Dismantling reified African culture through localised homosexualities in Uganda

Abstract

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 aimed at protecting the cherished culture of the people against emergent threats to the traditional heterosexual family. The Bill's justification, however, lay in myopic imaginings of a homogenous African-ness and pedestrian oblivion to pluralities within African sexualities. This paper revisits the debate that homosexuality is 'un-African'. Rhetoric analysis of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill exposes how dominant discourses of law, medicine, religion, geography and culture reinforce the view that homosexuality is foreign to Africa. Based on ethnography in contemporary Uganda, I explore how self-identified same-sex-loving individuals simultaneously claim their African-ness and their homosexuality. Their strategies include ethnic belonging, membership to kinship structures, making connections with pre-colonial histories of homosexuality, civic participation in democratic processes, national identity, organising of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning support groups, language and nomenclature, visibility and voice in local communal activities, solidarity and adherence to cultural rituals. In present-day Uganda, same-sex-loving men, women and transgender people variously assert their African-ness.

Homosexuality, Sex Work, and HIV/AIDS in Displacement and Post-Conflict Settings: The Case of Refugees in Uganda

“…22 Most of the interviewed refugees in same-sex relationships did not know that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 proposes the re-criminalization of homosexuality in Uganda, 23 and introduced stricter penalties -including monetary fines, mandatory HIV testing, short-term or life imprisonment and even the death penalty. 24 Many refugees learned about the bill after arriving in Uganda, during meetings organized by Les Saints or other human rights organizations.…”

Somali American female refugees discuss their attitudes toward homosexuality and the gay and lesbian community

“…Virtually every participant spoke to this, sometimes condemning those who identified as gay or lesbian as cursed or evil: 'They are people that have the curse from Allah (God) and the person is doing something that Allah is not happy with it' (Roon, age 30). Corroborating research by Bonthuys and Erlank (2012) and Nyanzi (2013), participants explained that homosexuality is prohibited because God created man and woman for the purpose of marriage and procreation. Any sexual relationship outside of this sanctioned, heterosexual model could not be considered:…”

Health Risks in Same-Sex Attracted Ugandan University Students: Evidence from Two Cross-Sectional Studies

“…Recent efforts to scale-up existing legislation criminalizing same-sex behavior in Uganda have been linked to stigma, discrimination, violence, and persecution. [ 1 ]Although the prohibition of same-sex acts existed in Uganda already in 1950, homophobic rhetoric in public discourse became particularly intense during the 2000’s, fuelled by religious and political debates. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB), first introduced in 2009 and signed into law by President Museveni in February, 2014, sought to legitimize the persecution of persons engaged in same-sex behavior by radically extending the scope of same-sex associated crimes and penalties.…”

“…Although the AHB was subsequently ruled invalid by the Constitutional Court in Uganda on August 1, 2014, current law stipulates up to 14 years imprisonment for homosexual acts. Homophobic discourse is widespread, and many healthcare practitioners still regard homosexuality as deeply pathological [ 1 ].…”