While the concept of sexualities in Africa remains a debated concept, one thing is certain. The perspectives of sexualities have evolved over the years. Professor Charles Ngwena depicts most African cultures as heteronormative and unforgiving to sexual performance in other directions.[1]
While the concept of sexualities in Africa remains a debated concept, one thing is certain. The perspectives of sexualities have evolved over the years. Professor Charles Ngwena depicts most African cultures as heteronormative and unforgiving to sexual performance in other directions.[1] Professor John Ambani, on the other hand, is of the view that African cultures have been accommodative to different sexualities since the pre-colonial period, such as homosexuality where the instances suited the cultural practices.[2] Some African cultures recognised same sex marriages where the woman could not bear children, because reproduction was a key aspect of marriage.[3] This view was changed by the colonisation which brought with it various aspects like religion, that saw the introduction of laws criminalising homosexuality.[4] The new perspective saw the continuity of these laws even after the attainment of independence of various African countries. The Kenyan Penal Code, for example, criminalises unnatural offences, which includes homosexuality therein termed as carnal knowledge with another person against the order of nature.[5] Uganda had also passed a bill in 2014 criminalising homosexuality and attaching a death sentence to it, although it was later declared null.[6]
As dynamic as society is, however, the view of the various sexualities currently continues to change. Needless to say, globalisation has played a key role in this. Globalisation is the interconnection of the world and the escalation of its consciousness as a whole to the ongoing issues.[7] It can affect countries socially, politically as well as economically. In Africa, sexualities are a cultural aspect that has been influenced by globalisation through the media, international organisations, intergovernmental interactions as well as policies made by said international bodies. To illustrate the effects globalisation has had on sexuality in Africa, an overview of the historical view and the role globalisation has played in the changing perspectives shall be done below.
Historical Context.
Kabaka Mwanga’s bisexuality in his reign in the 18th Century is one evidence of the practice of sexuality beyond the heteronormative way.[8] He would make sexual demands to his male servants and get very furious when they would not comply.[9] The killing of the Ugandan martyrs was his response to their refusal when they cited their Christian beliefs. In South Africa as well, male miners would have sexual interactions with fellow men in the mines, and young men would be married off to older men who required them to perform wifely duties.[10] These actions were well known to the society members and the state at large. Further, some cultures, like the Igbo of Nigeria and Nuar of Sudan, even incorporated the belief system that gender and sexuality were separate, and females could be regarded as males and take up the roles of husbands.[11] This was also common in the Kenyan Nandi community.[12] It was seen as a cure to barrenness, where married women who were infertile could marry fellow women to bear children for their families.[13]
More examples on African accommodation to homosexuality can be drawn from Malawi, where, like the case in South Africa, boys would engage in shared masturbation in mines. Same sex relations between men would also take place between Malawi and Mozambique nationals who worked in Zimbabwe mines, and they would have a practice of using semen produced in these acts as a protective medicine culturally known as ‘muthi’.[14] The cultural consideration of ‘muthi’ as a magical medicine shows the regard held towards homosexuality. The practice was found to be effective in giving one good luck, from which we can infer a degree of acceptance of homosexuality in the communities.
The various situations in African communities discussed are adduced to show that homosexuality has always existed in Africa. However, colonisation had its impacts on the approach that Africans have toward sexuality. It brought about Christianity which stands for heterosexual relations and condemns other practices as immoral. The Uganda martyrs are an example of this, as their refusal to yield to Kabaka Mwanga’s demands was based on their Christian faith. Further, colonisation brought about the enactment of laws criminalising homosexuality that stuck with African communities since independence. This impact contributes to the notion that homosexuality is unfarcical, considering that the African cultures were also impacted. Homosexuality is now considered as a western trait that is contributing to the erosion of African culture.[15]
Globalisation and a new changed perspective.
