The Gay and Lesbian Archives: documenting same-sexuality in an African context

Abstract

This paper profiles the work of the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa (GALA) in documenting samesexuality within an African context. GALA is a unique source of information for the public, and documents otherwise silenced community histories and personal narratives. In the nine years of our existence the archive has built an extensive collection of individual and organisational records that form the foundation of a comprehensive lesbian and gay social history in South Africa and the African continent. This profile situates GALA within the broader processes of oppression and social transformation in South Africa in order to better understand its work. GALA has attempted to integrate acquisition, research and outreach programmes in an effort to raise public awareness and to fulfill its role as a community archive. To do this, our primary objective has been to dispel prevailing societal misperceptions of same-sexuality generally and specifically within an African cultural context. Our programmes focus their efforts on generating educational and training materials; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) issues and human rights awareness; advocacy and organisational capacity; and holdings that cross the racial divide. The profile explores aspects of these programmes before concluding with a brief way forward.