The rise and fall of a contentious social policy option – narratives around the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill in the domestic press

In 2009, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced to the Ugandan parliament for consideration. This article analyses how the domestic press, most notably the privately owned, substantially changed the narratives around the Bill during the first eight months after it had been introduced to the general public. The study argues that although a traditional content analysis reveals changes in media’s attention, media narratives, it does not tell us much about the intricate interplay behind those emerging narratives. The article thus argues for a need to supplement content analysis with a broader analysis of the socio-political context, including transnational anti-gay and human rights activism, international politics on gender and sexuality, as well as aid dependence for understanding changing media narratives on a domestic social policy option.