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Uganda's Homophobia - How to Cross the Line

Warning: I am about to release my opinions very candidly and bluntly, and it might offend you. Sorry. Actually, no...I'm not sorry at all.

I need to say before you read this that I love Uganda. The cultures, the people, and the beauty. But sometimes, I really dislike certain parts of the population, whom you will read about below. All of my comments are directed towards the ones that insist on carrying on with extreme homophobia that results in disgusting violence.

I haven't thought about this topic in a while... mainly because it really infuriates me and it challenges my anthropological instincts to stay neutral.

But this is ridiculous. CNN just reported that a Ugandan gay rights activist was bludgeoned to death in his own home. Watching this video fills me with sorrow and anger to know that this man is dead because of ignorance and intolerance. With such a close connection to Uganda and such a belief in the tolerance and appreciation for diversity, I have to say that this story is the last straw. I am truly embarrassed and ashamed for the people that committed this atrocious act and for their supporters.

While it may not seem like much, I am shocked at the courage of this man to speak to a Western news outlet about his sexuality and his fears for his safety. The Ugandan gay rights community has truly lost someone very special. If you've never read anything about gay rights in Uganda, there basically are none. Gayness is viewed as an abomination in what is a predominantly born-again Christian nation. Recently, laws inspired by right wing American groups have been tabled in the Ugandan Parliament. These laws call for the execution of "repeat" offenders, meaning anyone who has been accused of being homosexual on more than one occasion or even someone who fails to tattle on their possibly homosexual neighbor or friend. I should mention that a homosexual could face imprisonment for up to 14 years under the current anti-homosexuality law.

Here's a link to an article from Human Rights Watch in 2009 when the bill was making the news quite frequently.

From my experience in Uganda, I know that even those who feel that executing homosexuals is extreme have little tolerance for what they deem to be unnecessary differentiation from other Ugandans. If you read the comments below the article I linked to above, you'll see that some people said it was his fault because he managed to land himself on the "top homosexuals" list, which obviously means he wasn't being discrete enough about his sexuality. Why should he have to be? I've been able to observe that, for the most part, Uganda can be a place of conformity and keeping your opinions to yourself, especially where politics are concerned. But when it comes to homosexuality, there is no holding back when it comes to spewing pure hatred.

Some Ugandans stand by this policy as an assertion of their cultural rights and as a middle finger to Western intervention, which is ironic because Uganda has long been in the back pocket of the United States. What really baffles me, is that this man was killed in the name of Christianity and the belief that homosexuality is an offense to to God. Is cold-blooded murder not offensive? Do these people think God will reward them for so violently killing a man who did them no harm? Also ironic is that the Uganda Christian identity formed from colonization by the British. Additionally, the British established the original anti-homosexuality law in Uganda a long time ago, presumably because homosexuality was already present. This history tells us that homosexuality has always been in Uganda, and that the law against it came with Western intervention. This is the exact opposite of everything that the bill's supporters currently claim. They say that homosexuality was introduced (and is still being introduced) by Westerners and that the law needs to be tougher in order to rid the nation of this "embarrassing" portion of the population.

All I can say is that to the rest of the world, this plays out like ignorance, misguided education, and dangerous Christian fundamentalism that takes us back to Old Testament times.

If these people are attempting to assert their "Ugandanness", I think it is a hugely misplaced topic with which to establish an identity, not to mention a false identity. For my Ugandan friends who might read this, I implore you to open your heart and your mind and allow people to live as they wish to live. Whether you agree with it or not, homosexuality has absolutely no affect on how you conduct your life unless you want it to, and this can be positive or negative. Please choose to accept your homosexual friends with kindness and openness because they will need the support if popular opinion in Uganda continues in this direction.

How do you keep up with the news?

Like I said in my last blog, I like to keep up with the news, particularly African news. I don't know how many of you like reading the news or like being in the know on world issues, but for those of you that do... do you ever find the constant stream of information overwhelming? You can study up on one issue and then the next day it changes or the next day something else happens. Should you be somewhat aware of a broad range of issues or highly knowledgeable about just a few issues? Or a little bit of both?

