10. Pre-Colonization Africa
Post-colonization Africa has seen a hotbed of homophobic activity in recent years, some of which is reportedly funded and encouraged by US religious organizations. Uganda passed a law enacting the death penalty for homosexual activity in 2014. Robert Mugabe, former president of Zimbabwe, famously said that homosexuality was “un-African” and a colonial import from Europe. Mauritania, Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia also have death penalty laws for homosexual activity, while 35 additional countries have non-capital penalties for homosexual activity. Only 19 of Africa’s nations have decriminalized homosexual behavior. The current dangers of being queer in Africa are particularly heartbreaking given Africa’s long pre-colonial history of embracing queer and gender fluid expression.
Countless African tribes had their own words for LGBTQ individuals and practices. Many tribes viewed homosexual experimentation as a natural part of adolescence. In Lesotho, women were allowed to engage in long-term lesbian relationships referred to as motsoalle. Numerous tribes allowed male same-sex relationships, including mentor-mentee relationships similar to the paiderastia of ancient Greece. However, all of these cultural practices were swiftly and brutally ended with the arrival of European colonizers. In addition to the horrors of slavery, disease, and colonization, homophobia and anti-sodomy laws were yet more “gifts” from the arriving Europeans.