The 21st Century has seen the evolution of a fight for the rights of homosexuals and the formation of various unions in this course. The topic was more dominant in the western world at first, but has gradually penetrated into African states. The media, mainstream or digital, has had a role to play in this.[16] It is a part of society, as it makes a representation of who people are, what our cultures are and everything else going on in the world.[17] It educates, inspires and gives a voice to the marginalised.[18] Saheed argues that this media is dominated by western patterns, which have had their share of influence on traditional and cultural African beliefs regarding sexuality to a point of eroding them.[19] The said beliefs are of course heteronormativity, which would be challenged by the amount of evidence adduced above. Suffice to say, the influence of the media is only contributing to the resurfacing of the once accepted nature of expressing sexuality. The influence of the media is seen in various ways, an example being through the internet. It contains various websites, blogs and other online platforms where people interact with each other. Through the media, sexual information, formation of identities and the advocacy for rights relating to sexual orientations takes place.[20]
Homosexuality has been represented in the media since 1970, in a manner that was either supportive or neutral, while maintaining a level of compliance to the viewer's perception.[21] However, in the recent past, streaming platforms like Netflix have shown a tendency to make a higher representation of members of the LGBTQI+ community. Netflix, in a bid to achieve their liberal-progressive objectives, have included a high number of characters belonging to this community.[22] They reflect the challenges this minority group goes through, including discrimination. Africa is definitely not alienated from the media and such platforms. The young generation, who spend most of their time on online platforms are exposed to this and are influenced. Some who even hid their homosexuality are granted a voice to seek their civil rights, as they see others do in the other parts of the world.
The global advocacy for sexual and civil rights has also influenced Africa’s perspective on sexuality. There are over 20 international groups that advocate for the rights of the LGBTQI+ persons, including Amnesty International, Anonymous, Equal Rights Trust, International Lesbian and Gay Association among others. They seek to secure the rights of the members of this community and ensure their welfare.[23] The Human Dignity Trust for example, have published an article on the criminalisation of homosexuality in various states and how it is degrading to people’s human nature.[24] Amnesty International also has a published article providing a toolkit to help in the advocacy of LGBTQI+ rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.[25] The body actively campaigns for LGBTQI+ rights among others.
International bodies such as the UN have also adopted resolutions in promoting the rights of and a safe environment for all individuals despite their sexual orientation.[26] The UN has incorporated various entities within itself like the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to include issues of sexual orientation into their work.[27] The African Commission on Human and Peoples rights also acknowledged sexual minority groups and the presence of discriminative situations in various countries and condemned the violence on members of this group, urging promotion of equal rights including sexual rights.[28]
Most African countries are parties to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which the commission inferred in making the resolution, based on Articles 2-5.[29] It also condemned Nigeria for enacting a law prohibiting same sex marriages, citing that it could cause violence against the sexual minorities group.[30] Earlier, the commission had also interpreted the non-discrimination principle of the African Charter to also include rights from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[31] Globalisation has also seen the diffusion of the human rights standards upheld internationally into African legal perspectives. Kenya’s supreme court in 2022 gave a significance to Article 27 of the Constitution of Kenya, to include sexual orientation as within the boundaries of the meaning of the word sex in stating the grounds for discrimination.[32]
However, an issue centering around sexual minority rights still exists in Africa. The Coalition of African Lesbians’ (CAL) requested for observer status from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, was granted the same in 2015 after previous denial in 2010, then the AU instructed the commission to retract the observer status granted.[33] While denying the observer status in 2010, the commission had cited that the objectives of the coalition, which included protection of sexual minority rights, were against the African Charter and the African Union Constitutive Act.[34]
Conclusion.
African sexuality discourse has been dynamic, influenced by colonial legacies, historical circumstances, and, more recently, globalisation. Despite the fact that African societies had varied and frequently accepting views on sexuality, colonisation enforced strict heteronormative systems that are still present in many contemporary legal and social contexts. Homosexuality is now viewed as unAfrican by some. Globalisation, however, has been essential in dispelling these myths and promoting a more accepting attitude toward sexual variety through the media, international activism, and legal actions. However, legal and cultural impediments still exist in many African countries, indicating that resistance persists despite these advancements. Africa is at a crossroads as international discussions on equality and human rights continue to develop: should it preserve the many pre-colonial traditions of inclusivity or stick to colonial-influenced, limited viewpoints? The prospects for sexual minorities in Africa will largely depend on continued advocacy, education, and a re-examination of African cultural heritage through a decolonised lens.
[1] Charles Ngwena, What is Africanness? Contesting nativism in race, culture and sexualities, Pretoria University Law Press, 2018, 237.
[2] J Ambani, ‘Between marriage and punishment; A triple heritage of regulating homosexuality in Africa’ in Uwe Kischel (ed) Equality as a Cultural Phenomenon Volume 7 (2020) 32.
[3] J Ambani, ‘Between marriage and punishment; A triple heritage of regulating homosexuality in Africa’ 29.
