When The Mughals And The British Invaded - Tumblr Posts

Quick rant about African homophobia but the fact that white people will really say "ooh X country hates gay people, they're so backward and barbaric" is incredibly insulting.

As far as Africa is concerned, homophobia can't be disconnected from Christian colonizers. The erasure of queer history can be tied to them and has led to some of the most radical shifts toward homosexuality I've ever seen.

Take Uganda, everyone's favourite homphobic punching bag. Few would believe that Uganda had a gay king. If you've only heard of Kabaka Mwanga through European writings you would believe that he was gay (which the Europeans claimed he gained from the barbaric Arabs) However, some modern Ugandan scholars believe he was bi as he slept with his wives and male pages. The missionaries used this narrative to claim he was possessed by demons leading him to burn Christian martyrs.

While the killing of the martyrs was obviously wrong, the British used his sexuality to undermine his power and colonize Uganda. ( This was around the same time Oscar Wilde was put on trial ) This is just one example of the British weaponising homophobia as they spread it throughout Uganda.

Other examples include the erasure of lesbian marriage in certain tribes and the condemning of male wives and female husbands (given my lack of resources on them, I can't say they were trans but they certainly didn't fit the mold that colonialism forced on them) The fact is that modern homophobia in Africa can be traced back to colonialism and Christianity.

While this does not mean Africa was a woke™ haven, it does show how insidious remarks about it's homophobia can be. With the knowledge that these attitudes have been stoked throughout the past two centuries, it becomes easier to divorce African identity and homophobia. This goes against the stereotype that non-white communities are socially regressive, often having sexist/homophobic structures.

This doesn't absolve any Africans of their homophobia but rather seeks to explain some of it and add nuance to the discussion of LGBT rights in Africa.

TLDR: Colonization erased queer history in Africa. this doesn't absolve Africa of its homophobia but it's necessary to understand the role of colonization in it