Gay Rights in Africa and the West The reintroduction of an anti-gay bill in the Ugandan parliament has once

again brought the issue of gay rights in sub-Saharan Africa to the attention of Western media. Originally introduced in 2009, the current iteration of the bill has somewhat less punitive provisions in it. For one thing, the provision that said serial homosexual offenders could be punished with the death penalty has been removed, as has the provision that required Ugandan citizens to essentially snitch on each other if they suspected homosexual activities were taking place. The uproar the original introduction of the bill caused in Western media is similar to the furor that erupted in 2010 when a court in Malawi sentenced a gay couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza to fourteen years in prison. The couple was later pardoned by the president of Malawi after an international outcry and the personal intervention of the secretary general of the United Nations. Homosexuality remains illegal in Malawi and in many African countries. Surprisingly, the social and cultural situation in many of these countries makes them uniquely suited for homosexual individuals to be who they are. Publicly talking about sexuality is a taboo in these conservative cultures. On the other hand, even grown men can hold hands without arousing the suspicion that they are in a romantic relationship. As such, any gay couple could maintain a relationship of some sort. The caveat being that they not publicly reveal the existence of the relationship. Not ideal? Perhaps. But then again how often does one see gay couples holding hands in the West or, for that matter, openly declaring that a relationship exists?

At a glance, the West appears to hold the higher moral ground when it comes to pursuing rights for gay people than Africa. On closer inspection, the ground doesnt appear that high. Coming to grips with homosexuality is as much an issue in the West as it is in Africa. It will continue to be an issue as long as the overwhelming majority of the people in the world are heterosexual and not homosexual. Admitting this much should be the first step in the fight for civil rights for gay people in the West and in Africa. Western governments and activists in the West should acknowledge that the process of attaining civil rights for gay people has been an incremental and tortuous process in the West and cannot, therefore, be expected to happen overnight in the Africa. As recently as 2003, when the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas, sodomy was a crime in thirteen states in the United States. More recently, when President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, part of the discourse in the media was on whether she was gay, as if that should really be an issue with respect to her jurisprudence. These are but some examples that show that homosexuality remains a controversial issue in the West. Tragically, numerous incidences come to mind of gay people who have faced discrimination, persecution, even death in the West, perhaps many more than one reads of happening in Africa. Both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have said their respective governments would reconsider providing aid to governments that do not respect the rights of gay people. Such statements appear to many in Africa, especially the educated elite, as edicts delivered by men in the West who have no desire to understand how Africans feel about homosexuality but are determined to make Africans do as the West says, even if they have to humiliate them by denying them financial aid.

Compelling Africans thus only reminds them of their dependence on the West and allows them to say that the West is forcing Western values on Africans. A better approach is for Western activists to work within the systems in African countries by reaching out to religious, civil, and political leaders individually. Working in a manner that is not only not patronizing but also culturally understanding and sympathetic can yield results. Most Africans do not hate gay people; Africans just need some time to work things out and for Westerners to understand where the Africans are coming from.