1

DOES AFRICA HAVE A REASON FOR THE HOSTILITY TOWARDS

HOMOSEXUALITY?

ABSTRACT

Homosexuality has become a major global debate in the Twenty First Century; a section of

the world community mostly from the West is calling for tolerance of homosexuality as a

normal sexual preference. This has been resisted sternly by another section of the world

community mostly Africans. The Church which is the body of Christ is similarly divided on

the issue. Some denominations are ordaining homosexuals as bishops and pastors; a number

of renowned church leaders are advocating for acceptance of homosexuals, other

denominations are condemning the practice as evil. Many African nations have laws against

homosexual attraction which attract various prison terms and fines including the death

penalty. The writer sees homosexuality as having the ability to sink the continent into further

problems due to the numerous health, financial and emotional challenges associated with the

practice.

Introduction

Same-sex sexual attraction has been accepted as a sexual orientation equivalent to

heterosexual attraction. The leaders of United Kingdom and United States, two of the most

powerful nations in the world have been impressing on African leaders to legalize

homosexual romance and marriage which has been legalized in thirteen states in America and

England as well as the Wales. Africa has resisted all the appeal of the hemophilic community

and their advocates.

2

The traditional African shy away from sexual discussions be it heterosexual or homosexual,

and even just mentioning sexual parts in public. However to mention homosexual marriage in

public is a taboo, therefore among many Africans, funny names are attributed to homosexual

romance and anal sex. The anus is regarded as dirty since is the fecal outlet, hence such acts

are mentioned in hushed tones. Many frown on the thought of a woman having sex with

another woman not imagining penetrative sexual intercourse between two males. May be the

adage that one man‟s delicacy is another man‟s poison could be applied here.

African Response to Homosexuality

Gay-right groups are speaking out in Africa like the rest of the world and are seeking

legislation to protect homosexuals. Since the end of the nineteenth century, there has been a

global movement working towards increased visibility, recognition and legal rights for

homosexuals that is the rights to civil unions and marriage, adoption and parenting,

introduction of anti-bullying legislations to protect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

Transgendered (LGBT) minors. The LGBT has promoted the term „gay‟ to refer to

themselves as a community. In response, the governments of countries like Nigeria, Kenya,

Zimbabwe and Rwanda have voiced their repugnance and anger against the idea that same

sex attraction should be legalized. South Africa is the only African country which has

legalized same sex weddings. 1

Some African leaders have resisted all the appeals and arguments of the homosexual right

groups. “Daniel Arap Moi, the former Kenyan president is reported to have said, „Kenya has

no room for homosexuals or lesbians. Homosexuality is against the African norms and

traditions and even in religion it is considered a great sin. Homosexuality is a scourge which

1F. Adjeley, Is the Homosexual my Neighbour? Life Journal, vol. 138, Accra: F & G Publications, 2012, p. 17.

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runs counter to Christian teachings and African tradition.2” The current leaders, Both Uhuru

Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto urged the U.S. President Obama to respect the African

country‟s culture and religious beliefs which see homosexuality as sin when President Obama

called on the leadership of Kenya to decriminalize homosexuality.3

Similarly, the president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe has said, „I find it extremely

outrageous and repugnant to my human conscience that such immoral and repulsive

organizations like those of homosexuals, who offend both the law of nature and morals of

religious beliefs espoused by our society, should have any advocate in our midst or elsewhere

in the world.4 According to President Mugabe, homosexuals are „„worse than dogs and pigs‟‟

and should have no rights at all. In Uganda, the President stated that homosexuality is

„„against the order of nature‟‟ and later Uganda made attempts to pass laws that would give

death penalties to homosexuals even though Uganda had life imprisonment as penalty already

on its books. President Yoweri Museveni, in 1999 announced that he had instructed the

Criminal Investigations Department to look for homosexuals, lock them up and charge

them.5Gambian president Yahya Jammeh declared, „we will fight these vermin called

homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more

aggressively.‟6

Over the past decade, a discussion of homosexuality has moved from being a taboo topic to a

center stage, far from being against religious teachings in general and Christian doctrine in

particular. A precipitation factor was the election in 2003 of an openly gay bishop, Gene

2Adjeley, Is the Homosexual my Neighbour? p.1.

