Navigating the Pink Line? LGBTQ+ Ugandans as neither ‘victims’ nor ‘deviants’
Keywords:
Pink Line, Anti-Homosexuality Act (2023), Uganda, LGBTQ+, Ugandans, Human Rights, ColonialismAbstract
With the introduction of the Anti-Homosexual Act (2023) in Uganda, LGBTQ+ Ugandans have faced significant socio-historical challenges in terms of shifting legal landscapes and the accompanying prejudice and discrimination which have emerged from this. Constructed as both ‘deviants’ of native Ugandan culture, or as ‘victims’ of a homophobic regime. Whilst a clear ‘pink line’ (Gevisser, 2020) has formed internally and externally to the Ugandan state, which has been impacted by a range of actors and social forces such as US evangelicals, the Ugandan state, the globalising of LGBTQ+ international rights and international actors, LGBTQ+ Ugandans have often been polarised and framed into the two narratives outlined above. However, whilst some post-colonial states such as Uganda are beginning to strategically renew their beliefs in ‘traditional’ sexual relations in opposition to the influence of LGBTQ+ identity politics as posited from the West, this has drawn a (pink) line in the sand. Using Gevisser’s (2020) concept of the ‘pink line,’ this article will examine the changing socio, political, and legal challenges faced by LGBTQ+ Ugandans, as well as the variety of forces which have enabled the Ugandan state to seek stringent legal responses toward LGBTQ+ Ugandans, including how this has affected LGBTQ+ Ugandans on the ground. We argue that due to this global polarisation of ‘traditional’ Ugandan values versus the modernity of LGBTQ+ identity politics, LGBTQ+ Ugandans have been framed as either helpless victims in a homophobic society by global responses to the introduction of the Act, or as deviants living within a traditional society which pose a threat to Ugandan social norms. Contrary to both perspectives, LGBTQ+ Ugandans have been present and active in their own agency to push for change for LGBTQ+ populations in Uganda, despite the introduction of the darkening climate set against the Anti-Homosexuality Act (2023).
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