Same Script? Who is Losing?

There are lots of unsaid things in the stories concerning Lokodo and gay rights advocates, from the Entebbe meeting breakup, to the Najjera one. The unsaid in my view are; It seems the information of the break-ups of the meetings travels freely, so freely that both participants and the police, and journalists as well prepare for it and even wait – see, some even get frustrated from the waiting and leave. Then, the arrests that follow – no prosecution, no nothing.

 

At least the seemingly choreographed Besigye arrests would end up in him spending days, weeks in prison at time, but not these ones that also continue to look choreographed – Then, the timing of these meetings and their break-ups. We need to read through the unsaid facts in these stories. It serves the current political class well for gay-rights stories to dominate the world media than talk about presidential succession, or about maternal health. Discussing sex and sex styles does not in any way challenge the power of those who control the state today. And so, we have to be aware of the advantages that flow from this issue, it diverts the country from so many core issues of governance, human rights etc. To isolate gay rights from other human rights in Uganda is the first way the state benefits from this. This isolation galvanizes the homophobic public on the side of the state; this pushes so many human rights issues under the bus! Yet you can’t attain gay rights without other human rights issues being addressed.

 

In all this, the people, the citizenry, the public lose, including the minorities. The homophobic public gets a chance to say all the rubbish they want, forgetting that roads are so poor even if they wanted to kill a gay person, they may die in an accident before they reach the gay person’s house. The state evades its duties equally. That way, Lokodo helps the state through the diversionary things. And we have come to be party to this diversion! We also join the bandwagon, but wait a minute, gay rights are human rights and so we should talk human rights rather more and see – otherwise, we are being f*cked, left, right and center by the state and though we tell ourselves that we are fighting for gay rights, we may be playing in a larger scheme of things that the state is benefiting from. Meanwhile, we wait for the next closure of a workshop, we will be looking for the same script, and it will also come to cover up some other story that the state is uncomfortable with.