3 C.Weber, Kenyan Leaders urges Obama to Respect Christian beliefs, policies on homosexuals [online] [1

st

July 2013] available at: http//CP World.goggle.com/ accessed 10th

January 2014. 4 O.F. Osei, Homosexuality: Different Perspective. The ‘Angelos’. Vol. 002. PCG. Agona Swedru: Central

Presbytery, 2012, p 14. 5 Mawuli, The homosexuality debate in Ghana.

6 S.A. Owusu, Homosexuality in Ghana: An Increasing Growth in Numbers [online] [6

th January 2011]

available at, http// ghanaweb.com/accessed on 10th

December 2014.

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Robinson by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. As a result many

Anglican Church leaders in Africa threatened to break away from the Anglican Communion.

In 2007, Rev. Peter Akinola and six other archbishops refused to take communion with

Katherine Jeffers Schori, the leader of the American Episcopalians.7

However the Nobel Peace laurel, the Anglican Archbishop who was the former head of both

the Anglican Church and Christian Council of South Africa on 29th

July 2013 declared “I

would not worship a homophobic8 God, and that is how deep I feel about this. I would refuse

to go to a homophobic heaven. No I would say, „sorry I would rather go to the other place. “I

am passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid, for me it is at the same

level. He made these statements at the United Nations launch of its “Free and Equal” function

in Cape Town. A campaign to promote fair treatment of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and

Transsexuals (LGBT). 9

Here the archbishop is saying, if God will not admit homosexual to

heaven because of their sexual preference, then he will refuse to go to heaven. To him the

heaven without homosexuals is homophobic.

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana during their 11th

General Assembly took a decision to

sever ties with all churches who ordain homosexuals as ministers and accepts same sex

marriage.10

But during the 2011 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United

States of America, there was a decision to ordain gays and lesbians as pastors and also allow

them to be elders and deacons which was rectified by the presbyteries. On March 2015, the

7 D. Conkin, Christian Church and Homosexuality. Bay Area Reporter, Vol. 2490. San Francisco: 2009, p. 14.

8 Unsubstantiated and Irrational fears or hostility toward homosexuals.

9 N. Megzie, Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu says he would choose Hell over Homophobic Heaven [online]

[2013] available at: http.//CP World.goggle.com. Accessed on 14 September 2013. 10

Osei, Homosexuality: Different Perspective, p. 19.

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presbyteries voted to change the definition of marriage in the church‟s constitution from

“between a man and a woman to “between two people.”11

When Oye Lithur, Minister of Children and Women‟s Affairs was nominated for ministerial

position the religious bodies and the general public denounced the president‟s decision

because she is seen as a gay right activist. The late president John Atta Mills was hailed when

at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2011, he pledged to never

initiate or support any attempt to legalize homosexuality in Ghana. This was in response to

British Prime Minister, David Cameron's comments that the United Kingdom would consider

cutting off aid to any country that failed to recognize gay rights. Mills said that Cameron does

not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where

their societal norms and ideals are different from those that exist in Britain.12

The Legal Proscription against Same-sex Attraction

Many African countries have laws prohibiting homosexuality, some for men only. Penalties

for being found in contravention of the laws range from fines to life in prison, and the death

penalty in Mauritania and Sudan. There are no laws against homosexuality in a dozen African

countries including Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Rwanda. South Africa has

11

L. Goodstein, Largest Presbyterian denomination gives final approval for same-sex marriage [online] [ 2015]

available at: http//goggle.com. Accessed on 9th

April 2015. 12

LGBT rights in Ghana [online] [ 2014] available at: http//goggle.com. Accessed on 20th

June 2014.

