---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
<sac...@iace.mak.ac.ug>
Date: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Subject: [Fwd: [AcademicStaff] Gay mission for Uganda - An evil at our door steps!!]]
To:
enga...@yahoo.com,
jol...@yahoo.com,
galu...@gmail.com,
ron...@yahoo.co.uk,
cmalo...@yahoo.co.uk,
atero_...@yahoo.com,
kathy...@gmail.com
Cc:
achen...@yahoo.com---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [AcademicStaff] Gay mission for Uganda - An evil at our door
steps!!]
From:
i.na...@vetmed.mak.ac.ug
Date: Fri, January 25, 2013 6:47 pm
To:
academ...@lists.mak.ac.ug
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,
This colud of great interest to you. Please read it to the end.
Thanks.
FYI Colleagues,
.....this is worthy sending, just in case it hasn't come through to you!
PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Workshop Report (See brief and programme attached)
I am Ugandan, 1st year PhD student at the Management School of the
University of Sheffield, UK. This week, out of curiosity, I asked for
permission to attend a workshop organized by the Geography department at
the University of Sheffield and was hesitantly allowed in because I am
from a different department and my research has nothing to' do with the
topic of the workshop.
Reading the brief and the programme, I naively thought the workshop was
going to address how to form solidarities with beneficiaries of donor aid
while respecting postcolonial sensitivities. See part of the email message
that was circulated about the workshop below, "This workshop will bring
together academics and postgraduate students, representatives of NGOs and
aid agencies to explore emerging transnational sexuality politics. It will
critically examine recent interventions in non-western settings (such as
moves to link aid to recognition of sexual minority rights), and will go
on to explore how these might be reconsidered and reformulated in the
future. Transnational and inter-cultural sexuality politics will be set
in the broader context of efforts - some clumsy, some more successful - to
forge transnational solidarities. The workshop will explore practical as
well as intellectual questions, asking how it might be possible to forge
new solidarities across borders while respecting postcolonial
sensitivities’’.
I was however shocked when I turned up for the meeting to find out that it
was a high intellectual meeting geared at how to rephrase the debate and
activities on gay rights so as to soft land in non western and
post-colonial settings. Bisi Alimi (Nigerian living in London), keynote
speaker is openly gay and Kaleidoscope trust where he works, like all the
other NGOs that took part in this workshop, is a promoter of LGBT
rights.
Five questions were tabled at the opening of the workshop:
1. What developments are taking place?
2. How can legal frameworks be used?
3. How can we negotiate faith and religion? (In other words how can we go
around this obstacle; faith and religion) Italics mine.
4. How can we learn from the past; use history?
5. How can ideas inform practice and vice versa?
Out of the 6 PhD researchers and graduates that gave reports on their
projects, 5 did their research in Uganda. Only one, did a research in South
Africa about HIV transmission in a gay community. I was shocked at the
level of interest and reference my country featured in this workshop. It
was almos a nation under discussion. Somewhere in the middle of the
discussion, one researcher explained why Uganda needs attention.
She gave 5 reasons:
1. The anti-homosexuality bill in parliament is a serious danger to
promotion of LGBT rights
2. Uganda is a very dangerous place to live as a gay or lesbian person.
Kato's death was the reference here.
3. There is a massive Pentecostal charismatic development financed by
American evangelicals that is turning most Ugandans very religious and
promoting anti-homosexual beliefs. They are emphasizing integration of
faith into day-to-day life and therefore many political leaders are
making decisions affecting the public based on their faith. It is
increasingly believed in Uganda that being a good Christian = being a
good citizen. There was a comparison of Kenya and Uganda here. It was
said that both countries have strategies for development by 2030 and
they engage liberal strategies to get there. But Uganda is very
different: Unlike Kenya, Uganda is emphasizing integration of
4. 80% of Ugandan population is under 30 and these are massively attracted
to church. An anti homosexual generation as a result is emerging. Watoto
church was given as a reference, here and Steven Langa mentioned as an
elder. (Quote H....... the obvious example, watoto church was Steven Langa
the leader of FLN, an anti-gay group, works as an elder").
5. Political leaders are making liaisons with religious leaders to fight
LGBT rights. Example, their speaker of parliament after making scandalous
remarks at the IPU assembly in Canada was given
a hero's welcome by religious leaders and masses of people at Entebbe
Airport on her return to Uganda.
This is not a detail of how the discussion went; I will however give a list
of suggestions that were made as I randomly noted them down. (See topics
for discussion on attached programme.
1. Work out how to soft land and not be seen as interfering with culture or
imposing western ideas.
2. Provide legal services to activists and victims. (Human dignity trust,
one of the NGOs represented at the workshop does that already)
3. Empower local groups to talk for themselves so the opponents do not see
a "white face"
4. Appear as if the focus is on the majority e.g HIV AIDS and then get to
the minority (gay community).
5. Direct quote from O'Connor of Stonewall organization:"Rephrase the
debate, do not be loud, work quietly, silently, often behind the scenes,
develop friendships".
6. Show how homophobia drives HIV infection. The victims do it in secret in
an unprotected manner. If they are allowed freedom, they will be less
vulnerable to HIV infection.
7. Lobby and put the government on pressure privately not in the media
(only publically when necessary). The government has to make proper
assessment about development support in line with gay rights
considerations. This was also a suggestion from stonewall. They seemed to
talk from experience they have had with the UK government.
8. Research (participants were respected doctoral and graduate researchers
and lecturers from the University of Sheffield, Cambridge, Sussex,
Manchester Metropolitan, Edinburgh, Nottingham, School of oriental and
African studies London, Dublin city university, and Kings college
London).
9. Do all that is possible to decriminalize homosexuality.
10. Stimulate discussions in the media in a way that the media will brand
homosexuality.
