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Gay and lesbian people
'are here in Africa'
24 June 2006- Kenya- "We are here in Africa. We live in the
mainstream, we pay taxes like everybody else in the mainstream, we
relate with people in the mainstream. We are a naturally occurring
phenomenon in the universe," said activist Donna Smith of gay people in
Africa.
The representative of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women a black
lesbian organisation based in Johannesburg was speaking at the
second Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights that took place in
the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from June 19 to 21.
About 400 delegates gathered for the meeting that sought, in part, to
improve policies and programmes on sexuality in Africa. The first such
meeting was held in Johannesburg in 2004.
A session on gay sexuality proved one of the draw cards of the
conference, with participants scrambling for space in the small room
allocated to the proceedings. Many countries in Africa still outlaw
homosexuality, including Kenya where it is punishable with jail terms of
up to 14 years.
In addition to repressive legislation, gay people face stigmatisation
and discrimination. "I worked in an institution of higher learning. When
my friends learnt that I was gay, they all of a sudden left, as if I was
a contagious disease," David Kuria, a Kenyan delegate, said.
"I was forced to leave my employment because I was not comfortable with
the way I was being treated," he added. Kuria discovered that he was gay
while in high school, in the early 1990s. At worst, the discrimination
manifests itself in violence.
Fikile Vilakazi, of the Coalition of African Lesbians, cited the example
of Zoliswa Nkonyana, a 19-year-old lesbian who was killed by a mob in
Cape Town earlier this year because of her sexual orientation. (The
coalition, headquartered in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, is a network
of organisations supporting lesbian rights.)
Matters are aggravated, said Vilakazi, by the attitude of officials
towards gay people: "A number of rape and assault cases have been
reported to police stations. The police take long to deal with them.
When one reports, the police in turn respond by asking why one is a
lesbian."
Discrimination against gays may discourage them from taking advantage of
services that are critical for their health and well-being. "The hostile
and discriminatory attitudes from health-care staff have made many MSM
men having sex with men reluctant to access services.
"This has put MSM at a higher risk of contracting HIV/Aids," noted Angus
Parkinson, of Liverpool VCT and Care Kenya, a Nairobi-based group for
HIV/Aids care and research. (VCT stands for "voluntary counselling and
testing". Liverpool VCT and Care Kenya is associated with the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine in Britain.)
"Many MSM have poor knowledge of HIV/STIs (sexually transmitted
infections) and perceive that they are at low risk, using condoms
infrequently with inappropriate lubricants."
For Cary Alan Johnson, a senior coordinator at the New York-based
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, the abolition of
laws criminalising same-sex activities lies at the heart of addressing
these ills.
"The gay community across the world is growing and we cannot continue to
ignore its rights through the old colonial laws. If governments respect
human rights, then the rights of gay persons and lesbians must be
incorporated in the wider human rights framework," Johnson said.
For the moment, however, homosexuality and lesbianism are still viewed
by many as products of Western society, and alien to African culture.
Followers of certain faiths also see gay rights as being at odds with
their religious beliefs. This was demonstrated when African Anglican
archbishops severed ties with the Episcopal Church in the United States
over its 2004 decision to consecrate Gene Robinson, an openly gay man,
as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire an eastern US state.
But, says Smith, while a gay person may live a heterosexual life "for
the purposes of the law, [they] cannot find peace and fulfilment in a
heterosexual relationship".
She said that from the age of eight, she had fantasised about women, and
knew she was different from other girls. "My first sexual experience was
with a girl, and I straight away knew what my sexuality would evolve
into."
The session on gay sexuality also saw the launch in Kenya of a book
titled Tommy Boys, Lesbian Men and Ancestral Wives: Female Same-Sex
Practices in Africa, an account of lesbian sexuality in East and
Southern Africa.
This publication was co-authored by activists from six countries: South
Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Among other
things, it documents how African lesbians find ways to express their
sexuality, the opposition from their communities notwithstanding.
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