6

the most liberal laws in Africa; her constitution explicitly protects against discrimination

based on sexual orientation, and a Supreme Court ruling made same-sex marriage legal.13

Many Africans see homosexuality as an alien practice which is un-African. Ghana's Criminal

Code prohibits homosexuality in Chapter Six, Section 104(1), 1960 (Act 29), it states thus;

“whoever is guilty of unnatural carnal knowledge (a) of any person without his consent, is

guilty of first degree felony; (b) of any person with his consent, or of any animal, is guilty of

a misdemeanor.” Like most of Ghana's Criminal Code, section 104 is based on British

common law. “Unnatural carnal knowledge” is still a crime in Ghana punishable by up to five

years imprisonment. The criminalization of homosexuality is not unique to Ghana. Most of

the former British colonies such as Gambia, Kenya, and Uganda, make “carnal knowledge

against the order of nature” illegal, though United Kingdom decriminalized homosexuality in

1967.14

On 1st December 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world, and the first in

Africa, to allow legal marriages between same-sex couples, after a historic vote in Parliament

on 14th

November, followed by the signature of Acting President Phumzile Mlamblo-Ngcuka

which saw the passing of the Civil Union Bill into law. However Chad is the 37th

country in

Africa to outlaw homosexuality after government ministers voted to make same-sex relations

a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The decision was condemned by human rights

groups as another setback in the struggle for gay rights on the continent. Chad‟s penal code is

more than half a century old and does not explicitly mention homosexuality. But section 361

of the new code states that, the punishment for anyone who has sexual intercourse with

13

Ghanaian Chronicle, Gay laws in Ghana and around the World [online] [21st September 2006] available at

http//ghanaweb.com/accessed on 10th

December 2014. 14

M.S. Luckie, Somewhere over the Rainbow, [online] available at: http//goggle.com/accessed on 14th

June

2014.

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someone of the same sex is 15 to 20 years in jail and a fine of 50,000-500,000 Central

African francs (£60-£600), according to Agence France-Presse.15

In September 2006, The Red Pepper, a tabloid in Uganda published the names of almost 50

people claiming they were homosexuals and called on readers to report “these deviants so

that we publish and shame them to rid our motherland of this deadly vice.” The publication

culminated into arrests of homosexual men in Uganda and others went into hiding. The fear

by homosexuals was exacerbated when in January 2011, a gay activist, Mr. David Kato was

murdered after a newspaper published his photograph with others that they were homosexuals

with a banner under them saying „Hang Them‟.16

In Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan signed into law a bill criminalizing same-sex

„amorous relationships‟ and membership of LGBT rights groups. The army fired 10 male

soldiers for engaging in homosexuality. Namibia‟s first President Sam Nujoma described

men who have sex with men (MSM) as „„foreign influence with corrupt ideology‟‟ bent on

exploiting Namibia‟s democracy. In 2001, Namibia‟s President advised college students that,

“the Republic of Namibia does not allow homosexuality or lesbianism here. Police are

ordered to arrest you, and deport you and imprison you.17

”

In 2006, a 23-year old Senegalese man, upon being blackmailed by a man with whom he had

a casual sex, reported the matter to the police. He was rather arrested and charged for crimes

against the order of nature. On 21st May 2005 Cameroonian police nabbed 11 men aged 17-

35 years in a bar which was alleged to be a socializing place for MSM. In November, the

15

S. A. Mawuli, The homosexuality debate in Ghana [online] [21st December 2011] available at

http//ghanaweb.com/accessed on 10th

December 2014. 16

Mawuli, The homosexuality debate in Ghana. 17

Mawuli, The homosexuality debate in Ghana.

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prosecution threatened to force the men to undergo an anal examination to establish

homosexual acts.18

Sexuality in Africa

In Africa, the sexual parts of the human body is held with sacred respect and the sexual act

itself is almost deified, one reason being the fact that is the vehicle for procreation.

