More than a few words have been spoken by different countries to describe the Ugandan president’s recent signing of an incredibly controversial anti-homosexuality bill. U.K. foreign secretary William Hague said it is “deeply disappointing,” and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the happenings in Uganda are “atrocious,” according to a recent article in the Financial Times. I, too, was deeply disturbed while reading about the aspects of the bill, but I also wondered about the various possible aftermaths of the bill and what it could mean for foreign relations and aid. Apparently, I was not the only one.
Before I delve too deeply into this article, I will first provide some information about the bill for those who are not familiar with it. Ugandan President Yoweri Musaveni signed a bill on Feb. 24, 2014. According to the bill, “gay sex” is punishable by various ways including life in prison. The president also accused Western groups of recruiting young children into “homosexuality” and “lesbianism,” according to a recent NPR article.
Although many countries have threatened to cut aid to Uganda, some, like Sweden, have already temporarily frozen aid to the country. The Ugandan president seems undeterred in spite of this. According to almost every article I have read about the situation, he continues to say essentially the same thing: he lives in a wealthy country, and the aid is unneeded.
From a human rights perspective, this bill is extremely troubling. Ideally, from my own perspective, the world we live in should be without hate and discrimination based on sexual orientation. Of course, Uganda is not the country in which I live. In fact, the Associated Press recently said that the move greatly pleased many Ugandans. It is easy to feel sorry for the country, but should we interfere if we do not understand it?
Relations with foreign countries are very complicated, and uproars about other nations’ bills and laws further complicate things. I think the real problem here is that we are so offended, including myself, by such anti-gay bills that we forget about the other things that have happened and continue to happen in Uganda.
A person who aids a homosexual in any way could be imprisoned for seven years according to the current law. What does that mean for the physicians and nurses of Uganda? The country currently has only 12 doctors and 131 nurses per 100,000 people. Uganda cannot afford to lose that medical care with so much of it being comprised of the international community. Is health care a human right? If you say yes, then you would see that this new bill is much more problematic than simply raising the eyebrows of officials from around the globe.
Overall, it is incredibly disheartening to hear that such a bill exists. This bill brings about an even greater question: are we Westerners supposed to coerce the Ugandan president into backing down from his legislation because we know best? I have a hard time coming to a simple solution. Often, I find myself questioning the presence of Western ideologies in countries that seem less than welcoming to it. I don’t think a person can truly understand a situation until he or she is experiencing that situation first-hand. Where should we go from here? Should we attempt to be most present in policies abroad, or should we worry about our own policies first?