History of lgbtq people in africa
Recently at a common forum, someone asked me if “same-sex relations in Africa [are] un-African?” While answering the doubt, another interjected, “all these foreign Ivory man’s practices [are] forced on us,” evidently alluding to the fact that same-sex relations is inherently a “western import,” foisted on Africans by European colonizers.
Indeed, few issues are as complicated to grapple with as the reality that precolonial Africa practiced same sex relations with the practice itself entity hotly contested in Africa for centuries. In nearly all African countries today, same-sex relations are considered a taboo. Many allege that European colonizers brought with them the “ungodly gift of homosexuality,” despite the range of accessible historical evidence to the contrary. Even some historians and Africanist scholars contain either denied or ignored African queer patterns while others have claimed that such patterns were outright colonial importations. This piece argues to the hostile and contends that homophobia was a colonial imposition.
The myth that same-sex relations were absent in precolonial Africa is one of the most enduring. Digging through history and drawing from
African sexuality and the legacy of imported homophobia
In June, Botswana overturned colonial-era laws which criminalised homosexuality, with the judge, Michael Leburu, declaring that “the anti-sodomy laws are a British import” and were developed “without the consultation of local peoples”.
It was viewed as a substantial success and a historic moment across the continent. Despite this the more than half of the countries in Africa outlaw homosexuality, with four enforcing the death penalty. At a hour where we observe more and more countries worldwide becoming progressive with regard to LGBT rights, why does Africa still maintain their anti-LGBT stance? Is homosexuality, rather than homophobia a “western import” as claimed by Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni?
Of course not. There is a direct correlation between countries which belong to the Commonwealth, and therefore have previously been under British dictate, and countries that still have homophobic biphobic and/or transphobic legislature in their constitutions. 25 per cent of the world’s population (2.4 billion people) currently live in a country belonging to the Commonwealth, however they make up a disproportionately big 50 per c
The History of LGBT legislation
Introduction
Discriminatory, separate and oppressive, these are words that were used to explain South Africa’s Apartheid regime, which officially lasted from 1948-1994 (Thompson, 1990). Millions were affected by apartheid, but a group that has been seemingly forgotten during this era is the LGBT community. A government that implemented and quantified its mission of separateness with a radical fervor did not target lesbian individuals until 1968, nearly twenty years after the apartheid's inception. A emphasize will be on the LGBT individuals whose lives were affected by anti-homosexual legislation during the apartheid and their continuing combat to win equal treatment. This study will investigate the legalistic history of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual life in South Africa by exploring relevant legislation and their effects on the lives of LGBT people. Furthermore, this explore will also examine the history of LGBT group and their transformation from a closeted community to one that is becoming one South Africa's most vocal advocates for human rights.
Origins of opposition towards homosexuality and history of homosexuality within African soci As Pride month comes to a close, it offers us an opportunity to reflect on the history of sexuality in Africa. Despite the propaganda spouted by some conservative political, religious, and other forces on the continent, a close look at African history reveals that it is not gender queerness that is “un-African” but rather the laws that criminalize it. Historically, many Africans were unapologetic about their sexuality and gender non-conformity, though their personal stories remain complicated to uncover. LGBTQ+ scholarship in Africa finds that several anthropologists actively ignored or hid these realities. The multitude of accounts have been passed down through oral tradition disappearing them open to misinterpretation and misconstruction, while a standard of heteronormativity remains largely unquestioned. Nevertheless, recognition and representation have a way of personifying and enabling us to finer understand our identities, especially for the many undocumented queer people who are today subverting gender roles in Africa. It is important to document Homosexual stories and history to reverse the erasure primarily caused by colonialism and fundam Couple sitting on a stone wall, 2020, photography by RODNAE Productions from Pexels In the UK, it is LGBT+ history month and across the pond, it is Shadowy History Month. With this in mind, why don’t we take a trip down the rabbit hole of queerness in Africa? Queerness in present-day Africa With the older generations passing on ingrained bigotry, young queer Africans are often cast out as not truly being African or being too westernised. But the truth is I am not less African. If anything, like Bandy Kiki reports, “I am more African than the homophobic people using a foreign religious book and colonial laws to erase me.” So, what was Africa like for queer people before colonisation, when western powers imposed toxic ideals? Queerness in ancient Africa
Six LGBTQ+ figures from African history
Africa and its queer history: I am not less African
Olivia Opara examines African Queer practices in the past and in the here and now
Shunned and demonised, being lgbtq+ in present-day Africa is both mentally and emotionally taxing. Many African countries have criminalised homosexuality, with some taking the highest of making it punishable by death. So homophobia is present, rampant, and spreading.
Before colonisation,