This is social problem paper #1 from a graduate level course in social reconstruction.

1. RUNNING HEAD: Global Homophobia
Global homophobia: The case of Uganda
(Global/national/local social paper #1)
by
Joelyn K. Foy
Presented to
Dr. Kay Ann Taylor
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for
EDCI 886, Perspectival Philosophy: Social Construction
Kansas State University
September 15, 2010

2. Global homophobia
Introduction
American conservatives are exporting homophobia to the African nation of Uganda
(Kaoma, 2009; May-Chang, 2010). Homophobia, the hatred of homosexuality, did not originate
in the United States, but the social upheaval caused by homophobia in the U.S. is daily news.
Earlier this month, the home of a lesbian couple in Vonore, Tennessee was set on fire after their
outside garage wall was tagged with “Queers” (Ault, 2010). At least three teen suicides, and one
broken arm have been reported during the month of September (Jones, 2010) from bullying. A
student who is lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgendered (LGBT) will hear homophobic remarks in
school, feel unsafe in school because of personal characteristics, experience harassment and
possibly assault in school, and will miss classes or days of school because of safety issues
(Kosciw et al., 2010, xv). When educators ask the question, “What is school?” or “What is
schooling?”, for LGBT students, school is harassment, bullying, and violence (HRC, 2009).
School as the reproduction of socio-cultural values that culminated in the 1950’s (May-Chang,
2010, p. 5) may not be applicable in the 21st century to all school children (Counts,
1932/1959/1978, p. 15).
I approach the social problem of global homophobia from the radical point of view
(Stone, 2003, p. 108), that is, getting to the root of this problem which affects the school
environment locally and nationally. I believe that the education community must expose teacher
candidates to the facts about homophobia and bullying. If I believe that education can
reconstruct society and lead to a more peaceful world, then I must become part of the solution by
making sure that as a teacher educator, I am able to articulate these issues clearly and facilitate
establishment of solutions.
The Origins of Homophobia
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3. Global homophobia
One of the origins of homophobia is described by Michel Foucault in Discipline &
Punish (1975/1977/1995). In the 17th and 18th centuries, the military and the manufactory
reproduced the monastery through the creation of “docile bodies” (Foucault, 1975/1977/1995, p.
135). By enclosing and partitioning workers, the forces of production were concentrated under
one roof and carefully monitored (pp. 142, 143). Enclosure, however, led to conversation,
congregation, desertion, and distraction, thereby lowering worker production. Partitioning
promoted supervision of individual conduct, “to assess it, to judge it, to calculate its qualities or
merits” (p. 143). It was believed that “solitude was necessary to both body and soul, … they
must, at certain moments at least, confront temptation and perhaps the severity of God alone”
(Foucault, 1975/1977/1995, p. 143). Even in the girls’ dormitories, beds were arranged and
enclosed such that “girls may rise and retire without being seen” (Delamare cited in Foucault,
1975/1977/1995, p. 143). The monastic tradition of celibacy was reproduced within the factory
model.
Homophobia in Uganda
The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, proposed an “anti-homosexuality” bill in
2009 but because of global attention, it was tabled. In its stead, an anti-pornography bill has
been drafted because of a belief that “pornography breeds homosexuality” (Smith & Magga,
2010). This proposed legislation “calls for the death penalty for gays and lesbians who engaged
in sex and are HIV positive, have committed the offense of homosexuality more than once”
(May-Chang, 2010, p. 1) and provides that any person or organization that provides “material or
advocacy support to or on behalf of LGBT people (p. 1) will be prosecuted. Homosexuality has
been illegal in Uganda since colonial times, but recently the influence of American conservatives
and American churches have escalated the cry for genocide against LGBT citizens in Uganda.
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4. Global homophobia
Two authors of the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda are members of a secret organization in
the United States known as “The Family” (May-Chang, 2010, p. 3).
Exporting Homophobia from America
The Family, as it is called, began in 1948 (Sharlet, 2009, p. 2) – the year the United
Nations Declaration of Human Rights was first adopted (UN, 2010). The Family is organized
around cells and small groups of leaders, a kind of “populist fundamentalism” (Sharlet, 2009, p.
