Yes, Protecting LGBTQ Folks Is A Matter Of Life Or Death
Or, what we can learn from extreme anti-queer laws of past and present
TW: discussion of state/Govt-sanctioned violence against LGBTQ groups and individuals.
I am reading up on Uganda's new anti-LGBTQ law, which now makes homosexuality punishable by death.
In Uganda, where it is already illegal to participate in same-sex relationships, this law would make those who commit multiple offenses subject to capital punishment. Furthermore, even promoting (whatever that means) homosexuality could be punishable by 20 years in jail.
Uganda's new law has been met with swift backlash, with both liberal and conservative U.S. politicians condemning it and calling for restrictions on U.S. relations with Uganda and other harsh measures to push the nation to repeal the new law.
While, I am glad that, at least on the surface, our U.S. legislators can agree that LGBTQ people shouldn't be murdered by the government for being who they are, we need to be honest with ourselves and recognize that extreme laws don't just come from nowhere.
These laws come from establishing a culture that is more and more accepting of restrictions and legal action against a certain group of people.
These laws come from passing legislation that is introduced in the name of “protecting” children and families.
These laws come from harassing store employees or restaurant servers for being openly inclusive.
They come from a society that sits back as more and more rights are chipped away.
I might sound extreme, and you might even think that because Uganda is a struggling nation with ongoing problems of war and corruption we can't compare it to the United States. Sure we got people who don't support homosexuality, but surely they wouldn't want gay people subjected to the death penalty? Only some backwards country would support something like that right? (Believe me the racism and White-savior attitude is not lost on me).
Well, let's take a look at history shall we? Before Hitler rose to power, Germany was home to a thriving queer scene, Berlin was renowned as a gay-friendly city, and, in 1929, Germany was actively working toward decriminalizing homosexual acts (a huge deal for the time). Beyond the LGBTQ community Germany of the 1920s was considered a destination for culture, science and enlightenment.
Yet even in such a place, the LGBTQ community became a target.
Under Hitler and the Nazi regime, homosexuality was now a horrible offense, as being gay did not align with their agenda of building a master race. Police made lists of homosexually active people, and thousands of gay men were arrested and jailed. A smaller, but still significant number of gay (or suspected gay) men were sent to concentration camps. While there, they were subjected to forced labor, gruesome experimentation and death.
We think this could never happen in the United States, yet all it takes is for the right political leader to rise out of the right circumstances.
Right now in the United States families are growing more fearful as state after state passes legislation that makes it harder for trans people to live openly. At the same time, a growing sect of the public is advocating for book bans, boycotts and other action with a clear message of intolerance toward the LGBTQ community.
In Germany, the promise of a better future was what pushed ordinary citizens to turn on their neighbors. All they needed was the government’s permission to blame entire groups of people (whether gays, Jews, Romani or otherwise) for their problems.
I still think the U.S. is a far cry from Nazi Germany or modern-day Uganda, however, we can't sit back and assume all will be well.
We need to pay attention and listen to our LGBTQ friends, family and neighbors.
Their lives depend on it.
Source:
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ugandas-museveni-approves-anti-gay-law-parliament-speaker-says-2023-05-29/
https://www.hmd.org.uk/learn-about-the-holocaust-and-genocides/nazi-persecution/gay-people/