Is Homophobia in Uganda Perpetuated by Black Self-Hatred?

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill that initially threatened to execute gays, and now threatens to imprison them.
And you may also have read in Courtney’s excellent piece on the subject that the NY Times, among other news sources, has reported that American right-wingers are on the forefront of this Ugandan homophobia, prompting and prodding it along.
What you may not have heard is that yesterday, Edwin Okong’o of New America Media contributed a heartbreaking but much-needed perspective in his article “Why Ugandans Embrace U.S. Christian Right’s Anti-Gay Agenda,” in which he puts forth the idea that Ugandans are amenable to embracing the anti-gay agenda of the U.S. Christian right because of a racial inferiority complex.
An excerpt from his article:

“Although they have denied it, evidence suggests that American right-wingers are in the forefront of this war on homosexuality…Africans take such filth without questions because they suffer from a severe case of inferiority complex. Even worse, they staunchly believe in the supremacy of the white man. Ill-informed Christians…place the white man immediately below the Holy Trinity, a belief with its roots in the colonial era.”

Okong’o goes on to support this idea by relaying his own experiences encountering black self-hatred in Kenya.

“Growing up in Kenya, I heard stories about how supernatural the white man was. When we did well in school, our parents and teachers said we were as intelligent as white men. When you went to take a bath, Ma told you to come out as clean as a white man. If the white doctor at the hospital failed to diagnose your disease, death was imminent.”

As heartbreaking and frustrating it is for me to read, I also think this is a mightily important take on the current legislation being put forth in the region. I’m so glad Mr. Okong’o has brought his experiences to the table in such a raw and honest way. Sometimes this stuff is extremely hard to talk about in a public forum- I know it is for me- and so I applaud his bravery first and foremost.
But what to think about his thesis? Well, for me, Okong’o’s thesis rings true- in a way. As much as I wish I could, I won’t argue against the basic premise, because in my experience, racial inferiority complexes certainly do exist and it is probably true that this has played a role in the circumstances surrounding the anti-gay bill in Uganda. (Of course, I can only speak to the African-American experience, having grown up in America, but I can say with certainty that black self-hatred is certainly not limited to the continent of Africa.)
That being said, I do want to throw some additional thoughts into the mix. I don’t doubt that the phenomenon Okong’o names has merit- racial inferiority complexes are real. But the issue is complex, and I’m not sure if that’s the primary factor in driving forward the current Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill. If it were, would we see so much critical rhetoric surrounding Western morals and influence being used in Uganda to promote the anti-homosexuality bill? In a speech delivered yesterday, for example, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni cautioned those advocating for the anti-homosexuality bill to “go slow”, saying the matter was “a sensitive foreign policy issue”- the suggestion being not that the bill is bad, but that pesky Westerners disapprove of it, so you have to be careful moving forward if you want the bill to be successful. In the same speech, he boasted of having “informed” Hillary Clinton that people come from Europe with money to woo young people into homosexuality. These kinds of comments aren’t rare in the country, either; proponents of the bill in Uganda have consistently used anti-Western rhetoric to drive its support, blaming promiscuous and immoral Westerners for the rise of homosexuality in the country, and even rallying support for the anti-gay bill by pointing to its low favorability with the Western “human rights” audience.
So what to make of all this? How can we reconcile all of these factors to form a straightforward narrative about the rise of homophobia in Uganda?
See, now it’s not entirely fair that I pose that question, because the point of my post is that I don’t believe that we can create a simple narrative about the phenomenon of global homophobia- and I don’t believe we should try, either.
Homophobia in Uganda- just like homophobia in the rest of the world- is a complex and multi-faceted beast that doesn’t just originate from one person, place, country, or emotion. While there are certainly trends in how it originates, how it’s practiced, and especially how it’s carried out, I don’t think we can boil down those trends to point to any one cause (like religion, or racial inferiority). In fact, I argue that it would be wholly dangerous to do so, and would underestimate both the ubiquity and vibrancy of today’s brand of homophobia.
In short, it’s just as important that we recognize the complexity of the origins of homophobia in Uganda (and around the world) as it is that we unequivocally fight against its practical and horrific implications for queer Ugandans; in fact, the former is crucial to be successful at the latter. Okong’o’s article certainly provides an important piece to the puzzle, but it’s not the whole story.

Brooklyn, NY

Lori Adelman started blogging with Feministing in 2008, and now runs partnerships and strategy as a co-Executive Director. She is also the Director of Youth Engagement at Women Deliver, where she promotes meaningful youth engagement in international development efforts, including through running the award-winning Women Deliver Young Leaders Program. Lori was formerly the Director of Global Communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and has also worked at the United Nations Foundation on the Secretary-General's flagship Every Woman Every Child initiative, and at the International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch. As a leading voice on women’s rights issues, Lori frequently consults, speaks and publishes on feminism, activism and movement-building. A graduate of Harvard University, Lori has been named to The Root 100 list of the most influential African Americans in the United States, and to Forbes Magazine‘s list of the “30 Under 30” successful mediamakers. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Adelman is an Executive Director of Feministing in charge of Partnerships.

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