11. Paint the negative language; replace the 'bad' language with something
else, do not say gay, find something that’s more appealing although
with the
same meaning.
12. Portray homophobia as uncivilized, backward and savagery. Acceptance of
homosexuality should be seen as modernization.
13. Use intergenerational connection to link, homosexuality to genealogy
and thus prove that people are born that way (someone's research is
digging the archives, looking at family trees of homos).
14. Challenge the debate that homosexuality is a danger to family life.
15. Use of colonial terminologies is problematic, avoid it. If colonial
memories are evoked, ensure they are not negative. Use memories to
legitimize homosexuality. (here it was mentioned that the ides of
thinking that homosexualit is a western culture thing can be challenged
by for example the use of the story that Kabaka Mwanga killed the
martyrs because they had been converted to Christianity by missionaries
and denied him sexual relations he had with them before conversion) A
researcher from SOAS London motioned he was in Namugongo this year and
interviewed pilgrims and priest. He had a few people including priests
telling him this version of the story which means Ugandans know it. It
was the first time I heard this story.
16. Activists should stop using religion wrongly. Do not appear
anti-religion. Bring out examples of people who are gay or LGBT
sympathizers and yet "very" religious. Some Gay and Lesbian Christian
groups, D.Tutu, Bishop Senyojjo and Gene Robinson were given as
examples.
17. Involve women in the fight.
It is evident that the LORD is working in our country, rewarding the
efforts of those in the fight, answering prayers of those crying to him
for the wellbeing of our country, and interested in getting this work move
forward. But it also evident that the enemy is not just watching, people
are serious, I saw it in their discussion, they are intellectuals, they
have a lot of money and they are determined. I was amazed at how much they
know about Uganda, follow the news diligently (someone mentioned how the
new vision is recently not boldly writing about Kadaga/Canada issue and
that they interpreted as the government considering a softer position,
they even mentioned reforms in the capital city management liking it to
the problem of making public decisions basing on the faith of the
political leaders). I must confess that I do not read our papers that
seriously. I hope this encourages the brethren; God is doing something,
but also refuel us for battle. Uganda can be reference point for
godliness, let us fight on, the LORD of hosts is among us.
Brief on the workshop
Postcolonial Sexualities: Emerging Solidarities
A workshop at the University of Sheffield, Thursday 8 November, 2012
Ron Johnston Research Room, C Floor, Geography Department, University of
Sheffield, Winter Street, Sheffield.
This workshop will bring together academics and postgraduate students,
representatives of NGOs and aid agencies to explore emerging transnational
sexuality politics. Points of departure include western interventions in
non-western and post-colonial settings through activist organizations, NGOs
and governmental aid strategies. Most recently, for example, the UK and US
governments have threatened to make foreign aid conditional upon the
protection of minority sexual rights. These efforts, intended to safeguard
the rights of sexual minorities in non-western countries, have found mixed
receptions.
The workshop will critically examine recent interventions in non-western
settings, and will go on to explore how these might be reconsidered and
reformulated in the future. Transnational and inter-cultural sexuality
politics will be set in the broader context of efforts- some clumsy, some
more successful- to forge transnational solidarities. The workshop will
explore practical as well as intellectual questions, asking how it might be
possible to forge new solidarities across borders while respecting
postcolonial sensitivities.
The format of the event will involve short (10 minute) presentations, which
will bring specific experiences and research findings to the table, and
will conclude with broader questions for discussion.
These presentations will be followed by debates involving all
participants. Refreshments and lunch will be provided during the day;
dinner (for those who can stay) will be self funded.
Numbers are limited and pre-registration is required: please contact
Richard Phillips (
r.phi...@sheffield.ac.uk)
Provisional Programme
10:15 Coffee (provided)
10:45 Introduction: Framing questions Chair: Richard Phillips Keynote: Bisi
Alimi, Kaleidoscope Trust Aid conditionality and the reality of African
LGBT
activists Taking stock: proposals and interventions
11:15 Chair: Deborah Sporton, Sheffield. Panel: Kay Lalor, Sexuality
Frontiers Project; Andy Tucker, Cambridge; Hongwei
Bao, Nottingham; Gavin Brown, Leicester
12:30 Lunch (provided)
1:15 Working through transnational and international legal frameworks
Chair: Rahul Rao, SOAS Panel: Craig Lind, Sussex; S Chelvan, Barrister; Jia
Hui, Cambridge; Steve Legg,
Nottingham; Jordan Osserman, Birkbeck
2:30 Negotiating colonial memories and postcolonial sensitivities
Chair: Eric Olund, Sheffield
Panel: Rahul Rao, SOAS; Esme Cleall, Sheffield; Mark Pendleton, Sheffield;
Jon
Binnie and Christian Klesse, Manchester Metropolitan
3:45 Tea (provided)
4:00 Negotiating faith and religion
Chair: Robert Vanderbeck, Leeds
Panel: Jo Sadgrove, 'Us' (Faith-based NGO); Gill Valentine, Sheffield;
Stephanie
Terreni Brown and Barbara Bompani, Edinburgh; Caroline Valois,
Edinburgh
5:15 Emerging solidarities: dialogue between theory and practice
Chair: Hugh McLean, Director, Open Society Foundation
Panel: Kapil Gupta, Human Dignity Trust; Cuneyt Cakirlar, UCL Mellon Fellow;
Bisi
Alimi, Kaleiodoscope Project; Jasmine O'Connor, Stonewall
6:00 Close: Drinks and Dinner (self-funded)
_______________________________________________
AcademicStaff mailing list
Academ...@lists.mak.ac.ug
http://lists.mak.ac.ug/mailman/listinfo/academicstaff