Nicolette Manglos-Weber, an Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University, has been collaborating with Ugandan community activists and NGO leaders since 2017 as a researcher of politics and religion in the area. These authorities express growing concerns about governmental corruption and human rights violations, according to her opinion piece that she published in The Coversation.
An anti-gay law was recently signed into law in Uganda. The law, which some have referred to as the “worst of its kind in the world,” sentences people to life in jail for having same-sex relationships while claiming that such behavior is “against the order of nature.”
For “aggravated homosexuality,” which includes relationships with children and anyone who are thought to be vulnerable, the death penalty is demanded. Additionally, it makes “promotion and funding” of same-sex “activities” illegal.
This is Uganda’s third round of anti-LGBTQ+ legislative agitation; the first two were overturned on technicalities after the Parliament approved them in 2009 and 2014, respectively. The 2023 act is still exceptional in its scope and severity.In addition to demanding a swift repeal, the Biden administration has threatened to stop providing aid and investment to Uganda.
The 2023 bill is better viewed as an electoral maneuver to keep power by diverting attention away from government problems, despite the fact that those supporting anti-LGBTQ+ laws claim to be defending their country from threats posed by foreign cultural influences. She contends that it is an illustration of what sociologists refer to as a moral panic and a concerning global trend.
Globally, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has increased and is frequently used by political groups to win over the public.
In order to undermine their citizens’ morals, many authoritarian leaders of state emphasize the cultural threat posed by so-called gender ideology and LGBTQ+ rights. They characterize these issues as alien or Western “perversions.”
Vladimir Putin ratified a law against LGBTQ+ promotion in Russia in 2022, using language that is very similar to the new law in Uganda. It is against the law to advocate for same-sex relationships or imply that they are typical.
President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria also enacted a bill outlawing the promotion and display of same-sex partnerships in public in 2014. Additionally, Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro pushed legislation to outlaw gender and sexuality education in schools and undermined the nation’s HIV/AIDS medical treatment facilities.
In each instance, these leaders fueled misgivings about LGBTQ+ communities before retaliating vehemently against the alleged moral threat. They increased their executive power while positioning themselves as defenders of fundamental cultural norms. To put it another way, they fostered and fed into a moral panic.
Using moral panic as a means of diverting attention
A moral panic is defined in sociology as a rise in social fears towards particular outlaw groups. A sense of diffuse and impending threat from groups of people like delinquents, foreigners, or minority groups—who are perceived as agents of broader moral decay—is the starting point of moral panics, which begin as social norms that are stoked into something larger.
There is a distinction between moral panic over LGBTQ+ groups and cultural standards that are against various types of sexuality and gender presentation. Religious or conservative civilizations may not always experience moral panics around sexual minorities. They are typically set off by more significant societal upheavals or political developments. This occurred, for instance, in South Africa during the height of public outrage over same-sex relationships between men during the country’s final years of apartheid.
Political leaders can also use moral panics as a diversion from real issues and governance failings. Citizens may embrace political leaders who validate their fears if a moral panic begins to shape their perceptions of political leadership, even if those politicians trample on democratic principles and civil liberties.
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