Contesting Heteronationalism in Uganda: Decolonial or Neocolonial?

The Ugandan state relies on a comingling of patriarchy, heterosexism and heteronormativity to discursively construct patriotic nationalism and regulate citizenship. Essentialist binary dichotomies that conflate sex with gender order society into hierarchical positions and normative gender roles. Non-heteronormativity falls outside the idealised “charmed circle” of patriotic Ugandan nationalism. This is evident in the public rhetoric of the president and his cabinet ministers, the legislations enacted by members of parliament, and dominant decisions of the judiciary, as well as the ethos of religious clerics, cultural leaders and mainstream public media. Contests against this heteronationalism come from local, regional and global challengers. In this lecture, Dr. Naynzi employs a post-colonial perspectove to examine contradictions within the contestation against entrenching heteronationalism in contemporary Uganda.

Dr. Stella Nyanzi is fellow of the Writers-in-Exile program at the PEN Zentrum Deutschland and a fellow at the Center for Ethics and Writing at Bard College.