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Blogging Africa
Homophobia is the problem, not homosexuality
Sokari Ekine
2010-02-25, Issue 471
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/62543
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Following the hate campaign against LGBTIQ people in Uganda and Malawi, last week three men in Kenya were attacked by a group of youths.
HIV in Kenya’s post ’Homophobia is the problem, not Homosexuality’ comments on the growing homophobia in Kenya. He asks why are people in Kenya and Uganda are so obsessed with homosexuality and targeting ‘a defenceless individual or group of individuals?’ when the criminals they should be objecting too are the corrupt members of the ‘powerful and wealthy’ and questioning where this homophobia comes from:
‘What these Kenyan and Ugandan politicians should really be asking about is where the homophobia was imported from. Homosexuality exists in every country and always has, as far as anyone knows. You can't “import” it. But homophobia is actively encouraged by religious groups, especially extreme right-wing Christians. Several prominent American Christians and Christian groups are said to have been backing Bahati and people like him. No doubt they will support anyone who promotes their bigotry. Homophobia is the curse that Kenyans and Ugandans should be worried about, not homosexuality.’
Last week demonstrators marched through Kampala with placards calling for the killing of gays. This week, two Ugandan radio stations amplified the call by broadcasting the same message. Black Looks’ post ’Urgency is required in Uganda’ traces the growing homophobia and hate campaign in Uganda over the past four years and culminating in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
‘The point of the above trajectory is not to say that the radio broadcasts were inevitable – I don’t think they were. But it is to place the calls to kill LGBTI people in a historical context, one that with hindsight could lead in that direction. But more so to state that we need to heed the warnings and put an end to the relative silence before people are murdered. Despite the considerable high profile the Bill has received in the mainstream media and blogosphere, there has been negligible response from human rights organisations or governments. African countries have been silent. Academia has been silent. So-called African feminists and women’s organisations have been deafeningly silent. Only last week I was at a workshop in Accra when women expressed fear of claiming feminism in case they would be labelled the dreaded L-word – but were satisfied when reassured that the two could be mutually exclusive. Religious institutions have not been silent. On the contrary as unbelievable as it is to imagine religious institutions leading a hate campaign and inciting violence – it is they who lead the campaign.’
Sebas’s Place’s post ’Martin Ssempa turns to pornography’ comments on ‘the two bit extremist’ Martin Ssempa’s response to being isolated by his former allies in the US and his desperate attempt to reinforce homophobia amongst Ugandans by filming gay porn in a church.
‘Totally blindsided, Martin Ssempa took his leaking anti-gay vessel to Jinja, a sleepy backwater 50 miles away. It was a humbling come-down. Ssempa is a man who has been used to being feted by evangelical groups and the Ugandan Parliament for his so-called "Aids/HIV activism" and family values. But now all his erstwhile backers have fled to the hills, shunning him like a leper. Being denied a marching permit to Parliament must have rankled. How can a man who is single-handedly holding the family morality of the country together be denied a permit to march for family values?! One could hear the gasps of consternation in the Ssempa camp all over the city.
‘By the time, Ssempa settled on the lowly alternative offered him, Jinja, he was like a cur that a glance has brought to boot, to borrow from a poem I read a long time ago. Humiliated, embarrassed, left high and dry by his erstwhile friends, reduced in circumstances, and denied top billing in the capital city, Ssempa opted for the Georgina Oundo low road; full frontal x-rated porn. Yes, Ssempa's desperation has driven him to think that it makes sense to show images of a sexual nature to a public audience, apparently to illustrate the dangers that homosexuals pose to Uganda.’
Loudrastress’s post ’Zuma Polygama Drama’ addresses some of the anti-feminist myths being bandied about around Zuma’s recent ‘paternity of a child out of wedlock’. I’ll just select one of the myths to highlight Pumla’s points:
‘Myth 2: Zuma can either have multiple partners and be subjected to criticism OR choose one partner and escape public scrutiny.
This is binary logic – which never gets us anywhere. The point of the matter is not whether in a feminist republic we’d force Zuma to choose one wife or banish him. (We’d probably banish Zuma for many more reasons, least of which his preference for multiple partners. There’d be equitable multiple partner relationships in the Feminist Republic.) The heart of the matter is that Jacob Zuma is a public, elected official and an ADULT, which means that he can do pretty much what he likes – apart from commit a crime, be caught and be convicted in a court of law (all together) – but he has to take responsibility for his choices, deal with the consequences of his actions and be grown up about it. Non-feminists could be forgiven for expressing the sentiment behind the saying ‘just be a man about it’ although not for its formulation.
‘This feminist wishes the President would stop acting like a helpless child who has no decisions, no choice and no mind of his own. We don’t have to agree on what the best choices are, or on why they are made, but addressing the issues instead of creating never ending smokescreens (culture, privacy, unavailability) would merit more respect’.
Iafrica’s post ’SMS role in Slaughter’ reports on the use of SMS messaging in the recent violence in Benue State, Nigeria. Whilst most of the attention is on SMS as a medium for mobilising against injustice, their use in Jos is a reminder that technology is not socially or politically neutral and can be manipulated in any way the user chooses. Activists identified 145 texts used to incite violence:
‘The texts were aimed at "spreading rumours and inflaming tensions," said Sani, who heads a coalition of 32 Nigerian civil and human rights groups called the Civil Rights Congress.
