Medical Discrimination, Moral Panic, and the Politics of Sexuality in Cameroon

This article examines the complex dynamics of medical discrimination and anti-LGBTIQ exclusion in Cameroon. It uses Michel Foucault’s concept of biopolitics and Achille Mbembe’s idea of necropolitics to demonstrate how same-sex sexuality has been framed as a moral, medical, and political issue from the colonial era to the present day. Cameroonian medical institutions are not merely providers of health care, but a powerful mechanism for perpetuating medical discrimination and social exclusion of queer individuals. The article also foregrounds the various strategies through which LGBTIQ Cameroonians navigate and contest these regimes of exclusion.