Stony Brook University

SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... At the Juncture of Homonationalism and Homophobic Nationalism: Sexual Justice Organizing in Uganda and the Paradox of Transnational Advocacy A Dissertation Presented by Sasha Maria Rodriguez to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Stony Brook University May 2016 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Sasha Maria Rodriguez We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Michael Schwartz – Dissertation Advisor Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Department of Sociology Daniel Levy - Chairperson of Defense Professor, Department of Sociology Kathleen Fallon – Associate Professor Department of Sociology Dawn Harris – Assistant Professor Department of Africana Studies Stony Brook University This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Charles Taber Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation At the Juncture of Homonationalism and Homophobic Nationalism: Sexual Justice Organizing in Uganda and the Paradox of Transnational Advocacy by Sasha Maria Rodriguez Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Stony Brook University 2016 The Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 propelled Uganda to the forefront of global media. In its initial manifestation, the Bill threatened to penalize “aggravated homosexuality” with the death penalty. The media attention earned by the proposed legislation opened avenues for transnational cooperation and communication between US-based Human and LGBTI Rights organizations and Ugandan kuchus – a Ugandan identity that encapsulates various identities of same gender loving or gender nonconforming peoples. This project focuses on this transnational relationship as it interacts with the dynamic of organizing in the midst of a national project of sexual repression. This dissertation asks how kuchu organizing functions from a position dually marginalized by homonationalism, the process through which dominant, Western nations deploy a normativized, nationalist homosexuality for global legitimacy, and homophobic nationalism, the domestic process of making a state ‘straight.’” This question divides into three constituent questions: 1) Is the human rights regime a vehicle of homonationalism? 2) How does homonationalism interact with homophobic nationalism in Uganda? 3) How does this intersection affect local organizing strategies and alliance building? I detail how the structure of transnational advocacy, which aims to empower global human rights activism, restructures and, in some cases, limits local movements. Specifically, I find that and explore how the funding practices and strategies of US organizations and foundations can create economic and political inequalities in Uganda. This analysis complicates and contributes to theories of sexual and gendered citizenship, nationalisms and transnational social movements. In the conclusion, I propose reimagining the politics and goals of transnational cooperation between the two countries. iii DEDICATION PAGE To my love, to the revolution, to the way each inspires the other in me; To my ancestors; To Jada and Jasmine; Sarai and Sage – the generation that follows iv TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE …ii ABSTRACT …iii DEDICATION …iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …ix CHAPTER I QUEER ORGANIZING FOR FULL CITIZENSHIP …1 FROM SEXUAL CITIZENSHIP TO HOMONATIONALISM …6 COLORING CITIZENRY: RACIALIZED SEXUAL POLITICS AROUND THE WORLD …7 THE TRANSNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME IN THE AGE OF HOMONATIONALISM …14 THE LASTING IMPORTANCE OF SEXUAL CITIZENSHIP INQUIRIES THROUGHOUT A GLOBALIZED GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT …16 THE AIMS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DISSERTATION …18 THE OUTLINE OF THE FORTHCOMING CHAPTERS …20 WORKS REFERENCED …26 CHAPTER II TOWARDS A METHODOLOGY OF CONNECTION …29 HOW I ENTERED THE RESEARCH…32 WHAT I MEAN BY METHODOLOGY…33 MILITANT ETHNOGRAPHY: ENGAGEMENT AND FEELING IN INQUIRY …36 THE ROLE OF SHIFTING IN CONNECTION …39 METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS AND UNCERTAINTIES …42 WORKS REFERENCED …49 CHAPTER III HOMOPHOBIC NATIONALISM IN UGANDA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANTI- HOMOSEXUALITY ACT…50 METHODS …53 FROM SEXUAL CITIZENSHIP TO HOMOPHOBIC NATIONALISM …54 UNPACKING “UGANDA”: CONTEXTUALIZING AFRICAN COLONIAL PROJECTS …58 EARLY SODOMY LEGISLATION AND THE MAKING OF DEGENERATE SEXUALITIES ...62 THE CLASSED AND RACED IMPLICATIONS OF APPROPRIATE SEXUALITY …66 CONTINUING SEXUAL POLICING AS AN “INDEPENDENT” NATION …67 “COMPREHENSIVE MEASURES”: DEVELOPING THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT …71 ANTI-IMPERIALISM AS THE IMPORTATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY TO VULNERABLE PEOPLES …77 