A Fear of Homosexuality

A Fear of Homosexuality

Across Africa, there are more countries that have criminalized homosexuality than there are that have not. Of the 54 countries in Africa, 33 of them have banned homosexuality; of those 33, four of them impose the death penalty for homosexuality (Gaffey). This outlawing of homosexuality is an indicator of social regression in a time where social progress is the key to the world moving forward (BBC). It has hurt many of Africa’s citizens, forcing them to bury their sexualities and risk their wellbeing if they don’t hide their sexual preferences. Furthermore, the rampant assaults against homosexuals has lead to economic damage as investors pull out of Africa’s increasingly unstable economy (New York Times).
The roots of homophobia are grounded in Africa’s history with colonialism. Before the rest of the world irreparably damaged Africa socially and economically, homosexuality existed while homophobia did not. Instead, homophobia was a British and Christian import, one that left a lasting mark on Africa’s social development as a whole as gays were targets for assault on the streets because of their sexuality (Guardian). Though it came to Africa from Westerners during imperialization, it was adopted by Africans as their own culture in a time so long ago that for many Africans, there is not a time remembered that homophobia was not part of their lives. This is why, instead of changing their stance on homosexuality, many Africans urge more crackdowns on gays in the name of African nationalism; they believe that westerners are attempting to steal their culture again (Guardian).
The impacts of homophobia are both immediate and delayed. Many gay people are assaulted in the streets, and police officers do nothing about it because homosexuality is illegal (BBC). This type of physical abuse goes unpunished and is an instantaneous effect of the criminalization of homosexuality; however, there are effects that will eventually develop over time - namely, a lack of economic growth. This occurs because more developed countries would not want to invest in such a volatile society, and with the abuse that comes from gays being illegal in Africa, the creation of a hostile environment is something that is inevitable (New York Times). This lack of funds and investment in Africa’s struggling economy ultimately will damage its economy further, hurting its millions of civilians.
In a time where many countries are taking large strides forward with social reform, Africa is starting to move backwards. Though there are some African countries that seem progressive on paper, such as South Africa which was the first country to protect homosexuals in its constitution, reality is a stark contrast to this. Many countries have laws - some implemented as recently as 2014 - that punish people for being homosexual (New York Times). Thousands of Africans are punished for their sexuality, with this animosity rooted in European colonialism and increase in hatred stemming from a misguided desire to keep the culture that was forced onto them. This kind of hatred has effects both on the individual and on the society as a whole, both economically and socially, and shows no signs of slowing.




works cited:
BBC News. “Born Free, Killed by Hate.”, 7 Apr. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35967725. Accessed 14 
Mar. 2019.
This article talks about the experience of LGBT+ people in South Africa and though they were promised a more equal, peaceful life, they have not gotten it yet. Many LGBT people suffer at the hands of abusers that walk free, and they are forced to hide who they are in an attempt to lead safer lives. I know this source is credible because it gathers a lot of quotes from the people in South Africa themselves instead of making conjectures. It is biased towards the LGBT people in South Africa, considering the fact that it takes a lot of its quotes from the people who have suffered at the hands of the South African government’s inactiveness and also that it comes from a country that has a lot more gay rights than South Africa. This source is useful to me because it gives me the perspective of LGBT+ people in South Africa, both as the victims as hate crimes but also the systemic discrimination against gays in the actual government. I use this source in my article to detail what is going on in South Africa that hurts so many of its civilians in conjunction with the New York Times article. It is also used as background knowledge in conjumction with the rest of my sources.

The Editorial Board. “Opinion | Demonizing Gays in Africa.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 
Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/opinion/demonizing-gays-in-africa.html.
The article explains how laws against homophobia are still being enacted despite the social progress of the rest of the world. It talks about how the progression/regression of South Africa could have repercussions beyond the immediate. This source is pretty biased since it’s an opinion article and talks a lot about why homophobia in these areas is bad for a variety of reasons. It’s also biased because it’s persuasive and attempting to pull people to the author’s side; however, it is credible because it doesn’t make up facts or report from a radical side/not just blatantly lying. It explains and brings up things that happens in Africa against gay people. This source is useful for me because it explains more the before and after of the enactment of homophobic laws that were passed in 2014. It also elaborates more on the homophobia witnessed in South Africa. It’s from the libguide. I use this in my article to explain what the effects of assaulting gay people are in Africa beyond just harming African civilians. I use this source in conjunction with my BBC news article “Born Free, Killed by Hate”. 

