Identity
Gays, Criminalization In Africa And HIV (Inset; a traditional dance at the opening of ICASA) At the recently held ICASA conference, I had an exciting time of learning, networking and appreciating the many realities and challenges faced by LGBTI people in Africa. Here, I will highlight one that that a permanent impact in my life, and gave me a reason to proceed with the course. It was thoughts that I have been having particularly from a session on Key populations on HIV/AIDS: LGBTI facilitated by a doctoral research fellow, Zoe Duby of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. More than through any other forum, it was evident from the representation, presentation and conversation held at ICASA that LGBTI refers to sexualities, sexual identities, sexual orientations, sexual lifestyles – NOT sexual behaviour. Only the terms MSM (men who have sex with men) and WSW (women who have sex with women) refer to sexual behaviour. LGBTI, MSM and WSW are all at increased HIV risk due to many factors. LGBTI only recently recognised in context of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Previously, homosexuality in Africa was always blamed on Western European influence, colonialism and technology. However, evidence shows same-sex practices have always been present in African countries, and are often part of local cultures and traditions. According to studies, there are numerous examples of ‘traditional’ same sex practices in Africa. Young-old partnerships, taking on different gender roles, cross dressing, initiation rituals (Wilson, 1951); situational same sex behaviours (for example prisoners, truck drivers, miners, armed forces, boarding schools etc), socially sanctioned “Where there is tension same-sex sexual experimentation before marriage, in adolescence (Murray & Roscoe, 2001) and same sex between cultural attitudes behaviour plays a crucial role in certain rituals and traditional practices (Weiss, and universal human Quigley & Hayes, 2000). rights, universal human rights must carry the From sessions held at ICASA, it was evident that Africa is the continent with the day… Personal harshest laws when it comes to homosexuality and other sexual minorities, partly rooted in colonial-era laws and political situations, religious autonomy, strong negadisapproval, even tive belief in cultural and family values, and a strong patriarchy. 38 countries in Afsociety's disapproval, is rica have laws criminalizing homosexuality, 4 of which may impose death penalty no excuse to arrest, (parts of Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Mauritania). detain, imprison, harass More than 50% of African governments have taken action and steps to formally criminalise same sex un- or torture anyone - ever.” Ban Ki Moon ion. It is so sad that when in December 2008, the United Nations Assembly in New York issued a declaration to decriminalize homosexuality, only 6 African countries signed (Ottoson, 2010). So what are the societal factors increasing HIV vulnerability of LGBTIs? According to many countries’ laws and politics, male same-sex behaviour, is illegal. As a matter of fact, protective legislation for LGBTI only exists in South Africa. Recent legal reforms in some African countries have aimed to strengthen anti-homosexual legislation, rather than make laws more inclusive. Given such restrictive legal and political environment, African LGBTIs are increasingly reporting harassment from state authorities, including police and public officials, in relation to their sexual orientation, and to some extent also their gender identities. In Malawi for instance, there’s been a series of arrests for homosexuality and a new law criminalising lesbians. In Zimbabwe, gay people face persecution under the Sexual Offences Act, while in Uganda, there was a media palaver of “name and shame” top 100 gay persons and most recently, the very contentious debate of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. In South Africa, there’s “corrective rape” and hate killings of young lesbian women. Continued on Page 30 Page 29