Here's a little overview of what I'm trying to keep track of right now, on top of remembering that yes, I am still a student with homework and yes, I could be working on writing my thesis at any given moment of the day rather than what I have chosen to do with my time - like eat, sleep, watch season 6 of Lost or... write this blog.

Uganda: Obviously, I read Ugandan news every day. Recently, it's been about little else other than the upcoming February elections. I'll probably write a more in-depth post on this topic soon, but it seems that Ugandan news outlets are writing about what the rest of the world expects or hopes to happen and not what really is happening.

For instance, this article was posted today: Police arm heavily ahead of elections

It covers a few different issues, namely the fear that there will be violence no matter which way the election goes, whether or not the opposition has a chance (which opposition, you might ask), and the preparedness of the police and army. Of course, I think people should be prepared for anything, but now everyone just expects violence. Maybe I'm looking too much into the supposed group psychology of the issue, but it seems like expecting violence will only encourage it.

Sudan: It would be foolish to not keep up to date with Sudan right now. After all, after the referendum vote, South Sudan could be the world's newest country (and it looks like it will be). It will probably also be the world's weakest country, but we'll have to wait to see how that pans out. This referendum is a huge achievement for this much-troubled nation that has been engaged in conflict for decades. It's also a benchmark for the rest of Africa - Southern Sudanese are democratically electing to change their border to something that makes sense for the geographical and cultural area, rather than what colonizers laid out decades ago. What if every conflicted African nation could redraw their borders this way? Would it help to alleviate some problems? Or does it simply create new ones? Also, it's not like it was an easy road to come to this point, and most Sudanese would have rather had peace all along rather than a secession vote.

Here's the latest on the referendum vote: UN Secretary-General announces the end of the polling period

Also, the underreported Northern Sudanese side. Many are genuinely concerned that the country is falling apart, not just for the oil, but for the well-being of South Sudanese.

Cote d'Ivoire: This place has definitely been interesting lately. November elections ousted the former President Gbagbo and elected Ouatarra.... or at least they were supposed to. When Ouatarra was announced the winner, Gbagbo decided he actually wasn't ready to step down. Both men have large armies at their backs, the only difference being that Ouatarra also has the international community on his side, along with a few thousand UN peacekeepers. The situation has been worsening, and Gbagbo has refused to give up, despite several sanctions placed upon him and his supporters. It is feared that this will erupt into a civil war, which would further devastate a country healing from a conflict in 2002, not to mention the refugee situation that the tension and fear of war along with early violence is creating.

There are so many aspects to this situation, it would take another blog to unravel, but here's the latest: Ouatarra aims to close 'financial windows'

Tunisia: Last, but not least, Tunisia seems to have had a revolution, French style. I'm not so up to date on this one as I would like to be, but I do know that the people scared the president into fleeing into Saudi Arabia. Pretty interesting situation to keep up with on the BBC website.

So you see, those are only tiny little blurbs, but it's SO much information to keep up with. And to really understand what's happening now, you need to understand at least a little bit of the history of the situation. Out of context, these are simply elections and coups, but it takes a good historical background to understand the ramifications of these actions. So how do you keep up with the news around the world and keep up with your own life?

Blogs of Transition

The only times I've ever written a blog have been when I was in Uganda. But why? Is my life in Tennessee not interesting enough to write about? I hope not. If it is, then I need to get out of here fast! Seriously though, I like sharing my observations about the world, so I decided to start blogging this semester - my last semester at the University of Tennessee. I felt like I needed a theme for this new direction with my blog, but a few suggestions from friends convinced me to keep it simple and just write about my life, which is pretty much a theme in itself. It also allows me to write about anything I want. There's also a fun surprise coming up with this blog that you'll just have to wait to see!

If you're new, here's a little about myself. I'm graduating with honors in May with a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology. I'm writing a thesis from my original research on cultural revival programs in northern Uganda, a post-conflict zone I have worked and lived in and a place where I have left a piece of myself. I'm running a project turning Acholi folk tales into cartoons, even though I'm a continent away from my team. I'm constantly reading news and other blogs about Africa in general, Uganda in particular, and other topics when it strikes my fancy. I'm a fan of Conan O'Brien, and I enjoy watching Grey's and Private Practice every week along with Glee. Feel free to judge me for my taste in television series. I don't know what I'm doing for grad school, but I'm interested in development, aid, human rights, anthropology, politics, and a wide range of similar topics, all of which tend to overlap. Before this starts to sound too much like a singles ad, I'll stop. I'm just letting you know all of this because I might be writing on any range of these topics in my blog. Plus, this could be a really fun time to follow along while I graduate and try to land myself a big girl job.

