Speaking with Care A Manual to Prevent, Mitigate, and Counter Hate Speech Targeting Sexual and Gender Minorities in East Africa Edited by Brian Pellot Published by the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and Sexual Minorities Uganda under a Creative Commons Attribution­NonCommercial­ShareAlike 2.0 (CC BY­NC­SA 2.0) license. 2018 Acknowledgements This manual stems from a workshop the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) convened with 15 people in Nairobi in June 2017 on how hate speech affects sexual and gender minorities. Discussions revealed the unique and powerful role personal narratives can play in enhancing empathy for marginalized communities and demonstrated some of the real and lasting harms hate speech can inflict. Our time together highlighted the important role religious belief plays in motivating people of faith to care for and protect sexual and gender minorities as equal members of our communities. Faith leaders at our gathering communicated a shared understanding that all persons — regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression — should be respected. They embraced the notion that God affirms all forms of selfless love and emphasized the special duty society shares to protect and care for those who suffer from hate speech, violence, harassment, or exclusion. Ultimately, participants agreed that sexual and gender minorities should enjoy the same fundamental rights all humans deserve including freedom of expression, association, religion, and belief. The workshop and this manual would not have been possible without the participation and insight of numerous individuals and organizations in East Africa and around the world. Workshop participants included Leacky Ochieng, Ishmael Omumbwa Ondunyi, Nhlanhla Mokwena, Frank Mugisha, Umulugele Richard Lusimbo, Dennis Wamala, Stella Nyanzi, Waweru Njenga, Opimva Pepe Julian Onziema, Solomon Gichira, Roselyn Odoyo, Laura Arudi Cori, Marie Ramtu, Esther Mombo, Joseph Tolton, Nguru Karugu, Ambrose Barigye, and Kapya Kaoma. Special thanks goes to Barigye Ambrose, Marie Ramtu, Esther Mombo, Stella Nyanzi, Ishmael Bahati, and Dennis Wamala for contributing excerpts of their work to this guide. Brian Pellot wrote several chapters along with much of the context that frames these discussions and edited each individual contribution for publication. We thank Taboom Media for allowing us to republish sections of “Covering Sexual and Gender Minorities & Religion in Sub­Saharan Africa: A Reporting Guide for Journalists” and other organizations, cited throughout. Finally, we thank Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights for bringing this project to life. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Sexual Minorities Uganda or the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights. 1 Table of Contents Foreword 4 Introduction to Hate Speech 6 What Constitutes Hate Speech? 6 Five­Point Test to Identify and Respond to Hate Speech 7 Five­Point Test to Identify Dangerous Speech 9 LGBTQI+ History and Hate Speech in Kenya and Uganda 10 Pre­Colonial Sexual and Gender Diversity 10 Colonialism’s Lingering Legacy 11 Ongoing Sources of Discrimination 12 How Homophobia and Transphobia Harm Our Societies 16 African Faith Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Diversity 18 Christian Perspectives 18 Muslim Perspectives 26 Traditional African Religions Perspectives 29 Strength Through Adversity: Vignettes of LGBTQI+ Discrimination in Uganda 30 Dismissed From Work After a Public Media Outing 30 Transgender Women Insulted in a Crowded Market 31 Denied Employment for Being Effeminate 33 Member of Parliament Threatens to Hang His Own Son 33 Homophobic Pastor Drives LGBTQI+ Christians From the Pews 34 “Eat Da Poo Poo” – Pastor Martin Ssempa’s Homophobic Absurdity Porn 36 Banned From Teaching Minors 36 Stoned and Insulted at Home 37 Arson and Threats 38 Family Outcast and Long Lectures 39 Intersex Child Teased and Bullied at School 40 Expelled From School for “Lesbian­Like” Tendencies 42 Raped to “Correct” Her 42 Fondled Inappropriately by Police Officers 43 Forced Anal Testing 44 No Longer a Coach 45 Stares at the Clinic 46 Ashamed Mother Disowns Her Son 50 2 The Snake Has Entered the Milk Gourd: LGBTQI+ Discrimination in Kenya 52 Case Study 52 Analysis 56 What’s at Stake? Analysing Dangerous LGBTQI+ Media Coverage 58 Tips for Spotting Problematic Media Coverage 58 Regional Media Scoping Study 62 Kenya 63 Malawi 64 Uganda 65 A Closer Look at Uganda 67 Media Engagement Strategies to Combat Anti­LGBTQI+ Hate Speech 71 Identifying Your Audience 72 Framing Your Message 72 Telling Your Story 73 Communicating Through News Media 74 Establishing Credibility and Pitching Coverage 75 Preparing for a Media Interview 76 Communicating Through Social Media 77 Stopping Anti­LGBTQI+ Hate Speech in its Tracks 79 Sorting Sexual and Gender Myths from Realities 81 Key LGBTQI+ Terminology 84 Conclusion 88 Resource Guide 89 Additional Resources and Readings 89 Additional Sources 93 Eastern Africa 93 Southern Africa 95 Western Africa 98 Central Africa 99 Pan­Africa and International 100 Hate Speech­Specific 103 Contributor Biographies 106 3 Foreword This manual explores the dangerous effects of hate speech and discrimination directed at sexual and gender minorities in East Africa, specifically in Kenya and Uganda. It presents guidance and strategies to identify, prevent, mitigate, and counter hate speech based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions and to promote human rights. Our target audience is not the sexual and gender minorities most directly and negatively impacted by such hatred (though they too will likely find use for this guide), but rather the friends, families, faith leaders, and wider community who surround them — critical allies who share a civic duty to uphold universal human rights and a moral duty to protect fellow citizens from the harms of hate speech. Despite attempts to deny or erase their existence, sexual and gender minorities live at all levels and in all realms of our societies. Teachers have a duty to their pupils, religious leaders to their congregations, journalists to their audiences, health workers to their patients, social workers to their clients, police officers to their wards, parents to their children, and neighbours to their neighbours — a duty to respect dignity, to champion equality, and to fight for the basic rights of all people regardless of who they love, what they wear, or how they identify. Our basic humanity requires us to serve as guardians to those in need. Societies that ostracize, marginalize and discriminate against minority members fail the community as a whole. We must act as our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers to ensure our communal welfare, lest we repeat some of history’s gravest mistakes. German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem “F irst they came...” , written about the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent slaughter of millions of people, offers a cautionary tale of the atrocities that can unfold when good people stay silent and fail to defend those in need. First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me. 4 As Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said at the height of apartheid, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” We hope you use this manual to speak out against hate speech and to champion the human rights of sexual and gender minorities in your communities and of all marginalized people around the world. Brian Pellot, Editor Cape Town, South Africa December 2018 5 Introduction to Hate Speech Sometimes hate speech merely reinforces unpleasant stereotypes. When tensions are high, when simmering hatred boils over, it can contribute to evils far worse. In 1994, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines used hate­filled broadcasts to exacerbate Rwanda’s genocide. By the end of the conflict, up to 1 million people were dead and millions more displaced. During the 2007 election in Kenya, bloggers and social media users labelled opponents “snakes”, “maggots” and “vultures.” More than 1,200 people were massacred in the melee that followed. In October 2010, a Ugandan tabloid published an article with the headline “100 PICTURES OF UGANDA’S TOP HOMOS LEAK” alongside the caption “Hang Them”. Three months later, sexual and gender minorities rights activist David Kato was murdered. In East Africa and in many regions of the world, unscrupulous journalists, politicians, religious leaders, and other prominent public figures use homophobic and transphobic hate speech to rally public support around a common perceived enemy — sexual and gender minorities — distracting citizens from other economic, political, or social concerns. By branding same­sex attraction and gender non­conformity as unAfrican, ungodly, sinful, amoral, illegal, or unacceptable, these populist leaders create scapegoats out of already vulnerable minorities, putting them at increased risk of discrimination, persecution, and attack. It’s clear that hate speech can lead to violence, but what constitutes hate speech, and how do we balance a universal right to freedom of expression with a real need to prevent the spread of dangerous rhetoric? What Constitutes Hate Speech? Hate speech is not clearly defined in international human rights law but usually includes all forms of expression that spread, incite, promote, or justify hatred or intolerance that threatens social peace. Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights broadly defines hate speech as any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence.