In 1996, GALZ challenged Mugabe’s Harare Book Fair refusal before Zimbabwe’s High Court, which sided with the association. However, this only served to increase the level of intimidation by homophobic students, religious leaders, and Mugabe’s henchmen, and, at the last moment, the country’s Minister of the Interior published a decree once again prohibiting GALZ from participating in the book fair in order “to take care of the Zimbabwean people’s culture’s health.” Ever since, gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe serve regularly as scapegoats for the nation’s myriad frustrations created by its catastrophic economic situation. Police harassment is incessant, taking the form of arbitrary arrests, beatings, and even assassinations. But GALZ’s role was revolutionary, as noted by South African researcher Peter Vale: never before had a minority rights group in the region dared to defy the authority of a national leader. Thus, GALZ cleared the way for other groups demanding progressive change, including unions, churches, and human rights organizations. Meanwhile, the protests against Mugabe have become international in scope: one example is British gay activist Peter Tatchell who, inspired by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s arrest when he landed on British soil, requested the same of the Zimbabwean president while on British soil in October 1999, to no avail; he did the same in 2001 when Mugabe arrived in Brussels, where Tatchell was violently attacked by the president’s bodyguards as a result. Mugabe himself, who is also quite anglophobic, once criticized Tony Blair’s government as being made up, according to him, of “gay gangsters.”
In a twist of fate, Robert Mugabe’s presidential predecessor, Methodist pastor Canaan Banana, was himself caught up in a sensitive morality scandal, accused of having committed, during his presidency (1980–87), numerous homosexual rapes of his collaborators and bodyguards. Banana fled to Botswana, and then to South Africa. Despite Mugabe’s attempts to silence the scandal, Banana was condemned in absentia to one year in prison in 1998; he returned to his country to serve his sentence and was released in 2001. He died in 2003.
Zambia
Conditions for homosexuals are very poor in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia), where the nation’s sodomy law calls for sentences of up to fourteen years in prison. Zambian President Frederick J. T. Chiluba (from 1991 to 2002) was only slightly less homophobic than Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. His Minister of Justice, Vincent Malambo, once publicly stated that “homosexuality is an abomination as much for Africans as it is for Christians.”
Under the progressive influence of South Africa, however, things started to change in Zambia at the end of the 1990s. In July 1998, a young homosexual named Francis Chisambisha came out in an article published in
The Post
, Zambia’s leading newspaper. He stated that his sexual identity in no way betrayed his African heritage. A few weeks later, in September 1998, at the instigation of Zambian gay activist Gershom Musonda, the country’s first gay organization, LEGATRA (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals & Transgender Persons Association), was formed, with the goal of supplying members with psychological support, legal advice, and health information. LEGATRA works closely with Amnesty International, the Zimbabwean association GALZ, and the Zambian rights organization Zambia Independent Monitoring Team (ZIMT), which specializes in monitoring the nation’s elections, and whose courageous president, Alfred Zulu, affirmed that the simple application of Zambia’s existing Constitution could be enough to ensure protection of the gay community. LEGATRA has sought to obtain official recognition from the government, but this has been in vain given that the nation’s anti-sodomy laws are still in effect; according to the government, such recognition would “encourage the crime.” Unfortunately, without this recognition (which would permit legal lobbying), it is unforeseeable that the sodomy law will be repealed.
In 2001, the debates still raged in Zambia between liberals in favor of decriminalizing homosexuality and conservatives who consider that any reform would be damaging to African culture and Christian morality. It should be noted that gay and lesbian activists in Zambia are in a constant state of danger: the president of LEGATRA has been assaulted twice, resulting in permanent damage, at any moment, a homosexual can be arrested for disobeying the law or for conspiring against it. In December 2006, the Zambian government said it will never pass a law to allow gay marriages. Minister of Home Affairs, Ronnie Shikapwasha, indicated that the country must maintain its Christian status and will not allow sinful practices, as homosexual marriages are a sin in the eyes of God.
