Sexualizing politics: the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, party-politics and the new political dispensation in Uganda

Abstract

The internationally ‘famed’ Anti-Homosexuality Bill (AHB) represents an interesting and peculiar case through which to understand and unpack national political events, evolution within the ruling party and emerging power dynamics in Uganda. Amongst several coexisting interpretative discourses that explain the recent emergence of sexuality within politics in the country, this article provides an examination of the Museveni administration, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and the political developments in relation to anti-gay feelings and the AHB. In fact, through a systematic and chronological analysis of events, discourses, public statements, newspaper articles and academic literature, the article reflects on the specific role that sexuality plays in the shaping activities of the NRM and its public representation and internal power dynamics. In doing so, the article identifies certain consistent themes and discursive frames concerning homosexuality that have emerged within the NRM and brings to light existing internal tensions as President Museveni attempts to hold onto power for yet another election in 2016.

Le projet de loi anti-homosexualité (AHB), à la « renommée » internationale, constitue un cas intéressant et particulier à travers lequel les événements politiques nationaux, l'évolution au sein du parti au pouvoir et les dynamiques du pouvoir émergentes en Ouganda peuvent être compris et exposés. Parmi plusieurs discours interprétatifs coexistant qui expliquent l'apparition récente de la sexualité dans la vie politique du pays, le présent article examine l'administration Museveni, le Mouvement de Résistance Nationale (National Resistance Movement - NRM) et les développements politiques en rapport avec les sentiments homophobes et le AHB. Ainsi, grâce à une analyse systématique et chronologique des événements, des discours, des déclarations publiques, des articles de journaux et de la littérature académique, l'article se penche sur le rôle spécifique que la sexualité joue dans les activités de la National Resistance Movement (NRM), ainsi que sa représentation publique et ses dynamiques de pouvoir internes. Ce faisant, l'article identifie certains thèmes réguliers et cadres discursifs concernant l'homosexualité qui sont apparus dans le NRM et met en évidence des tensions internes existantes alors que le Président Museveni tente de se maintenir au pouvoir pour encore une nouvelle élection en 2016.

Keywords:

• sexuality
• homosexuality
• politics
• Uganda
• National Resistance Movement (NRM)
• Museveni

Mots-clés:

• Sexualité
• Homosexualité
• Politique
• Ouganda
• Mouvement de Résistance Nationale (NRM)
• Museveni

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The term homosexuality is applied as it is commonly used in anti-gay discourses in Uganda. Here, it denotes the construction of a public identity rather than a private corporeal practice or desire. This construction of homosexuality not only offers a resounding critique of Western gay identity, but also disapproves of the growth of the global lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement which itself often ‘fails to properly reflect African private practices or self-identifications of homosexuality' as it necessitates the public identification of non-normative sexualities in the quest to achieve human rights (Valois 2015). Both erase the complex multiplicity of sexual expression historically found throughout the region in lieu of singular discourses of ‘African sexuality' (Epprecht 2013, xxix), which, Hoad (2007) notes, takes place more often as private acts of same-sex intimacy and not the public articulation of a sexual identity (Hoad 2007). Additionally, singular discourses of normative ‘African sexuality' also work to reify a reinvented idea of what ‘local' means by naturalising heterosexuality. In the same vein, the ‘West’ and ‘local’ or ‘traditional’ are similarly applied – employing the terms as they are used in Ugandan anti-gay discourses.

2. While the penalty increased, ‘carnal knowledge’ was very difficult to verify as offenders had to be ‘caught in the act.