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Paper short abstract

The paper challenges claims that LGBTIQ+ rights are “un-African” by tracing pre-colonial sexual diversity and examining how African NGOs - especially in Nigeria and Uganda - resist colonial legacies and contemporary anti-gender backlash, partially financed by US stakeholders, in repressive contexts.

Paper long abstract

Within many African societies, the struggle for LGBTIQ+ human rights is often framed as an “un-African” phenomenon and dismissed as a Western cultural import. This paper explores the agency of African LGBTIQ+ organizations that challenge this narrative by defending and reclaiming pre-colonial sexual and gender identities.

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, drawing on historical and anthropological scholarship, it demonstrates that numerous African societies historically recognized plural gender roles, non-binary identities, and diverse sexual orientations. Examples include the chibados in Angola, the mudoko dako in Uganda, and the acknowledgment of non-binary Orishas in Yorùbá culture. These indigenous sexualities and gender expressions were systematically marginalized and criminalized through European colonial governance and the influence of Christian missionaries. This colonial legacy persists to the present day: 30 out of 54 Commonwealth countries continue to criminalize homosexuality as a direct result of British colonial rule.

Second, the paper investigates the advocacy practices of local NGOs working to protect LGBTIQ+ rights in Africa, comparing approaches in Nigeria and Uganda. Drawing upon insights from two case studies, the paper addresses two key questions: How do LGBTIQ+ organizations operate within repressive political and legal environments? And which strategies do they employ to decolonize dominant gender imaginaries and reclaim indigenous epistemologies of sexuality and gender? Finally, the paper discusses the backlash faced by LGBTIQ+ advocates, particularly in the form of hostile anti-gender campaigns that are often financed by Western, especially US-based, organizations.