The Things We're not Supposed to Say

As everyone is aware, North Carolina has been doing this, in response to which President Obama said this.  Of course, Obama's statement is probably meaningless in terms of actual policy on same-sex marriage, but the interesting thing about the things Obama says is that it matters in Tanzania.

Obama is incredibly popular here and has the sort of swag often reserved for Disney idols, pencils, shoes, kangas, backpacks, whatever.  As part of greeting an American, some Tanzanians will ask how Obama is doing (to which the answer is 'fine').

Homosexuality is very much not popular here.  It is, in fact, something Peace Corps tells us not to talk about.  Homosexual volunteers who out themselves, are outed, or straight volunteers rumored to be homosexual are all sent home because they are in physical danger if it is suspected they are homosexual.  That's what I mean when I say unpopular.  So when Obama announces he's in favor of same-sex marriage it causes a stir and I am asked what I think about the situation during a college staff meeting.

   

I would like to say that I responded with an eloquent and persuasive yet culturally sensitive oration that convinced everyone present that equality under the law is the awesome, but I didn't.  In fact, I wasn't really prepared for the conversation at all, because I was trying to explain all the rights marriage grants that people need and got confused over the whole medical confidentiality thing, because Tanzanians don't really do that.*  So it was a disjointed and not terribly convincing speech, but I did get a follow up question that I responded to much better and was able to explain that everyone deserves the right to fully participate in society and that when homosexuals are denied rights we all suffer, and look we have computers because of Alan Turing who was homosexual, therefore if homosexuals don't have rights we might not get nice stuff like our computers!  Appeal to greed!

Actually, if any of my students ever tell me anything judgmental about homosexuals I am fully prepared to throw them out of my lab and tell them they can't have the privilege of using our computers until after they write a letter of apology to Alan Turing. After one of my students told me that on his teaching practice some of his female students made themselves into temptations by wearing short skirts and I floundered in incoherent rage, I sat down and tried to come up with responses for future things students might say to me.  Apparently I need prepared responses for staff meetings as well.

I'm trying to spread the peace, love, and understanding here, but it's hard to do that extemporaneously. 

*Except in cases of HIV/AIDS, which as far as I can tell is the only disease your doctor won't tell the entire village you have.  This may be one of the causes of the great stigma associated, that a person could have it and no one know.  Also probably a contributing factor to nasty speculation and rumours.