OPINION
Homophobia: Africa's new Apartheid
Both African and western governments are using gay
rights as a political tool.
01 Feb 2014 20:05 GMT | Africa, US & Canada,
Cameroon, Liberia, Niger
Accused of being gay, two men in green prison
uniforms face trial in Nigeria [AFP]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Azad Essa
Azad Essa is a journalist at Al Jazeera,
covering Sub-Saharan Africa.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
In his inauguration speech in
August 2013, President Robert
Mugabe was especially
derisive of the gay
community. He urged young
Zimbabweans to shun
homosexuality as an
abomination of humankind
"that destroys nations, apart
from it being a filthy, filthy
disease". That speech marked
the conclusion of the
presidential election
campaign that hinged almost
entirely on economic
empowerment but relied as
well on a healthy dose of
homophobia. Mugabe
effectively used existing public
disdain for homosexuality as
a means to delegitimise the
political opposition - with its
liberal economics and politics
- as part of the evidence that it
was merely a puppet of the
West.
I had travelled to Zimbabwe to
cover what was meant to be a
landmark election. The
homophobic sentiment that
seemed to
In August 2013, in his seventh inauguration speech,
President Robert Mugabe was particularly derisive of
the gay community. He urged young Zimbabweans to
shun homosexuality as an abomination of
humankind "that destroys nations, apart from it
being a filthy, filthy disease". That speech marked the
conclusion of a presidential election campaign that
hinged almost entirely on economic empowerment,
but relied on an unhealthy dose of homophobia.
Mugabe effectively used existing public disdain for
homosexuality as a means to delegitimise the
political opposition - with its liberal economics and
politics - as part of the evidence that it was merely a
puppet of the West.
I had travelled to Zimbabwe to cover what was
meant to be a landmark election. The homophobic
sentiment that seemed to underpin Mugabe's
campaign was unsettling. It was also, at that time,
inexplicable to me. On further reflection however, a
country where two thirds of the population live in
rural areas, with a world view that revolves around
land, livelihood and church, Mugabe's move to
highlight homosexuality was a stroke of political
genius.
But Mugabe is certainly not alone in abusing the gay
community for political gain. In January 2014,
Nigeria signed a law that will punish anyone who
promotes gay rights with a 10-year prison sentence.
Elections are due there in the next 18 months...
coincidence?
In Cameroon, gay people are often sentenced to
prison for merely indulging in sex. In Liberia, a
religious gathering has been collecting signatures
pushing the government to sign a law banning same-
sex marriage. In South Africa, the past five years
have seen the rise of hate-crimes against gay people,
including a phenomenon known as "corrective rape"
- rape committed with a view to alter the victim's
sexual orientation. For many, the apparent surge in
anti-gay sentiment is only a response to the pressure
being put on African governments by western
governments, to, ironically, "act a certain way".
A distraction?
Even as economies continue to grow and middle
classes emerge, rampant inequality burns holes in
the aspirations of the continent. Where then does
this leave the gay community? They've merely
become a red herring, a distraction, to divert
attention from the failing democratic culture among
so many weak democracies across the continent.
In truth, there is little demonstrable regard or
patience for African homosexuals among wide
swathes of the continent's society. But plainly
speaking, the issue of gay rights is not at the top of
most African governments' agendas. Why should it
be? In so many countries on the continent, human
rights of the barest minimum - water, sanitation,
electricity - barely exist. Prioritising the rights of
gay people is almost unthinkable. In fact, the
pressure to do so from the outside has even forced
some to invent notions of homosexuality as an
imported, western concept, ie: "un-African". Of
course, gay Africans will dispute this, pointing out
that history illustrates that this tribe here, and that
people there, had established practices of
homosexuality.
So to suggest that Africa has no place for
homosexuals is to imagine the continent's history as
beginning when prude missionaries brought Bibles,
long skirts and umbrellas as a marker of civilisation.
Struggling with the colonial past
The construction of sin and categorical notions of
sexuality over the past four centuries on the
continent are inextricably linked to colonialism, the
Church and the ambitions of the state. And
"independence" from the colonial powers, as it
came, was a shame, for it often did little to inspire
independent thought. If anything, the struggle for
gay rights in so many African countries today tells us
about a continent still battling the demons of
colonialism, a continent that is still in the process of