Procreation is an important aspect of the African life because it is through it that the

individual generation is perpetuated and the revered ancestors are given the opportunity to

come back and live with the family. According to the queen mother of Abease, the ancestors

and the gods sometimes visit the earth through birth as humans.19

Therefore, the African

family involves the living, the dead and the yet to be born; it is seen as cyclical. Sexual

activities carried out outside the bedroom are considered wrong, a trampling on the sanctity

of sexuality. Therefore people who have sex in the farms, garden, beaches and „unclean

places‟ such as the washrooms are considered offenders and are fined and made to cleanse

themselves and the land and pacify the gods and ancestors.

Sexual emissions and menstrual flows are seen as contaminants capable of sending the gods

and other spirits far away from man. They are also credited with the power to nullify charms

and temper with the potency of medicines. Females in their menses are therefore kept from

places considered sacred and from cooking for holy people such as priests, kings and other

nobles as well as those considered as great men such as warriors. Sleeping with a woman in

her menses is therefore considered wrong and defiling.

18

Mawuli, The homosexuality debate in Ghana. 19

Interviewed on 24 May 2015

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Inappropriate Sexual Acts

A number of Sexual acts are seen as inappropriate and some attract social censorship. For

example sexual act between elderly person and a juvenile is considered wrong in many

African societies and people who indulged in it are punished and ostracized by society. There

are therefore puberty rites such as dipo,bragro by the people of Ghana instituted to check

pedophilia and pre-marital sex. People who have not gotten through puberty rites are

considered immature for sexual activity irrespective of their age and some communities

banish those found to indulge is sexual activities before the puberty rites.

Sexual acts between a married person especially a female and another person is seen as a

sacrilege and those caught are banished, ostracized or fined. They have to go through

cleansing and purification rites. Since it is a sin against the land such people are made to

purify the land with animals such as sheep and cattle. Sexual relationship between blood

relations and even family members are seen as incest and it attracts fines and other

censorships depending on the community.

Sexual acts between humans and animals are considered a sacrilege an unthinkable act

among African societies. Other sexual acts seen as inappropriate are those between two

families with history of marriage ties including between members with romantic history even

if it did not culminate in marriage. People who use drugs, even alcohol to take advantage of

women are seen as wayward irresponsible men similar to rapists. However, victims of rape

are discriminated against as violated people.

Sexual encounters are seen as having prospects for procreation therefore sex acts purely for

pleasure are frown upon. Romantic overtures between two people of the same sex being it

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males or females are forbidden and the family considers it as an abomination probably due to

its inability to contribute to procreation which is the duty of the family. Besides that, it is seen

as dirty due to the fecal contacts. In some communities among the Ebos in Nigeria, females

suspected to be involved in same gender sex acts are circumcised by the removal of their

clitoris.

Both male and female homosexual practices involve contact with feces which is a major way

of transmitting various diseases. Pathogens which should be in the toilet are recycled through

homosexual sex. Because typical homosexual behavior includes regular contact with fecal

matter from oneself and from sexual partners, tragically reversing several centuries of

learning about cleanliness.20

c. Homosexuality and Life Expectation

Life expectancy for a 20 year old gay or bisexual man is 8 to 20 years less than all men. It is

estimated that “nearly half of gay and bisexual men currently age 20 years will not reach their

65th birthday.21 Former US Education Secretary William Bennett however declared that

homosexuality reduces life by 30 years. The average life expectancy for gay men, Bennett

declared, was just 43.22

The US Suicide Prevention Resource Center synthesized studies and

estimated that between 30 and 40% of LGBT youth, depending on age and sex groups, have

attempted suicide. Researchers have found that attempted suicide rates and suicidal ideation

among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth is

20

Homosexual Lifespan, [online] [24th

January 2001] available at http:// www.cprmd.org/ accessed on 14th

January 2014. 21

R.S. Hogg, S.A Strathdee, K.J.P. Craib, Modeling the impact of HIV Disease on Mortality in Gay and

Bisexual Men, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 26, No. 3, 1997, pp. 657-61 22

W. Olson and W. Bennett, Gays, and the Truth, [online] [19th

December 1997] available at

http//google.com/accessed on 16th January 2015.

