC series-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Romesh Ranganathan has slammed the the controversial anti-gay laws introduced last year in Uganda in an exclusive first-look clip from his new BBC series.

The comedian, 46, is travelling to three beautiful but not traditionally tourist-friendly destinations in Africa for The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, which he confirmed earlier would be his last.

He begins his travel series inn Uganda, but is left disturbed after what he discovers.

Prior to his visit, the dad-of-three’s only knowledge of Uganda was the 1970s military dictatorship of Idi Amin, but his guide was keen to show him there’s much more to the country than its brutal past.

What followed entailed a white water rafting trip on the Nile, some wildlife spotting in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and of course a banana gin tasting session.

However, arriving in Uganda mere weeks after the anti-homosexuality bill was voted for nearly unanimously by the country’s parliament, Romesh struggled to reconcile the picture-perfect wildlife idyll being presented to him with the fear and oppression described during a phone call with a local LGBTQ+ activist. 

Romesh Ranganathan is shocked hearing about the disgusting homophobia in Uganda (Picture: BBC)

He is ‘incredibly upset’ by the people effected by the law change (Picture: BBC)

In an exclusive clip, he explains: ‘The honest truth is, I find it incredibly upsetting. My heart goes out to the people, I can’t even imagine.

‘If you are a member of the gay community or a supporter of the gay community, your life here is incredibly challenging.

‘People feel empowered to be homophobic because they’re backed up by law – it’s horrible, it’s disgusting.’

Romesh goes on: ‘When I came to the country, I was hoping that I could somehow justify what has happened with these new laws, and that they hadn’t been supported and this is something that people are up in arms about.

‘But having spoken to [his guide] Alex, who I think is fairly typical of the views in this country, I think not only is it a well-supported law, it’s a celebrated one.’

The bill was passed in 2023, and became one of world’s most aggressive pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, imposing the death penalty for what it calls ‘aggravated homosexuality’, a vaguely defined term that is said to include having gay sex while HIV positive and seducing someone through ‘misrepresentation’.

In Uganda, people may also be sentenced to 20 years in prison for ‘recruitment, promotion and funding’ of same-sex ‘activities’, while ‘attempted aggravated homosexuality’ can result in a 14-year sentence.

Later episodes of the BBC series see reluctant globetrotter Romesh travel to Rwanda and Madagascar. where in the former he gets his hands dirty trying to create indigenous art using a surprising – and pungent – sculpture material and later gets breathtakingly close to a pride of lions on a night-time safari, while elsewhere learns more about the country’s harrowing history at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

Romesh’s fourth travel series will be his final (Picture: BBC)

He travels to Rwanda, Madagascar and Uganda (Picture: BBC)

Meanwhile in Madagascar, Romesh is keen to discover if he’ll ‘find an island full of talking lions and dancing lemurs’, and while that may not be in the cards, he is taken on a spectacular hike through the Grand Tsingy; meets some real-life lemurs (and a ‘lemur whisperer’); and sees, first-hand, the effects of the devastating famine caused by the country’s worst drought in four decades.  

Talking earlier this month about why Misadventures is coming to an end after six years, Romesh said he’s ready to explore more tourist-friendly destinations, saying: ‘My next Misadventure will be getting sand off my sun-creamed torso in Greece.’

The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan returns to BBC Two and iPlayer at 9pm on Wednesday 29 May.

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