12) KEEP FOCUS ON GAY RIGHTS, NOT THE NATIONALITY OF THE OPPRESSOR

 

By Graham L. Wilson, Seba Beach, Alberta

 

            The signing of a new anti‑gay law by Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni (in a country already criminalizing homosexuality under colonial‑era law), is one of many recent acts against homosexuals throughout Africa. The law comes hot on the heels of the Same Sex Prohibition Act passed in Kenya that goes as far as to ban "gay meetings", Nigeria's new Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (which has led to scores of arrests), and a mob attack on a gay rights office in Ivory Coast.

 

            The initial 2009 draft of the Ugandan law proposed the death penalty for homosexual acts, and still provides 14 years for an initial act, and potential life imprisonment for "aggravated homosexuality".

 

            This arrives after Russia last summer passed a law banning propaganda of "non‑traditional sexual relations", whose vague wording could be used as a means to suppress any number of groups.

 

            Rightly, there has been much condemnation of these laws, including from several Western governments. There were even calls to boycott the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi and to suspend development aid to Uganda.

 

            However, there is an often overlooked common thread within these repressions: the support of, if not shared authorship by, conservative evangelical Christians in the United States, such as Scott Lively in Uganda or Brian Brown in Russia. These campaigns, popular among traditionalists in many countries, have been picked up by many leaders as a way of building up key political and electoral support among populations which are often ignorant and fearful of homosexuals. Hate becomes a potent political tool, while giving legal beachheads and legitimacy to prejudice against gays.

 

            The tactical advantage back in the West is less publicized, as rights campaigners direct their efforts on foreign nations, whose cultural and political situations are less widely understood. This has helped produce an air of hostility against the "intolerance" of those in the developing world, taking on almost a racist tone.

 

            The rhetoric aimed at Russia and Africa needs to be balanced by introspection: are we as tolerant in the West as we would like to believe? The United States after all, still has regions where sodomy is still technically criminalized, despite federal court rulings. Recent draft laws in Arizona and Kansas try to actively discriminate against homosexuals.

 

            An unfortunate undercurrent has been apparent. Improved gay rights in the West have been used as justification for imperialist actions in the developing world, while also breeding complacency about social oppression at home. Shifting the debate abroad helps those seeking to promote hate locally.

 

            Racial caricaturing in the West is used to argue for repression of homosexuals, with Museveni attacking the "cultural imperialism" of the United States and European Union, particularly former colonizers such as Britain, France and Belgium.

 

            It is hypocritical to use the improved situation for gays in many countries as a reason for feeling superior over peoples elsewhere in the world. This goes against genuine respect for human rights and human dignity.

 

            The tone of the debate must remain above such attempts to breed racial and national divisions, as it should remain above fostering a rural/urban divide, and so seek to produce mutual tolerance and respect for people around the world.

 

            It is imperative that all campaigners for minority rights resist such divide‑and‑conquer tactics. We must keep the focus on the rights of people, not the nationality of the given oppressor, or the masses of people still ignorant as to the ramifications of such laws.

 

(The above article is from the March 16-31, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)