Droit de Réponse: Peter Tatchell on Bobbi Wine

"Bobi, as president and his party in government, is the precondition for any advance in LGBT+ rights and all other democratic freedoms."

Peter Tatchell responds to my recent post on Bobi Wine and LGBT+ Rights

In response to my post questioning Bobi Wine’s embrace of LGBTQ+ rights, human rights activist Peter Tatchell offers a detailed perspective rooted in decades of advocacy and direct dialogues with political figures in Uganda. In his response on May 12th, Tatchell provides context to Wine's transformation from a previously homophobic stance to a more inclusive approach towards human rights, emphasizing the complexities and strategic necessities within Ugandan political and social landscapes.

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I have been actively supporting the Ugandan democracy and human rights movement for more than three decades against the dictatorship of President Yoweri Museveni, which is suppressing all of civil society - not just LGBTs but also women, ethnic minorities, opposition party activists, students, journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and human rights defenders. 

I have met Bobi Wine. He is the leader of Uganda's democratic opposition. I have had extensive conversations with him on LGBT+ rights, and he is no longer homophobic. He and his party members have welcomed me to their London events, knowing that I am gay and an LGBT+ activist, despite the risk of this being exploited by the dictatorship and used against them. 

It is true that Bobi Wine used to be homophobic. He was rightly banned from the UK for several years by the Government because of his homophobia. Following criticism and lobbying by myself and Ugandan LGBTs in London, Bobi has changed his mind. He says his homophobic past originated from the intensely bigoted culture in which he grew up and to which he was exposed. He never knew anything different. But now we have educated him about LGBT+ issues, he is not homophobic any more. 

Bobi has apologised for his anti-LGBT+ past. In the light of his apologies, the UK government lifted his entry ban. The bar for lifting an entry ban is very high. Such bans are only lifted if the UK government is convinced that the apology is genuine, and there is evidence of a change of heart. That Bobi has changed his views is also accepted by many Ugandan LGBTs living in London. 

Bobi's apology has been used against him by the country’s dictator president, Yoweri Museveni, who has arrested, detained, and tried to kill him. 

When asked about LGBT+ rights in recent years, Bobi has not disowned or condemned them. He said he supports equality and human rights for everyone (that includes LGBTs). That is the best that any leading Ugandan politician can say, given the country’s toxic homophobia, which has overwhelming public backing. For Bobi to openly support LGBT+ rights would be electoral suicide. It would keep Museveni in power, which would perpetuate disaster for LGBT+ Ugandans.

The idea that Bobi is using LGBT+ rights for political gain is not true. He gains nothing and loses a lot by renouncing homophobia. It is being used by Museveni to discredit and undermine him. 

We need to think carefully about the best, most effective tactics to secure LGBT+ rights - not just what is ideal, right in principle and sounds best. There is a legitimate role for tactical compromise to win the long game.  

The number one human rights priority is to end the Museveni dictatorship. Bobi Wine is the best hope to achieve that. He would have won the last election, but Museveni rigged the vote, nobbled the media and judges, and subjected Bobi and his party to a reign of terror by the police and army. 

There will never be LGBT+ rights in Uganda while Museveni is in power. Bobi, as president and his party in government, is the precondition for any advance in LGBT+ rights and all other democratic freedoms. And, of course, we must hold them to that. 

Some LGBT+ Ugandans who criticise Bobi are not involved in the wider Ugandan democracy movement. They have a narrow LGBT+ rights perspective and seem not to see the bigger picture and the need for tactics that will win for LGBTs in the end.   

The South African and global LGBT+ movement supported freedom for Nelson Mandela in the 1980s even though he did not support LGBT+ rights until much later - and even though leading figures in his ANC party were viciously homophobic at the time. They understood that the precondition for LGBT+ rights in South Africa was ending the apartheid dictatorship. In my view, and that of some Ugandan LGBTs in London, the same tactical thinking is needed in Uganda today.