Namibia
The nation of Namibia, formerly known as South West Africa, was colonized first by the Germans, then placed under British mandate after World War I, but in effect governed by South Africa; it has only known independence since 1990. The country’s new Constitution was liberal and egalitarian, and did not outlaw homosexuality. That being said, many of its leaders have been clearly homophobic, not only referencing Biblical interdicts, but also taking up the notion that homosexuality was imported to the region by colonizers, and is foreign to African tradition. (It is interesting to note that such politicians also stigmatize foreigners present upon Namibian soil.) Around 1995, many of the nation’s cabinet ministers denounced homosexuality as a “non-African scourge on society” and a “mental illness” treatable by hormone therapy. Beginning in 1996, Sam Nujoma, President of Namibia between 1990 and 2005, formally condemned homosexuality on many occasions, accusing gays and lesbians of being agents of European imperialism and of destroying local culture by virtue of their “gayism.” In October 2000, he asked gays and lesbians to leave the country; around the same time, Nujoma’s Minister of the Interior Jerry Ekandjo commissioned a 700-man police unit aimed at “the elimination of gays and lesbians from the surface of Namibia.” Ekandjo also remarked that the Namibian Constitution does not guarantee any rights to homosexuals.
In spite of these very difficult conditions, or because of them, a gay and lesbian movement surfaced in Namibia in 1989, when a group of lesbians founded the Sister Namibia Collective; later, they associated themselves with other gay activists to launch the Rainbow Project in 1997, composed of over 1,000 members. The Rainbow Project was the third gay and lesbian movement in Africa, in addition to those in South Africa and Zimbabwe; in addition, the first Gay Pride celebration in Namibia took place in the capital city of Windhoek in 2000.
Botswana
In Botswana, a state surrounded by South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, male homosexuality has been outlawed since colonial times; deemed “carnal relations against nature,” such crimes are punishable by up to two years of imprisonment. Homophobia among the political establishment is also rampant, as evidenced by the criminalization of lesbianism in a broadening of sodomy laws in June of 1998.
In January of 1999, the Botswana Christian Council called for the repeal of laws on homosexuality. Reverend Rupert Hambira based the decision on evangelical charity (“We must not judge others; we must leave judgment to God”) and noted that homophobic laws cannot be based on the Bible, as it is “full of human errors and subjective opinions” and was used by the Boers to justify apartheid. Hambira was supported by the head of the University of Botswana’s sociology department, Dr Mulingi, who, while personally disapproving of homosexuality, refuted the homophobic argument pertaining to its non-African character: on the contrary, he argued, homosexual relations were common in Central Africa before colonization. These affirmations provoked violently hostile reactions from University of Botswana students, whose leader, Biti Butale, decried: “We are horrified by homosexuality and other fads of Western philanthropists.”
A gay and lesbian movement, LeGaBiBo (Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals of Botswana), appeared at the end of the 1990s, developed under the protection of a very active human rights organization named Ditshwanelo, which in 2000 received the Felipa de Souza Award for its actions in support of homosexuals. In 1996 and in 2001, encouraged by South Africa’s progressive achievements, a gay activist named Utjijwa Kanani, with the support of renowned British human rights lawyer Peter Duffy, contested the homophobic articles of the Botswanan penal code before the High Court, believing that they contradicted the fundamental values of the nation’s Constitution.
Mozambique
Like Angola, another former Portuguese colony, Mozambique considers homosexuality to be a behavior prejudicial to public morality. Articles 70 and 71 of the Mozambiquan penal code criminalize male homosexuality; they stipulate that homosexual acts are punishable by three years of imprisonment in a re-education center, where inmates are subject to forced labor. However, there is reason for optimism; as of November 2007, a new gay rights movement has begun in the form of a gay organization (albeit unregistered), and politicians have not ruled out pro-gay legal reforms in the future.
—
Pierre Albertini
Clark, Bev. “Zimbabwe.” In
Lesbian Histories & Cultures
. New York/London: Garland, 2000.
Delaney, Joyce, and Catherine McKinley, eds.
Afrekete: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Writing
. New York: Anchor Books, 1995.
De Vos, Pierre. “Une nation aux couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel? Egalité et préférences: la Constitution de l’Afrique du Sud.” In
Homosexualités et droit
. By Daniel Borrillo. Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1998.
Dunton, Chris.
