Whose Anti-homosexuality bill?

On December 20, 2013, the parliament of Uganda passed the anti-homosexuality bill that had been on the floor of parliament since 2009. The bill will become law if the president of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, assents his signature to it. This private member bill, among other things, provides for a sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, which covers gays and lesbians. This article explores the politics of the bill other than its morality, il/legitimacy, ethics and legality.

Since the bill was passed, there has been extensive debate about its moral, ethical and legal standing. On the one hand, human rights activists across the world have condemned the bill saying that if it is passed into law, its implementation and enforcement will amount to blatant abuse of human rights.  On the other hand, proponents of the bill and a wide section of Ugandans have applauded the passing of the bill, and reiterated its necessity and importance in upholding and fostering cultural and religious values.

Resistance against homosexuality in Uganda and other parts of Africa is part of European religious colonial legacy and a result of deeply entrenched cultural and traditional beliefs and practices. In a bid to spread Victorian morality in Africa, European missionaries through religious movements, teachings and crusades preached against homosexuality and sodomy. This formed the foundation on which the currents faiths were built. Uganda's population is highly catholic (33%), Anglican (33%) and Muslim (16%), and most followers of these religious faiths still view homosexuality as a practice that is against their religious values, norms, procedures and biblical teachings. As a matter of fact, ever since the bill was passed, the archbishops of both the catholic and Anglican churches in Uganda have come out to condemn acts of homosexuality, and have called for redemption and of homosexual individuals in society.

This lack of acceptance of the gay community is compounded by very conservative cultural beliefs that are rooted in the philosophy of continuity of life.  Uganda’s tribal communities are founded on clan system, genealogical lineage, and ancestral history. The three form the tenets on which social and cultural identity is built and sustained. The sense of being is not only derived from individual existence but also through procreation, having a wife or wives and a husband or husbands, and getting subjected to cultural rituals such as rites of passage. Patrilineage, which is common in most African societies has roots in procreation and vice versa. An African clan or tribe cannot imagine that their son or daughter can live ad grow up with having biological children. Reproduction ensures this continuity of life and orientation into earthly and ancestral life and worlds. Any practice that threatens this belief is vehemently resisted, fought, and discredited.

Whose anti-homosexuality bill?

Debate about anti-homosexuality bill has focused on the ethics, morality, legitimacy, and legality of the bill. Yet, the bill seems to be serving political interests than the purpose for which it is purportedly drafted (to preserve the cultural and religious values of the people). Because the bill appeals to the cultural and religious sentiments of majority of Ugandans, politicians and legislators are using it to mobilize political support among Ugandans as we move towards the 2016 general elections. Ever since the bill was passed by parliament, a largest percentage of Ugandans have come out to show their full contentment with the bill on social and electronic media. The approval rate for legislators has drastically increased.

The government of Uganda is also using the bill to divert attention away from continued abuse of human rights, collapse in rule of law, and violent political harassment of members of opposition that Uganda has witnessed in the recent past. The international media and Western government seem to be obsessed with the bill each time it is debated in parliament and have not given other pressing human right abuses the attention that they deserve. this serves the current Kampala regime well. With this bill in their hands, the government of Uganda has added another weapon to their arsenal (in addition to having military troops in Somalia) to keep Western government, media, and organisations in check.

Is homosexuality a western imposed practice?

There is a popular belief among sections of Uganda's population that homosexuality is a foreign practice imposed on local communities to serve the ulterior motives the West (Europe and north America). This is contrary to the reports that homosexuality existed in pre-colonial African society. In fact, while appearing on BBC and CNN in 2012, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, acknowledged that homosexuality has always existed in Africa, but people never had debates about it in public (he calls this exhibitionism).  The more Western governments and human rights organisations directly intervene to ensure that the rights of sexual minorities are observed, the more the belief that homosexuality is a Western imposition gets entrenched within the local community. LGBT activists whose local campaigns are funded by western organizations also vindicate this suspicion. The west has also turned  blind eye on other forms of human rights  abuse in Uganda. Hesitancy by Western government and human rights organization to come out and strongly condemn other forms of human rights abuse is seen as betrayal, playing double standards and being insensitive to the plight of other many Ugandans who suffer grave injustices, abuses and violence. As one of the Ugandans commented in one of the debates about the bill: “The proponents of gay rights are as wrong as the proponents of anti gay law, when political opponents are killed and persecuted, those bazungus [people from the West] are silent. Are gay rights more important than other human right?” 

Uganda's armed forces breaking up a meeting of unarmed protestors. Such abuses are rarely condemned by Western governments and human rights organisations.

Western governments and organizations making mistakes

Ever since the bill was tabled before parliament, western governments and organizations have been calling for cuts in foreign aid to Uganda with aim to mount pressure on the Ugandan government and parliament to shelve the bill. By tying human rights to aid money and handouts, the West is making three mistakes and disservices to the gay community in Uganda and beyond: 1) the West is creating an impression that human rights can be bought or negotiated using financial and logistical resources and handouts. Human rights are human rights. Using money and other resources to gain them is setting a wrong precedent that if these rights can be commoditized and negotiated using money they can be taken away; 2) they are putting the gay community at risk in cases where countries may decide to do away with aid, mobilize local resources and continue to enforce and implement laws against sexual minorities; 3) the West is confirming the longstanding suspicion that homosexuality is a Western idea that is being imposed on local communities using threats to cut aid, and financial and logistical facilitation of gay right movements and campaigns.

The proponents of the anti-homosexuality bill are making the Ugandan society more homophobic. Those who are challenging the bill (both locally and internationally) are radicalizing local homophobia. Advocacy, publicity and activism for and against homosexuality will only leave the gay community in a more precarious position. Local politicians will continue to front this bill to cover up for their legislative and political failures as we move towards 2016 general elections. The anti-homosexuality has a lot to do with local politics than the moral, ethical and legal status of the people of Uganda. 

