Homophobia In Africa Research Articles

Dancing with decolonial praxis: LBQ women and non-binary people’s subcultures in Lusaka, Zambia

ABSTRACT This article explores the subcultures and experiences of LBQ (lesbian, bisexual, and queer) women and non-binary individuals in Lusaka, Zambia, against the backdrop of draconian anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rising homophobia in Africa. Drawing upon decolonial feminist methodology, the study investigates how these marginalised communities navigate hostile environments where their sexual orientation is criminalised and stigmatised by both the state and society. It begins by discussing the intersection of colonialism, religious influence, and cultural contexts in perpetuating discriminatory trends. It delves into the clandestine world of queer parties and activism in Lusaka, examining the everyday practices of decoloniality undertaken. The research methodology employed intellectual decolonisation to engage participants in the co-creation of knowledge and alternative narratives of Zambian citizenship and womanhood. By showcasing the resilience and resistance of LBQ women and non-binary individuals who form supportive networks, the article challenges the dominant construction of Zambia as a nation built on cisgender heteronormative and conservative religious values. It illuminates the vibrant subcultures and community formations that emerge despite legal barriers and patriarchal interpretations of traditional culture. The article contributes to a living archive of queer African experiences and expands the understanding of Zambian identities beyond conventional norms. It underscores the transformative potential of decolonial methodologies in challenging exclusionary notions of nationhood and fostering a more inclusive and diverse society.

An African moral approach against the perverted faculty argument: Ukama, partiality and homophobia in Africa.

In Africa, homosexuality is routinely understood as a form of immoral behaviour. This has great implications for the physical and psychological well-being of homosexuals in Africa. One of the reasons why homosexuals are sometimes understood to be behaving immorally is because it is believed that same-sex relations are unnatural. I think that this conception of unnatural is grounded on the perverted faculty argument, although this is not often expressed in such terms. In this article, I will develop a concept of natural grounded on the concept of Ukama. I will show that despite Ukama implying a functional conception of nature, just like in the perverted faculty argument, it does not imply that homosexuality is immoral.

Before the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Abstract Existing scholarship on the causes of homophobia in contemporary Nigeria and on the relationship between religion and homophobia in Africa tend to dismiss LGBT activism in Nigeria as a movement so small as to be almost nonexistent. We argue, however, that LGBT activism in Nigeria does exist, and that it has a history. And although religion has often been harnessed to serve homophobic policies, LGBT activists have also worked together with religious organizations to offer support to LGBT communities. Drawing on sources from Nigeria and the United States, this article traces the rough outlines of LGBT activism in Nigeria from the 1970s to the present. We explore Nigerian LGBT activists’ experiences over five decades in order to elucidate LGBT organizing in a West African context, paying special attention to the themes of invisibility and visibility, transnational organizing, and religion. The picture that emerges is one of interwoven activist networks that connect Nigerian activists not only to the West but also to activists in other African countries, including Ghana and South Africa. We see this article as a small contribution to the much larger project of writing the history of LGBT activism in Nigeria, a project that can and should be led by those better positioned to access and analyze the documents and memories necessary for this task.

The Power of the “Knowing Women”

The Power of the “Knowing Women”

The Invention of Homophobia in Africa

In this paper, I assert that the criminalization of homosexuality in Africa is a result of a co-construction process which has its roots during the colonial period. I emphasize that during the pre-colonial period, although heterosexuality was the socially recognized and accepted sexual norm as elsewhere in the world, same-sex sexual practices occurred on the continent and were practiced by several communities. Subsequently, even though it is now established that laws criminalizing homosexuality in many countries have their roots in the colonial period, this assertion must be nuanced. First of all, colonizer's sexual policies were not the same throughout the continent, but also even where repressive laws were enforced, homosexuality existed and the colonizer remained silent. Finally, new legal framework are the result of both colonial encounter and contemporary African agency.

Aproximación al estado de la población LGTB Sudafricana en comparación con la española. Similitudes teóricas frente a divergencias prácticas

<p>South Africa and Spain have similar legislation regarding the decriminalisation of homosexuality and equality and access to Human Rights for the LGBT population. But, the real social experience of homosexual people in the two countries is very different. This article explores homophobia in Africa by describing the real social experiences of the LGBT population in South Africa compared with Spain. The so-called Rainbow Nation, despite its progressive constitution which guarantees LGBT human rights and the absence of discrimination, still contains a high level of homophobia, violence against homosexuals, corrective rapes of Lesbians and a high rate of HIV/AIDS among men who have sex with men.</p><p><strong>Published online</strong>: 11 December 2017</p>

Culture Wars, Race, and Sexuality: A Nascent Pan-African LGBT-Affirming Christian Movement and the Future of Christianity

Abstract In order to challenge and decenter monolithic narratives about Christian-inspired homophobia in Africa, this article draws attention to Christian countermobilizations that seek to affirm the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Africa. It focuses on the work of an African American organization, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), to build a Pan-African LGBT-affirming Christian movement. TFAM presents its work as a response to the involvement of American white conservative evangelicals in the spread of homophobia in Africa. Where the latter has been framed as the export of American culture wars, this article discusses TFAM's work as an attempt to counterbalance the culture wars and to define the future of African Christianity in progressive ways. The article proceeds by discussing one of the fruits of TFAM's activities, an LGBT church in Nairobi, Kenya, and concludes by examining the overall significance and potential impact of TFAM's work.

