The ACHPR’s resolution and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Mozambique were heralded as signs of good hope, amidst the growing violence targeting sexual minorities and the adoption of new …
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It is with joy and gratitude that we introduce this special issue of the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa. It is not often that we are able to offer an entire issue of the Journal devoted to a particular theme, especially as important a theme as gender, sexuality, and religion in Africa. This special issue has been over a year in the planning and preparation. Our grateful thanks go to its editors, Michael Adee and Kapya John Kaoma, who, having identified the theme as one of particular importance on our continent, have encouraged the authors in their exploration of the theme.
We are delighted that this Special Issue will be released in time for the 21st International AIDS Conference to be hosted in Durban, South Africa.
The History of this Special Issue: A Journey of Solidarity
An Invitation In late 2012, at the Desmond Tutu Center in New York City during a summit on global religions and human sexuality, I was in conversation with Dr. Kapya Kaoma about the wave of …
The KwaZulu-Natal Declaration
The KwaZulu-Natal Declaration of the First African Scholars' Consultation on Human Sexuality, Religion and Equality, August 31, 2014 We, African religious leaders, scholars and members of civil …
Towards an African Liberationist Queer Theological Pedagogy
This article argues that the only adequate theological frame within which we do queer theology and construct a queer theological pedagogy in Africa is an African liberation ideo-theological frame. This article delineates the various distinctive features of such a frame, and then offers some reflections on the constraints within African contexts that mitigate against this task.DedicationI dedicate …
The Public Religious Speech Acts That Does Justice: Reclaiming the Narrative of Resistance in the Context of Heterosexism
The narrative that does justice is an oppositional discourse re-enacted in the liminal spaces as a dynamic cultural form termed as 'narrative of resistance.' Describing public religious speech acts as liminal discourse highlights the symbolic and ideological dimensions that can enable African Christians, Zambians in particular, to take an oppositional stance against heterosexist narrative rampant …
The Good Samaritan and Minorities in Africa: Christianity, the US Christian Right and the Dialogical Ethics of Ubuntu
In this article, we explore the influence of colonial and post-colonial missionary activities on Africa's sexual politics. We share the thesis that contemporary African sexual politics is influenced by external forces such as colonisation and Euro-American missionary activities. Specifically, we examine the political and religious influence of the US government's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) …
Infunkutu—the Bemba Sexual Dance as Women’s Sexual Agency
The article argues that imbusa1 among the Bemba people of Zambia is not only a ritual and ideological space in which women engage in premarital teaching of young brides, but also an important site for sexual expression. The traditional sexual dance (infunkutu) is analysed to demonstrate how it has functioned as an instrument of subverting the domestication of the female body. The article …
Boaz as ‘Sugar Daddy’: Re-Reading Ruth in the Context of HIV
Research has shown that young African women are one of the key populations that is most at risk to HIV infection. Indications are that these young women are increasingly engaging in age-disparate 'sugar daddy' relationships which is increasing their vulnerability. This article follows the See-Judge-Act methodology, beginning with an analysis of these age-disparate sexual relationships in southern …
Crossing the Bright Red Line: The Abuse of Religion to Violate Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Uganda1
The spectre of cultural and religious relativism has dogged African women's rights activists for decades, particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive human rights. In Uganda, such debates and tensions were manifest in the rapid successive passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act, the Anti-Pornography Act and the HIV Prevention & Control Act. A policy adopted by religious-based private …
Religious Leadership and the Re-Politicisation of Gender and Sexuality in Cameroon
This article examines the role of religious actors in the emergence of sexual politics in Cameroon. Apart from arguing that the Catholic Archbishop Victor T. Mbakot, Cardinal Christian W. Tumi, and the private media were the key actors in the public debate of homosexuality, the article argues that their actions created the moral sexual panic that led to the contestation of sexual rights in …
African Religions, the Parapolitics of Discretion and Sexual Ambiguity in African Oral Epics1
Does religion and cultural imagination matter in the understanding of the controversy about sexual orientation in Africa today? This contribution articulates the importance of religious beliefs and cultural imagination in documenting not just oppression, but also ambiguous sites for theorising sociopolitical identities in Africa. I explore the idea of ambiguity within African religions and oral …
Thank You For Making Me Strong: Sexuality, Gender and Environmental Spirituality
The article seeks to situate issues of sexuality and gender orientation in an ecological perspective. It is well known that most plant species are not two-gendered, although a few trees are like the human species: male, female and intersex. Some animal species, such as snails, are fully intersex. Moreover, over 450 animal species have been observed exhibiting homosexual behaviour. Yet only one …
Unmasking the Colonial Silence: Sexuality in Africa in the Post Colonial Context
This article explores the silence associated with sexuality in Africa. Aside from examining the false premise that homosexuality is un-African and un-Christian, this article argues that sexuality in Africa was not only socially controlled, but also carried socio-ethical and sacred overtones. Against the belief that sexuality in Africa exists in silence, the essay contends that in the traditional …
Secrecy and the Poetics of Witness: Mourning Fanny Ann Eddy
The arts of mourning, like the masquerade and the elegy in poetry, are cultural treasures and sources of memory beyond the silence of death. How then do we mourn as queer and same gender loving Africans in the face of state-sanctioned violence and homophobia, which have led to the deaths of LGBTI Africans from Sierra Leone to South Africa? As a queer African woman of faith, I am in search of a new …
‘I Say, We must Talk, Talk, Mama!’ Introducing African Voices on Religion, Ubuntu and Sexual Diversity
The ACHPR’s resolution and the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Mozambique were heralded as signs of good hope, amidst the growing violence targeting sexual minorities and the adoption of new anti-gay laws on the continent. There is a gap, however, between these developments and the political and socio-religious context in which most sexual minorities exist. The introduction of Uganda’s …
The History of this Special Issue: A Journey of Solidarity
An Invitation In late 2012, at the Desmond Tutu Center in New York City during a summit on global religions and human sexuality, I was in conversation with Dr. Kapya Kaoma about the wave of anti-homosexuality laws and the rising violence against sexual minorities in Africa. Kaoma said, "We need to change the narrative in Africa about sexual minorities, particularly the theological narrative. …