Cutting the Head of the Roaring Monster": Homosexuality and Repression in Africa

This paper examines how a proposed conference of gays and lesbians in 2006 in Ghana created tensions and repercussions from the social, cultural, religious and political factors, which worked to repress same-sex discourse in the country. The new wave of homophobic expression that ensued is partly a product of the new globalization and also a manifestation of the clash between what is considered “African ” and “un-African ” social and sexual behavior. This study shows that the government of Ghana and religious institutions did not view homosexuality as a human rights issue as in the case of South Africa, but a form of “sexual colonialism ” or Western imposition on Ghanaians. Africanists working on West Africa have yet to seriously place homosexuality on academic agenda. We fill this gap in the current stage of sexuality and African studies by looking at how the proposed conference of gays and lesbians in 2006 in Ghana integrated Ghana’s experience of “unnaturalness ” of homosexuality and homophobia into those of other parts of the world. Key Words: Homosexuality; Repression; Ghana; Tradition; Western cultural infiltration. “Let us wait until they gather in Accra so that we can cut them in pieces.”(1)