Homophobia in Africa and the Culture of Secrecy

Abstract

The argument that tends to make homophobic some Africans’ resistance to same-sex practices is debatable. The paper aims to engage a discussion on same-sex practices and the cultural framework of secrecy with a critique of the Western organizations, governments, and activists' tendency to present the fight for LGBTQ+ from their only social and political views. While literature, research, laws, and instances of violence suggest that some Africans hold homophobic attitudes, this paper argues that not all Africans share these views. On one hand, there are individuals and cultural groups that inflict harm out of hatred, which contributes to the stereotype that Africans as a whole are homophobic. On the other hand, many individuals may hide their true feelings about homosexuality. This concealment can occur either because they want to mask their own homophobia—often justified in the name of culture—or not because same-sex practices have historically been regulated through traditions and rituals shrouded in secrecy. This literature-based research affirms that in some African communities and cultures, same-sex relationships did not constitute an ordinary and public sexuality within marriage. The displayed and known practice of sexuality has been traditionally and publicly binary while bonding gender and sex. Despite this conservative approach to sexuality, Western people, governments, and civil society organizations advocate for Africans to follow their lead in homosexuality their colonial and religious ideologies had dismissed. The anthropological perspective presented in this paper suggests that framing cultural resistance to homosexuality within the context of secrecy may help explain cultural evolution regarding sexuality in certain African communities.