Did I mention that I'm moving to Uganda in July? Yeah... I'll be writing about that, too.

So, for my first blog entry, I've decided to write about a gem of a new tv show on ABC (note: sarcasm) called "Off the Map." Due to my aforementioned Grey's and Private Practice faithfulness, I was watching tv one night when I saw a commercial for this particular show. It's no doubt riding on the ever popular and romantic idea of Americans wandering into the deepest darkest jungles and saving the locals with technology and medicine. In fact, the show is pretty much built on this idea.

Now I know it's not like Grey's or Private Practice are particularly realistic, and they definitely romanticize the profession, so why should I be upset about Off the Map right? That's because there is a critical difference between the shows: Off the Map bases its storyline on the exploitation of a stereotype of poor third world people that need to be saved by the white man - a stereotype that often has serious implications in aid and development programs around the world. Mostly I'm talking about how this kind of image is used by countless organizations and NGOs to talk the money right out of your pocket and into their fund to save the starving children, whose images they used to lure you in. Some of you might wonder why this is a problem. If they're using badvocacy, but they get money, that's okay right? No, really it's not. But that's a long explanation that I'll try to get into in a later entry. For now I'll just say it's exploitation, and the means do not justify the ends.

For now, I want to get into discussing the highlights of this first episode a little bit.

Let's start with the title - "Saved by the Great White Hope." Now, I'm coming into this a little defensively, so I'll admit I was on edge from the get go. All kinds of horrible things were running through my mind about what exactly this "great white hope" might be. First, I imagined a scenario where some unnamed indigenous native is saved by a white doctor, thus he is the great white hope. Then I imagined they might talk about some local myth that the white doctor fulfills. Then I thought maybe it could be referring to a geographical land mark. Finally, my question was answered. The "great white hope" is actually a reference made by the latina doctor who has a scornful attitude towards Americans in general. She says this upon meeting an American doctor who professed her desire for helping. I'm glad it wasn't any of the options I had imagined, but what exactly is "the great white hope"? Is this some kind of reference to the Americans' need to play savior? Or is this saying that even though the new doctors were naive, their naivety helped to get them through the day?

The show opens up with a view of a beautiful, exotic jungle area. Then it says "Somewhere in South America." Okay. So... somewhere in South America? That's a whole continent, right? We can see that the locals speak Spanish, and they have a beach which obviously means they live on the coast. That pretty much means they could be anywhere in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, or Uruguay. Maybe we'll get some more clues as it goes along. If we do, perhaps we can use process of elimination to figure out where exactly they might be.

Now let's tackle the idea that they are in the only medical center for 200 miles. Maybe I'm just not up to date on my South America facts, but I know that in Uganda at least rudimentary clinics are fairly common, so I find it hard to believe that they are the ONLY clinic in such a large area. Then, let's look at how all of the doctors are American, except for our single latina woman. And none of them know how to speak Spanish. And they have one 10 year old translator? I mean, is this plausible? I assume there are some pretty remote clinics out there, but do organizations really throw doctors out there who have no language or culture training at all?

I admit, the show did a much better job of avoiding bad images of its indigenous people than I thought it would, but that could be because a good portion of their featured patients were tourists. If they can stick with focusing on the doctors and the tourists, they might be able to avoid offending too many people. If you're not into the whole developing world scene then you will probably find this show very enjoyable. As far as entertainment goes, it definitely met the goals. As far as realism goes, it misses the mark for me. I know, I know - it's a tv show, and I'm taking it too seriously. I guess Off the Map just wasn't made for me. I'd like to watch next week to see if it gets any better. I really can't explain why it is that its inaccuracy rubs me the wrong way. Maybe I just need to lighten up and enjoy the entertainment, but I don't think I can really become a respectable fan of this particular show. Feel free to share your opinion!