Gaffey, Conor. “This Map Shows Where It's Illegal to Be Gay in Africa.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 10 July 2017, 
www.newsweek.com/where-it-illegal-be-gay-africa-630113. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
This article discusses the different treatment of LGBT people in different African countries - specifically, homosexuals. It covers different punishments in all 33 countries where gay sex and relationships are illegal; they vary from small fines ($19 USD) to death sentences. It also begins to imply the gender disparities among homosexuality laws, explaining that many of these laws apply specifically to men only. I know that this source is credible because it takes the laws straight from the countries and does not give any extra analysis on it; it only gives the facts without bias. I also know that there isn’t a lot of bias because each piece, again, has no analysis. It only gives what the law says and nothing more than that. This source is useful to me because it shows me what South Africa is like in comparison to other African countries. It tells me specifics on other countries, like how much more progressive South Africa seems in comparison to the other countries on paper and in terms of laws. It also, however, shows me how similar other countries leaders are to South Africa’s leaders in terms of homophobia. I use this source in the beginning of my article to give some background of Africa. I also use this source in conjunction with Pinknews to gain a more complete understanding of the South Africa situation.

Ilyayambwa, Mwanawina. “Homosexual Rights and the Law: A South African Constitutional Metamorphosis.” 
Box, Pdf, 14 Mar. 2019, 1775135-ea7480c8-5ab6-46b9-a9d7-25418963e5e1.pdf. Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
This article goes through the history of homophobia and laws surrounding gay rights in South Africa. It talks about what happens in the courts and higher levels versus what happens in the general public; there is evidently a large difference between these two, as written about in the article. It also talks about hate crimes and the response from the court. I know this source is credible because it comes from a professor at a credible university. Furthermore, it has a lot of sources referenced that I can check back to in the paper, which boosts credibility because it is essentially a compilation of good sources with its own analysis on these matters. I think the bias is minimal because it does cover both sides of the argument, though it is skewed in favor of gays because it talks about the good decisions in favor of gays. This source is useful to me because it allows me to get more background on the subject and it tells me the stark difference between what happens on the lawmaking level versus actually executing these decisions made by higher-ups. It gives me the perspective of political leaders, not just the general public, and it tells me more about internal skew and historical hatred that shapes the behavior of these leaders. I use this source as background knowledge to differentiate between the law’s actions and the public’s actions, just to give me a sense of what is going on in South Africa and the discrepancies between the law and the general public. 

Pinknews, Jasmine Andersson. “What Is Happening to LGBT Rights in South Africa?” PinkNews, PinkNews, 9 
Feb. 2018, www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/02/09/what-is-happening-to-lgbt-rights-in-south-africa/. 
Accessed 14 Mar. 2019.
This article speaks more on the inefficiency and deep rooted bias in the government. It talks about political commentary made on gays, the experience of gays in SA, and how protesters react to the government’s inability to deal with these hate crimes. I know this source is credible because it gathers a lot of quotes from the people in South Africa themselves instead of making conjectures. It is biased towards the LGBT people in South Africa, considering the fact that it takes a lot of its quotes from the people who have suffered at the hands of the South African government’s inactiveness and also that it comes from a country that has a lot more gay rights than South Africa. This source is useful to me because it gives me perspective on people who might not be necessarily targeted by these anti-gay movements, not just on those directly affected by hate crimes. It gives me new information on political leaders that are homophobic. I used this source as background to understand what the people are going through in Africa, but never cite anything specifically from this source. It is used in conjunction with the Gaffey source. 

Smith, David. “Why Africa Is a Hotbed of Homophobia.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 23 Feb. 2014, 
www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/africa-homophobia-uganda-anti-gay-law. Accessed 15 Mar. 2019.
This article explains the cause, defense, and increase of homophobia in Africa. It talks about colonialism being the root cause of homophobia in Africa, as while homosexuality was a thing before the white men came to Africa, homophobia was not. However, though it was a colonial import, Africans adopted it as part of their culture and so when people from America speak out against it, they call it racism and disregard of culture. I know this source is credible because it compiles a lot of primary sources to generate a more broad view of the entirety of South Africa. It is biased against homophobia but this doesn’t play a large part in the article itself because the article serves to inform, not persuade, so it explains why there’s homophobia in SA and what it’s doing. This source is useful to me because it tells me more about the history of homophobia in South Africa. It allows me to better understand why there hasn’t been social change and why it exists so powerfully in Africa. I cite this source in my article to explain why homophobia is so prominent in Africa and why it doesn’t seem to be going away. I used this also as background with my other sources, but it is cited in my article.