CONCLUSION …82 WORKS REFERENCED …86 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) CHAPTER IV NATIONALIST VIOLENCE AND KUCHU VISIBILITY …92 CRACKING DOWN ON KUCHU ORGANIZING …93 VISIBILITY AND REFUGE …101 QUEER VISIBILITY IN MEDIA …106 CONCLUSION …110 WORKS REFERENCED …112 CHAPTER V TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY: IDENTITY, PRIVILEGE, STRUCTURE …113 TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY, HOMONATIONALISM AND BLACK ERASURE …115 METHODS …117 THE UN-CENTERED TRANSNATIONAL STRUCTURE …119 BUREAUCRACY AS A HINDRANCE TO TRANSNATIONAL EFFICACY …126 RACIAL CHASMS AND CONNECTIONS IN TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY …128 CONCLUSION …137 WORKS REFERENCED …138 CHAPTER VI THE ECONOMIES OF QUEER INCLUSION: HOMONATIONALISM, TRANSNATIONAL LGBTI ADVOCACY AND SEXUAL JUSTICE ORGANIZING IN UGANDA …139 METHODS …143 HOMONATIONALISM AND THE REGULATORY FUNCTION OF SEXUALITIES …143 THE POLITICS OF TRICKLE-DOWN PHILANTHROPY …148 THE RISE OF UMBRELLA ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CAREER QUEER …152 COMMUNITY RELATIONS …155 BRIEFCASE ORGANIZATIONS …160 CONCLUSION…163 WORKS REFERENCED …167 CHAPTER VII IMAGINING DIASPORA-CENTERED ORGANIZING: A CONCLUSION …168 WORKS REFERENCED …177 BIBLIOGRAPHY …178 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHA – Anti-Homosexuality Act AHB – Anti-Homosexuality Bill DNMC - District Non-Governmental Organizations Monitoring Committee GNC – Gender Non-Conforming GRIM – Gay Rights International Movement INGO – International Non-Governmental Organization L/G/B/T/I/Q – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer MP – Member of Parliament MSM – Men who have Sex with Men NGO – Non-Governmental Organization NPIC – Non-Profit Industrial Complex NYC – New York City POC – People of Color PRO – Progressive Religious Organization QPOC – Queer People of Color SGL – Same-Gender Loving SMO – Social Movement Organization SNMC - Subcountry Non-Governmental Monitoring Committee TSMO – Transnational Social Movement Organization UN – United Nations WSW – Women who have Sex with Women vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The fellowships, grants and organizations that supported any stage of this work: The Center for Inclusive Education and Dr. W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship Program The American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program The Graduate School of Stony Brook University, through the Faculty-Staff Dissertation Award Those who have kept me grounded and/or inspired: Lindsay, Sherley, Damian, Ayesha and Cyprian Rodriguez Athena Belle-Fairplay Michael Schwartz, my advisor Milagros Peña, my former advisor at the University of Florida My committee members: Kathleen Fallon, Daniel Levy, Dawn Harris Nina Maung-Gaona Toni Sperzel Kathryne Piazzola “B-Del”: Hewan Girma, Kenneth and Doreen Pierce, Vanessa Lynn Clifford Leek Jalise R. Burt Ashley Currier Melissa Forbis Pepe Onziema Naima Fine Iles Chelsea Johnson-Long Jasmin Young Safe OUTside the System and the Audre Lorde Project Our Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet: Audre Lorde Thank you. viii CHAPTER 1 QUEER ORGANIZING FOR FULL CITIZENSHIP 1 Mama1 and her daughter sat next to me on the second and third leg of my flight from New York City to Entebbe, Uganda. Their trip began in London, but our flights connected in Amsterdam. Our massive plane featured 10-seat rows and was nearly full, dropping off and picking up passengers in Rwanda before we all unloaded in Entebbe. Mama, her daughter and I were, however, some of only a handful of people of African descent on the flight. I couldn’t help but notice that all around us were groups of white, European and American young people, many of which had matching t-shirts or jumpsuits. They were in groups of roughly ten 14-18 year-olds with one to three accompanying adults. At the gate in Amsterdam and at the stop in Kigali, where we were not allowed off of the plane unless it were our final destination, they stretched their legs, chatted, or formed hand- holding circles. They prayed. A number of them got off the plane in Kigali, but twenty minutes later were replaced by similar groups of passengers, loading from the Rwandan airport. The sight of youth prayer groups was a familiar one: having grown up in a highly religious, Southern town, I remembered the devout teenagers and their Christian conviction. I thought of one classmate in particular, who had become a missionary. She moved to central Africa while I attended university. This new context stunned me, though. I had not anticipated the visual significance of their numbers – even though, of course, I knew the qualitative significance of their continued presence in the region. Mama, noticing that I was flying alone, struck up casual conversation. She and her daughter

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