UN anti-AIDS leader tells off Ugandan homophobes trolling her son online
Winnie Byanyima tells ‘weak trolls and bots’: ‘Stay out of our family affairs.’
Online homophobes have launched a hate campaign against the son of Winnie Byanyima, the Ugandan leader of the United Nations anti-AIDS agency, debating his sexuality and gender on social media platforms.
Byanyima, whose husband is the currently incarcerated Ugandan politician and retired soldier Kizza Besigye, has come out in his defense.
Her son, Anselm Besigye, has a girlfriend named Liz who often appears in family photos shared on X by Byanyima.
Anselm 25, has lived in the United States for all his life and has developed traits that have drawn mixed reactions from Ugandans. Some Ugandans with conservative views have attacked his life style as “Westernized” and therefore “not acceptable”, while others have lauded him, especially for his academic achievements.
However, of recent, his gender has become a talking point with some people taking aim at his trendy dreadlocks and choice of clothes which they say look feminine.
In a homophobic comment on X, Pastor Martin Ssempa, a longtime opponent of LGBT rights, was among the first to question Anselm’s perceived femininity.
“It’s always sad to see a man who is ashamed of his manhood. It’s sad to see a boy who thinks they are a girl. It’s a failure of socialization. In Africa this is soooooo baaad! …” he wrote in reaction to a photo of Anselm and his mother Winnie Byanyima on X.
One commenter, Rwerure Goodluck Nsinguza using the handle @Atusinguza1 on X, posted;
“You should (be) told the truth. No real mukiga or muhororo [referring to a tribe in southwestern Uganda] is proud of seeing someone becoming a gay. … you really betrayed us”. Both Byanyima and Besigye are from western Uganda.
Another online commenter known as @AinebyonaWilli2 posted on X, “Am sure KB (Kizza Besigye) is disappointed in him.”.
James Onen aka Fatboy a presenter on RX Radio, declared on live radio that Anselm is gender-fluid.
“He didn’t look like some Jamaican musician, he looked like a chick. It is quite interesting, and I’m thinking it won’t be long before he transitions. I’m almost certain that he is considering himself gender-fluid,” Fatboy claimed.
Co-host Olive Najjuma, however, did not buy into Fatboy’s claims. She said that anyone criticizing Anselm’s life style is going too far.
In her response, Byanyima expressed her full support for Anselm, noting that she and her husband were proud of their son.
“No. KB is proud of his son. Stay out of our family affairs. Find something else to do” Byanyima stated.
In another pushback against homophobes, she posted:
“To all the weak trolls and bots who can’t counter our arguments and resort to attacking our son Anselm — rest assured, he won’t waste his time replying. We are incredibly proud of him …”
Anselm earned a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. His research there focused on anti-queer animus in Uganda through the lens of legal confrontations and other moments in which queer bodies are disciplined.
According to Byanyima, he received fully-funded offers to pursue a PhD from both Oxford University and the University of Chicago but ultimately chose Columbia University in New York.
“He reads widely about Uganda, engages with a community of Ugandan intellectuals, and is even focusing his PhD thesis on Uganda and Tanzania. Politics? Not his thing. Trolls, do you get it now?” Byanyima wrote.