‘One of the messages seen by AFP read: "War, war, war. Stand up ... and defend yourselves. Kill before they kill you. Slaughter before they slaughter you. Dump them in a pit before they dump you.’
BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS
* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.
Readers' Comments
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Homophobia and other prejudices(like the anti-Tutsi prejudice that lead to the Rwandan genocide and the bigotry in Sudan that has lead to genocide and slavery in Darfur) help create scapegoats so those in power can say they are protecting the public from the "enemy" and get the public not to notice their own corruption.
This is true in any society on Earth right now, but especially ones where the rulers don't have as stable a grip on power. Regimes in Africa are constantly being toppled by coups and rebellion, making any rulers in Africa(including their cronies) paranoid. The more paranoid they are of losing power the more they will scapegoat groups of people to hold on to power.
It doesn't occur to these people to actually clean up the corruption because they're just too attached to their special privileges. This goes even for nominally democratic states. Elections are often rigged and if they aren't then special interests make sure the leading parties pick candidates they like anyways. This is true in the US too, but people are too blind to it for it to threaten the ruling class that much. BUT People's eyes are starting to open. That's why there's been more fear-mongering in this past decade and why the right has fostered the reactionary Tea Party Movement. The right sees people noticing serious problems and they try to steer people away from noticing that the problem by providing scapegoats and focusing people's rage against that. While the (moderate) 'left'(or center if you want to be more accurate) tries to get people to think that if we just adopt a few minor reforms all our problems will be solved when what we really need are more radical changes that they won't offer because their campaign contributors would stop funding them and the corporate mainstream media would denounce them.
ClassAnalysis
TWO BIG MISTAKES ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY IN AFRIKA
1. Homosexuality is non-African.
Wrong! Africans are human beings, as all the others, and as all human beings there is a constant percentage of homosexuals men and women, now, as there was in the past and will be in future. The only thing changing geographically and historically is the perception of homosexuality, which depends on the grade of civilization. You may hate, discriminate, torture and kill homosexual people but they will not disappear. They might be forced to hide and pretend but they remain as they are. It is just stupid, primitive and deeply inhuman to hate lesbians and gays, whether it is in Africa these days or in Nazi-Germany in the 1930 – 40ies. I am sorry to say this, but the respect of homosexuals, as well as the respect of women and minorities (among others different tribes) is basically a question of mental, social and human development. Most of Africa remains strongly underdeveloped! Killing members of other tribes, albinos, gays, perpetuate “corrective rapes” and other such behaviour are all evidence of this tremendous underdevelopment. Unfortunately most churches spread vitriolic statements against gays and are probably the major cause of homophobia in Africa. They base their hatred on old scribble, which contain many other inconclusive statements. The same Bible was used, among others, to legitimate race segregations and so interracial couples were considered abomination! Imagine if one of our loud pastors of priests would still preach such idiocy… Even for a strong believer it must be somehow irritating that the “sin of homosexuality” is considered being worse than most real crimes. But let’s admit it: what a perfect scapegoat we have with gays! Old corrupt, useless and avid politicians and heads of state can easily deviate the public opinion from real issues and their incompetence pointing at some minority group. With the forceful support of the Churches and their fascist hate propaganda based on ignorance and Bronze-Age Myths this goes hand in hand. The current U.S. President Obama spoke it out when talking about “Few ignorant people trapped in the prejudice of the past”. We all know, that Obama is not so popular anymore here in Kenya, although of Kenyan origins. Of course he speaks out many things we don’t want to hear: politics, corruption, etc. We just don’t like the truth!
2. Homosexuality is imported by Westerns
Nonsense! What has been imported and imposed by the British colonial ruler were Victorian laws. They still exist in East-African legislations as well as the “Christian values” as imposed by missionaries. In the meantime, there has been a social, legal and to a certain extend even theological development in the West since then. Unfortunately this is not the case in Africa, with the exception of South Africa. Guess why? After the dark ages of apartheid the South African society opted to ban all kind of discrimination once forever. They are aware of the disastrous effects of discrimination. How long do we need, or what do we need? We need a radical change of minds. But this implies education. The more a society is educated, the less archaic preachers matter, the less the cynical political “elite” can mug a whole nation and its people, the less folks are trapped in intolerant backwardness. The more a society is educated the bigger is the chance that bigotry is replaced by justice, ignorance by knowledge and critical analysis, hate by understanding, hypocrisy by search of truth, discrimination by acceptance. Don’t forget, a place where gays, lesbians and women! are treated with respect all people are treated with respect. This is precondition for being a civilised and proud society. There is still a very long way to go.
GRareHR
very enlightening to know the various perspectives from the continent on the charged homophobic rhetoric spewing forth from Africa's 'leaders'.
Homophobia is definitely the problem, and during these tough economic times, it is easy and convenient to pick on those considered the 'other' instead of focusing on how to make life better for the collective.
Per Zuma, I confess that words fail me. While I am strongly against polygamy, I recognize the rights of adults to willingly participate in it, particularly as it is legal in many places. I just can't get over the fact that given the HIV/AIDS rates in South Africa, his last court case (which involved allegations of unprotected sex with a young girl) and his current position as President, he would have the time to have an affair with a woman other than his many wives and even produce another child. Where does he find the time?
solomonsydelle