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comparatively higher than among the general population. Depression and drug use among

LGBT is also higher.23

In regards to homosexuality and drug use, the recent medical literature states that homosexual

men and lesbians have significantly higher rates of cigarette smoking and substance abuse

than heterosexuals. Another factor that is notable in regards to homosexuality is the

significantly higher rates of domestic violence among homosexual couples. In addition,

homosexual murders are relatively or quite common and are often very brutal.24

Recently the media carried a news item on the gruesome murder of a homosexual in Sunyani

in Brong Ahafo of Ghana. Samuel Osae Boampong, a tailor at the main market aged 28, was

gruesomely murdered by his partner when their love relationship turned sour. The Regional

Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Christopher Tawiah said, initial investigations reveal

that Samuel had sex with his murderer before his death. At the scene of the crime, police

found a condom with some specimen in it which was later found to be semen. This means his

homosexual partner murdered him after having sex with him which is supposed to be love

making. He stabbed him several times in the stomach and the neck.25

Another factor that reduces homosexual life expectancy is social stigma. In a study to look at

the consequences of anti-gay prejudice for mortality, researchers found that lesbian, gay, and

bisexual (LGB) individuals who lived in communities with high levels of anti-gay prejudice

have a shorter life expectancy of 12 years on average compared with their peers in the least

prejudiced communities.26

23

Suicide Among LGBT Youth [online] [17th

March 2013] available at http// exposeghana.com/accessed on 20th

February2015. 24

Homosexuality and Health [online] [13th

September 2012] available at http//google.com/accessed on 16th

January 2015. 25

XYZ News, Sunyani: Suspected Homosexual Murdered, [online] [10th

June 2013] available at http//

exposeghana.com/accessed on 20th

February2015. 26

Hogg, Strathdee, International Journal

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Homosexuality and Health

All available evidence indicates that lifespan of practicing homosexual persons is drastically

shortened by their behavior. Certain enteric ailments are particularly common among

homosexual men. They are primarily infectious diseases and include not only such common

venereal diseases as gonorrhea and syphilis but also infections not usually regarded as being

sexually transmitted. Among the latter are shigellosis, salmonellosis, giardiasis, and

amebiasis. Gonorrhea is probably the most common bacterial infection in gay men. Carriage

rates as high as 50% have been reported.27

Health officials started recording an outbreak of deadly bacteria meningitis among sexually

active “gay” men in Los Angeles and New York from 2010. In New York seven people died

out of the 22 reported cases. On 30th

March 2013 a man who got infested was declared brain

dead ten days after infection. Symptoms of the disease often appear within three to seven

days of exposure. They include fever, stiff neck, nausea, headache, vomiting, increased

sensitivity to light and an altered mental state. In 2012, MSM accounted for 75% of primary

and secondary syphilis cases in the United States. MSM often are diagnosed with other STDs,

including chlamydia and gonorrhea infections.28

MSM are 17 times more likely to develop anal cancer than heterosexual men. In regards to

homosexuality and health, the homosexual population has significantly higher incidences of a

large number of diseases. One of the reasons for homosexual population having higher

27

R.W. Baker, Enteric diseases of homosexual men [online] [15th

April 2013] available at

http//google.com/accessed on 10th

December 2014. 28

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [online] [15th

April 2013] available at http//google.com/accessed

on 10th

December 2014.

13

incidences of diseases is the significantly higher incidences of promiscuity in the homosexual

population.29

Homosexuality and Pedophilia

The most disturbing aspect of homosexuality is that homosexuals are notorious for seducing

minors and such children most of the time keep silent. Pedophilia appears to be a part and

parcel of homosexual practice. Several children are sodomized each day and homosexual

cases are common in African courts. During the 90s students began to confess when a Peace

Corp volunteer was deported from Ghana for wounding the anal cavity of a young student.

