Today talking about one sexuality seems easier compared to 15 years ago. LGBTQ+ people who are openly out don’t hesitate to share their journey, their stories about their coming out moments. This kind of...
LGBT+ Communiy accross the globe celebrated this decision for its protection for LGBT+ community by criminalising homophobic acts.
He, however, made it clear to everyone that his father declaring homosexuality “anti- christian” didn’t change his love to him or to any member of his family.
While countries are moving toward penalizing homophobia and banning conversion therapy, Museveni, the president of Uganda calls homosexuals “deviants”
The question that arises is then; how much do people know about their cultures, traditions and faith as they were before colonialism, so as to truly understand what their culture is (the claim of an “African culture” as not taking into account the diversity of such a big continent)?
In Uganda, where homosexual acts are punishable by prison sentences, being openly gay requires an astounding amount of courage.
Article by Alice McCool published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation* (UK), May 18, 2020 A Ugandan court on Monday ordered the release of 19 LGBT+ people jailed for almost 50 days for risking spreading...
” … if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing”.
The emergence of anti-homosexuality politics in Africa is often explained with reference to religion. Although religion is a major factor in fuelling homophobia in Africa, the Bible and the Christian faith are not only sites of struggle but have also been appropriated by African LGBT activists in support of their cause. Adriaan van Klinken says we need to move beyond a narrow focus on African religious homophobia as religion plays multiple and complex roles in contemporary dynamics of African sexualities.
In this piece I’m not concerned with “African homophobia” as such – although I’d like to pose the question whether homophobia is the most useful term to understand the politics around homosexuality and LGBT rights in contemporary African societies. Neither am I concerned with the reasons why Western media tend to depict “African homophobia” in rather sensationalist ways – although I do wonder whether it has something to do with the deep-rooted perception of Africa as “backward” that allows the West to see itself as “progressive” and “modern”.