How HIV/AIDS and War gave some Legs to the Dance Industry in Uganda

A very good friend of mine in Kampala called me asking about the things that have transformed the dance industry in Uganda. He was left gasping in shock when I mentioned HIV/AIDS and War as the key factors that have altered the dance landscape in Uganda. At first, he thought that I had smoked or sniffed something strong. But as our discussion progressed, he realized that there was some meat in my bizarre response.

Yes, HIV/AIDS has had far reaching consequences on the people of Uganda. It always leaves bitter test in our mouth. Since it was first detected in early 1980s, HIV/AIDS has claimed lives, wiped away villages, and condemned masses to orphanage.  Sadly, it has defiantly refused to vacate center stage. My friend and I had elected not to talk about these things. Both of us have lost our beloved ones to this scourge, and memories of this loss precipitate indignation and despondency. In our good old days, worms would spread into our bottles of beer and glasses of wine each time we chose to open this HIV/AIDS can.

And for this pain, HIV/AIDS should be condemned and cursed. But this should not blindfold us not to recognize the changes it has had on the social and cultural milieu. One can argue that, possibly, the dance industry would not be what it is now had it not been for HIV/AID. HIV/AIDS paved way for emergence of a recognizable number of dance troupes in Uganda. But the most significant contribution is that it marked beginning of orphanage-troupe model of running dance business.

Most traditional dance troupes started as orphanages, offering services to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. AIDS created a certain category of labour for dance.  These children were willing to learn and stage dance and music performances in exchange of accommodation, education, healthcare and other services. The Chinese saying tells us that a wise wo/man sees an opportunity in a crisis, while a foolish one sees problems in an opportunity. The directors and proprietors of traditional dance troupes heeded the first part of this Chinese apothegm: they poked a hole of opportunities in the HIV/AIDS cobweb.

HIV/AIDS scourge and the agony that comes with it changed people’s thinking about traditional dances. People stopped viewing traditional dances as something that hunters perform somewhere in the forest around a carcass of a speared elephant. They stopped seeing ethnic dances as an activity that is only performed to appease gods, deities, spirits, and traditional leaders and elders. A new philosophy emerged – a philosophy that considered dance as a service that can be offered to support, rehabilitate and transform those in need. And the end users/beneficiaries/clients (orphans) were floating around in abundance seeking out for this support.

This simplified recruitment for orphanage-troupes. A person would just walk into a village and pick orphans, get them together into an orphanage, and train them as performers. But these recruits needed to eat, to be accommodated, and to be educated. This required money – a lot of it. The idea then was to make the recruits perform on different occasions – weddings, seminars, conferences, and international festivals to raise money. An internal interplay between an orphanage and a commercial troupe slowly took shape to take care of the economic demands of this arrangement.

This orphanage-troupe interplay is also visible on the international scene when troupes go for tours in Europe and America. The exportation of traditional dances is more colored in a humanitarian and charity agenda than artistic mission. Often times, the dances that are performed are accompanied by the sad and touching stories of how the performers have been pounded by the HIV/AIDS scourge, and more dollars euros and pounds are thrown into the envelope.

Like HIV/AIDS, the footsteps of war can be traced in the dance industry. We can excuse HIV/AID for whatever it has visited on humanity, but we cannot excuse war. Yes, we can excuse HIV/AIDS because it is a natural consequence. You cannot refuse wo/man from having sex. If you did, s/he would throw everything, including the kitchen utensils, at you. But war is borne out of wo/man’s madness. As Nelson Mandela noted, war is one of man-made problems. The demons of war have been making rounds in the great lakes region and squarely competing with HIV/AIDS in claiming millions of lives.

Because wars have caused forced migration, dances and music traditions have crossed tribal and geographic boarder as a result. For the case of Uganda, the northern insurgency and other armed conflicts in the entire great lakes region that have lasted for more than 20 years led to exodus of dance and music traditions to different parts of the country. Some dancers in  troupes migrated with their cultural music and dance, joined and performed with and for troupes to access education, accommodation and other forms of welfare.

Dancers performing Larakaraka courtship dance from Acholi people of Northern Uganda at Ndere center, Kampala. Courtesy photo.

This trend flouted the idea that traditional dances belonged to regional tribes and sub-tribes; cultures became open and got exposed to new artistic experiences. The advent of inter-tribal and inter-regional artistic and cultural dynamic, with orphanage-troupes as centers of this exchange, appeared on the horizon. There are people in central Uganda who had never seen dances from the greater north who started interacting with these new cultural experiences. Within dance troupes, performers from different tribes started learning different music and dance forms from one another.

Migration of music and dance traditions as a result of war spilled beyond national border. It is after the Rwandan genocide and Burundian war in 1990s that Uganda witnessed the influx of dancers and drummers from Rwanda and Burundi, respectively. Some of these immigrant performers have made a fortune in Uganda that they forgot all about home.

The traditional dance orphanage-troupe model owes some of its legs to HIV/AIDS and war. But this model has posed a challenge. A number of dance troupes are stuck with this standard and have failed move on. Over-reliance on funding and charity has thwarted possibilities of elevating these dance troupes into fully-fledged and self-sustaining economic ventures.

This does not take away the fact that HIV/AID and war have pushed the dance industry this far. We can say whatever we want about the HIV/AIDS and War, but when the sun goes to rest the dance practitioners will sit down and say that HIV/AIDS and war taught them how to turn on different lights. 

Alfdaniels Mabingo is a Fulbright Fellow at New York University