Homosexuality, the holy family and a failed mass wedding in Catholic Northern Uganda

Christian churches have played crucial but diverse roles in public debates over homosexuality in Africa. In contrast to the vocal and explicit homophobia witnessed in many Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches (PCCs), homosexuality has until recently been an overwhelmingly silenced issue in the Acholi region of Northern Uganda, and an almost complete non-issue in the local Catholic Church. This article suggests that while this silence in part relates to the temporal proximity of the Northern Ugandan war, the absence of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) activism in the region, and the hesitance of mainline churches to talk about sex, it is also embedded in what are considered to be customary Acholi understandings of sexuality. Offering an analysis of Acholi Catholic teaching on peace and the family, the article suggests that Catholicism has entrenched heteronormative patriarchy in Acholi society. However, as illustrated by the unpopularity of church weddings, the norms that govern sexuality are negotiated in the dynamic space between religion and what are contemporarily understood as ‘modern’ and ‘customary’ Acholi moral sensibilities. The article emphasizes the need for scholarship on religion and homosexuality to extend beyond PCCs and capital cities, and beyond the most explicit forms of public homophobia in Africa.

When faith does violence: Reimagining engagement between churches and LGBTI groups on homophobia in Africa

‘Homophobia’ is shorthand for stigmatising attitudes and practices towards people who demonstrate sexual diversity. In this article, we reflect on how African Christian faith may become redemptive rather than violent in the context of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex forms of sexuality.

Same-Gender Desire, Religion, and Homophobia: Challenges, Complexities, and Progress for LGBTIQ Liberation in Africa

The articles in this roundtable document the endurance and bravery of lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) Africans as they respond to a rising, public tide of homophobia across the continent. The authors present case studies from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia, focusing respectively on literature, theology, public health, and constitutional law. Together, they also highlight four general features of contemporary life for LGBTIQ Africans. First, homophobia in Africa is a result of both African and international dynamics, including attempts at Christian and Muslim proselytization. Second, LGBTIQ identities and human rights approaches to LGBTIQ liberation compete and coexist with local notions of gendered and sexual identities and their affirmation. Third, homophobia is congruent with the broader dynamics of sexism and nationalism across Africa. Finally, LGBTIQ Africans and their allies have made great strides in improving

A Macro-Level Analysis of the Scope, Causes, and Consequences of Homophobia in Africa

Abstract:Although Africa has gained a reputation as one of the world’s most homophobic areas, there are cross-national differences in the extent and intensity of antigay laws. This article assesses the factors that have been advanced in the literature —albeit unsystematically and often mostly implicitly—to explain the observed patterns of homophobia: conservative religious beliefs, delayed political and economic development and resistance to globalization, political leadership strategies, and the legacy of colonialism. It argues that a more robust analysis suggests that a British colonial past, a large Muslim population, and the absence of economic freedom and openness explain at least one-third of the variance in sodomy laws. This finding has implications for efforts to fight African homophobia.

Homophobic Africa? Toward A More Nuanced View

Abstract:The recent emergence of homosexuality as a central issue in public debate in various parts of Africa has encouraged a stereotypical image of one homophobic Africa, often placed in opposition to a tolerant or depraved West. What is striking is that this image of Africa as homophobic is promoted by both traditionalists who insist that homosexuality is a Western intrusionand bythe Western media that focus on homophobic statements from African political and religious leaders. What both neglect, however, is the existence of internal debate and disagreements among Africans on the subject of homosexuality. In this article we try to counter this image of a homophobic Africa with a more nuanced discussion, including a comparison of different trajectories in the emergence of homosexuality as a public issue in four countries (Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, and South Africa). The comparison highlights considerable variations in the ways in which the issue became politicized. There is a world of difference, for example, between the image of the homosexual asun Grand(a rich and powerful “Big Man”) who imposes anal penetration as a supreme form of subjection (as in Cameroon or Gabon, where homosexuality is associated with witchcraft and other occult forces; compare Achille Mbembe's visionary evocation of a “phallocracy”) and the often quite marginal persons who become victims of gay persecution in other contexts. More insight into the variations of what is loosely and inaccurately called “homophobia” can help connect international pressures for decriminalization and protection to local circumstances. Working through local activists is crucial for the effort to counter homophobia in Africa.

Tswanarising global gayness: the ‘unAfrican’ argument, Western gay media imagery, local responses and gay culture in Botswana

This paper is a strategic intervention in the debate over the value of globalised gay identity for emerging sexual minority communities in the South. Focusing on self-identifying gay men in Botswana using semi-structured interviews, it explores their views of what characterises ‘modern gay culture’ and relates these to international media clichés of a glamorous, stylish, hedonistic gayness. I argue that identifying with what is so visibly a Western image of gayness exposes sexual minority communities to the most dangerous of the justifications for homophobia in Africa, the argument that sexual dissidence is a neo-colonial conspiracy to subvert ‘African values’. The ‘unAfrican’ argument has to be taken very seriously, not only because it taps into the intense, conflicted emotions at the heart of the post-colonial condition, but also because it contains an undeniable germ of truth. This poses a dilemma, since global gay discourses, including the media clichés, are an important source of inspiration for African sexual minorities. A communication activism strategy is proposed to undermine the unAfrican argument by cultivating and asserting the ‘tswanarisation’ of gay culture in Botswana that is already taking place. A similar strategy may also be effective in other African societies.

The irony of homophobia in Africa

The irony of homophobia in Africa