Celebrating African LGBTQ+ communities this Pride month
- Admin
- Jun 27, 2020
- 3 min read
Written by Joel Crisp
Edited by Diana Ciurezu
As pride month draws to a close, it is important to celebrate queer lives beyond the UK. The month of June has become known as “Pride Month”, born after the Stonewall Riots, however, although the UK may use this time to celebrate queer identities, the same liberation is not a global reality.
The UK celebrates the LGBTQ+ community during pride month but also celebrates the idea of equality on a daily basis. This celebration and acceptance of people living their truth is not the same though globally. Particularly, life for LGBTQ+ individuals in Africa is a very different story, living in a region infamous for its stance against queer people.
Although the LGBTQ+ community encompasses more identities than just homosexual individuals, the illegality of homosexual acts in countries in Africa draws the strongest distinction to the UK. Out of 72 countries worldwide that have declared homosexuality illegal, 32 of these countries are in Africa (December 2019). Punishment for the participation in homosexual acts tends to be imprisonment, however, in 4 countries in Africa, it is believed a death sentence is appropriate. In 2019, Zambia sentenced two men to 15 years imprisonment for having consensual sex, Ugandan police rounded up 125 people in a gay-friendly bar with dozens of them now facing charges and 47 men pleaded innocent in Nigeria to charges of public displays of affection with the same-sex.
However, although it is clear that the LGBTQ+ community can be seen to be unfairly criminalised across Africa, there are still rays of light. 22 Countries in Africa protect the right to love by legalising homosexuality with Mozambique decriminalising gay and lesbian relationships in 2015 (May 2018).
Queerness across Africa may not be celebrated legally, but photographers have established collections portraying queer individuals not just in the urban city areas but also in the more rural regions.
Photographers like Zanele Muholi use their work as a form of political activism, positively asserting the LGBTQ+ identity.
Photography by Zanele Muholi
Another individual using their photography to insist on the ordinariness of queer individuals is Eric Gyamfi. Gyamfi uses his work to represent queer people, in the continent of Africa, as simply that - people, as complex individuals cutting across all categories of ‘humanness’. His work acts to throw into question the assumption that African societies are irredeemably homophobic, shedding a light on queer identities existing in the bustle of city life.
Photography by Eric Gyamfi
However, queer identities exist all over Africa. Sabelo Mlangeni uses his work to focus on gay men in remote, rural South African towns which are traditionally hostile to LGBTQ+ individuals.
Although it is easy to paint all countries in Africa as homophobic, laws do not work to represent the views of individuals, nor do they mute or dissolve queer identities. Instead, it is clear that queerness is celebrated in Africa, challenging the thought of these individuals as abnormal. In pride month, it is important to recognise the fight of everyone, and although legal equality is important, the absence of such laws should not render queer individuals in the continent of Africa as non-existent.
Photography by Sabelo Mlangeni
It is also important to recognise that every country has work to do. With countries like America and the UK clearly displaying homophobia and transphobia still, there is work to be done everywhere. Pride month is a time to celebrate every individual within the LGBTQ+ community, in every country across the world. The laws do not determine the existence of such individuals, but simply means they have to hide.
Sources:
Eric Gyamfi’s work: https://www.movingwalls.org/moving-walls/24/just-like-us.html
Comments