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.

El proyecto de ley contra la homosexualidad (2009) de Uganda tenía como finalidad proteger la valiosa identidad cultural del pueblo contra las nuevas amenazas para la familia tradicional heterosexual. Sin embargo, la justificación de este proyecto de ley consistía en ideas miopes de una africanidad homogénea y olvidos elementales de las pluralidades en la sexualidad africana. En este artículo reconsidero el debate de que la homosexualidad no es compaginable con la africanidad. El análisis retórico del proyecto de ley contra la homosexualidad muestra el modo en que los discursos dominantes de la ley, la medicina, la religión, la geografía y la cultura refuerzan la idea de que la homosexualidad es extrínseca a África. Basándome en la etnografía de la Uganda actual, analizo cómo las personas que afirman tener relaciones de amor con personas del mismo sexo defienden a la vez su africanidad y homosexualidad. Para ello utilizan estrategias tales como su origen étnico, la adhesión a estructuras familiares, la creación de vínculos con las historias precoloniales de la homosexualidad, la participación cívica en procesos democráticos, la identidad nacional, la creación de grupos de apoyo para lesbianas, homosexuales, bisexuales, transexuales y personas de orientación sexual excéntrica, el lenguaje y la nomenclatura, la visibilidad y la voz en actividades comunitarias locales, la solidaridad, y seguir rituales culturales. Actualmente en Uganda, los hombres, las mujeres y personas transgénero que tienen relaciones sexuales con personas del mismo sexo reivindican de distintas maneras su africanidad.

Le projet de loi contre l'homosexualité (2009) en Ouganda visait à protéger la culture vénérée du peuple des menaces émergentes contre la famille hétérosexuelle traditionnelle. L'argument en faveur de cette loi reposait cependant sur la vision étroite d'une africanité homogène et l'oubli obtus de la pluralité des sexualités africaines. Cet article réexamine le débat sur la non-africanité de l'homosexualité. L'analyse rhétorique du projet de loi contre l'homosexualité démontre comment les discours dominants inspirés par la loi, la médecine, la religion, la géographie et la culture renforcent l'opinion selon laquelle l'homosexualité est étrangère à l'Afrique. En m'appuyant sur une étude ethnographique sur l'Ouganda contemporain, j'examine comment des personnes qui s'identifient comme aimant des personnes de leur propre sexe revendiquent à la fois leur africanité et leur homosexualité. Leurs stratégies incluent l'appartenance ethnique, l'appartenance à une structure familiale, la recherche de correspondances avec des histoires d'homosexualité remontant à l'ère précoloniale, la participation civique aux processus démocratiques, l'identité nationale, l'organisation de groupes de soutien, du langage, de la nomenclature LGBTIQ, la visibilité et la prise de parole dans les activités communautaires locales, la solidarité et l'adhésion aux rites culturels. Dans l'Ouganda d'aujourd'hui, les hommes, les femmes et les transgenres qui aiment des personnes de leur propre sexe affirment leur africanité de manière très diversifiée.

Keywords::

• African culture
• homosexuality
• ethnography
• culture
• Uganda

Acknowledgements

Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the New Social Forms Seminar in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University and in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Western Cape. The Swedish International Development and Corporation Agency's Special Initiative for Democratisation and Freedom of Expression (Grant No. 5403011901) funded the research. Dennis Wamala, Sandra Ntebi, Brian Sebyala, Melissa Kiguwa, Roselyn Nantume, Harriet Kiwanuka, Joseph Mugisha, Julius Ntabanganya, David Wasswa, Ruth Kokunura and Timothy Kaddu supported data collection, transcription and data entry. Sylvia Tamale housed the research team in the Law, Gender and Sexuality Research Project at Makerere University. A residency at the Centre for Humanities Research, University of Western Cape, sponsored by African Humanities Program of the American Council of Learned Societies, facilitated analysis. I thank all the study participants for sharing their experiences.

Notes

^1. A new crime created by the Bill's drafters, aggravated homosexuality was defined as same-sex-activity by an HIV-infected person with a minor or disabled person.

^2. This was during a workshop-presentation delivered on ‘Violence among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex communities’ organised by School of Law at Makerere University.

^3.http://www.ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG-Amended-Complaint.pdf

^4.http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option = com_content&task = view&id = 17167&Itemid = 114, http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option = com_content&view = article&id = 19508:ngos-gay-plans-leak-govt-furious

^5.http://www.afrol.com/News2001/nam008_gay_purges.htm

^6.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/malawi/7782886/Malawi-president-pardons-gay-couple-after-UN-pressure.html

^7.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/mar/19/liberia-tony-blair-anti-gay-law-video

^8. As a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Sirleaf was expected to espouse tolerance.

^9. A subsequent paper will focus on gender and sexual diversities emergent in these data.

^10. Pseudonyms are used to ensure anonymity of study participants.

^11. Ndeeba is a multifarious peri-urban slum on the outskirts of Kampala, with a busy informal trade sector, booming retail markets, small-scale industries, private offices and a few residences. Anything can be obtained in Ndeeba, it is claimed.

^12. SMUG comprises only a selection of existent lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning-support organisations in Uganda. Membership is erratic with some organisations joining and leaving, new applicants being rejected for not fulfilling requirements and some organisations choosing not to join. Available transgender/transsexual and intersex organisations are excluded.