미국대학 보건_Is Uganda’s Antigay Fervor Spreading An African Domino Theory, Examined
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docxIn Katie Paul’s article titled, “Is Uganda’s Antigay Fervor Spreading? An African Domino Theory, Examined” posted on Dec. 18th 2009 in Newsweek, same-sex relationships are not welcomed in most of the countries in East Africa. Especially, among African countries, Uganda and Burundi are the most antigay countries. Uganda has passed laws making homosexuality illegal and it was already illegal in Burundi even before Ugandan laws. One of the reasons why Uganda is being an antigay country is a political strategy. It is easy to obtain votes by worshiping African masculinity. More importantly, Uganda shows moral leadership in East Africa and can give a severe impact on its neighbor countries. For example, many leaders and even the president in Rwanda are Ugandans who grew up in Uganda. Since Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and their neighbors have tremendous people coming in and leaving to each country and are connected in terms of legislation and religion, Rwanda is also trying to pass laws that make same-sex relationships illegal including any activities supporting the relationships. They can be punished for five to ten years in a jail if the laws are passed. Likewise, this can happen to other countries in the continent as well. Johnson from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said the domino effect will be occurred in the region to tighten their legal codes. While antigay is prevalent in Eastern Africa, President Yoweri Museveni’s senior advisor criticized antigay laws in Uganda’s largest government-owned newspaper, New Vision.
I guess some Ugandan politicians were trying to get easy votes by emphasizing African masculinity but in my opinion, attacking homosexuals’ rights is not masculine at all. I think the real masculinity comes from protecting and supporting others. People cannot just invade homosexuals’ rights and treat them like some kind of criminals. Sex-same relationships do not harm others. It’s just a different type of relationships. Some people may dislike gays and lesbians because people can have different values and standards but making same-sex relationships illegal is definitely not right. Homosexuality is not like something that you can turn on and off depending on a circumstance. It’s a permanent thing. Gays can’t just turn into a straight guy all of a sudden just because homosexuality became illegal. And if a country makes homosexuality illegal, that means all gays, lesbians and bisexuals should spend their lives in jails forever. I think Ugandans should think again about how it feels like when their rights are invaded and, the importance of variety and respect. If I were Ugandan politician, I would review the constitution where human rights are listed and tell people why same-sex relationships should be respected and let them recognize the importance of rights again. And I would gather information about same-sex relationships do not cause damages to the society and why same-sex relationships are O.K, and educate people. I don’t know the exact reason why people in East Africa hate gays but I guess people there are just afraid because they are not used to them. What the government should do is letting people relax by educating and campaigning for “It’s one of the choices people can have,” not invading rights. Showing examples of other gay-supporting countries might help, too.
