I've been thinking about some of the issues I have with the fight for gay rights in most of sub-Saharan Africa, mainly it's approach from the West (or should I say the former colonizers).
There's a condescending nature of the West when they tell African nations: "We'll pull aid from countries that pass anti-gay legislation." The United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron said something of a similar vein not to long ago.
Before I go into it, I do believe every minority group in every country should be treated and respected as a human, regardless if you are a racial, ethnic or sexual minority. More so, whoever you sleep with is only your business, as long as you're not having sex with them in public.
The part that bothers me most about this is not even the recent legislation being passed in Nigeria or some that may be passed in other countries, but the passive aggression coming from the West. "They're all on a journey and we want to help them get there," said David Cameron. But did you ASK these nations what is their journey and WHERE they would like to be? You assume that these nations want to be like the West? Many of them want to be African. If you listen to some of the homophobic rhetoric of these leader, despite their bases for the argument, they want to make sure their country has a strong African identity. Do I believe anti-homosexuality laws define an African identity? Hell no. But I also do not believe that African nations should be told aspire to be "Westernized."When you begin to realize African cultures are not backward and they need to be TAUGHT how to think, then maybe change can happen. African countries, based on all the resources they have are more than capable of making their countries work for them. Plus, many of their economies are doing better than many Western nations at the moment. Didn't Angola just offer it's former colonizer Portugal aid?
Now that we are in a post colonial and increasingly global society, the approach of these Western nations to anti-gay policies in Africa should not be "we won't give you money" but instead understanding how to approach the issue that would be effective in an African nation and not basing it on how things are done in West.
To be quite honest, African cultures are very active cultures, especially when it comes to politics. When Africans are angry, we are angry. That's why protesting almost always turns into bloodshed and militant groups form. Do I support this violence? No, not at all because in the end the statement is made at the cost of innocent lives. However, I understand where it is coming from - the mind.
In the United States, when laws are created to protect the rights of minority groups, it doesn't change the minds of people by any means, but because the culture is passive, little is done to challenge the laws which in turn changes HOW people discriminate against minority groups (for example, "white flight" from Northern US cities from the mid 1960s onward).
In South Africa, considered the most liberal African country, who have had laws to protect the LGBT community for around a decade now, corrective rape toward lesbians is still rampant, if not worse than before, DESPITE the laws to protect women from rape combined with the laws created to protect lesbians. In many African countries, people don't passively obey a law simply because it's in place. Instead, the laws will be completely ignored unless the mindset is changed.
If the greater society of an African nations believes homosexuality is sinful, they are not going to support any legislation that protects gay rights. However, if there is dialogue between groups, a compromise can be reached and a change in the mind can begin. It will be a slow process, but in the end, Africans from both sides of the aisle can live peacefully. After that, there's a much higher possibility of this kind of legislation being supported by the majority. This does not mean the West needs to interfere, but instead support dialogue when asked.
Long story short, when the need is there, they'll ask. The West needs to stop assuming Africa needs them. What Africa needs right now are more leaders who are more interested in their populations than their bank accounts.
No comments:
Post a Comment