Friday May 9, 2014

Of Homosexuality in Africa – There’s No Big Finish to this Story

A friend who takes Media and Communication Technology offered this article for this week’s blog post. Enjoy. Many thanks Christine!

“It was some misguided family function - family here used in the loosest terms possible - that I had no interest or any business attending, but my father's particular brand of requisition 'you don't have to do this if you don't want to, but you will do it because it is me who's asking you to', had me saying 'ok' even without thinking about it twice. And I’m glad I did.

I have this relative who is usually kind enough to spare me the small talk and vacant interaction that is painfully persistent at these get togethers and due to this simple courtesy he offers me I can proudly say he's related to me. But it's not because of his social skills that I am highly appreciative of that I want to talk about him, it's a different matter completely. It's because he's gay. He's a 20 year old, well educated, upwardly mobile gay boy. You can only guess that not everybody in that little occasion knows this, he himself does not know that I know. In fact if I could guess I’d say, in my opinion, with a fair amount of certainty, that nobody else who was in attendance knows.

Whether or not this is a good thing I can't begin to speculate but it is what it is.

This entire 'gay' situation for a very long time to me had been reserved for the trappings of television and just so very far away from my very reality it just was not a thing to me. You know that caricature, the effeminate, loud, sassy, finger-snapping, gay young man with the impeccable and obsessive taste for fashion. I know it's entertaining to watch but some part of me can't help but feel that it's also wildly insulting. Not to mention limiting.

And I’m talking about this issue with such lightness you'd think an OUT homosexual man some obligatory stock character in your everyday interactions, maybe it is but it's not in mine at least. Because it never seemed real to me until I thought about why this particular relative was in the position that he was.

In a country where matters dealing with the LGBT community has been skirted around and regarded with such taboo it seems unthinkable to your nice average middle income family to discuss over their nice meals in their nice houses. I can even remember one occasion when my mother saw this flamboyant homosexual man on TV, decked out in a full face of man-make up, the look of horror on her face was priceless. To her this just did not make existential sense.

I suppose most of Africa is conservative by default and homosexuality is so far left field even the Western world is touchy with it but this is something that has existed since time began. You’d think we’d be used to it.

So some hard facts are in order; presently, in the world 76 countries criminalize sexual activity by LGBT people, 38 of these countries are in Africa. The death penalty has been instituted for same sex acts in Mauritania and Sudan.

Kenya's good old frenemy, Nigeria, has had its own anti-gay goings on. The death penalty seems to have been expelled from the law for homosexual activity but the country has gained shiny new ones that include 14 and 10 year sentences for gay marriage and homosexual displays of affection respectively. Not to mention in the largely Islamic North there are sanctions to the beatings, whippings and stoning of gays and lesbians.

The wishy washy standing on the ‘gay agenda’ in African countries seems to transcend our borders. We are united in our mutual hate of everything homosexual. Giving, but not really giving. ‘You can be gay all you want but just don’t be gay in front of me or other people.’

Here in Kenya a few years ago, an extremely popular politician was giving one of those unnecessary rallies in a slum that can only be described as tremendous in all its aspects. I’m assuming the crowd was full of the usual rally suspects; jobless, wilful, angry young men and at this rally this politician, cleanly and easily stated that all homosexuals should be arrested.

Of course there was backlash from the West and he tried to clumsily clear his mess but the damage was already done. But what’s even stranger, this same politician this year disagreed with the Ugandan President’s insistence on signing an Antigay law. Then again, who knows the principles and pretensions behind that decision. Elections, anyone?

Now that we’ve mentioned it, Uganda is truly a tall order in terms of gay/human rights. The aforementioned Anti Homosexuality Act, 2014 stipulates that homosexuals should be jailed for life, complete denouncement of gays and the outlawing of promotion of homosexuality in any form. It also includes provisions for Ugandans who engage in same sex relations outside of Uganda. It really is a thorough job they did on that law.

Naturally, this has led to a rise in attacks on gay and lesbian citizens since the law passed.

Funny thing, I found out that in March 2009 there was in fact an actual workshop that took place in Kampala which featured former homosexuals who were somehow converted to heterosexuals through the healing powers of the Bible. It was led by evangelical Christians and again, naturally, supported by the church. I have to wonder, if turning straight from being gay was such an easy endeavor, would there be any gay people in existence or any hoopla at all? 

In a show of rare and impressive solidarity there was a masked protest held in Kenya by gays and lesbians after this law took effect in Uganda. But that is no indication about the present state of Kenyan affairs. Because even in somewhat liberal Kenya, engaging in homosexual acts is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

Also, fun fact: in a Google 2013 Zeitgeist survey Uganda searched for the word ‘homosexuality’ more than any other nation on earth, Kenyans were third.

Maybe it’s the fact that in Africa homosexuality is regarded as an outside creation, maybe that’s why we‘re so slow to respond to ‘Western meddling’ in this instance. I don’t know. But homophobia seems to be trendy across the continent. Even Mugabe took time out of his no doubt busy schedule to proclaim “we don’t accept homosexuals here” while celebrating his 90^th birthday.

Ok I’ll admit that the situation is not so bleak all round. In South Africa same sex couples have been able to adopt children since 2002 and have had equal marriage rights since 2006, which is immense. In the island nations of Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe and the Seychelles promises were made to scrap laws against homosexuality. But for the most part, in Africa at least, being gay has been what it always has been, duplicitous. Two faces, one for the family, one for those underground meetings. Two Facebook accounts, one for the public, one for that gay Facebook group that you use an indulgent user name for. Two different, complete and comprehensive, people.

If you had enough patience to wade through the drudgery of those facts I’m profoundly grateful.  But I’m also sorry because I have no big finish. There’s no giant epiphany to meet you here. Just what I have. I could conclude by using some vocabulary I got out of, you know, Google for this, which will also include names like Binyavanga Wainaina and the inestimable service he did for this country, that sensitive word ‘Revolution’ might also be mentioned just for some added inspiration, but I’m in no position to. I’m just hoping for the sake of my relative that one day he’ll sit on that table and we’ll blend in the quiet way we do but it’ll mean that much more because he won’t have to hide from any one anymore.”