Enough Is Enough: An Interview with Human Rights Activist Victor Mukasa
On December 20, 2013, Uganda passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Many dubbed this act the “Kill the Gays Bill,” since it originally included the death penalty. Though the current act doesn’t include this clause, those found in violation can face life in prison.
LGBTQ-identifying people in Uganda are considered criminals and face beatings, evictions, thefts and rape with little to no repercussions for their perpetrators. This past Friday, I had the chance to sit down and talk to Victor Mukasa. Mukasa, a human rights activist and openly transgender person, co-founded Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a human rights organization.
After many years of fighting for LGBTQ rights, Mukasa was forced to seek asylum in the U.S., where he has continued to advocate for human rights in Uganda. Mukasa was on campus for a screening of the documentary “Call Me Kuchu” (2012), focused on his efforts in Uganda, as well as a panel discussion.
Mukasa sat down with Dartbeat to talk about the importance of education, the Right Rev. James Tengatenga’s appointment to the College and Dartmouth’s students ability to make change.
D: Why did you come to Dartmouth to talk?
M: I came to Dartmouth because Melissa Doctor in Anthropologytold me she organized something to show the documentary, which basically shows the daily realities of LGBT people in Uganda. I accepted because that is very important to me, that struggle is very important to me even if I’m physically living in the U.S. I also came because [Dartmouth] is an educational institution. I believe that what is being brought into the world in schools gives us the opportunity to talk to people about the things that matter in the world and that make the world a better place. I think that having young people understand human rights and the ugliness of human rights violations and the beauty of dignity is very important. When they grow up, get out of school, begin to become the citizens of the world, they are more informed. I believe in the power of the young people.
D: Is there anything specific you want to inform Dartmouth students about?
M: When I heard the name Dartmouth I remembered the events that occurred around ishop Tengatenga nomination to be the dean of the Tucker Foundation, and I remembered the opposition that that faced here with the students. His nomination was rejected because [students] claimed that he was homophobic because of certain statements that he made back at home publically, especially on behalf of the church.
Me and my collegues felt huge disappointment at this rejection of his nomination as activists of social justice. Even if we had not personally met him, we knew about the work that he had done in Mawali, where he is one of the biggest LGBT allies in Malawi. He has enabled citizens to have dialogues with leaders within the church. He has provided safety to LGBT activists under attack. He has been a rock to the activists in that movement. So to hear from Dartmouth students that he was a bad guy was disheartening.
I guess what so much is that we felt very disrespected as leaders on the continent when we spoke out against it, against the actions of Dartmouth students, together with respected Africans We wrote a letter and we thought that that would be taken seriously because we are fellow Africans, not just LGBT people, and respected Africans. We felt disrespected as Africans. To have this happen to an ally that has supported a minority group disheartened us as allies.
Africans say that it is ok that ishop Tengatenga may have said certain comments because we understand the context in which he said it, on behalf of the church. In Africa this is how we do it — it is understandable. My call yesterday was not to for students to stop supporting human rights struggles but to mind how they support human rights struggles.
D: Would you say that Western influences have been positive or negative on human rights groups in Uganda and Africa as a whole?
M: The influence has been big. You could say that the influence has been positive since it is pushing in the direction of change. But also when you look at it deeply you realize that is just what you would see as first aid. If someone is hurt medically and you [use] first aid and leave it at that they could die because you have not actually solved the problem. The West comes in and cools down a situation, but it is only temporary. We need our fellow Africans to understand sexuality, not for anybody to come in and impose it on them, not for anybody to use their power and force them to accept something that they do not understand.
It delays the real process that brings about radical change, which will only happen when Africans speak in a language that is understood by other Africans, not when Americans come and speak about what they know about Africans. It is about creating conversation between Africans that know and do not know, rather than between Americans and Africans who do not know. We need people in Africa to speak for themselves because if they don’t, when situations change we get back to zero. If we make new laws in one regime, and another takes over, the changes are not still there. We need to empower people to fight for themselves, that is what brings everlasting change.
D: Is there any way that you think Dartmouth students could help with this cause?
M: If we want to change this world we have to create an idea of a global human rights movement. I think there is a lot that they can do; their contribution is needed. In colleges we need to create a system where human rights is the foundation of every course. No one is graduating with a major in “the violation of human rights,” no one is looking to violate human rights. We need to do more than read [and write about] it, though. We need to practice it. Charity begins at home. There is no way that [Dartmouth students] can help if they don’t have a culture of respect for each other here. Practice human rights at home and then take it out there. Students need to be able to come into other countries and first listen to the advice on the ground. All students need to do is continue their education, but also become in touch with the movements. Start networking with organizations; connect with people to build a global movement.
D: Can you explain what you want to change in Uganda about LGBTQ rights?
M: The movement is a vision of a Uganda free of homophobia and all forms of bigotry. But it is a process and our vision is constantly changing. If you asked me right now, “What is it that LGBT people in Uganda want?” It is safety: safety from an angry public, safety from a greedy government, safety from power-hungry pastors, safety from all the beatings and evictions they are facing right now, safety from people so caught up in their lives that they will sacrifice others in their society. In order for the movement to continue, people need to survive. Because of this lack of safety, activists are forced to leave their countries, and their countries need them. Another thing we need is for America to stop people from coming to our countries to destabilize them. Our people were homophobic before, it’s not the U.S. evangelicals that started homophobia, but we could handle it before. But with that inflow of people from the U.S., we cannot fight back. With the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act that has been passed in 2013 you can face about five years in prison. If you are caught even supporting human rights, they call it supporting homosexuality, but it is supporting human rights. Yet, amidst all that chaos, the movement still exists. Though a bright future seems far away, just like any other struggle, our vision will come some day.
D: Is the movement stronger or less strong than it has been in the past?
M: The movement is going to get stronger. Currently it is in shock because the recent act has hit it so hard. Even though many activists have had to flee the country, we continue to work. People on the ground in Uganda have something to say, but they aren’t being heard. We, in America, will be their voice, since we are in a safe place to say it. LGBT activists have filed a suit in the court to declare this law unconstitutional. The movement will rise up again.
D: How can LGBTQ activists work in a country where there are such stringent laws against acting out?
M: A time comes when you realize you have nothing to lose. I have nothing, but the one thing I can still fight for is my dignity. I would rather die trying to get my dignity back than die without it. Even though people are being beaten by the police, spending nights in jail, even dying for the cause there is no point in sitting and doing nothing while your soul is dying. Why not fight back? Enough is enough. We have done nothing wrong. There is hope because there is a struggle. These laws are there, but they are the same laws we have fight against and won trials against. We have challenged these policies in the courts of law. We have won cases in Uganda in the same system that is persecuting us. One of them I sued the Ugandan government, we had the first human rights case in 2005, and it was won in 2008 in the very country where the police beats people every day. When we won that case it made LGBT people understand that we cannot keep quiet every time our rights are violated. We can now go to the courts to hold the people responsible who commit these crimes. It is not easy, but we now have a way to fight.
This interview has been condensed.
If you would like to get involved with the movement, feel free to contact Professor Laura Edmondson at Laura.Edmondson@dartmouth.edu or Peters, who holds a PhD for her dissertation on the ethnography of LGBT people in Uganda, at m-minor@northwestern.edu. The documentary is available on Netflix, iTunes or at callmekuchu.com