The idea that queerphobia was a colonial import to the African continent has gained credence and popularity in recent years. Simultaneously, however, the notion that queerness itself is an ‘un-African’ Western concept has seen the continent devolve into one of the most hostile regions in which to be queer. Amidst this narrative confusion, what does history tell us?
According to Lukhanyo Ngamlana, a fourth year law student at Stellenbosch University (SU) and speaker of Student Parliament, many of the laws that criminalise homosexuality in African countries today are remnants of colonially-imposed legislature. ILLUSTRATION: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
Former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, repeatedly denounced queerness as ‘un-African’ and a ‘white disease’ during his tenure. In stark contrast to this, the idea that queerphobia was a colonial import to Africa has become more prominent in recent years.
This was according to Grace Mngadi, third year law student at Stellenbosch University (SU) and chairperson of SU’s debating union. “More of us are becoming more vocal about it [and the] media makes these things more popular,” she observes.
Lukhanyo Ngamlana, a fourth year law student at SU and speaker of Student Parliament, corroborates Mngadi’s observation of this rhetorical shift.
“I attribute that largely to Africa and African studies being given their proper place in our historical analysis,” says Ngamlana. “And with that, decolonising our history as an African continent.”
For others, however, the view that queerphobia was a colonial import, should be navigated with caution. Such is the stance of Dr Marc Epprecht, award-winning historian and professor at Queen’s University, in Ontario, Canada, who feels tentative about the rhetorical trajectory of this specific topic.
“When I hear people say that I get a little bit nervous, because the implication is somehow there was a queer paradise before, and people were free to do everything,” says Epprecht. “It was by no means a queer paradise.”
“There were ways that people could gender-bend and be outside of the heteronormative framework, but the heteronormative framework was very, very strong [in precolonial times],” says Dr Marc Epprecht, award-winning historian and professor at Queen’s University, in Ontario, Canada. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
Queerness as old as Africa herself?
In his article The Invention of Homophobia in Africa, Boris Bertolt, a researcher at the University of Kent, in the United Kingdom, explains that the problem with discourses surrounding pre-colonial African queerness is the hegemonic treatment of the continent as a cultural monolith.
“Since the pre-colonial period, same-sex sexual practices have not been foreign to African societies,” writes Bertolt.
Epprecht tells MatieMedia of the “relatively relaxed attitudes among the Igbo toward sexual difference in the early twentieth century”. For Epprecht, this history contradicts the Nigeria of today, from where the Igbo people originate.
Similarly, Yoruba and Dagaaba tribes seemed to practice a more relaxed approach to sexual orientation and gender expression, according to Ngamlana.
“There were pretty rigid expectations of what a boy should do to become a man, what defines a man, and what a woman needs to do to become a woman, and that is to give birth in most cases,” explains Epprecht. “But then there were all kinds of pragmatic ways to accommodate that ideal with the reality that not everyone could meet that expectation.”
Some of these pragmatic precolonial loopholes included the provision that widows could marry women if they had the cattle, property and wealth to do so, with the expectation that these wives would give them children. Another example that Epprecht cites is the provision that sangomas, spiritual leaders with a connection to the ancestors, could have sex with people of the same gender if an ancestor occupied their bodies and compelled them to do so.
“So that [queerness] was there. It wasn’t judged harshly the way that the Christian missionaries and scientific homophobia would expect,” says Epprecht. “That’s different from saying it was a free society where people could choose their own sexual partners. That’s taking it too far.” PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
According to Dr Iain Edwards, a renowned historian and independent researcher, linguistics is a key indicator of not only precolonial queerness, but tolerance. Edwards, who has a PhD from the University of Natal, explains to MatieMedia that keywords, such as ongingqili, ionkonkoni and izitabane, are indicative of a same-sex precolonial linguistic tradition.
“If isiZulu had such words, indicating a philosophical understanding of observed behavioural differences from heteronorms, then how can iziZulu be alone, as [it] is but one within a larger language set?” asks Edwards.
Epprecht expands upon Edwards’s insights, suggesting that much of this vocabulary was not explicit in naming differences of gender and sexuality, but rather implicit.
“It’s important to stress, too, that in African pre-colonial cultures, generally speaking from what I’ve seen, discretion [and] euphemism [are] very much a part of the code of honour that governs the society,” remarks Epprecht.
Both Edwards and Epprecht confirm that, while not universal across the continent, evidence exists to suggest that through colonialism, many queerphobic tendencies on the continent today were religiously imposed.
According to Dr Iain Edwards, a renowned historian and independent researcher, a premodern queer vocabulary has existed in languages such as isiZulu. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi
Queerphobia as colonial chains
“Queerphobia is a remnant of colonial rule. Through colonial rule we saw the introduction of penal codes to outlaw gay sex [across the continent],” explains Ngamlana.
For Epprecht, if queerphobia was not a colonial novelty, it was certainly exacerbated by “evangelical Christianity” and the “structural adjustment” programmes that followed. “Feminist, queer, and post-colonial discourses that do not radically challenge such constructions are hence colonizing in their effects,” he says.
If the historical imperative for progress is somewhat unsound, or simply not enough to inspire real change, does this doom the queer project for egalitarianism in Africa altogether? According to Epprecht, the reasons and mechanisms for queer rights in Africa do not end with history.
“When you discriminate against a whole swathe of the population, and you create mental health problems and dysfunctional behaviour in the age of HIV and other diseases, you’re creating a much bigger problem,” remarks Epprecht, invoking a utilitarian argument for the financial cost of queerphobia in Africa.
While Epprecht admits that this argument lacks a moral core, he suggests that tangible efficacy is now more important. “It moves people when they see dollars and cents attached to this kind of stuff, and then they start to get to a place where they will listen better to the human rights argument.”
For Ngamlana, the human rights angle is no less important to the plight of queer Africans.
“It’s heartbreaking to have been [a] witness to the queer erasure on this continent,” says Ngamlana. “I hope this deliberate centering brings about a shift and decriminalisation of homosexual practices across the constituent for my fellow queers across the continent.”
Stellenbosch University students (pictured above) at a queer pride walk held during Pride Month in 2021. PHOTO: Giuseppe Rajkumar Guerandi