2). As far as I can tell, the members of The Family are privileged, White men; current members
include recognizable conservatives Senator Sam Brownback (R., Kansas), Chuck Grassley (R.,
Iowa), and James Inhofe (R., Oklahoma). Former members of The Family include: former
Nixon aide and Watergate fellow Charles W. Colson, the late senator Strom Thurmond (R., S.
Carolina), Herman Talmadge (Georgia), Pat Robertson’s father, Absalom Willis Robertson
(Virginia), and Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist (p. 2). The strategy of The Family
revolves around secrecy, stealthiness, and avoiding the label of being a Christian organization
(Sharlet, 2009). Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is The Family’s “key man” in Africa
(May-Chang, 2010, p. 5; Sharlet, 2009, p. 4).
Implications for Secondary Classrooms
When a student walks into a classroom, how does the teacher respond? Does the teacher
have an immediate reaction to the way the student is dressed? To the student’s affect? To the
student’s voice? Having been a student most of my life, I have experienced these immediate
responses. As an LGBT student, the reaction is sometimes negative. How will teacher education
programs prepare mostly White, middle-class, females to respond to LGBT students if those
teacher candidates are not LGBT themselves? How will teacher education faculty motivate
teacher candidates to notice and question their immediate reactions to students unlike
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5. Global homophobia
themselves? One answer to these questions is to include in teacher education discussion of
difficult societal issues like homophobia. All teachers have biases; bias is a quality of being
human. We are bombarded daily by opinion, news, and ideas that we may not have encountered
in our hometowns or our immediate families. However, for LGBT kids in middle school and
high school, the teacher who stops the name-calling, the teacher who will not allow “that’s so
gay” to be said in their classroom, the teacher who listens when that student talks, that teacher
becomes a safe person for that kid. That teacher’s classroom becomes a safe space for that child
and learning (Meyer, 2010, p. 112) is more likely to occur for that student. I believe in stopping
the bullying in school buildings and creating a classroom teacher culture where all children feel
safe to be present and to learn.
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6. Global homophobia
References
Ault, J. (September 13, 2010). Lesbian couple in Vonore says house fire is hate crime.
WATE.com. Retrieved from http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=13134384
Counts, G. S. (1932/1959/1978). Dare the school build a new social order? Carbondale, IL:
Southern Illinois University Press.
Foucault, M. (1975/1977/1995). Discipline & punish: The birth of the prison. New York, NY:
Random House.
Human Rights Campaign Foundation. (2009). An introduction to welcoming schools: An
inclusive approach to addressing family diversity, gender stereotyping and name-calling
in K-5 learning environments. Washington, DC: HRC. Retrieved from
http://www.hrc.org/welcomingschools/form.asp
Jones, M. A. (September 28, 2010). Gay Houston teenager driven to suicide by bullies.
Change.org. Retrieved from
http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/gay_houston_teenager_driven_to_suicide_by_bulli
es
Kaoma, K. (2009). Globalizing the culture wars: U.S. conservatives, African churches, and
homophobia. Somerville, MA: Political Research Associates. Retrieved from
http://www.publiceye.org/publications/globalizing-the-culture-wars/pdf/africa-full-
report.pdf
Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Diaz, E. M., & Bartkiewicz, M. J. (2010). The 2009 National
School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth
in our nation’s schools. New York: GLSEN. Retrieved from
http://www.glsen.org/binary-data/GLSEN_ATTACHMENTS/file/000/001/1675-1.PDF
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7. Global homophobia
May-Chang, J. (September 8, 2010). Exporting homophobia: American far-right conservative
churches establish influence on anti-gay policy in Africa. Boise Weekly. Retrieved from
http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/exporting-homophobia-american-far-right-
conservative-churches-establish-influence-on-anti-gay-policy-in-
africa/Content?oid=1767227
Meyer, E. J. (2010). Gender and sexual diversity in schools (Explorations of Educational
Purpose, 10). New York, NY: Springer.
Sharlet, J. (November 24, 2009). The secret political reach of ‘The Family’. National Public
Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120746516
Smith, A., & Magga, G. (September 12, 2010). Uganda’a anti-pornography law to fight
homosexual vice. Afrik-News. Retrieved from http://www.afrik-
news.com/article18213.html
Stone, F. A. (2003). Theodore Brameld’s educational reconstruction: An intellectual
biography. San Francisco, CA: Caddo Gap Press.
United Nations. (2010). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
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