Since then homosexuals have been under severe social pressure because homosexuality is

considered a taboo in Ghana.30

There is also a study that reveals a link between poverty and homosexual exploitation of

Ghanaian children and tourists are the major culprits. The report has revealed disturbing

trends of homosexual violations of male children and given credence to suggestions that a

number of Ghanaian youth are lured to the practice of homosexuality through exploitation of

their monetary needs. The study, conducted by an NGO, „Save the Children,‟ revealed

alarming cases of sexual exploitation of male minors, with almost 56 percent of children

interviewed which is 186 out of 300 interviewee across the country confessing that they have

been sexually exploited or involved in homosexuality for money. Others also revealed that

they have been forced into the practice by elderly persons. Mr. Edmond Aquaye, disclosed

29

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 30

Owusu, Homosexuality in Ghana.

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that most children interviewed confessed that they were sexually abused by tourists who had

anal sex with them and paid huge sums of money after the act as compensation.31

For Cicero homosexuality began in Europe because, the habit of loving boys originated in the

Greek gymnasiums,32

where homosexual love affairs were free and tolerated. The boys being

trained to take full part in the city's political and social life would be educated in the city

gymnasiums, from which girls were excluded. A Beroean Law33

forbade certain categories of

people from attending the gymnasium where the boys were, to avoid “unworthy” love affairs.

A boy in the gymnasium was to be courted with seriousness and commitment, even with

gifts, and he had to be shown the sincerity of one's love and intellectual involvement.

Only adolescents from 12 to 17 years known as eronomoi were eligible to be loved and not

younger boys or adults. It was a disgrace to seduce little boys, since they were not considered

capable yet of choosing their own lovers. Homosexuality has therefore been associated with

pedophilia since time immemorial. Adults have been sodomizing children as young as 12

years and the focus was on early teenagers.

Conclusion

Homosexuals suffer from substance abuse and diseases, promiscuity is a part of their very

life, their relationships turn violent easily which most of the time results in casualty including

deaths. They live in constant fear of being discovered. They battle various diseases

31

Gye Nyame Concord, Fa wo to begye sika‟ syndrome rises, [online] [11 December 2006] available at

http//ghanaweb.com/accessed on 10th

December 2014. 32

A large room equipped for physical exercise or training of various kinds, e.g. in a school or a private club. In

Greece, Every city-state had at least one gymnasium, equipped for exercise building, running track, bathing

facility, lecture hall, and park, open only to males. Men who lived in the city went there for physical training,

ball games, gambling, and relaxation. 33

The Laws regulating the Greek gymnasiums. Beroea was the commercial center of Greece located in

Macedonia and the capital of Imathia where the gymnasiums Laws were made.

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underground including sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS is still in the pandemic

level among homosexuals. Death rate is really high among homosexuals‟ especially male

homosexuals.

Effects of Homosexuality on Africa

Developing nations with a high number of homosexuals who are free to practice the act have

to spend a huge part of her budget on medication and for crime control. A high percentage of

the youth which is the driving force for development will use a greater part of their time and

intellect to battle stress and diseases. The family which is the focal point of the African

society will be broken because procreation which is the spirit of the family will be fatally

wounded. The dependency on imported drugs and lubricants will increase; and a sizeable

number of the population would need to undergo regular surgery to repair the anal part of

their body as a result of anal sex. The diaper wearing men in society will be high and

dependency on drug will increase which will affect the finances of individuals and

productivity of the nation. Drug use and alcoholism, incest and rape will be high and children

with HIV will increase. Strange diseases, high suicides and self-hate and crime will be

extremely high making growth and development impossible. The GDP of the nation will

continue to dwindle. The rich culture of the people will be lost and the family will lose her

values. The sanctity of sex will be trampled and members of the community will be reduced

to the level of animals.

Homosexuality can add to the woes of any nation and community, what is called sexual

freedom could be a recipe for disaster for African nations whose economy is still struggling

under poor leadership. A developing African nation who legalizes homosexual practice is

legalizing her downfall and possible breakdown. Due to the above, Africans have a tangible

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reason to be hostile to homosexuality because it is a threat to the existence of the society

itself.

Ahenkora Siaw Kwakye (Rev.)

(Religious Department, KNUST, Kumasi)