In a country where a life sentence is handed down for homosexuality and a prison sentence for not reporting homosexual behaviour within 24 hours, why has Uganda topped a Google poll for looking up gay porn?
In 2013, Google published the results of a poll of where in the world searched most for gay porn sites. Uganda came third, behind Kenya and Pakistan, both countries where homosexuality is also illegal. This poll also shows, most importantly, that there may be a link between homophobia and clandestine homosexuality.
The Ugandan government's anti-homosexuality bill originally carried the death sentence, which was lowered to life imprisonment with its implementation in 2009. Homosexuality in Uganda is defined as even kissing or fondling a member of the same sex, a leftover from British Colonialism, where any type of 'un-natural' sex was stamped out.
According to Freud, this is known as reaction-formation behaviour, where true feelings about a subject may be hidden by a violent reaction in the opposite direction, with one of the symptoms associated with it being extreme paranoia. This is most commonly thought to be caused by controlling parents, but it would also make sense that a country with an all-powerful 'parent' figure, such as God, or a reactionary government would have the same reaction.
Ugandan anti-gay propaganda is known for its extreme scare-tactics, such as linking homosexuality with pedophilia and recruiting the nation's youth into their 'ranks'. The country operates under an intense religious doctrine, where the mere mention of homosexuality leads to instant imprisonment and preachers proclaim to be able to 'cure gays' through the Lord's name and prayer.
Many Ugandans felt they needed to leave the country after the bill passed, fearing for their lives. As it stands, there are no proposed changes to the bill and imprisonment for homosexuality was proved to be 'satisfactory punishment' in December 2013.
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This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