[4] J Ambani, ‘Between marriage and punishment; A triple heritage of regulating homosexuality in Africa’ 34.
[5] Penal Code (Cap 63 of 1930), Section 162.
[6] Gyaviira Kisitu, Religion and homosexuality Criminalization in Uganda: The Contribution of the American anti-homosexual evangelicals towards the 2014 Anti-homosexuality law, Doctorate Thesis, University of Kwazulu- Natal, 2018, viii.
[7] Roland Robertson, Globalisation: Social theory and global culture, 1992, 1.
[8] J Ambani, ‘Between marriage and punishment; A triple heritage of regulating homosexuality in Africa’ 30.
[9] Thabo Msibi, ‘The lies we have been told: On (homo) sexuality in Africa’ 58(1) Africa Today (2011) 66.
[10] Msibi, ‘The lies we have been told: On (homo) sexuality in Africa’ 65.
[11] Msibi, ‘The lies we have been told: On (homo) sexuality in Africa’ 65.
[12] Msibi, ‘The lies we have been told: On (homo) sexuality in Africa’ 66.
[13] Lagat Daniel K, ‘Effects of Religious Dissociation on Evangelization and Discipleship of Women in Woman Woman Marriage among the Nandi people of Kenya’ 4(1) African Multidisciplinary Journal of Research (2019) 159.
[14] Msibi, ‘The lies we have been told: On (homo) sexuality in Africa’ 67.
[15] Rahman Olanrewaju Saheed, ‘Globalisation and the emerging sexual trends in Africa’ 4(1) ABUAD Journal of Social and Management Sciences (2023) 76.
[16]Saheed, ‘Globalisation and the emerging sexual trends in Africa’ 79.
[17] Karrar Muhammad Jebur Al-Husseini, The representation of homosexuality in Netflix shows: A critical discourse analysis, Unpublished LLM Dissertation, University of Karbala, 2022, 41.
[18] Al-Husseini, The representation of homosexuality in Netflix shows: A critical discourse analysis, 41.
[19] Saheed, ‘Globalisation and the emerging sexual trends in Africa’ 79.
[20] Gilbert Herdt and Cymene Howe, 21st Century Sexualities, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2007, 6.
[21] Al-Husseini, The representation of homosexuality in Netflix shows: A critical discourse analysis, 57.
[22]Al-Husseini, The representation of homosexuality in Netflix shows: A critical discourse analysis, 48.
[23] Movement Adjustment Project, International LGBT advocacy organizations and programs, An Overview, Movement Adjustment Project, 2008, 5.
[24] Human Dignity Trust, Criminalising homosexuality and International Human Rights Law, Human Dignity Trust, 2015, 4.
[25] Amnesty International, Speaking out; Advocacy experience and tools of LGBTI activists in Sub-Saharan Africa, Amnesty International Limited, 2014, 7.
[26] Human Rights Council, Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, 17 November 2011, A/HRC/19/41, 1.
[27] Human Rights Council, Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, 17 November 2011, A/HRC/19/41, 3.
[28] African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, Resolution on Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, 2014, ACHPR/Res.275(LV)2014, Article 1-4.
[29] African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, Resolution on Protection against Violence and other Human Rights Violations against Persons on the basis of their real or imputed Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, 2014, ACHPR/Res.275(LV)2014, para 1-3.
[30] J Osogo Ambani, ‘The sexual minority rights conundrum in Africa: Contextualising the debate following the Coalition of African Lesbians’ application for observer status before the African Commission’ 2(1) Strathmore law journal (2016) 186.
[31] Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v Zimbabwe, ACmHPR Comm. 245/02, 21 Activity Report, para
[32] NGOs Coordination Board v EG & 4 others; Katiba Institute (Amicus Curiae) (Petition 16 of 2019) [2023] KESC 17 (KLR) (Constitutional and Human Rights) (24 February 2023) (Judgment) (with dissent - MK Ibrahim & W Ouko, SCJJ)14 para 79.
[33] J Osogo Ambani, ‘The sexual minority rights conundrum in Africa: Contextualising the debate following the Coalition of African Lesbians’ application for observer status before the African Commission’ 187.
[34] J Osogo Ambani, ‘The sexual minority rights conundrum in Africa: Contextualising the debate following the Coalition of African Lesbians’ application for observer status before the African Commission’ 187.