Human Rights and Homosexuality in Southern Africa
. Uppsala, Sweden: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 1996.
Epprecht, Marc. “Good God Almighty, What’s This!: Homosexual ‘Crime’ in Early Colonial Zimbabwe.” In
Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities
. Edited by Steven O. Murray and Will Roscoe. London: Macmillan Press, 1998.
Gevisser, Mark, and Edwin Cameron, eds.
Defiant Desire: Gay & Lesbian Lives in South Africa
. Johannesburg: Ravan, 1994.
Hyam, Ronald.
Empire and Sexuality: The British Experience
. Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1990.
Isaacs, Gordon, and Brian McKendrick.
Male Homosexuality in South Africa: Identity Formation, Culture and Crisis
. Cape Town: Oxford Univ. Press, 1992.
Murray Steven O., and Will Roscoe, eds.
Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities
. London: Macmillan Press, 1998.
Zwicker, Heather. “Zimbabwe.” In
Gay Histories & Cultures
. Edited by George E. Haggerty. New York/London: Garland, 2000.
—Africa, Central & Eastern; Africa, Western; Anthropology; Rhetoric; Violence.
AFRICA, WESTERN
The region commonly referred to as West Africa comprises numerous countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, the Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo; Cameroon might also be added to this list, given its history and diverse ethnic groups (Fulani, Hausa, etc.) are largely tied to this region.
Currently, each country in this region has tended toward political pluralism, which has allowed a certain degree of democratic functioning. In Ghana, Mali, and Senegal, the changeover of political power between parties has been relatively satisfactory; however, other countries such as the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, and Nigeria have experienced political instability in this regard. Generally, citizens in these countries have demanded constitutional reforms that would allow for greater democracy; however, the revision of legal texts and political policy necessary for such change are not to be found on many ruling governments’ agendas. In such unfavorable conditions, debate on individual liberties, let alone the
decriminalization
and recognition of homosexuality, is not possible.
Thus, in Ghana, as in Nigeria, Togo, and Mali, homosexuality is illegal. In Cameroon, Article 347 of its penal code condemns all “acts that are immodest or
against nature
with an individual of one’s gender”; those convicted of the crime face six months to five years’ imprisonment and a fine ranging from the equivalent of $40 to $400 US (if the person involved is between 16 and 21 years old, the penalties doubles). In Senegal, the penal code is as severe; Article 319 prescribes from one to five years’ imprisonment and a fine between the equivalent of $200 and $300 US. In Burkina Faso, where homosexuality is also punishable, the legal system takes advantage of the vague definition of “public indecency” to prosecute homosexuals, a phenomenon which also occurs in Senegal and Cameroon. While all countries in West Africa recognize the right of individuals to a “satisfying sexuality,” few could have foreseen its consequences with regard to homosexuals.
In West Africa, religion constitutes an important point of reference with regard to identity. Certain countries still strongly abide by old traditional religions, almost all of which are organized around the worship of ancestors, such as the Ivory Coast (65% Animist, 12% Christian, 23% Muslim), Benin (70% Animist, 15% Christian, 15% Muslim), and Guinea-Bissau (56% Animist, 5% Christian, 30% Muslim). Others are more apt to follow
Islam
, such as Mali (90% Muslim), Guinea (85% Muslim), and Niger (90% Muslim). Ghana, on the other hand, is mainly Christian (63%, with 21% Animist and 16% Muslim). In general, religious cohabitation is harmonious. In West Africa,
Christianity
arrived with colonization, whereas Islam, present in the region longer, arrived not by way of conquest, but rather more diffusely through intertribal exchange, a fact which has not led to the phenomenon of Arabization. This cohabitation has incited very little religious proselytism in the region, except in Nigeria (10% Animist, 40% Christian, and 50% Muslim), where proselytism is an ancient tradition and which, in the nineteenth century, inspired a call to jihad which led to the formation of the Fulani Empire of Sokoto (which encompassed the territories situated today in Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger). More recently, the establishment of
sharia
(Islamic religious law) in certain states in Nigeria has brought about a cycle of violence between Christians and Muslims, and has resulted in death penalties imposed upon women accused of adultery.