Snake in the Cooking Pot: Decoding the Colonial Origins and Social Impact of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act

This thesis examines the impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) on the family relationships of sexual minorities in Uganda. In December 2013, Ugandan Parliament passed AHA, which bolstered existing laws that criminalized homosexual conduct. AHA increased penalties for same-sex relationships between consenting adults, including a penalty of life in prison for persons engaging in a same-sex wedding ceremony; life in prison for LGBTQ people who worked as teachers; and a three-year prison term for persons "promoting homosexuality," which was construed as activism, sex education, and provision of health care to sexual minorities. I chart the social impact of this law with an emphasis on the pressures it brought to bear on sexual minorities and their families. How did the specter of eviction, ostracism, arrest, and imprisonment affect family relationships and social ties within the community? What coping mechanisms were employed to avoid detection and to maintain those ties? This study also explores the politicization of sexual minority status in Uganda, its colonial origins and present-day implications.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Padoan, Amanda Suzanne

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Branch, Adam
• Wilcox, Lauren

• Anti-Homosexuality Act
• David Kato
• Sexuality Minorities Uganda
• Scott Lively
• Martin Ssempa
• Mwanga II

Licence

• https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/ef5670bf-69e1-4bdf-88b0-8b50c55e32a1/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.31187

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/283822