negotiating an identity - as articulated, again,
through the lens of the colonial master. Among the
greatest challenges many African democracies face
today are the continued existence of one-party states
and the lack of strong civil institutions.
And, in this vacuum, the Church is the most
established institution outside the hallowed halls of
party and state. Politicians know too well that
decriminalising homosexual relationships at this
point would only alienate them from the most
dependable institution: religion. This is, of course,
precisely the polar opposite of recent developments
in the United States and the European Union. In
those lands, once paved with gold and a love for all
things good and equal, it is no longer "proper" to
isolate or discriminate against any minority, despite
what you might feel deep inside.
In the West, the erosion of the Church as the centre
of the moral universe and its replacement with a
cauldron of secular, civil institutions at the heart of
public debate and influence means that there is
always a shifting politic. And so, whereas African
politicians might openly use hate-speech to garner
votes, western politicians, or at least those who don't
obviously veer to the extreme right, must pretend
with equal measure to love all. Both approaches are
a means to an end - wielding power.
The recent emphasis on rising homophobia in Africa
is disingenuous. It is a bargaining chip in order to
hold countries to ransom. Homosexuality remains
illegal in almost two-thirds of the 55 countries on the
African continent. But targeting the trend of hostility
towards gay rights in Africa is hypocritical. Even the
US does not embrace gay rights universally; laws
dealing with the full protection of homosexuals still
vary from state to state.
Like most issues on the continent, even where anti-
gay laws exist, enforcement varies from one country
to the next. Actions are determined by the mood
swings of agencies, legislators and leaders. The fact
is, protective laws themselves will not change the
lived experience of gays in most of these countries,
not in their current state, at least.
The case of South Africa
Take South Africa, for example, where progressive
laws are the envy of the civilised world - but the lived
experience of the poor and the marginalised,
including those gay people not living in a boutique
studio in downtown Cape Town, suggest that,
without adequate social transformation, there is little
assurance that these laws will be respected.
Homosexuality has been legally protected in the
country since 1996 while same-sex marriage has
been legal since 2006. Yet, the disturbing notions of
African masculinity, mixed with the myth of what it
means to be "African" overrides the constitutional
rights of gay people. In the face of
disenfranchisement, there is a selective abstraction
in how the gay community fits into the larger
paradigm that is post-Apartheid South Africa.
Between the pomp, glory and loss of Nelson
Mandela's memorial service in December 2013,
many South Africans spoke of Mandela's "mistake of
allowing abortion and gay rights" to consolidate
under the umbrella of human rights during his term
in office, as if any community could remain second-
class citizens after the struggle against Apartheid.
Mandela's enthusiasm for reconciliation, his
insistence that no minority suffer in a new South
Africa, meant that he had to transcend his own
biases to offer protection to a community that
appeared otherwise destined to remain repressed.
He understood, then, even before the western world
did, that when it came down to dignity, there could
be no such thing as first world laws. Mandela
appears to have been rather alone in that
understanding, and therein lies the quandary of
visionless African leadership. Whereas most African
countries have outlawed same-sex relationships as
part of old colonial "public order" acts that have
never been changed, the move to specifically target
homosexuals, the way Nigeria and Uganda have
done, effectively legitimises homophobia. And in so
doing, it washes away our actual history, and creates
a new one for us, just as colonialism bid us to do.
Source:www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/homophobia-africa-new-apartheid-20142194711993773.html

Personally, I don't have problem against except they try it with me or people close to me. I think they should be allowed to interact and live freely with people provided they aren't turning into a menace. Though some of them are spiritual while others are out of habit. And I don't think anyone is born gay just like nobody is born a racist.

brainpower:
Personally, I don't have problem against except they try it with me or people close to me. I think they should be allowed to interact and live freely with people provided they aren't turning into a menace. Though some of them are spiritual while others are out of habit. And I don't think anyone is born gay just like nobody is born a racist.

those people need to be in rehabs..

Children starving. Women suffering. Men dieing.But we should care about boys hugging boys?? White people.