Government Gay Bashing in Uganda

This article is a response to my last article, where New York Times writer Dayo Olopade addresses the reintroduction of an anti-homosexual bill by a member of parliament in Uganda in his article “Gay Bashing, a Government Division”. This is a “large step backwards”, as Olopade puts it, as this was a bill shot down in 2009 but now being put back into action. The proposed legislation imposes a life sentences for any same-sex behavior and a death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, which includes gay acts by a person with H.I.V or with a minor. This new bill has caused Ugandan homosexuals to flee to neighboring countries where they seek refuge. Olopade questions the credibility and integrity of the Ugandan government by stating that the government spent more than $500 million dollars on new military plane but failed to build or staff any new hospitals. Parliaments also recently approved a $40,000 U.S. dollar value payment for each parliament member to buy a new car— a questionably self-interested approval. The most prominent point made in Olopade’s article is that gay bashing has served as a “handy distraction” from ethical lapses in power. In other words, gay bashing is a major concern in Uganda, only to distract citizens from realizing the major abuses of authority and neglect of legitimate developmental goals by the government.

In Theo Van der Meer’s “Gay Bashing— a rite of passage,” Van de Meer speaks about gay violence as a reality in the 21^st century. While his article focuses on societal gay bashing in Holland, Olopade’s article takes this concept and applies it to a much bigger and more powerful entity— the government. What happens when your own government, that controls the laws of your country, becomes a gay-bashing bully? This is a problem that many Africans face, especially in Uganda, which has become almost the capitol of anti-homosexual practices in Africa. The one parallel feature that I think stands between the two articles is the idea of gay bashing as an action for power. I feel as if both the citizens from the Netherlands and the parliament members from Uganda take violent and malicious action toward the gay community as a discharge of masculinity or power. This is sad and unfortunate, but nonetheless is a prevalent topic in the world today.

In “Searching for Community: Filipino Gay Men in New York City”, author Martin F. Manalansan IV speaks about Filipino gay men’s struggle in finding a “community” and identifying with themselves in America. I believe that this can relate to Olopade’s article because the African citizens struggle to find community in Uganda because of the anti-homosexual laws. They flee to other countries, simply to avoid the prejudice, justified violence and intolerance. This is a struggle to find community because few African countries accept homosexuals.

I believe that this is an incredibly important topic because I feel that many people in America are sheltered from the idea that gay-bashing and government corruption does exist.  Being from California, we live in a very liberal and democratic setting, where the government is generally perceived as just and we allow many personal freedoms among our citizens. However, the idea that there are countries around the world that do not allow such personal freedoms is a terrifying thought. I think that we should understand that we are lucky to live in such a country and find out what we can do to take a stand against such anti-homosexual policies among African countries.

Readings Used:

Van Der Meer, Theo “Bashing a Rite of Passage?” in Culture, Health and Sexuality, Vol. 5 No. 2

Manalasan IV, Martin F “Searching for Community: Filipino Gay Men from New York City”. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. Routeledge Chapman Hall, 1993

Article Used

http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/gay-bashing-in-uganda-is-a-diversion-from-government-malfeasance/





by


 Michael Inouye